Interesting! I knew it was used on early leather surrounds [of course], but got it in my head from softening baseball gloves that it would probably ruin a paper surround since I assumed it would need to be rubbed in, so don't recall ever trying it. I still have some of both, so guess I'll try it.
GM
I put neatsfoot oil on an SK59 Lafayette chamois surround - the paper cone really wicked the oil away from the surround. Is there a varnish which can be applied over a neatsfoot coated speaker cone? (not for this but for an experiment) - what might Bastanis mix with violin varnish which could be beneficial?
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I was afraid to kill it completely so I tried stripes. (First time adventure) Had some old drivers with ridges pressed in the cone from center to edge which gave me the idea..
Silicone sealer sure puts a muffler on a cone.. Instawoofer!
I've stiffened cones with spray starch and a blow drier. Seemed to brighten them up a bit..
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It's so oily, I don't see how anything will stick to it.
It's a varnish, you can load all manner of powders in it.
GM
Yep, cheap lacquer hairspray was the 'hot ticket' for Radio Shack or similar 'FR' drivers back in the '90s.
GM
How interesting. You guys have tried so many things.
Why not step into DML to play with all these? Since DML works in breakup mode all the time, it's more sensitive to damping, and in wider range.
BTW, I've been using foamcore board as the vibrating panel of DML. And I brushed diluted PVA (again) on both side of the face paper. The dried glue provides both stiffening and damping, works quite well.
Why not step into DML to play with all these? Since DML works in breakup mode all the time, it's more sensitive to damping, and in wider range.
BTW, I've been using foamcore board as the vibrating panel of DML. And I brushed diluted PVA (again) on both side of the face paper. The dried glue provides both stiffening and damping, works quite well.
Brasso works well on metal drivers - brightens up the whole presentation considerably and the small ridges actually act like acoustic micro-conduits dispersing unwanted resonance I have found. A good dollup of blu-tac on the central cone then acts like a phase alignment amplifier, smoothing up the resonant nano-peaks to within biotolerance levels.
Dammar smells terrible. I had to keep my windows open all day to air out the room. It soaks into paper cones and dries overnight adding a slight shine. I've only used it on peizos and prefer their sound with a dammar coating... it calms the driver down.
I never thought to use rubber cement but a VERY thinned coating might calm a driver too.
Rubber cement also smells but dammar is worse imo.
I never thought to use rubber cement but a VERY thinned coating might calm a driver too.
Rubber cement also smells but dammar is worse imo.
There are some useful ideas in this patent for adding knobs and blobs to reduce resonance modes.
US Pat 20050078850
If you look at Tymphany's patented (can't find the patent though - anyone know which one it is?) NRSC "Pentacut" drivers like the Vifa TC9FD, Scanspeak 10F/8424, Vifa TG9FD, etc. they have very smooth responses. Look on the underside of the cone and you will see that the surround is bonded to the cone in a pentagon shape along the edges - its very subtle and very clever - hardly visible from the outside. I believe this 5-fold asymmetry breaks up the natural main drum head eigenmodes of vibration (which does not include a pentagon). So maybe we can take a clue from this and apply whatever we apply (Damar, rubber cement, carbon fiber strips, etc) in 5-fold pentagonal symmetry on the cone. This may even include little dabs of bluetack, etc., or felt furniture discs. Think FIVE is the answer to reducing breakup resonances. I think I have seen some other drivers like Tang Band polycones have 5 ridges molded into the diaphragm.
US Pat 20050078850
If you look at Tymphany's patented (can't find the patent though - anyone know which one it is?) NRSC "Pentacut" drivers like the Vifa TC9FD, Scanspeak 10F/8424, Vifa TG9FD, etc. they have very smooth responses. Look on the underside of the cone and you will see that the surround is bonded to the cone in a pentagon shape along the edges - its very subtle and very clever - hardly visible from the outside. I believe this 5-fold asymmetry breaks up the natural main drum head eigenmodes of vibration (which does not include a pentagon). So maybe we can take a clue from this and apply whatever we apply (Damar, rubber cement, carbon fiber strips, etc) in 5-fold pentagonal symmetry on the cone. This may even include little dabs of bluetack, etc., or felt furniture discs. Think FIVE is the answer to reducing breakup resonances. I think I have seen some other drivers like Tang Band polycones have 5 ridges molded into the diaphragm.
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Since you love the smell so much
, you may like to know that dammar can purchased for use as incense. It's probably the turpentine smell that's bugging you, which is what it is usually dissolved in.
Shellac will usually stick to anything. In traditional french polish technique, a wood surface is flooded with oil, and then shellac is rubbed in, while it is still wet. Somehow it goes through the oil and finds the wood underneath and sticks to it. Counterintuitive but true. That said it may or may not work with neatsfoot oil. Worth a try though.
This sort of thing isn't really new; it goes back to the old RCA LC1-A, if not before. The Fostex sigma series is another rather extreme example, utilizing some serious surface contouring. They use it on their high end woofers also. I've also seen 'eNable' like surface impressions on vintage drivers, which were clearly an attempt at wave termination.
got a hole punch? - Abraham Cohen had a patent on perforated whizzer cones (which I believe includes his University Diffusicone series) - it helps the regular type break easier if nothing else - this poor old ucx-122's surround is dried so bad that fs is around 120Hz - it actually sounds very good in a Karlson K12 on vocals.
- this poor old ucx-122's surround is dried so bad that fs is around 120Hz - it actually sounds very good in a Karlson K12 on vocals.An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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