OK, so a little while back I got a new speaker (local brand) but didn't really get to use it. When I finally did I immediately noticed distortion on low level/volume. When I popped of the grill and pushed on the driver I could hear the voice coil rubbing. I pushed on the cone centre and off-center and could still hear the rubbing.
So my question, is this driver a dud and in need of replacement, or is this something a new speaker could possibly do?
Thank you!
So my question, is this driver a dud and in need of replacement, or is this something a new speaker could possibly do?
Thank you!
Depending on what the make, model and build is it could be caused by;
Being dropped and the magnet has moved slightly.
The basket not aligned with the magnet.
The voice coil has been damp and warped
or it is a poor quality build.
If you ease the cone sideways whilst gently moving the coil, if you have a good spot, the magnet is misaligned. A thump on the magnet with a sturdy piece of wood, in the direction of the clear coil, may improve it. Or indeed make it worse. 50/50 chance but last resort!
Being dropped and the magnet has moved slightly.
The basket not aligned with the magnet.
The voice coil has been damp and warped
or it is a poor quality build.
If you ease the cone sideways whilst gently moving the coil, if you have a good spot, the magnet is misaligned. A thump on the magnet with a sturdy piece of wood, in the direction of the clear coil, may improve it. Or indeed make it worse. 50/50 chance but last resort!
I assume you already mounted it? Possibly the surface was not totally flat and you are warping the basket. Undo the mounting screws and see if it clears up.
I did get a bad 18 incher back in '79 out of the box, so anything's possible.
If you mean you bought the box with driver mounted, it still could be a non flat mount surface. Oh, also I had a basement flood and a pair of 15's got wet halfway up the pole piece, rust was hitting the vc.
Other than that, I have toasted my share of coils back in the day when I was young and stupid...I'm much older now.😀
Jn
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I buy my speakers from Blue Aran and they advise on receipt of the speaker to check the voice coil doesn't rub on the magnet. They need to know as soon as possible so they can claim against the carrier inside the time limit.
In 40 years I have never had a bad speaker.
In 40 years I have never had a bad speaker.
Thank you all for responding! This prompted me to take a closer look myself: I've unmounted the driver (yes, it was factory mounted) and peeked here and there and I believe it is possible that I have found the problem: some of the glue they used to attach the cone to the spider leaked and made the cone stick to the spider and pulled it slightly sideways. I could not completely remove the glue, but forcing the cone away from the spider at that exact spot seems to help. So I guess poor manufacturing is quite possible. It is locally manufactured, a brand called Hybrid.
I manufacture my own speakers and know what happened: standard modern speaker voice coil glue is 2 part Epoxy, normal thickness between honey and jam ... at room temperature, which takes 4 to 8 hours to harden, speakers are put face up on shelves for that time.
To increase assembly speed, it´s common to put assembled speakers in a large rack oven, or pass it through a conveyor belt type along a heated tunnel, "8 hour" Industrial Epoxy cures in 30 minutes at 100C or 10 minutes at 120/130C , BUT at such temperatures it becomes way more fluid and "runs like water" .
Personally I always oven dry speakers "face down" which is safe, just by chance I am assembling a batch of 25 12" guitar speakers, go figure, and they are currently in the oven curing the magnet to frame assembly, small world .
But some people to save a couple minutes oven dry them "face up" and then it IS possible that some too liquid hot epoxy oozes into the voice coil gap, what happened to you.
Clearly a manufacturing defect, they should replace it with a good one, no questions asked, there is no way you caused this problem.
Does this mean Hybrid is a bad factory?
Far from it, this happens now and then.
If anything, blame quality control which did not catch it before packing.
To increase assembly speed, it´s common to put assembled speakers in a large rack oven, or pass it through a conveyor belt type along a heated tunnel, "8 hour" Industrial Epoxy cures in 30 minutes at 100C or 10 minutes at 120/130C , BUT at such temperatures it becomes way more fluid and "runs like water" .
Personally I always oven dry speakers "face down" which is safe, just by chance I am assembling a batch of 25 12" guitar speakers, go figure, and they are currently in the oven curing the magnet to frame assembly, small world .
But some people to save a couple minutes oven dry them "face up" and then it IS possible that some too liquid hot epoxy oozes into the voice coil gap, what happened to you.
Clearly a manufacturing defect, they should replace it with a good one, no questions asked, there is no way you caused this problem.
Does this mean Hybrid is a bad factory?
Far from it, this happens now and then.
If anything, blame quality control which did not catch it before packing.
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