Coloring Cones

[dzzmiller]

I do know that people have tried dying puzzle coat. Can a black cone be painted white? Are there commercial products for cone colors? Thanks.

[badman]

To get it white you're going to add some significant mass. Won't matter much on a subwoofer where the cone's already pretty heavy and the coil is, also, but a 'regular' woofer, midwoofer, tweeter, are all going to be sensitive to the mass added by:

White-out
White shellac-based primer (my recommendation)

[planet10]

Making dark cones white is not easy (althou i admit to not trying)

dave

[dzzmiller]

I figured as much.
I'm trying to do a high tech/modern look, but I hate to buy drivers based on appearance.
I do like the Hivi M series (goldish metallic, not yellow), but they don't seem to be used much at all.

[planet10]

Working with Fostex drivers, i have a fairly wide choice of colours -- one of my current experiements attached.

The Mark Audio drivers come in some interesting metallic colours (and are quite good, if not all that efficient)

dave

[BlueWizard]

The only thing I can think of that might work is liquid plastic.

If you have ever seen tools like screwdrives or pliers that have their handles dipped in a soft plastic coating, this is what I'm talking about.

You can by cans for dipping tools in, but you can also buy it in spray cans. I have a can of Blue, called "Rubberize-It!". I've only tried it a couple of times, but it sprays a very thin coat of rubber/plastic.

Unfortunately, the finish is flat.

This would coat the surface with a very thin layer of very flexible rubber-ish material. The added mass would be minimized, and the coating would not be absorbed into the cone of the speaker.

But I think you need to consider the difficulty of properly masking off your speakers, and avoiding clogging up the center done if it is cloth or paper.

I couldn't find a link to the company that makes "Rubberize-it!", but here is the company information -

Rhodes American
2825 W 31ST ST
CHICAGO, IL 60623
Phone: (773) 247-6000

Here is a link to another company that makes "Plasti-Dip" -

http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Available in Yellow, White, Red, Clear, Blue, and Black.

Just a thought.

Steve/bluewizard

[Andersonix]

That liquid vinyl (?) stuff is going to be too thick and heavy. Spray paint might be better, as one can control the thickness with several light coats. What cone material are we talking about, dzzmiller?

I'm all for making stuff look modern, but to me it would get annoying to have bright cones which would never disappear while listening or watching movies in the dark. (I admit I have momentarily considered using black Sharpie marker on my TB light brown poly cones.)

Maybe redesign the baffle or grill instead of the cones?

[BlueWizard]

Just to re-affirm what Tosh has said, and what I implied.

You couldn't do this by brushing the plastic on, it would be way too thick and uneven.

You would HAVE TO use Spray On.

They spray I have spreads a very thin very even coat.

While I'm telling you how to do this, to some extent I also agree with Tosh that it may not be the best idea. But the aesthetics of it are up to you. You say your room is, more or less, all black and white, so perhaps white cone in white cabinets would blend together nicely. But I think you might be better off using some of the silver or metal cone woofers like the Dayton DA175-8 (7"). These are highly rated in their price range ($26), and are used by Zaph in one of his MTM designs.

Also, again, it is not simply a matter of painting the whole speaker white. If you spray rubber on the cloth domes, you are going to clog them up and alter the speaker response characteristic. The dust dome on some speakers also acts as a vent to prevent pressure from building up behind the speaker.

Of course, if you have unvented or solid domes, it is no so much of a problem.

Further, if you plan to paint the surround, the open another kettle of fish. The flex in the cone is not that great, but the surround are constantly flexing, and I'm not sure how the rubberized coating would stand up to that. It may be OK, then again, it may not.

How much are you paying for your drivers, and how much are you willing to risk that outlay of cash just to have white drivers?

Steve./bluewizard

[Andersonix]

There's also Zaph's ZMV5, which has even cheaper metal cone drivers. And what looks more modern than shiny metal? (Ooooh, titanium!)