how long do studio monitors last?

simple question - i've had the same krk rokkit 8s since 2005. do they degrade in service after a while? lately i've been enjoying mixing on headphones more and i wonder.

fyi my room is utterly untreated

Not a specialist on that level, but I had a same kind of situation with my MPC. It just didn't sound as it used to sound. Found out today it were my audio cables.

Quite an obvious thing that is easily overlooked. I do know about cables that they do wear out over the years. Especially if you're doing a lot of moving around and plugging/ unplugging like I do.

Maybe in your case it are the cables coming from your interfere/ mixer to your monitors. Just a thought. Like I said, not an expert at this, but I have the idea that monitors live long most of the time.

Speakers last long as its treated for intended use. The cone and internal amp are the most maintenance prone as well as the wiring. I've seen peeps used duct tape to fix a cone that was ripped due to intense sub-bass and it works. Other than that, monitors lasts a long **** time. I have a set since 1996 and the last maintenance I did was installing new copper wiring about a year ago. Cones are dusty but still in one piece.

amps in my event ps8 are starting to give ghost, bought them used but they must be at least 10yrs old since they were in production

A buddy of mine is still rocking 20/20's I sold him years ago, and I bought them brand new. I think usage and the environment they're used are the factors.

poundaproblem wrote:A buddy of mine is still rocking 20/20's I sold him years ago, and I bought them brand new. I think usage and the environment they're used are the factors.

pretty sure I contributed to it by accidently sending audio at full blast...what you replace 20/20's with ?

simple question - i've had the same krk rokkit 8s since 2005. do they degrade in service after a while? lately i've been enjoying mixing on headphones more and i wonder.

While speakers can last really long time, amplifiers in active speakers would give up first (you can ask Alesis M1 users.)

konc3pt wrote:

poundaproblem wrote:A buddy of mine is still rocking 20/20's I sold him years ago, and I bought them brand new. I think usage and the environment they're used are the factors.

pretty sure I contributed to it by accidently sending audio at full blast...what you replace 20/20's with ?

lol.

They were replaced by mackie 624s which then got replaced with JBL LSRs

NS-10s don't last very long with an engineer showing off how they can make the bass driver move slowly in and out with a 1Hz tone...it moves for a little while, then the magic smoke escapes!

SimonInAustralia wrote:NS-10s don't last very long with an engineer showing off how they can make the bass driver move slowly in and out with a 1Hz tone...it moves for a little while, then the magic smoke escapes!

lolol when I was younger I had a pair of big ass jensens. I ran a sweeping tone through them at a high volume. Cooked both tweeters, then both woofers....lesson learned lol.

I got a trusty pair of M-audio bx-5s I bought used.Had them almost a decade without an issue.I plan to replace them next year for a pair of rockit 8s if my tax money goes as planned.

Best speakers I ever owned were some JVC 200 watt house speakers.Mad accurate mixes came from those jawns.They don`t even make those anymore.

Most last a fairly good amount of time, provided you take care of them. I've had my Yamaha HS80M's for over a year now and they're holding up great. However my smaller KRK's were a bit cheaper and are starting to go it seems after a year.

I had some since 96 or so that I gave to father in law a few yrs ago and he still uses them here and there and they are still kicking. I see he still using them when I go visit mom

I'd have to agree the amplification part is what would go first. But i've seen dedicated amps and receivers go 20 -30 years easily. My KRK 8 v2's are the same as day one 5 years in...

Metatron72 wrote:I'd have to agree the amplification part is what would go first.

Yeah, I've still got some passive monitors I bought 15 years ago that are still going strong.