How Difficult Is It To Re-Cone Your Own Speakers?

[stevieb]

I suspect it's quite easy, in spite of what my local re-coner says. Anybody ever done it? I see supplies are readily available, at about 50 to 66% of what the cost at the shop comes to.

I have a Klipsch speaker pair, one of the caps in the center of the woofer is torn. Wonder where I could find just that part, and if it will be as easy to replace as it looks?

 

[Lt. Bob]

I used to recone for a store.
yeah it's pretty simple.

But replacing the dustcap isn't quite as easy since the real problem is getting the old one out of there without damaging the cone.
You can't just pull it out ..... you'll have to cut it away as close to the cone as you can but that will leave a ridge where the glue and small piece of the original dustcap were and that can interfere with getting the new one in place.
Depending on what's wrong with it you might just consider patching the tear.

 

[Farview]

The dust cap doesn't really do anything other than keep dust out of the voice coil. It's not necessary for the speaker to work correctly. Either patching it or cutting off any floppy bits that are making noise would be the way to go. (Unless you are worried about what it looks like)

 

[dintymoore]

I've never reconed a speaker. I have refoamed acoustic suspension speakers and it went well. For what you're talking about I wouldn't recone it if I could patch it with crazy glue.

There are people who say that the dust cone on speakers is not only unnecessary but actually makes the speaker sound bad. I've seen speaker cones removed on purpose and replaced with a short length of dowel like a broom handle.

 

[moresound]

Re coning a speaker is quite easy but I've done so many I now hate it (same boat as Lt.). I did teach a few guys how to do it so if I'm ever in need I'll just go see one of them.

I did like what peavey did with their black widows and have field replacement baskets that are more than easy to do, in fact the hardest thing is getting the speaker out of the box, It can all be done in 10 minutes.

 

[Major415]

Where is a good place to learn? I have a couple older speakers that I really like and the cones are shot (torn and foam bad).

Where is a good source for the cone, dust cap and foam?

Thanks!

Re coning a speaker is quite easy but I've done so many I now hate it (same boat as Lt.). I did teach a few guys how to do it so if I'm ever in need I'll just go see one of them.

I did like what peavey did with their black widows and have field replacement baskets that are more than easy to do, in fact the hardest thing is getting the speaker out of the box, It can all be done in 10 minutes.

 

[Terra]

I need to patch/ recone two speakers in my car...everytime the bass hits, buzzzzzzzzzzzz. I've heard that you can take a mesh-like substance, and kinda paper-mache (sp?) it on the back of the speaker to kind of patch it.

 

[moresound]

I need to patch/ recone two speakers in my car...everytime the bass hits, buzzzzzzzzzzzz. I've heard that you can take a mesh-like substance, and kinda paper-mache (sp?) it on the back of the speaker to kind of patch it.

It's just a quick fix and won't last.
Car speakers are cheap enough to just replace.

 

[moresound]

Where is a good place to learn? I have a couple older speakers that I really like and the cones are shot (torn and foam bad).

Where is a good source for the cone, dust cap and foam?

Thanks!

You can learn from reading about it on the web but a few times watching someone is always best.
If you can't get the materials from the original manufacturer then there are plenty of web sites that will cross reference the parts you need.

 

[Lt. Bob]

It's just a quick fix and won't last.
Car speakers are cheap enough to just replace.

I'm not sure I totally agree with that. I've fixed holes in cones and they basically lasted forever and were as good as before the cone got torn. I didn't paper mache them though .... I used appropriate paper and a white glue.
But you do have to know what you're doing and the fact that his speakers are buzzing SO badly makes me think it's more than just a hole in the cone.

Where is a good place to learn? I have a couple older speakers that I really like and the cones are shot (torn and foam bad).

Where is a good source for the cone, dust cap and foam?

And the spider and the voice coil ...... you're gonna have to totally recone the speaker. You can't just replace some of those parts. They're glued together and will all have to be replaced. There's no way to get them apart and reuse any of it.
And depending on the speaker, it can be hard to get the proper parts. Often it's easier to just replace the speaker.

I know how to recone and I don't bother with it anymore because of the difficulty of getting decent parts.

I have 4 JBL D-110's that need reconing and I can't find the parts for them at all for any reasonable price.
(I'll keep my fingers crossed someone will tell me I'm wrong and where I CAN get them ........ I'll order them immediately! )