It doesn’t matter whether you are listening to a very interesting playlist, producing, or recording, a speaker is one of the integral part of any sound system setup. One point this post wants you to note about speakers is that they can never last long, but how long do speakers last is the answer is this post is going to provide you with today. It is one question that so many audiophiles are yet to find answers to, but good speakers can last for several decades.
It is okay for you to consider replacing you speaker after using them for some time, and there are so many factors that will determine how long a speaker is going to last. Some of the factors that might determine how long a speaker lasts includes;
- Specifications of a speaker
- A speaker’s build quality
- Components used in designing the speaker
Lasting for as long as ten to twenty years is how long a speaker is likely to last, and speakers these days are different from one another when you look at them from the angle of longevity, durability, and quality. There are so many speakers that floods the market on a daily basis, so it would not be difficult for anyone to shop fora replacement when their speaker goes bad provided they have the right piece of information.
Being able to figure out what causes speakers to wear, tear, and breakdown is paramount to finding out how long a speaker is going to last. Some speakers are designed to be durable such that they function at their peak for so many years before breaking down eventually, while there are other speakers that won’t function for up to three months. It is very crucial that you are able to find the missing piece and solve the puzzle if you want your speakers to last long.
One point we mentioned earlier and we want you to note again is that speakers nowadays are not the same in terms of build quality, performance, and durability, and it is a fact that all of these factors combine to determine how long a speaker lasts. Finding out how old a speaker is before it starts breaking down is also down to these factors, and the technology behind designing some of these speakers have stayed the same over the past couple of years.
Speakers that were designed back in the 1980’s and the ones designed today are very different from each other in terms of components and functions, but having same speaker designs is something that hasn’t really changed over the years. You should not forget to note this point when you are trying to find out how bad speakers can get over time, and it will come as a surprise to you that there are speakers designed three decades ago that still functions.
One common issue a speaker is bound to face is what we call rotting foam, and the breakdown of foam material that surrounds the woofer is what rotting foam means. This breakdown can be as a result of exposure to environment, and you are risking the permanent damage of your speaker if the rotting foam problem is not addressed. The voice coil is an important part of every speaker, and the damage to the voice coil means a damage to the entire speaker.
The voice coil will get damaged where gaps begin to appear in the foam, and this will end up causing overheating, shorting, and degradation. It is very crucial that the foam inside the speaker gets repaired, but you might consider this as a stress compared to replacing an old speaker. It is okay for speakers to suffer certain issues over time, and this issues might cause the production of scratching sounds when listening to music.
How Long Do Speakers Last
Do Old Speakers Sound Bad?
Sometimes, old and vintage musical instruments tend to sound better over time. In the case of speakers, this might not be the case as there are several components inside a speaker that might break down from time to time. This doesn’t mean old speakers will sound bad, but the deterioration that happens inside speakers can be avoided if the speaker is well taken care of.
What this also means is taking good care of your speaker will cause speakers to sound really good even if there is a little amount of deterioration going on inside of it. Two different types of speaker degradation tends to happen over time, and they are also capable of causing your speakers to sound very bad.
- Environmental deterioration
- Electronic deterioration
A speaker can face wear and tear because of the environment it is used in, and this is what we call environmental degradation. For sound to be produced by a speaker, its cone must carry out an inward and outward movement. The inside of a speaker which we refer to as the surround is what the speaker cone flexes on, and designing a speaker’s surround can be done using a cloth material, foam, or rubber.
Based on environment, these materials have different ways of resisting degradation, and rubber and foam are know to wear off very fast compared to the cloth material. Surrounds will detach from a speaker cone when wearing out starts taking place, and the sounds produced by the speaker will be affected. You will notice your speaker sounding noisy and unclear because its surround is no longer attached to the speaker cone.
Time For Replacing Speakers
The time to replace a speaker is something that cannot be set or defined, but there are factors that will point out to you when it is necessary for you to change your speakers. A speakers frequency has a huge role to play when it comes to determining how long a speaker lasts, and a speaker is also going to last based on how well it is looked after. Trust me when i say a well taken care of speaker will last for about 30 years, but this isn’t common in cheap speakers.
Conclusion – How Long Do Speakers Last
There is a very huge possibility that a speaker will last as long as ten years, but this comes down to how you make use of the speaker. There is a belief spreading that modern day speakers do not last long, and there are some traces of truth in this statement. There are well built speakers available today, but constantly changing any bad component in your speaker will cause it to last long.
Monitoring how your speaker functions is very important, and have it in mind that speakers ought to last longer than cables and every other piece of equipment. You can tell if the time is right to replace a speaker if it is properly monitored.
