Why are electronics warranties shorter than speaker warranties?

[3e8]

Seems like a lot of manufacturers (NHT, Paradigm, Velodyne, Hsu, Rhythmik, Elemental Designs, Definitive Technologies, and more) have longer warranties on speakers/drivers than amplifiers and electronics, even in the case where they are in the same box (active subwoofers).

The way I see it, the electronics are solid-state -- no moving parts -- and can be easily given thermal and short protection. Whereas speakers/drivers are under a lot of physical strain, and they have no ability to protect themselves from being overdriven. So it seems like it should be the drivers/speakers with the shorter warranty.

As far as stuff like lightning strikes go, you'd think that would affect both, and warranties exclude that sort of damage anyway.

Is there some other factor?

 

[markw]

Electronics have many many more active electronic parts and are much more prone to failure than speakers, even subwoofers. Speakers are generally ore sturdy than you think, unless you intentionally abuse them.

 

[timoteo]

Speakers last way longer than electronics. Like mentioned, unless speakers are abused on purpose they can last almost a lifetime without repair. FYI, there are a lot of subwoofers out there that do have limiters that prevent them from being overdriven. In those cases its actually impossible to damage them.

 

[3e8]

Maybe my experience is just unusual, but I've never experienced a failure of pure electronics (excepting computer gear). I've had woofers that needed new surrounds and headphones that needed connections re-soldered, but the only problem I've had on electronics were dirty pots, and thats more of a mechanical problem than an electronic one.

 

[bikdav]

You're Not Alone

Maybe my experience is just unusual, but I've never experienced a failure of pure electronics (excepting computer gear). I've had woofers that needed new surrounds and headphones that needed connections re-soldered, but the only problem I've had on electronics were dirty pots, and thats more of a mechanical problem than an electronic one.

I've experienced that also. Woofer surround "rot" was a big problem with quite a few speakers made back in the 70s and part of 80s. Most woofer surrounds made today are less likely to do that since the manufacturers finally learned how to cut down on that problem. Better yet, many woofers now have rubber surrounds. The only time I've had problems with headphone connections is if I dropped headphones or did something else abusive to them _ I'm admittedly hard on headphones.

 

[Rickster71]

Before I suggest looking at the link below, about Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF)
http://www.ptsdcs.com/wpp/APC/APC - Mean Time Between Failure Explanation and Standards.pdf

Consider for example, that speakers have relatively fewer parts than an AVR. Fewer parts that can easily be diagnosed and replaced.

The biggest change I've seen over the years have been the problems with the lead free solder that's mandated by the EPA. Those lead free connections aren't as long lasting and prone to solder whiskers or tin whiskers.

The other being excessive heat brought on by cramming more and more into a finite amount of space. (the standard AVR case)
More heat and less room for proper heat sinking.

Then there is that of manufacturers trying to meet ever lowering price points by using cheaper components that don't have a long MTBF. When all these potential problems are added together, the solution is a shorter warrantee.

Consider this: The US military, Nasa and medical and high-level research equipment are exempt from the Lead solder ban.
This means the unwitting consumer gets the burden of this double standard.


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[agarwalro]

AV electronics, even the simplest of stereo receivers, have thousands of individual electronic devices pieced together onto one circuit board. If you consider each electronic device, solder joint, wiring connection, etc. to be a potential “point of failure” the odds of failure should be staggeringly high. But, relatively few amps/receivers/DACs ever fail! So, one way to look at it is, the manufacturers of electronics have succeeded in a staggering achievement in being able to reduce the odds of failure to “parts per thousand” for the receiver or amplifier as a whole. When one adds physical considerations like VFD, knobs, buttons, etc. and soft failure points like thousands of lines of software to drive electronics, the achievement seems nothing short of miraculous. In this light, when you consider a company like Bryston, which gives a 20 year warranty on all their products, one cannot help but respect their uncompromising build quality.


By contrast, a speaker is so "simple" (in context of "potential points of failure"), it almost seems absurd that they do not come with lifetime warranties.