Using old drivers with new drivers.

[MellowTone]

I have recently come into a pair of SEAS 25F-EW drivers quite cheaply, in good condition. I am considering buying some new (SEAS) drivers to go with these and make a pair of 2- or 3-way speakers.

My question is this, do you think that mixing old drivers with new ones in a system would cause any issues? Would it be easier in the long run to just get brand new drivers?

[badman]

Not unless you intend to have an old one on one channel and a new one on the other.

If both woofers are old and both mids new, you're A-OK. A driver stands on performance alone, not age. The most enjoyable drivers I've worked with have all been older. Currently I use 50 year old JBL LE8T with 30 year old Heil AMT1.

[Godzilla]

>>> Currently I use 50 year old JBL LE8T with 30 year old Heil AMT1.

I bet that sounds good!

Mixing old and new doesn't make a difference. As long as the old drivers are not ready for the garbage they should be fine. If and when they do go bad you can replace them.

Godzilla

[badman]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

>>> Currently I use 50 year old JBL LE8T with 30 year old Heil AMT1.

I bet that sounds good!

Mixing old and new doesn't make a difference. As long as the old drivers are not ready for the garbage they should be fine. If and when they do go bad you can replace them.

Godzilla

Unfortunately, it's not where I need it to be. The beamwidth on the LE8T currently is way too tapered. The heil is doing it's thing in spectacular fashion, but I can do better. Probably will move to active XO, 4th order at 2 or 3k, but haven't gone there yet. I also think the TL is overstuffed- 50% fill in the first section, but the pathlength is unobstructed. We'll play a bit and figure it out. I tend to prefer overdamped to under, b/c bandwidth can always be brought back with a sub.

[electroaudio]

Originally Posted by MellowTone

I have recently come into a pair of SEAS 25F-EW drivers quite cheaply, in good condition. I am considering buying some new (SEAS) drivers to go with these and make a pair of 2- or 3-way speakers.

My question is this, do you think that mixing old drivers with new ones in a system would cause any issues? Would it be easier in the long run to just get brand new drivers?

I am not familiar with that driver at all, but if its a paperdriver then it tends to change its performance a bit as the years go by.
For instance, I have two jbl 2123h that i bought new 1986 and two that were recently reconed, and these pairs dont have the same behaviour.

You need to measure them and compare them to eachother, and then decide if the difference is worth to care about.