What's the realistic lifespan of bookshelf active speaker?

Happy Hopping

Happy Hopping

Supreme [H]ardness
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1 of the member here, recommend me to buy M-Audio M3-8. I bought this active referance speaker in Jan. 2014. Just now, there is some high pitch sound during the 1st few minutes of turning it on, and then it goes back to normal

Now, I have passive speaker set for stereo music use, and needless to say, they last well over 20+ years. So w/ active speaker, they only last 6 year?

and is there anyone also hear this high pitch sound during the 1st few min. when you turn it on? what is the cause of that?
 
Have you tried contacting the manufacturer?

Note that a speaker or amp could go at any time.
 
My cheap Behringer active monitors still work like new after 12 years and I don't see any indication that that would change. All electronics are individual cases and some models are more durable than others. There is no set 'life' for any passive or active speaker. The same way your regular hifi amplifier can malfunction after 6 years use. For amplifiers it's especially detrimental if they sit unused for long durations. Capacitors dry out and cause hissing etc. interference in sound. Amps last the longest if you just keep them on. Of course same applies to a lot of electronics, it doesn't do them good to constantly switch on and off.
 
I have a pair of Alesis M1 Active MK2's that I got used back in 2004 and am still using them daily.
They do have a design flaw in the amp section, a couple of capacitors are too close to the transistor and prematurely fail from the heat causing the speaker to not power on, just get a flashing power light.
One of mine failed probably 8 years ago and the other a year or so later, I swapped the caps out and they both are still running great.
IMG_2704.JPG
 
B00nie said:
My cheap Behringer active monitors still work like new after 12 years and I don't see any indication that that would change. All electronics are individual cases and some models are more durable than others. There is no set 'life' for any passive or active speaker. The same way your regular hifi amplifier can malfunction after 6 years use. For amplifiers it's especially detrimental if they sit unused for long durations. Capacitors dry out and cause hissing etc. interference in sound. Amps last the longest if you just keep them on. Of course same applies to a lot of electronics, it doesn't do them good to constantly switch on and off.
Click to expand...

that's interesting you said that. Because for a no.of mth. (4 to 6 mth.) the cable connects to it is dead, so I didn't bother get new cables until recently. And it so happen to be that same speaker.

but what kind of design is this? That they need to be constantly in use to last? are we talking about liquid capacitors that applies to PC and these speakers, or solid state? Don't tell me solid state is like that

MY Kipsch 5.1 was in use for over 20 years, and it's still good.

My sony integrated amp. also last 20 years. And yeah, both are use daily.
 
Happy Hopping said:
that's interesting you said that. Because for a no.of mth. (4 to 6 mth.) the cable connects to it is dead, so I didn't bother get new cables until recently. And it so happen to be that same speaker.

but what kind of design is this? That they need to be constantly in use to last? are we talking about liquid capacitors that applies to PC and these speakers, or solid state? Don't tell me solid state is like that

MY Kipsch 5.1 was in use for over 20 years, and it's still good.

My sony integrated amp. also last 20 years. And yeah, both are use daily.
Click to expand...
Electrolytic caps that are commonly used in power supply filtering are prone to drying out/leaking.
 
I honestly expect my active speakers to last until I want to get rid of them, which is to say forever. I haven’t had a failure in my lifetime
 
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