Would this damage degrade the sound?

[wixy]

A question guys about a pair of speaker drivers, in which some of the varnish has flaked off the cloth surround (see pic below).

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/9605/dsc03911f.jpg

Would this degrade the sound noticeably?

[chris661]

It might change the compliance of the surround slightly (changing Fs, slightly), but I can't see there being a problem.

[wixy]

Thanks for that.

Is it repairable at all?

[cocolino]

To me it looks like this coat serves to purposes: damping of possible resonances of the surround and second as a sealant because cloth surroundings are not airtight. The latter might cause air leakage and could become problematic in a closed box.
I`d cover the the areas where the varnish is missing with some highly elastic material which is airtight. Maybe a very thin layer of silicone or something like that (applied with a small and stiff brush).

I don`t think that this will affect compliance in a perceptible way.

[Andrew Eckhardt]

Who put Varnish on a surround? You can take a decent midbass and make a midrange out of it that way. If that's what they did, apparently they decided they actually wanted a midbass, 'cause the excursion blew the varnish right off.

You'd be better off with new drivers.

[pheonix358]

Use some polyurathane. Apply with a small brush.

[bigfishe]

Use a product call the wet look. Thats whats on there

[Brian Oshman]

^^^Yup, The Wet Look.



The Wet Look™ is a new generation of high gloss polymers formulated especially for the speaker industry. This superior coating provides a protective "coat of armor" for your paper cone speakers. A special U/V inhibitor has been added to reduce the decaying effects of the sun's ultraviolet rays. The Wet Look™ makes paper cones resistant to water, humidity, sun, and salt. Best of all, it's easy to apply and cleans up with soap and water. 4 oz. plastic bottle.

Available here...

[Andrew Eckhardt]

It's for cones. If you're lucky.

You do not want anything hard and strong impregnating a fiber surround unless you're considering extremely low excursion applications. You're definitely not going to open up a can of something somebody else says you're sposta slop on a speaker cone, put it on the surround, and have it do what you want. If you don't have any expectations anything can be a success though, I guess.

[cocolino]

I just followed the link in the previous post to the Wet Look product page.
A reviewer of the product state:

I may be overexcited but I swear it stiffened the cones up dramatically and has caused the speakers to sound dramatically better.

I don`t know this product but when after it cured it`s hard or "stiff" and not flexibel it might not be the right thing to use on a surrounding (and as it seems it is not intended for that purpose but for diaphragms).