Do hi-fi speakers deterioate over time?

I’ve got a pair of old Mission 700s (on some Atacama Nexus stands) and although they sound OK, the base is a bit lacking and I wonder if the speaker cones deteriorate so I’m contemplating an upgrade – possibly to these Monitor Audios…

https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/standmount-speakers/monitor-audio-bronze-2-walnut.html

…would any new speaker sound better than my old Missions. And also would any floorstander (even a budget ones like the link below), give a better base?…

https://www.superfi.co.uk/p-15816-monitor-audio-mr4-speakers-pair.aspx

I know you should audition speakers but the room mine are in is far from optimal, so any audition wouldn’t be realistic.

As long as the cone/rubber hasn’t perished I can’t see why they would deteriorate. Get better maybe as the materials have more flex/give. But that’s a guess…

It could be oxygen getting into the speaker cables and making them bidirectional.

It could be oxygen getting into the speaker cables and making them bidirectional.

This is very much more a problem than people realise. Hi-fi always sounds better at altitude which is why french techno sounds so good in ski resorts.

This is very much more a problem than people realise. Hi-fi always sounds better at altitude which is french techno sounds so good in ski resorts.

Wut? 😀

I’ve got old Mission 700 surround set. I do wonder that myself but less with the bass but the front centre seems weaker, and one of the front sides weaker.

However I have suspicion that it’s actually my hearing! 😮 😀

(last visit to the doctor, checked my ears, “oh yeah, they’re blocked”).

High altitude French techno skiing. Like the idea of that 😀 . Though high altitude beer may be the reason.

He has a point, I live near the coast and French techno sounds awful here

I’ve had a few old pairs. Listening to a pair of MS 5.10’s at the moment, must be twenty years plus and they are still nice. I had a pair of Mission 733’s but they deteriorated quite quickly, driver replaced more than once and eventually binned. I’ve a pair of possibly Tannoy in the garage and they sound wooly as hell. So to conclude they might and they might not.

EDIT: Also at sea level.

French techno sounds awful in Bedfordshire too, and we all know how high above sea level it is there.

I rest my case M’lud.

Incidentally I remember showing my dad my first HI-Fi when I was 17. ‘What’s the point?’ he said, ‘You haven’t got Hi-Fi ears’

🙄

The capacitors in the cross over deteriorate over time as can the rubber cone surround.

would any new speaker sound better than my old Missions

no, but a lot of similar bookshelf speakers would.

It could be oxygen getting into the speaker cables and making them bidirectional.

They are near a door and theres a bit of a draft so that could be it!

Mr Smith +1

What’s ‘French Techno’ then? Minimal with an Accordion?

I swapped a pair of similar Missions for a pair of Monitor Audios, RX2’s.

Very, very different, MA’s sounded so much drier and thinner, much smaller scale, fussy and delicate.

Sound fine in a different room, where the Missions sounded lost.

Have a look at Q Accoustic speakers at that price range.

French techno for testing your subs:

I got a pair of B&O Beovox MC120.2 speakers (mid 80s) and had to replace the foam cones for the 20cm drivers. They’d long since deteriorated into a weird sticky texture. You wouldn’t necessarily tell by looking, but they came apart very easily.

It could be that Mission 7 series did lack base …
I has some 774s …. which I got ride of because of that …
Which I replaced with some very expensive B&Ws …
It would have been much better just to buy a sub 🙂

Well, as the cone is supported by a foam ring, age could cause the material to deteriorate, same as all rubber and synthetic materials, plus the voice coils can collapse if an amp is over-driven and starts clipping the signal, which heats the coils up and the speaker stops moving smoothly.
Not saying this has happened, but it’s certainly possible, I’ve sold speakers that have been returned with a driver issue, and the owner had been playing reggae at high volume and wrecked the bass drivers.
Pushing the cone gently in and out will show if there’s an issue, it should move smoothly, with no hint of roughness.

Loudspeaker drivers can detoriate over time, as can other components in the system.

Have you recently set the speakers up again? One cause of lack of bass can be speaker placement.

I know you should audition speakers but the room mine are in is far from optimal, so any audition wouldn’t be realistic.

Can you not arrange to demo some from a shop in your room at home?

My speakers were fine until some daft punk ruined them.

My speakers were fine until some daft punk ruined them.

sorry, i was drunk and needed a tinkle…..

there is a company that sells replacement ehh flange bits that join the cone to its frame, as the rubber deterioates with time, but you’d have to decide if it’s worth doing that

good_hifi on eBay (shipping from the Netherlands) sells nice surrounds.

On older mission speakers, especially those with clear polypropylene cones, the plastic become hard and brittle with age. This may affect the sound, and certainly makes them easy to break.