Speakers are typically constructed of metal, paper, plastic, fiber and foam – materials that are all susceptible to moisture accumulation and extreme hot or cold temperatures, which may degrade them over time. Humidity levels or extreme hot/cold temperature conditions can further deteriorate their condition.
Yes, speakers can degrade with age due to various factors such as wear and tear, deterioration of internal components, and the effects of environmental conditions, resulting in diminished sound quality and performance over time.
Materials
Speakers are typically constructed of soft materials like paper, plastic and aramid fiber which may degrade under certain environmental conditions, leading to sound distortion or dulling over time and potentially making an audiophile unhappy.
Speaker cones can deteriorate over time when exposed to UV rays, humidity or physical trauma. A paper cone’s surface may begin to sag after prolonged use while its foam surround gradually wears away with usage.
Tweeter tweeters of speakers can become damaged when the ferrofluid evaporates, leaving behind magnetic particles which clog the voice coil of its tweeter and prevent movement of high frequencies; as a result, high frequencies won’t reproduce properly and could severely diminish output quality – however these components can easily be replaced to restore functionality of speakers.
Moving Parts
Some speakers contain controls (like switches) that deteriorate with use, causing scratchy sounds when activated. Luckily, this is a fairly common issue that can easily be remedied.
Speakers that are properly maintained often outlive their lifespan for decades without experiencing significant degradation. This is due to being designed with repeated stress in mind.
However, their environment also plays a part. Speakers that are exposed to extreme temperatures, humidity levels and UV rays may experience faster degradation of components such as the surround and crossover capacitor than speakers that are rarely used. Regular usage will hasten this process even further.
Humidity
Humidity and electronics do not mix well, particularly speakers made of delicate materials like paper, aramid fibers, plastics and others. Overexposure to high humidity levels may cause the foam surround that holds the cone diaphragm to degrade over time affecting sound quality of speakers over time.
High humidity also causes the spider inside your speaker system to loosen, leading to distortion and reduced precision resulting in speaker systems that sound muffled or less clear than before.
But if your speakers have been properly maintained and cared for, they will last years to come. By keeping them clean and dust-free, wear and tear can be reduced over time and their lifespan extended further. In order to extend its longevity further still, avoid playing music at high volumes for extended periods as this places additional strain on components and speeds up their deterioration.
Temperature
Electronic components wear down with use and exposure to certain environmental conditions; speakers are no exception. Over time, their components deteriorate, impacting sound quality and performance in general. Some components, like cone surrounds, capacitors in crossovers and ferrofluid used in some tweeters are particularly prone to wearing out over time.
Humid environments and extreme cold/heat temperatures can accelerate speaker deterioration. Aramid fiber and paper cones are particularly susceptible to becoming damaged in humid environments as they tend to absorb atmospheric moisture; additionally, their damage increases when exposed to ultraviolet rays from sunlight.
Over time, speakers’ voice coils and spiders deteriorate over time as they expand and contract constantly, leading to their tension being broken and eventually losing it altogether. This results in poor cone vibrations and less accurate frequencies. Furthermore, mechanical stress from movement or flexing causes foam surround wear-and-tear; new speakers require a break-in period at high volume so their spider and voice coil can stretch properly before use.