Curious how long do speakers last and how to take care of them?

[jjahshik32]

I'm just curious, how long does a good pair of speakers especially B&W speakers last?

I read around by googling and the most I can find about is that overtime the paper or foam deteriorate over time or hardens? Also crossovers are most likely to be replaced in the future and maybe foams as well?

How long does generally b&w speakers last without the sound going bad? For example say a pair of 803S, 803D, 802D?

[Tommy]

I'm sure one will upgrade (many times) before the speakers start to go bad lol. You don't have to worry about it. Enjoy the music :T
It also depends on where you live. If you live in a humid environment, you'll even see mold.

[jjahshik32]

Oh I'm not too worried about my speakers and I'm sure it will last 20+ years great but just something I was curious on.

Wow really even mold?? Lol, I live in houston texas probably the most humid city in the United States...

[beden1]

I have speakers that I purchased 32 years ago that are still performing exceptionally well. They are the front main speakers in my HT system in our Pennsylvania house. The surrounds in this system are 28 years old and they also sound as good as the day they were first hooked-up.

Like your furniture in your house, everything lasts longer if kept in a controlled home environment, and particularly using your air conditioning as a constant with the windows closed if you live in a place like Houston.

[jjahshik32]

Wow 32 years and 28 years! Great to hear!

Do some people here clean their drivers and such every 5 years or so or what do you guys do to keep your speakers very clean? I guess keep the grill on most of the time and just dust them or wipe the speakers down every couple weeks so that dust wont build up?

[beden1]

Wow 32 years and 28 years! Great to hear!

Do some people here clean their drivers and such every 5 years or so or what do you guys do to keep your speakers very clean? I guess keep the grill on most of the time and just dust them or wipe the speakers down every couple weeks so that dust wont build up?

Best thing to do is keep the grills on so the drivers don't get that much dust on them. I clean my drivers every couple of years, gently using a clean soft bristle paint brush. Just use one of those Swifter hand wipes to dust the outside cabinets.

For polishing, use Pledge sprayed on the rag (not directly on your speakers) if the cabinets are wood or wood veneer. If using Pledge, you want to first remove the grills and carefully wipe around the front wood surfaces without getting it on your drivers. If you don't do these sections when polishing the exterior surfaces, then the sections not done will discolor at a different rate over the years.

[jjahshik32]

Thanks for the advice! I thought I was the only one that uses that swiffer wipe to wipe down the outside cabinets.

[scanido]

I started a thread like this a while back. There's some good information in there and a polish that B&W recommends, I can't remember off hand.

[scanido]

Here you go:

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=20819

[beden1]

Here you go:

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=20819

I read the posts in the link you provided, and thanks. Rebelman suggested using Guardsman polish. This is an excellent product, and we use it on our finer polished wood furniture like the dining room table, etc. They also make a magic marker stain applicator that is excellent for touching up chips and scratches. The package they sell comes with three shades of stain.

They mentioned Scott's Liquid Gold. I personally have found it to be a bit greasy and seems to build up more on the surface than other products.

Someone mentioned doing nothing at all, as polishes can damage the original finish. This may be true of some poorly finished wood products, as most all of these polishes contain turpentine or an equivalent solvent which could break down the (poorly applied) finish over time.

On the B&W speakers from what I can see from the 803D, 703 and HTM7, and HTM1 . . . they have a very good finish, and I personally don't see any issues with using solvent based furniture products on them.

I have restored several large cabin sport fishing boats in my time, including the interior cabinetry(s) and wood furniture that is constantly subjected to a tough salt ocean environment. A bit of good furniture polish does wonders in helping to maintain these fine wood finishes.

I have also found that using the Pledge with lemon variety helps to keep the wax from building up on the surface. The lemon in it seems to cut the coat that was applied during the last polishing.

[jjahshik32]

thanks guys.

[DM3000 Owner]

I have owned Klipsch speakers that were 30+ years old and going strong. I have a pair of DM3000's that are about 23 years old. I had to reglue the woofer surrounds and I linseed il them once a year.

Foam woofer rot seems to be a thing of the past. I have had to refoam a few pair of 20 year old JBL speakers.

The one thing that will need to be replaced is the capacitors in the crossovers if a speaker is about 20 years old. Not difficult to do if you can solder. The "ESR" (equivalent series resistance) changes and the crossover points change, which loads the drivers incorrectly. Because teh degredation is slow, you will not notice until you refresh a crossover with bad caps. The inductors do not wear out. Resistors should be replaced if you are replacing caps. I replaced the caps in all of the above speakers. The B&W DM3000's were the most recent.

When I bought my S800's I was also looking at Sonus Faber speakers. One big problem was that they encase their crossovers in muck. I was afraid to buy ten year old speakers and have to replace the entire network in another 10 years. The S800's shoudl be very easy to replace caps when the tiem comes.

[beden1]

I have owned Klipsch speakers that were 30+ years old and going strong. I have a pair of DM3000's that are about 23 years old. I had to reglue the woofer surrounds and I linseed il them once a year.

Foam woofer rot seems to be a thing of the past. I have had to refoam a few pair of 20 year old JBL speakers.

The one thing that will need to be replaced is the capacitors in the crossovers if a speaker is about 20 years old. Not difficult to do if you can solder. The "ESR" (equivalent series resistance) changes and the crossover points change, which loads the drivers incorrectly. Because teh degredation is slow, you will not notice until you refresh a crossover with bad caps. The inductors do not wear out. Resistors should be replaced if you are replacing caps. I replaced the caps in all of the above speakers. The B&W DM3000's were the most recent.

.

Thanks for this information. Where do you get the matching parts for the replacements?

[cntlaw]

6 yrs old Proac Response 1sc (Bird Eye Maple) still looked brand new which was sold and worth 60% of its purchase price. My room has dehumidifier on through out the year.

[DM3000 Owner]

Thanks for this information. Where do you get the matching parts for the replacements?

I have a local shop refoam the woofers. This should not be a problem with B&W's.

My B&W DM3000's woofer surrounds became unglued. I spoke to an engineer at B&W and he recommended model glue. The stuff that I used did not work very well and I wound up using silicone. It worked great.

As far as caps, you need caps that work well with your speakers. For example, bright or forward sounding caps do not work well with horns.

I used Clarity Caps PX series for the DM3000's. When the S800's are ready (in about 15 years) I don't know what I will use. If I had to do it today, I'd use Clarity Caps SA Series.

[beden1]

I have a local shop refoam the woofers. This should not be a problem with B&W's.

As far as caps, you need caps that work well with your speakers. For example, bright or forward sounding caps do not work well with horns.

I used Clarity Caps PX series for the DM3000's. When the S800's are ready (in about 15 years) I don't know what I will use. If I had to do it today, I'd use Clarity Caps SA Series.

The reason I'm asking, is that the 32 year old speakers I have are A/D/S 910 Reference. Unfortunately, the original company that made them - A/D/S using Braun components, no longer produce or have replacement stock of the same high quality products due to the typical merger after merger scenario.

If I can find a good speaker refurbisher, do you think they could figure out what would match well, without changing the overall voice signature of the speakers? Also, how noticeable were the sound differences when you were finished? I checked the foam in the cabinets and it appears to be like new. The surrounds on all of the speakers also look like new, and I have not used any lubricating products whatsoever since 1975.

Sometimes I wonder if things like this are truly a necessity, or folk lore. I read about ESR and it did look like real science, but in reality, what is truly audible versus anal retentive?

[wettou]

I have 603 that are about 13 years old and they still rock I sure hope my 802s will last at least 15 years? We live near the pacific ocean and the humidity is very high sea salt ouch!

[DM3000 Owner]

If your caps are 32 years old they need to be replaced. You will hear a difference when you put new ones in. 32 year old caps will be way out of spec.

All you need is a schematic. A good poly cap like Clarity Caps SA's should be just fine.

Check out Tony Gee's website:

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html