How long do woofers usually last

Hi-

I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old. I
noticed that the outer
part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
material is called. Is it common
for this to happen to speakers in time?

Thanks

"ricknielsenshat" <kquickel@cuna.coop> wrote in message
news:9d6f1008-7a79-4365-9cd7-d0c533f12623@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups . com ...
> Hi-
>
> I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old. I
> noticed that the outer
> part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
> material is called. Is it common
> for this to happen to speakers in time?
>
Very common. The spongy foam dries out and tears. It's easily and cheaply
repairable, do a search on woofer repair and you'll find lots of kits
available. I did a pair in a couple of evenings. First you remove the
speaker from the cabinet, cut away the old foam from the paper or
polypropylene speaker cone with an exacto knife, shim the voice coil to
center the cone, and glue on the new foam surround. It's that simple. Cost
is about $20 for a kit which does two woofers.

Dave

On Apr 14, 11:35 am, "Dave" <dspear9...@yahoo . com > wrote:
> "ricknielsenshat" <kquic...@cuna.coop> wrote in message
>
> news:9d6f1008-7a79-4365-9cd7-d0c533f12623@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups . com ...>=
Hi-
>
> > I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old.  I=

> > noticed that the outer
Thanks for the info Dave...I appreciate it.

> > part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
> > material is called.  Is it common
> > for this to happen to speakers in time?
>
> Very common.  The spongy foam dries out and tears.  It's easily and ch=
eaply
> repairable, do a search on woofer repair and you'll find lots of kits
> available.  I did a pair in a couple of evenings.  First you remove th=
e
> speaker from the cabinet, cut away the old foam from the paper or
> polypropylene speaker cone with an exacto knife, shim the voice coil to
> center the cone, and glue on the new foam surround.  It's that simple. =
 Cost
> is about $20 for a kit which does two woofers.
>
> Dave

On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:35:38 +0000, Dave wrote:

> "ricknielsenshat" <kquickel@cuna.coop> wrote in message
> news:9d6f1008-7a79-4365-9cd7-
d0c533f12623@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups . com ...
>> Hi-
>>
>> I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old. I
>> noticed that the outer
>> part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
>> material is called. Is it common
>> for this to happen to speakers in time?
>>
> Very common. The spongy foam dries out and tears. It's easily and
> cheaply repairable, do a search on woofer repair and you'll find lots of
> kits available. I did a pair in a couple of evenings. First you remove
> the speaker from the cabinet, cut away the old foam from the paper or
> polypropylene speaker cone with an exacto knife, shim the voice coil to
> center the cone, and glue on the new foam surround. It's that simple.
> Cost is about $20 for a kit which does two woofers.
>
> Dave


Hmm I recently paid about ten times as much for
a repair of my dynaudio's.
But hey, I live in the netherlands where everything is
more expensive then anywhere else in the world.
It is now fitted with rubber instead of the foam stuff.

Edmund

ricknielsenshat wrote:

> Hi-
>
> I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old. I
> noticed that the outer
> part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
> material is called. Is it common
> for this to happen to speakers in time?

It's very common for speakers made with that kind of material to have that
problem.

You may be able to get a repair kit. Google should help.
* w w w .speakerrepair . com /Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=11-007-B-INF&Category_Code=

Graham

In article <9d6f1008-7a79-4365-9cd7-d0c533f12623@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups . com >, ricknielsenshat <kquickel@cuna.coop> wrote:
>Hi-
>
>I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old. I
>noticed that the outer
>part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
>material is called. Is it common
>for this to happen to speakers in time?
>
>Thanks

Foam can go bad in less than 10 years but can last longer. If its really good, you can
grab at it without it falling apart. The real test.

Some woofer types can last a 100 years or more.

greg

In article <fu08hc$dkq$1@usenet01.srv.cis.pitt.edu>, zekfrivo@zekfrivolous . com (GregS) wrote:
>In article <9d6f1008-7a79-4365-9cd7-d0c533f12623@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups . com >,
> ricknielsenshat <kquickel@cuna.coop> wrote:
>>Hi-
>>
>>I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old. I
>>noticed that the outer
>>part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
>>material is called. Is it common
>>for this to happen to speakers in time?
>>
>>Thanks
>
>Foam can go bad in less than 10 years but can last longer. If its really good,
> you can
>grab at it without it falling apart. The real test.
>
>Some woofer types can last a 100 years or more.

That gets me wondering how old is the oldest woofer ??

greg

zekfrivo@zekfrivolous . com (GregS) wrote in
news:fu08u2$dp8$1@usenet01.srv.cis.pitt.edu:

>>In article
>><9d6f1008-7a79-4365-9cd7-d0c533f12623@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups . com >,
>> ricknielsenshat <kquickel@cuna.coop> wrote:
.
>>
>>Some woofer types can last a 100 years or more.
>
> That gets me wondering how old is the oldest woofer ??

Wikipedia sez the bass reflex enclosure design patent was issued in
1932 to Bell Labs; moving coil electromagnetic loudspeakers go back at
least a couple of decades earlier, which would comprise the loudspeaker
as we know it if not specifically the "woofer".

Other types including compressed air drivers were known in the late
1800s; I think Alexander Graham Bell is credited with the first
loudspeaker in his invention of the telephone but like a lot of other
things, there were multiple and nearly concurrent inventors.

Most of those early speakers had paper/cloth surrounds and didn't have
to flex very much, unlike the more common high-excursion drivers in
use since the late 50s. Rubber or rubber-like materials for the
surrounds seem to be more durable, but a lot depends on environment,
actual useage, and individual choices of surround materials.

I found my current speakers, Acoustic Research AR-11's, at a Goodwill
for $18; the only thing they really needed despite some cosmetic damage
was to replace the woofer surrounds. I'd never done one before then.
It was a straightforward procedure, but a bit tedious. It's important
to shim the voice coils so accurate coil/magnet gap alignment is
maintained.

--Damon

Damon Hill wrote:
<snip>
> I found my current speakers, Acoustic Research AR-11's, at a Goodwill
> for $18; the only thing they really needed despite some cosmetic damage
> was to replace the woofer surrounds. I'd never done one before then.
> It was a straightforward procedure, but a bit tedious. It's important
> to shim the voice coils so accurate coil/magnet gap alignment is
> maintained.
>
> --Damon
>
I've also bought thrift store speakers with deteriorated surrounds. My
first experience was enough to make me think hard about doing it
lightly. One woof went intermittent within a week or two, presumably
due to a fatigued connection between voice coil and terminal (exactly
where, I haven't yet determined).

To the OP: since your surrounds are obviously trashed, absolutely--and
immediately--unplug them! Irreparable damage can be done to the rest of
the driver unit by operating them with compromised surrounds. Not only
do they provide suspension for the cone, they also seal the cabinet.
It's very easy to overdrive a woofer with that seal gone, much less one
which has lost its capacity to keep the voice coil located in the center
of the gap (another function of the foam surround).

Fix them immediately or store them until you can...no other option. For
those of you who, like me, spot thrift store finds; be aware that the
original owner might have overdriven the woofers through ignorance or
inattention. The process of refoaming is sufficiently complex,
expensive and time-consuming that it can be pretty discouraging when it
doesn't work out. Replacement woofers are available, and reconing is an
option, of course; but factor in the possibility when making deciding
whether to buy.

Many nice vintage speakers used rubberized cloth surrounds. These hold
up almost indefinitely. My KLH Model Seventeens are a prime example: $9
at a local thrift. I'm going to refurb those surrounds with a coat of
rubber cement and recap the crossovers--along with a cabinet
refinish--but they sound quite nice as purchased. I've also found a
couple of HH Scott speaker systems for less than $20/pair...same
situation; sounded great as purchased, but benefited from
cosmetic/electrical attention.

All those systems date from the mid-60's.

jak

ricknielsenshat wrote:
> Hi-
>
> I have some Infinity's RS 10's I think that are about 14 years old. I
> noticed that the outer
> part of the woofers is flaky (the spongy part)...I'm not sure what the
> material is called. Is it common
> for this to happen to speakers in time?
>
> Thanks


I have a pair of Electro-Voice Aristocrats that are probably 50 years
old give or take, and they work fine. But then they don't have foam
rubber edges either.

--




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