speaker repair

[aarono]

Hi, I recently inherited a pair of paradigm monitor 3's ( i think thats the model).
pretty big monsters... one of em soudns great. the other doesnt.
i took the grille off and heard (or actually didnt hear) the tweeter was not working.
got a replacement tweeter but still, there was a problem... there was a nasty distorted sound. another look revealed one of the main drivers was damaged.

please excuse my lack of proper terminology, but I will try to describe the damage.

looking at the front of a speaker there are 3 parts... the center dome, the cone that surrounds it, and then a diaphragm like ring that attaches the cone to the speaker frame. in my case, the ring arond the outside is made of a plastic rubber like material. the problem is, it has completely detached from the cone. The speakers are quite old, I suspect the glue just gave away but perhaps a loud blast from the previous owner cause the detachment.

So I'm wondering if this is a kind of repair I could do, or should I just buy a new driver? what kind of glue would be used and how would I ever manage to get the seal just right? or is that really important that it is perfect? the purpose of this ring seems to be to give the cone (and thus the dome) some reflex type action...

any suggestions welcomed.!

[Cal Weldon]

I would suggest you take both woofers (main drivers) to your local speaker repair shop and ask them to either reattach or renew your "surrounds"

Cal

[TrekNut]

Hi there,
If you're somewhat handy, (ie- a DIY-er) go to http://www.newfoam.com/ and buy
a foam surround kit. It's relatively easy to do and cheap. I've done a couple and had no problems. The kits come complete with good instructions and support if you need it. A word to the wise ... surrounds go bad with time so that other speaker is on its way also .... replace them both and you won't be hassling with the other later.

Later,
TrekNut