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Speaker repair

I've got a lot of big, small and medium speakers that have blown out over the years. Typically I take them to the attic where they usually make pretty good bookshelf supports.

In the spirit of domestic harmony, I am cleaning out said attic (anyone

*really* refer to their old college texts or books they have read in the past anymore?). So with all the books being "de-accessioned" (librarian-speak for "thrown out") I am left with a lot of bowed knotty pine planks and burned out speakers.

If they can be salvaged, I can use them, but if they're likely to just blow out again, I will send them to the curb monster that comes by late at night before trash day.

So my question is this. Is it worth repairing 10 or 20 year old speakers? Can replacements be readily had?

Is there a good site for diagnosing speaker problems? I almost always assume it's a fine wire winding in the voice coil that shorted when a speaker no longer even responds to a battery "click" test but I that's an assumption.

Is it possible to match the characteristics of the old speakers closely enough without manufacturer info like a parts list?

Do crossover networks ever go bad? Can they be tested with a multimeter?

And yes, I googled it,

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but I didn't like very many of the sites it revealed. I'll keep searching but Google ain't what she used to be.

Hmm, should have added "blown" to the search term - much better. Still not great, though.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Reply to
Robert Green
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If'en the books don't get carried away, before throwing out entirely, the local library has a "free" table for the purpose...I've had amazing (to me) stuff disappear from there to at least delay the landfill deluge.

I've no input on the speaker repair per se altho I wonder how one manages to blow "a lot" of them -- I've a set or AR-5 and 3a's from 50 yr ago and haven't ever "blown" one other than a car or tractor radio 5" jobbie...

Reply to
dpb

If it was me, I'd just toss them. But.....

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What's wrong with those instructions? But, if it was me I'd toss them. See if you can salvage the knotty pine.

Reply to
Vic Smith

I can't speak to your specific repairs, but I have repaired speakers for my car that had the broken rubber around the cone. The kit was cheap and easy to install.

Simply Speakers.

Reply to
badgolferman

So far I've blown 2 sets of rear speakers on my Harley - might have something to do with high volume levels coupled with "optomistic" power-handling specs . Oh , and the 100 watt amp in the tourpak .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

Robert,

It's probably not cost effective to repair the speakers. To repair a speaker it helps to know what's wrong, so let's open it up. What do you see?

2 speakers or 3 maybe? A PC board? A fuse? Now what sort of tools do you have? A multimeter? An oscilloscope? A soldering iron? Ok let's hook the speaker up to a good audio signal. Turn the volume down and the power on. Now bring the volume up. Hear anything?

Dave M.

Reply to
David Martel

Anything can be fixed, almost anything, if the speakers were high dollar than repair'em, I'm still old school when a decent set of speakers were high dollar, they still are if you want real quality. So fix them up like new and use them or put them back in the attic or you might read up on acoustics and remove the speakers and put them in the wall or ceiling. google infinite baffle, You'll find lots of information and parts available on the internet, one of many....

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Reply to
Fat-Dumb and Happy

Question is better answered in the sci.electronics.repair newsgroup.

Reply to
KLayton888

Hi, It all depends. What kinda speakers(music, instrument, size, etc.) They all can be repaired. Voice coil can be re[placed, even impedance changed. Cones replaced, ribbed or smooth cones, rubbers can be redone,etc. I had a blown 15 in. keyboard amp speakers. I had it repaired, recone, new voice coil, etc. for 80.00.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

More to the point, I think:

What brand of speakers are they?

If they're a pair of Pioneer HPM-60's, they're probably not worth repairing.

If they're a pair of BOSE 901's, then you'll find some sucker on ebay that will pay through the nose for them (no highs, no lows, must be bose).

A pair of Infinity QE's, should be fixable (and may just have a blown fuse).

If they're a pair of Maggies, get 'em fixed!

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

I suspect there's every type of damage a speaker can suffer from torn cones to open voice coils and probably failed cross-over networks.

Reply to
Robert Green

Good idea, I'll crosspost the original item so that both groups can weigh in. AHR folks, please forgive the second posting!

Reply to
Robert Green

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They're OK - I think I need a little more info on how to test crossover networks because I think at least some of them are bad - i.e. the speakers will sound connected to an amp directly but not when connected to the crossover network in the box. However there were some useful bits.

I can make use of them if I can repair them and in some cases, would have to buy new ones. Not sure of the tradeoff but I will be moreso when I price replacements. If it's anything like drill batteries, I can buy a new drill and battery packs on sale for the price of a single replacement battery pack.

Just flip them and load them down with some bricks to recurve them against the bowing. It really wasn't bad compared to the one particle board shelf that sagged like a pregnant cow.

Reply to
Robert Green

I've got a lot of big, small and medium speakers that have blown out over the years. Typically I take them to the attic where they usually make pretty good bookshelf supports.

In the spirit of domestic harmony, I am cleaning out said attic (anyone

*really* refer to their old college texts or books they have read in the past anymore?). So with all the books being "de-accessioned" (librarian-speak for "thrown out") I am left with a lot of bowed knotty pine planks and burned out speakers.

If they can be salvaged, I can use them, but if they're likely to just blow out again, I will send them to the curb monster that comes by late at night before trash day.

So my question is this. Is it worth repairing 10 or 20 year old speakers? Can replacements be readily had?

Is there a good site for diagnosing speaker problems? I almost always assume it's a fine wire winding in the voice coil that shorted when a speaker no longer even responds to a battery "click" test but I that's an assumption.

Is it possible to match the characteristics of the old speakers closely enough without manufacturer info like a parts list?

Do crossover networks ever go bad? Can they be tested with a multimeter?

And yes, I googled it,

formatting link

but I didn't like very many of the sites it revealed. I'll keep searching but Google ain't what she used to be.

Hmm, should have added "blown" to the search term - much better. Still not great, though.

Thanks in advance for your input.

(Followups to alt.home.repair please!)

Reply to
Robert Green

I do, on rare occasion.

You presumably have conventional dynamic speakers. It's unlikely any of them could stand up to current models in terms of sound quality. (There are exceptions.)

The fact that these speakers are "blown out" is suspicious. Speakers are almost always blown out by gross abuse; it doesn't "just happen". As a "classical snob" listener, I'm tempted to believe you don't deserve to own good speakers, because you just crank up the volume without regard for whether you're driving the speakers into distortion, a small step away from damaging them.

Before repairing or replacing these speakers, you should find out /why/ you're abusing them.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Depends on the speaker and what's blown. If it's just the "surrounds" that have gone on a decent quality speaker it is well worth fixing them. A lot of the speakers from the sixties and seventies are every bit as good as the crap you buy today - even the "high end" chinese junk.

Yes, they can go bad. Test right at the speaker terminals - inside the box.. If the speaker itself is good, cheap chinese crossovers are almost litterally "a dime a dozen" on Flea Bay. Relatively good ones are not terribly expensive either.

Reply to
clare

WHAT!

Reply to
amdx

Bobby, If your attic is anything like mine with regard to temperature and humidity control, hitting extremes in both parameters, I would caution you to look carefully at the outcome of storage. You may find that new issues now exist which did not arise until heat, cold, dust, etc. have destroyed other elements of the speaker. The adhesives, rubber, surrounds, electrolytics, cones, etc. can get irreversibly damaged after a stay in harsh conditions.

Smarty

Reply to
Smarty

Hi, El Cheapo amps blow speakers more. MY HT is 7.1 all Paradigm speakers driven by Anthem MRX700.

2 ch. stereo is an old British Quad I mod'd with pair of Mirage M7s.
Reply to
Tony Hwang

Absolutely valid points. But he said these speakers were blown out before being put in storage.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

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