Loudspeaker failure

[thadman]

I'm curious.

How many cycles are loudspeakers expected to complete over the duration of their lifetime before failure?

10^5 cycles? 10^10 cycles? 10^15 cycles?

The ultimate failure of a driver depends on the materials used. However, the expected number of cycles should be independent of this. It is what the end user expects, and what the engineer designs for. How many cycles do Scan Speak, Seas, and Audio Technology assume represents the life of a product?

White noise is a potential source (distribution of energy across the spectrum is flat).

[richie00boy]

It's not just the number of cycles but also the amplitude of them.

[thadman]

Originally Posted by richie00boy

It's not just the number of cycles but also the amplitude of them.

Yes. There are several variables to consider. However, I expect loudspeaker manufacturers to have a standard of some sort (number of cycles, amplitude, signal type, etc) which might represent the expected life of the driver.

[Coytee]

I've got some LaScalas that are now 30 years old. Original drivers, original surrounds, original diaphragms and still going.....

I've got some Electrovoice Interface D's that are 31 years old. Original drivers, shot surround on the woofers but the VMR and ST350 are still going strong. Well...let me correct that.... I've replaced the diaphragms on the ST350's, only the VMR's are 100% bone stock.

Given how the surrounds on the EV woofers rot out after about 10 years, it seems they didn't put as much concern into that as Klipsch did with their cloth surrounds ??

[Robh3606]

I have an ancient Altec coax almost 50 years old now sounds fine. It's not just a question of if the driver still works or not. The real issue is if they can still meet there T/S parameters or original published specs. I know there were no T/S for the older vintage drivers but they will all eventually wear out. The fact that this old drivers still work and sound good is a testiment to how well they were manufactured.

Rob

[nigelwright7557]

I have been in audio for about 30+ years and never had a loudspeaker die of old age.
Any that got damaged was done by an amp failing.
I tend to not overdrive speakers so perhaps thats why they have lasted so long.

[ashanthantony]

Originally Posted by thadman

I'm curious.

How many cycles are loudspeakers expected to complete over the duration of their lifetime before failure?

10^5 cycles? 10^10 cycles? 10^15 cycles?

The ultimate failure of a driver depends on the materials used. However, the expected number of cycles should be independent of this. It is what the end user expects, and what the engineer designs for. How many cycles do Scan Speak, Seas, and Audio Technology assume represents the life of a product?

White noise is a potential source (distribution of energy across the spectrum is flat).

[DcibeL]

Determining the life expectancy of a loudspeaker under normal use is not easily predictable. You have to consider the environment the speaker is in throughout it's life. Temperature, relative humidity, UV exposure, all affect how a material is "aged", let alone the mechanical stresses from using the speaker.

The only way to be sure is to measure T/S parameters and see how close they are to the published spec. However, as far as I know a lot of speaker specs do not include a tolerance spec so how far from spec before it is a dud is up to you.

[Cal Weldon]

How long does a car last?