Experiences with re-foaming speakers?

[Holy Zoo]

I'm thinking of doing it to the Advent's in my den.

I like how the speakers sound now, but the foam is definitely going. I'm curious what to expect from the outcome.

How will the refoaming likely change the sound? Will a long "burn in" time be required to get them back to a audio nirvana?

Last, does anyone recommend a place on the web (or in the SF Bay Area) who's considered a first-class Re-Foaming Specialist Extraordinaire?

[Gary]

If you use the same type of foam, you should not hear any difference. I had mine done and they sounded exactly the same! I did not notice any burn in time.

I know a least three places locally that can do it. But it's a long drive from out there. It's a pretty simple operation, according to one guy. You have to remove the woofer, of course.

Good luck!

[cunningham]

I rebuilt a set of bose 901's many years ago, 18 drivers total. It was a bit tedious, but not that difficult. The kit came with the cones, glue and pretty clear instructions. you need a bit of care removing the foam and respecting the cones (paper in my case), but definitely doable.

[Claviusb]

Rudy reconed his Boston Acoustics. There's a thread about it with links here. (http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10992) :)

[Richard Feirstein]

Done this lots of times. Last were the woofers in my Dahlquist DQ-10's. The same woffers used by Advent. Several good web sites sell kits with exactly you need, the Advent surrounds, glue, and some even include a VHS lesson tape. It is a piece of cake and the results are as good as expected.

Richard.

[-=Rudy=-]

If you go the DIY route, make sure you get a pair of surrounds that is made for the Advent woofer. Some places will just sell a generic 10" surround, but the foam roll isn't large enough. And it also depends on whether you have a newer or older 10" woofer (with a phenolic ring around the perimeter). Be very specific when ordering...and if you do take them to a shop, hopefully they will know the correct foam to use, and again, not just a generic replacement foam surround. (The Advent drivers have very high excursions.)

Here are two links:

http://www.partsexpress.com (repair kits)
http://www.simplyspeakers.com (sells kits, or also does the service)

My Small Advents were refoamed before I bought them. I don't know what the originals sounded like, but these sound just fine!

Patience and a steady hand are good for a do-it-yourself job.

[Michael]

I had one of my sets done a few years back...If you love your speakers, it's a new lease...If your not handy, I'd go the pro route.

[Holy Zoo]

Thanks all!

I'd say that I'm not that handy. :)

The whole thing about shimming the voice coil sounds scary, to be honest. I may check into the pro route. I'd rather pay $30-$40 for it to be done right than take the chance of mucking them up.

[-=Rudy=-]

For what it's worth, I only shimmed one pair of speakers I've worked on. These are the ones where I had to put new dust caps on. And while the foams still came out good, the dust caps ruined the sound IMHO. There is a speaker forum over at Madisound, and one of the regulars there told me that he repairs speakers and could get me some of the proper dust caps if I wanted.

Shimming just keeps the woofer centered. If I'm careful enough, I can seat the cone and keep it on center without having to shim it at all. Plus, when I did the pair of A40s and shimmed them, the shims were way too fat, and I ended up having to make my own shim from cardstock. Aaah, well...live 'n' learn!

[Metralla]

Originally posted by Holy Zoo
The whole thing about shimming the voice coil sounds scary, to be honest. I may check into the pro route. I'd rather pay $30-$40 for it to be done right than take the chance of mucking them up.
There was an article on re-coning speakers in audio eXpress, June 2002.

In this article, the author re-coned some large woofers with a kit from WVS - Wolf Recone Centers, Fort Wayne, IN. Re-coning is more complex than replacing the surround of course, but in this article the author mentions that the Wolf Kit includes a video by WVS. Apparently, the video shows you looking over the shoulder of WVS owner Tom Colvin doing recones, surrounds, and diaphragm replacements.

Perhaps visiting WVS (http://www.recone.com) may help.

Regards,
Geoff

[-=Rudy=-]

Reconing is a whole different animal. I used to have a pair of 6x9 Advent speakers for the car, and one of the woofers went out. The company reconed it, but it sounded nothing like the original woofer--all the bass was gone. Unless the cone were an exact reproduction of the original, I would not have it done. It's a problem if the company is not in business anymore...if they are, it is sometimes not much more money to buy a new driver from them. (Or if you know it is a specific brand of driver, you can often buy it from a speaker supply company for less.)

[cwon]

I've heard (but haven't tested this) that giving the foam a dusting of medicated foot powder will delay foam rot. The idea is that mildew attacks the foam and the medicated powder fights off the mildew. A light dusting shouldn't hurt the sound.

I've replaced foam a few times on a pair of speakers until I finally got tired of doing it and got a pair with rubber surrounds. That's one of my criteria for recommending speakers now.

[joefont]

Originally posted by cwon
I've heard (but haven't tested this) that giving the foam a dusting of medicated foot powder will delay foam rot.

So that's what that ordor was! And I thought it was my feet! ;)

[cwon]

Right, it was athlete's foam.

[Ere]

I got a kit from
http://www.simplyspeakers.com/
and refoamed my Bose Interaudio speakers. These are a traditonal design speaker. Anyway, it was very easy, didn't even have to remove the woofer to do it. Sound fine and I can play them nice and loud again:D

Ere

[Alan]

I had the 250mm drivers refoamed on a pair of Magnat Transpuls TP 35's(cir. 1982 speakers) a couple of years ago. They were difficult to refoam as the tolerances are very exact. I would not do them myself.
They have four drivers, 250mm, 130mm, 40mm and 35mm; crossover pts. @ 250,3k,6k.
They were fairly good monitors in their era.

Alan

[dwmann]

Had a pair of Boston Acoustics A400s redone by a professional reconing service here in Houston TX. Cost was about $80, and they sounded like new. Not a abad deal considering these speakers cost $900 over 20 years ago.

[-=Rudy=-]

I've seen a couple of A400's on eBay. There's a pair listed now, for $250, in fact. I grabbed my A150s on eBay for a mere $36/pr. I did the refoam myself but I'm not happy with the way they came out--I had a feeling the foam roll was too small, and I was right. The bass is sort of constipated now. Since these are going to be my main speakers in one system, I don't have a problem getting new woofers from Boston. Still a steal for a speaker that was originally $600/pr. Too much midrange, though...I'm going to be tweaking the crossover a little to smooth it out.

[Susan]

I re-foamed my vintage Tannoys (15" dual-concentrics) last sumemr all by meeself, and it was a breeze. I found a guy in Australia that warehouses original Tannoy surrounds. I won't pretend it didn't make me nervous, but he sent directions and it really was a breeze..maybe 3 hours to do it (and I took my time) and hten drying overnight. The hardest part was taking a razor blade and shimming off the dust cap in the center. Shimming wasn't really necessary as they stayed centered well. I did not realize until they were restored how much distortion had been there...now they sound brand-new again!
Susan

[Gary]

Nice speakers, Susan! Welcome!

[Susan]

Thanks Gary..I'm rather fond of them! :)

This looks like a vinyl-lover's heaven!
Susan