Do speaker systems sound quality degrade over time?

**bogan** · 18th December 2012, 21:13

Have a Sony 5.1 sound system which is about 9 years old now. I'm thinking the low end isn't what it used to be, does this happen? or has my bike just taught me what real low end sounds like?

Would look into upgrading if this was the case, maybe just the sub or the driver, dunno, need to figure out where the problem is first.

**bogan** · 18th December 2012, 21:19

The other internet tells me it might be caps or the gain pot, the sub does have a gain pot on it so might be a good place to start yeh?

**madandy** · 18th December 2012, 21:20

The cheap stuff does, yes. Foam surrounds fall apart, paper cones absorb moisture then dy over many cycles and degrade, voice coils get scratchy...
Of course it coud be your ears and brain...they change too

**Scuba_Steve** · 18th December 2012, 21:23

given the nature of speakers they do wear out, whether this is your problem or not is another story

**Geeen** · 18th December 2012, 21:24

Tough question. Over time the rubber surrounds do break down, but this is speaker dependant. I've seen 20yo + speakers that are perfect and 5yo speakers that are rooted. The subs that come with those types of systems only ever have a mid bass bloom. Go to a decent hifi shop and listen to some proper subs. Or come for a wander to the waikato and have a listen to mine. It rolls off at 9 hertz.

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**bogan** · 18th December 2012, 21:37

Got some tone generator software to see if I could narrow it down a bit. Still seems good around the 40hz mark, but not very much between 100 and 200, which I think is where a lot of the low end in music is contained. Which probably suggests the sub speaker cone, rather than the gain pot, or caps on the amp right?

**Berries** · 18th December 2012, 22:38

Originally Posted by bogan

the other internet tells me it might be caps

CAPS ARE ALWAYS louder.

**FJRider** · 19th December 2012, 06:01

Maybe ... it's your ears that are buggered. Now YOU are 9 years older ... some degradation is to be expected

**SMOKEU** · 19th December 2012, 06:25

Buy a decent ATX PSU with a single 12V rail. You want at least 50A going to the 12V rail, or more if you really hate your neighbours. Buy an appropriate car amp and sub, wire it all up and you've got an excellent bang for buck ratio compared to traditional home audio. That will keep you happy for a while.

**bogan** · 19th December 2012, 06:35

Are there any visual signs to look for which signify speaker degradation?

Originally Posted by SMOKEU

Buy a decent ATX PSU with a single 12V rail. You want at least 50A going to the 12V rail, or more if you really hate your neighbours. Buy an appropriate car amp and sub, wire it all up and you've got an excellent bang for buck ratio compared to traditional home audio. That will keep you happy for a while.

Thing is, I already have traditional home audio, if its just the speaker, buying a new one will be much cheaper than car stuff, and give better results.

**Geeen** · 19th December 2012, 07:30

Originally Posted by bogan

Got some tone generator software to see if I could narrow it down a bit. Still seems good around the 40hz mark, but not very much between 100 and 200, which I think is where a lot of the low end in music is contained. Which probably suggests the sub speaker cone, rather than the gain pot, or caps on the amp right?

The 1 - 200hz range should be covered by your speakers, 40 - 50hz is usually the crossover point between sub and speakers. The sub should do everything from about 50hz down until it rolls off.
Try having a look through the setup menus on your amplifier to see what options it gives you

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**p.dath** · 19th December 2012, 07:41

Originally Posted by bogan

Have a Sony 5.1 sound system which is about 9 years old now. I'm thinking the low end isn't what it used to be, does this happen? or has my bike just taught me what real low end sounds like?

Would look into upgrading if this was the case, maybe just the sub or the driver, dunno, need to figure out where the problem is first.

+1 to everyone else. Now I know you are a very mechnically minded person. So consider what you know about movings parts, then then consider what happens to moving speaker cones after 9 years, and then there are the electronics (funnily enough, mechanical failure is one of the most common causes of electrical device failure, due to the slight flexing caused by electronic components heating and cooling as they are turned on and off).

And we know you know "dabble" in electrical engineering - the AMP is effectively a "high" current switching device.

**bogan** · 19th December 2012, 08:27

Originally Posted by Geeen

The 1 - 200hz range should be covered by your speakers, 40 - 50hz is usually the crossover point between sub and speakers. The sub should do everything from about 50hz down until it rolls off.
Try having a look through the setup menus on your amplifier to see what options it gives you

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No setup menus or sub frequency cut-off options on the amp. The sub has never been a super low end unit, 30Hz is about as low as it goes. http://diagramas.diagramasde.com/audio/SS-WGV8.pdf found a service manual for the sub, checked the volume control on the circuit and its outputing the right voltage.

Originally Posted by p.dath

+1 to everyone else. Now I know you are a very mechnically minded person. So consider what you know about movings parts, then then consider what happens to moving speaker cones after 9 years, and then there are the electronics (funnily enough, mechanical failure is one of the most common causes of electrical device failure, due to the slight flexing caused by electronic components heating and cooling as they are turned on and off).

And we know you know "dabble" in electrical engineering - the AMP is effectively a "high" current switching device.

Can't see anything obviously wrong with the speaker. Would like to know which is the problem so I can fix just that part. Guess if its not obvious, I can just put it down to wear and tear and re-purpose the whole system, would still make a mean garage setup; might do well in the lounge also, but only stereo input rather than full surround sound.

The amp certainly is high current, I've not run it over 7/35 volumes for years though so I doubt its a TPD issue.

**bogan** · 19th December 2012, 11:40

Originally Posted by FJRider

Maybe ... it's your ears that are buggered. Now YOU are 9 years older ... some degradation is to be expected

Well it does sound pretty good underwater so you may be right. Just been pissing about with correcting it in software, the environment presets are actually pretty good, Asus audio drivers making it sound like a club all up in this bitch. Some of the environments are pretty good also, like auditorium and concert hall, others like sewer pipe and underwater also produce good sound, but I'm a little confused as to how the design team came up with them...

**Geeen** · 19th December 2012, 11:51

If you want an easy check of you drivers GENTLY press the cone back into the surround, if you feel any rubbing or friction that driver is blown. Make sure you are GENTLE though. If you do have a blown driver scent audio in Auckland rebuild them. Then it becomes a cost issue. The other thing to check is the phasing on the sub. If your sub is out of phase your bass will disappear. On the sub should be a switch with 0 and 180 phase. Try the same track in both positions.

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