Do Old Speakers Go "Bad"?

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

As speakers age, do their sound reproducing characteristics change?

I have an Evans FET-500 that Derrell Stephens built for me back in 1985. Recently, I sent the chassis to Derrell and he tweaked everything back to original specs. He gave it a clean bill of health.

The amp works great; however, I still don't hear the same tone I remember it would produce back in the "old days". I'm wondering if a speaker change is in order. The original speaker has been in use now for about 25 years.

Lee, from South Texas

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

What I can tell you for certain is that as memories and ears age, the recollection of sound characteristics heard long ago in comparison to those of more recent experience definitely DOES change!

As for the speakers themselves changing, that would be a yes and no, sorta sometimes. With use, but not necessarily age, many speaker surround systems tend to loosen up and thus can become slightly more efficient, i.e. louder, particularly as regards the lower frequencies. If the cone is exposed to moisture it may sag a bit and the alignment can be affected, which will cause the voice coil to rub and generate obvious distortion. However, age of itself is not much of a factor unless you have foam surrounds, in which case dust mites, who just love the taste of the lubricant used to keep the foam soft and flexible, may gobble up the surround and leave the cone free standing, but this is obvious upon visual inspection.

So many things affect how we hear sounds that in a case such as you describe it is far more likely that our perception and not the speaker is what has changed. At least that's what the science tells us....

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

I neglected to mention that a very sharp blow or serious impact of another sort can affect the properties of the magnet itself, for instance if the speaker was dropped while out of its cabinet and struck the magnet on a hard surface or if it was hit with a hammer really hard it could lose some of its magnetic strength.

If the speaker has always been mounted in the cabinet it is highly unlikely that such an event has taken place, normal bumps to the amp in transport are not going to produce this phenomenon, such de-magnetifications requires direct and severe impact to the magnet structure itself.

You can get your speakers re-gaussed if you think that the magnetic field has lost its performance edge but it tends to be a tad bit expensive. If you want to be absolutely certain that the speaker is in top performing condition you might ask your local speaker guru if this is something that they are equipped for and what it will cost you.

Ken Fox · From: Nashville GA USA

I had a 1502-4 that had me puzzled. Had a farting sound at low volumes. The voice coil appeared perfect and no rubbing. After a careful inspection I found the spider was almost completely un=glued from the basket area!

Old speakers dry out, rot, paper deteriorates. I see 100's in the shop every year. There is a just a point in time when you need to be-cone or replace older speakers.

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Ah yes, Ken, you are quite right. In my posts above I failed to consider that there are lots of less durable and more inxpensive drivers in countless amps out there, especially those with paper surrounds, that will definitely turn to dust over time, so yes, what you said exactly.

As a confirmed JBL and TAD junkie for well over thirty years now I have a number of 12", 15" and 18" JBL and TAD pro audio speakers that have been hammered on for decades at extremely high SPL's and are still working perfectly. The only issues I have ever had with these manufacturers' pro audio and musical instrument drivers have been from subjecting them to major abuse and never simply to old age. Burnt and crushed voice coils, torn surrounds, cones and dust covers with rips in them I have seen, all of which have been due to overdriving them to the point of failure. We have also repaired a few speakers with holes in cones and surrounds from installation mishaps or transient objects penetrating them and one or two that were dropped on concrete floors or in shipping that had to be re-gaussed.

I still think it is hilarious that while there can sometimes be tears from over-excursion the all-too-common total disintegration of foam speaker surrounds is not due to the foam drying out of its own accord but to dust mites consuming the moistening agents in them!

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

In some cases, especially with low power Fender Tweed amps, the most beheld and worshiped examples of these tone-glorious little amps often have the original speakers in them. If the originals are still intact, the years of wear and use only seem to have increased the tone quality. The guys I know who love little Fender tweeds are always on the lookout for original and still healthy speakers. Some argue that the old, played speaker is the primary source of the magic mojo, much more significant than the electronics. It seems like speakers in the higher powered amps just don't hold up as well over the decades, but little 5 and 12 watt amps don't beat up the paper and glue and surrounds as badly.

Brad

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