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retro speakers - tweeter lifespan

Darren

Darren

So gentle when he tries to understand.
I've seen a pair of old speakers I'd quite like - my kinda 80s-90's vibe. They arent valuable and have original soft dome tweeters.
Lately I've become concerned about dried out ferro fluid etc Do you think the tweeters are likely to be the weak point on speakers of this age? or am I just being a wuss?
 
All sorts can "go off" or wear out including ferrofluid tweeters yes... Now there's a thing non of us even suspected when they were the new hi-tech in tweeter design! You can get ferrofluid to replace the old stuff after cleaning it out if you're keen. Some can be fine after 30 years and some need attention after say 15...
Bipolar electrolytic caps in crossovers can also wear, foam surrounds on woofers can rot away, "rubber" surrounds on woofers can perish or harden up effecting their response etc.
Some speakers OTOH, partly by luck and partly by good design seem to be usually fine even after 50 years.
 
This certainly can happen. I have seen it among a pair of 90s vintage Dynaudio D28/AFs, leaving some sticky goo behind. The good thing is that Dynaudio will repair/part swap old gear, at a price. Bought a pair of selected and refurbished D28/2s recently, and they are giving sterling service.

Best,
Oliver
 
Neat used quite a range of tweeters! There must have been maybe half a dozen different one's used in the Petite over the years...
 
In the last couple of years I have bought three pairs of old speakers for 50 to the 100 pound mark.
I've tried several new ones too, at around the 600 to 2000 pound mark that didn't really do it for me.

I've stuck with the old (30 to 35 years of age) ones. They sound nicely run in.

I did get a few lemons along the way as well. Like the Wharfedale Tritons with no working tweeters. It cost more to send them back than they were worth.

There is a bit of luck involved, but for beer money, it's sort of expected.

 
Minio said:
In the last couple of years I have bought three pairs of old speakers for 50 to the 100 pound mark.
I've tried several new ones too, at around the 600 to 2000 pound mark that didn't really do it for me.

I've stuck with the old (30 to 35 years of age) ones. They sound nicely run in.

I did get a few lemons along the way as well. Like the Wharfedale Tritons with no working tweeters. It cost more to send them back than they were worth.

There is a bit of luck involved, but for beer money, it's sort of expected.
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I had a working set of Wharfedale Tritons... you weren't missing much... One of the many items which although I don't have them anymore I can't recall what happened to them:confused: IIRC they had speaker cable hardwired and permanently attached and there were a couple of pegs or some such on the back which you wound the cable between for transportation... Struck me as a little odd that such a small speaker was a three way design...
 

These are my favourite. LS4a, metal dome tweeter all in good order. My regular listen to speaker but must admit I'm a bit of a fanboy for the Rogers badges. Cost about a ton these days. Originally were £250.
But that was 29 years ago.
 
Darren said:
I've seen a pair of old speakers I'd quite like - my kinda 80s-90's vibe. They arent valuable and have original soft dome tweeters.
Lately I've become concerned about dried out ferro fluid etc Do you think the tweeters are likely to be the weak point on speakers of this age? or am I just being a wuss?
Click to expand...
What are they Darren? Quite a few designs are still around, and companies like Wilmslow Audio stock and sell replacements or well suited alternatives. If the tweets are something familiar, then you might replace them for not too much cost? Or you can simply replace the ferrofluid. There are a good few hits on google for 'ferrofluid replacement.
 
The old Audax soft domes can have a limited lifespan too. The sticky dope they used on the cloth dome could lose its physical properties over time, and also attracted dust.
 
Thanks everyone. This is pretty much what I thought. Might be knackered, might not be. Might be repairable, might not be. DIY in hifi terms aint my thing, so screw it... better to save up for new things that will work.
 
Must be good design that has kept the Yamaha NS-1000M going for decades. The pair I have (based on serial numbers) dates back to the late 1970s, which makes them 40 years old. I don't think ferro-fluid is used for either of the domes, and the woofer has a doped fabric surround, which should last almost forever.

That they also sound fantastic is just icing on this cake.
 
I just use the theory that if they sound better than new ones then they can’t have anything wrong with them.
 
Can ferro fluid go bad even if tweeters stay in storage?
I am thinking to get new tweeters to keep them as spares, originals in speakers are 20 years old, Seas 27TFF H0831-06
 
IME, yes. I was given a pair of Dynaudio tweeters once that spent most of their lifes in the closet. The FF in both was a sticky brown goo.

Best,
Oliver
 
Minio said:

These are my favourite. LS4a, metal dome tweeter all in good order. My regular listen to speaker but must admit I'm a bit of a fanboy for the Rogers badges. Cost about a ton these days. Originally were £250.
But that was 29 years ago.
Click to expand...
Bizarre that LS4a is cheap while LS3 5a is astronomically expensive.
 
Darren said:
Thanks everyone. This is pretty much what I thought. Might be knackered, might not be. Might be repairable, might not be. DIY in hifi terms aint my thing, so screw it... better to save up for new things that will work.
Click to expand...
Things like glues last for about 20-25 years. Lots of rubber items do too. I had an old pair of fell running shoes, still looked OK, bought in the 90s and used a fair bit, then stored for a while. I took them out a couple of years ago. They fell apart. The soles literally fell off. Similar materials are/were used in speakers and will go the same way. I don't think that you have to "save up for new things" but buying a more recent used item seems wise. It's like used cars. Buy one 8-10 years old and you can expect it to be reasonably fault-free for 5 years or so. After 15 years, hmm. So would I buy a 10 year old car? Yes, I recently did. Would I buy a 20 year old one, or 25 years old? No thanks. Unless it's ridiculously cheap.
 
gints said:
Can ferro fluid go bad even if tweeters stay in storage?
Click to expand...

The problem can only be evaporation - wrap them as tightly as reasonably possible in a few layers of foil and they ought to last many years.

The same goes for storing rubber - that deteriorates due to attack by ozone - wrap in something aluminised - superb gas barrier properties of aluminium fims are why so much food is wrapped in aluminised plastic fims (usually polyprop')
 
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