Help: Torn speaker cone in monitor

J

jeak

New member
The 8-inch driver in one of my Yamaha HS80M monitors has a large rip in its cone. The rip starts near a voice coil and extends to the rolled edge of the cone. I don't know how this happened. I just walked into my studio last week and noticed it.

A new 8-inch driver will cost $150 -- almost half what the entire monitor cost. The dealer recommends that I also replace the 8-inch driver in the other monitor to retain a matched pair.

Is this necessary? Or can I replace just the ripped speaker?

Or is there a way to patch the rip?

Or should I just do nothing? The monitor sounds fine.

Finally, any idea what can cause a sudden tear? Nothing hit the speaker. All I can think of is temperature fluctuation. I lost power for three days after a severe storm two months ago. The indoor temp fell to 30 degrees F. I was not home at the time (I evacuated during the storm), but the battery-powered digital thermometer in the room recorded the low temp during the outage.

Thanks for any info or advice.
 
My recommendation is to replace the one ripped speaker. The swap speaker jacks back and forth and see if there's any sonic differences.
 
If it's only a ripped cone a speciality speaker repairer should be able to repair the cone and it will not change the sound at all. The only thing is that you may be able to see the repair after on the cone face, talk to the repairer first to see how they think it will look.

I have had PA speakers repaired in the past where cone were ripped by falling equipment and they worked fine and still are working fine with the original repaired cone.

Cheers

Alan.
 
Thanks for the quick replies.

I found a specialty speaker shop online and called about a repair. Unfortunately, this speaker model is "replacement only." So I guess I'll replace just the torn speaker.

Or is there any reason not to keep using the torn one? It looks bad, but it sounds fine. Or is the rip likely to get worse and eventually affect the sound?
 
if the speaker still sounds fine, it sounds like it's just the dust cover that's ripped... (center of speaker) if that's the case, just leave it or remove it altogether
 
Here are some photos. The rip is on the lower right area of the cone. Seems like this should affect the sound, but I can't hear anything wrong.

speaker1.jpg


speaker2.jpg
 
I have fixed rips like this before.

First have the edges of the rip joined up as closely as possible .... take some paper ..... about like the thicker printing paper you use in you computer printer ...... cut it to extend about an inch to each side of the rip ..... put a THIN layer of elmers glue on it and stick it over the rip making sure to gently press from the rear of the cone to make sure there are no voids. Make SURE you get it totally in contact with the cone .... no air bubbles. Don't press so hard at the rip that you open it up ..... you just want to make sure every point of the paper patch is glued to the cone.
Let it dry ...... then do the exact same thing on the back side.
It's important that the glue be thin cause you don't want to add more weight than necessary.
You use two pieces of thin sheet paper for the same reason ...... by using them front and back it adds enough strength without adding weight.
I've fixed speakers like this and had them sound about the same as they did prior to tearing them.

If it's a plastic cone then I think you could do something similar with silicone instead of elmers
 
Thanks, Lt. Bob. Your repair procedure sounds good. I think I'll try it first. I can always replace the speaker if something goes awry.
 
jeak said:
The 8-inch driver in one of my Yamaha HS80M monitors has a large rip in its cone. The rip starts near a voice coil and extends to the rolled edge of the cone. I don't know how this happened. I just walked into my studio last week and noticed it.

A new 8-inch driver will cost $150 -- almost half what the entire monitor cost. The dealer recommends that I also replace the 8-inch driver in the other monitor to retain a matched pair.

Is this necessary? Or can I replace just the ripped speaker?

Or is there a way to patch the rip?

Or should I just do nothing? The monitor sounds fine.

Finally, any idea what can cause a sudden tear? Nothing hit the speaker. All I can think of is temperature fluctuation. I lost power for three days after a severe storm two months ago. The indoor temp fell to 30 degrees F. I was not home at the time (I evacuated during the storm), but the battery-powered digital thermometer in the room recorded the low temp during the outage.

Thanks for any info or advice.
Click to expand...

Are you listening to your play back at ridiculously loud volumes?
Is the rip a rip or is that where the paper was originally joined? If so that would be under warranty
 
moresound said:
Are you listening to your play back at ridiculously loud volumes?
Is the rip a rip or is that where the paper was originally joined? If so that would be under warranty
Click to expand...

No, I never crank the speakers very loud. I wish I knew what caused the rip. It's not where the paper joins. The monitors are 3+ years old, so I'm pretty sure the warranty has expired.
 
i guess my experience is different than others here... IMO i would consider changing out both woofers... the repair option can add significant mass to the woofer and thus affect the tone and at the least be a poor match to the other original... and keeping the good one may show some difference in having been "burned in " for three years and not match the new one very well... so there's the other side of the debate...
 
I think he would rather change them out but it'd be $300 ..... I think that was the main reason to try to repair it.
Lord knows I couldn't come up with a spare $300 so I can relate to the lack of funds.
If he does it right he can fix that without adding much weight ..... it's all gonna be up to how good a job he does.
It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

If it were mine I'd certainly at least try to fix it ...... I simply wouldn't have $300 available for it.
 
jeak said:
Thanks for the quick replies.

I found a specialty speaker shop online and called about a repair. Unfortunately, this speaker model is "replacement only." So I guess I'll replace just the torn speaker.
Click to expand...

They were looking to replace the whole cone and coil with a kit, a good speaker repairer would have offered to glue the cone just like suggested. If you are not sure you can do it look up a local repairer that you can take it in to for a quote.

Cheers

Alan.
 
hey i understanf stop gap measures... i'm just saying beware what you're asking for and realize this has issues... anyone else ever checked out the way a cone breaks up under use??? it will be exascerbated with the fix as described... just dont expect it to be the same... caveat emptor...
 
I have never had a speaker split this way, and I have been doing sound both live and studio for over 30 years. This split is either a manufacturing fault or the cone was slightly damaged in the past and the split grow over time.

If you drive a speaker hard what will happen is that the voice coil will either burn out (no sound) or enlarge due to heat and fowl the magnet (distorted sound or no sound due to no movement).

I have seen a speaker catch fire, in fact the whole sub cabinet caught fire, at a gig when an amplifier went DC and put mains voltage through the speakers, very spectacular for the crowd standing in front of it. This is less likely these days as amps usually have a protection system to stop this kind of thing.

Cheers

Alan.
 
dementedchord said:
i guess my experience is different than others here... IMO i would consider changing out both woofers... the repair option can add significant mass to the woofer and thus affect the tone and at the least be a poor match to the other original... and keeping the good one may show some difference in having been "burned in " for three years and not match the new one very well... so there's the other side of the debate...
Click to expand...

Well then glue a similar piece to the other one for now until one can afford to replace the both of them!

Do you have home owners insurance?
 
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