I have a couple of 20 year old speakers that look and sound good. However, the 10 inch paper cone and cloth-line rim look dried out. Any suggestions to restore and preserve ? Thanks.
PVA wood glue can be used as a sealer.
Dilute 50% and apply in thin coats with a brush,
say two coats, but one may be enough.
You don't want to apply too much and unduly stiffen up the surround.
They will come out looking nearly new.
🙂 sreten.
Dilute 50% and apply in thin coats with a brush,
say two coats, but one may be enough.
You don't want to apply too much and unduly stiffen up the surround.
They will come out looking nearly new.
🙂 sreten.
You can even add food coloring. I didn't like the yellowy color, so I combined blue and red food coloring to thin the glue. The result is a very dark blue/purple which dries almost black on a black paper cone.
Thanks for the info. 🙂 However, what does the PVA stand for ? Any brand I would be familiar with in the states ?
PVA = poly vinyl acetate.
Basically a white (dries slightly opaque clear) water based wood glue.
There are many brands, Unibond is popular in the UK.
Titebond or Elmer's ?
🙂 sreten.
Basically a white (dries slightly opaque clear) water based wood glue.
There are many brands, Unibond is popular in the UK.
Titebond or Elmer's ?
🙂 sreten.
Bas Horneman said:
no experience,
http://www.shellac.net/faq.html
but does not appear to be suitable.
http://www.t-linespeakers.org/design/tweeks.html
Is another option.
🙂 sreten.
Its just an idea
I used to water proof speakers for friends in the Rainy back woods in Loch Lomond, I used a high Gloss laquer, modern Spray cans have very tuff formulas and are very light and apply well on almost anything apart from greeze!! This would protect your drivers and even add a bit of stiffness! i would recommend a arcylic as the flex well around the surround, apply a small amount to test it first as it will never come off so choose wisely. But it will work, PVA is very heavy in comparision even if watered down 50%,, just an idea.
I used to water proof speakers for friends in the Rainy back woods in Loch Lomond, I used a high Gloss laquer, modern Spray cans have very tuff formulas and are very light and apply well on almost anything apart from greeze!! This would protect your drivers and even add a bit of stiffness! i would recommend a arcylic as the flex well around the surround, apply a small amount to test it first as it will never come off so choose wisely. But it will work, PVA is very heavy in comparision even if watered down 50%,, just an idea.
I coated fe107e's with dammar varnish. I think it significantly improved the transient response on vocals. I was hearing harshness on the stronger attacks on female vocals like Norah Jones and Diana Krall. Now that "shout" is almost completely absent. But I couldn't A/B before and after, much less do a double blind experiment, so it is possible I am imagining things. So this is not necessarily a recommendation.
The first coat turned the white cones a motley dun. I didn't care for that. I added a second coat with a little ivory black artists' oil paint. That did not cover well. I added a two more coats with increasingly higher paint content. The final coat was a very thin coat of almost pure ivory black. They look okay now, but not as nifty as when they were new banana color. All those coats did not appear to be too much. The artists' dammar varnish is very dilute. It is also volatile. Use it in a well ventilated place, then get out. It takes several days to dry. When you first put it on, the treble seems to be diminished, but apparently it eventually comes back completely.
Your mileage may vary.
The first coat turned the white cones a motley dun. I didn't care for that. I added a second coat with a little ivory black artists' oil paint. That did not cover well. I added a two more coats with increasingly higher paint content. The final coat was a very thin coat of almost pure ivory black. They look okay now, but not as nifty as when they were new banana color. All those coats did not appear to be too much. The artists' dammar varnish is very dilute. It is also volatile. Use it in a well ventilated place, then get out. It takes several days to dry. When you first put it on, the treble seems to be diminished, but apparently it eventually comes back completely.
Your mileage may vary.
As a big promoter of shellac as a cone treatment on the web, I figure I should step in here and say - it's not right for this application. I only use a softer type which is not readily available, and then only on smaller drivers or on the center portion of larger ones. Sloshing on a bunch of Bullseye or whatever from a can will make a big driver very bright and nasty.
I'd recommend one or possibly two thin coats of dammar varnish on the cone and dustcap. This will have minimal effect on the appearance.
For the surround, I use water based latex contact cement, but thinned rubber cement will work too. You need something flexible.
Thinned PVA is an OK cone treatment, but I don't care for the sound compared to dammar. It basically plasticizes the cone. YMMV.
GB
I'd recommend one or possibly two thin coats of dammar varnish on the cone and dustcap. This will have minimal effect on the appearance.
For the surround, I use water based latex contact cement, but thinned rubber cement will work too. You need something flexible.
Thinned PVA is an OK cone treatment, but I don't care for the sound compared to dammar. It basically plasticizes the cone. YMMV.
GB
Yes, I should qualify what I said before. It will have minimal effect on the appearance of old paper cones of the usual dark grey type. It makes the fostex banana cones look like old parchment. Personally, I think this looks very nice against nicely finished mahogany boxes, but certainly it's a personal taste thing. It won't have the clean white look anymore for sure.
Dave, the highs should mostly come back after a couple weeks. The linseed oil on there will take a bit of drying time though.
GB
Oh guys, i cant believe you would dope the cones with half the things your talking about, adding mass to a cone will slow it down quite some, only if a speaker sounds to bright and harsh would i dope it, if its old and beaten up, then maybe its time to get them reconed, or even knew drivers, I still say spray paint them with acrylic lacquer or cellulose lacquer, it has the least weight and will protect againts everything, it will even flex on the surround, but the latex is a good idea, or even silicon sealant,
i would love to see what you have done to your speakers after all this advice.
i would love to see what you have done to your speakers after all this advice.
Paradise,
How many driver cones have you sprayed with acrylic or cellulous lacquer and what were the results and with how many coats? I think you're just guessing.
Dammar or puzzlecoat add some negligble weight but that's not the issue. The issue is the changes in the sonic characteristics of the cone. I've seen only these 2 cone treatments recommended by very experienced speaker tweakers and wouldn't try anything else on good drivers.
How many driver cones have you sprayed with acrylic or cellulous lacquer and what were the results and with how many coats? I think you're just guessing.
Dammar or puzzlecoat add some negligble weight but that's not the issue. The issue is the changes in the sonic characteristics of the cone. I've seen only these 2 cone treatments recommended by very experienced speaker tweakers and wouldn't try anything else on good drivers.
Paradise_Ice said:
Believe it. I gambled $68. Pretty risky, I must admit.
A thin layer of varnish is not going to add significant weight to the cone. What I was hoping for was some damping on transients. Apparently I got it. My golden eared boss thinks so. He recently bought an expensive set of speakers (Quad 11L) for his office. A couple of days ago he sat in my office and listed to the DIY speakers with his eyes closed for quite a while. His comment: "This ****es me off." My private thought: "Yesssssss!"
Dave Jones said:
Its good when it works well! Thats a great story!
Doping can be good when done for the right driver, i guess the speaker makers done have the time to dope them, it can take time to do well. anybody else used anything other than varnish or PVA glue or shellac! i mean something totally off the wall?
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