Replace speaker foam with this odd material?

[flyingsquirrelman]

I have 2 6'' JBL's that i had purchased from a yard sale for 5$ but little did i know the foam was totally destroyed on one and just about destroyed on the other but still intact.

I'm not buying repair kits for 5$ speakers so i'm doing it myself.

Materials i plan to use:

Tyvek used for fedex mailing pouches, very very very strong just try to rip one...

Or jeans

[chris661]

Depending on which JBLs they are, it might be wise to treat them nicer. If there are any markings to indicate which model they are, one of the experts may be able to advise (better still would be pictures, we all like pictures...).

[flyingsquirrelman]

It says JBL TLX 105 on the back of the box and it's got these numbers on the mag.

10-601

7H812

I don't think these are worth much but one sounded good

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by flyingsquirrelman

It says JBL TLX 105 on the back of the box and it's got these numbers on the mag.

If you are determined to use Tyvek, go ahead, but at least paint the outside with something when you are done, otherwise it might get kinda crinkly-sounding.

[flyingsquirrelman]

Cool, al let you know how it goes

[DreadPirate]

What is the center to center distance on the screws? I'm guessing its 8" and you have an 8" driver. There is a seller bootapest on ebay that sells 8" shipped for less than $10. I'm sure they will work fine for you. Don't do the tyvex thing.

[Lee in Montreal]

The original surrounds had specific compliance and the whole driver was designed for that surround. Now, if you replace the surround by another material with different properties, you may have surprises. If the driver has a standard diameter, you van probaly source specific surrounds for cheap.

Official Speaker Repair Site - Orange County Speaker Repair and Sales - SpeakerRepair.com - Home of GLS Audio

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by Lee in Montreal

The original surrounds had specific compliance and the whole driver was designed for that surround. Now, if you replace the surround by another material with different properties, you may have surprises. If the driver has a standard diameter, you van probaly source specific surrounds for cheap.

It's a speaker which cost $5. The surround's job is more centering than compliance, but the termination of cone resonances is an important feature. There is no guarantee any replacement surround will match either of those functions precisely, so playing around with Tyvek on a set of throw-away speakers sounds like a fun and interesting project to me. If it doesn't work, cut them off and put a foam surround on....

Doing the surround in many small pieces will allow a bit of a roll to the surround, but that would not offer much, if any, centering and the voice coil will probably rub even if shimmed when repairing it. Making a flat surround will offer centering, but very low excursion capability because Tyvek will not stretch - that it the issue when using Tyvek.

Perhaps if you mold the tyvek strips into a surround shape over something suitable (a pen or dowel or half-round), then coat it with silicone caulking to give it some elasticity. Just some thoughts on making your experiment work. Remember to cut open the dustcap and shim the voicecoil tight when replacing the surround.