Speakers

[NiceCupOfTea]

It's been a while since I dipped my toe in the hifi waters - I currently have an Arcam CD72 and recently bought an Arcam AVR100 to replace my old Alpha9 which has a bad connection on the source select.

Speakers are a venerable pair of Mission 731s which have done sterling service and sound pretty good.

Having an AV amp I'm keen to make use of it so was thinking of buying a new pair of fronts and retiring the 731s to rear speakers. My brother did similar and bought Mission 780s IIRC.

Back in the day I lusted after a pair of B&W 601 S2s: I listen to a real mix of music - rock, classical, electronic - and really liked the open sound.

So I'm on a budget now but am sorely tempted to get something that I wanted 10 years ago but is now cheap!

So, how are the 601 S2s today? Anything else I should be looking at?

Maybe I should buy another pair of 731s!

[custardkid]

related to this... do speakers wear out?

do they need replaceing every 10yrs??

[CRACKIE]

NiceCupOfTea said:

It's been a while since I dipped my toe in the hifi waters - I currently have an Arcam CD72 and recently bought an Arcam AVR100 to replace my old Alpha9 which has a bad connection on the source select.

Speakers are a venerable pair of Mission 731s which have done sterling service and sound pretty good.

Having an AV amp I'm keen to make use of it so was thinking of buying a new pair of fronts and retiring the 731s to rear speakers. My brother did similar and bought Mission 780s IIRC.

Back in the day I lusted after a pair of B&W 601 S2s: I listen to a real mix of music - rock, classical, electronic - and really liked the open sound.

So I'm on a budget now but am sorely tempted to get something that I wanted 10 years ago but is now cheap!

So, how are the 601 S2s today? Anything else I should be looking at?

Maybe I should buy another pair of 731s!

If the 601's sound was for you back then I'd try them again now - also worth trying Tannoy Mercury F1, Wharfedale Diamond 9.0, Mordaunt-Short Avant 902i.

[CRACKIE]

custardkid said:

related to this... do speakers wear out?

do they need replaceing every 10yrs??

Most speakers don't wear out ~ the reverse really. The bass/mid units work at their best after "running in" which helps to settle the cone, surround and voice coil 'spider'.

Speakers with bass driver surrounds made from foam rather than rubber certainly do wear out but these are very rare now.

[The_Burg]

CRACKIE said:

custardkid said:

related to this... do speakers wear out?

do they need replaceing every 10yrs??

Most speakers don't wear out ~ the reverse really. The bass/mid units work at their best after "running in" which helps to settle the cone, surround and voice coil 'spider'.

Speakers with bass driver surrounds made from foam rather than rubber certainly do wear out but these are very rare now.

Partially true. Just as anything mechanical there is wear. Rotate you bass drivers 180 degrees. (Allow a new running period and see). Spendor BC1s were infamous for this as the supports sag allowing the coils to scrape on the magnets. Was much worse on the foam surrounds, though thankfully as stated above these are more rare these days.

Another tweak is to tighten all your driver and connector panels, amazing the difference this makes. On my old Mission 752LE you could actually here the difference 1/4 of a turn made.

[snotrag]

CRACKIE said:

also worth trying Tannoy Mercury F1, Wharfedale Diamond 9.0, Mordaunt-Short Avant 902i.

I tried all of those and bought the Tannoys.

They are plugged into a NAD amp used in my Bedroom for mainly musical use - I too listen to a broad range, and while these speakers dont have the whacking great 'thump' my old Floorstanders did, they have a really nicely balanced sound and I'm chuffed to bits with them. Great Value aswell.

[CRACKIE]

The_Burg said:

CRACKIE said:

custardkid said:

related to this... do speakers wear out?

do they need replaceing every 10yrs??

Most speakers don't wear out ~ the reverse really. The bass/mid units work at their best after "running in" which helps to settle the cone, surround and voice coil 'spider'.

Speakers with bass driver surrounds made from foam rather than rubber certainly do wear out but these are very rare now.

Partially true. Just as anything mechanical there is wear. Rotate you bass drivers 180 degrees. (Allow a new running period and see). Spendor BC1s were infamous for this as the supports sag allowing the coils to scrape on the magnets. Was much worse on the foam surrounds, though thankfully as stated above these are more rare these days.

Another tweak is to tighten all your driver and connector panels, amazing the difference this makes. On my old Mission 752LE you could actually here the difference 1/4 of a turn made.

The question from custardkid was "do they need replacing every 10 years ?" The BC1 had a basket design issue and was produced approx 35 years ago.
The speakers made by the major brands during the last 15 years will have been produced using cones / surrounds / spiders / adhesives / capacitors that don't wear out in "normal" use.

Agreed ~ Certainly worth making sure all screws are tight.