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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: audBall on June 20, 2007, 04:41:31 PM

Title: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: audBall on June 20, 2007, 04:41:31 PM
Anyone ever done this?  or paid someone to do it?

I received a quote from a local guy for $35/driver to replace the outer foam on some oldies.  Is this a decent price?
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: nickgregory on June 20, 2007, 04:46:33 PM
Anyone ever done this?  or paid someone to do it?

I received a quote from a local guy for $35/driver to replace the outer foam on some oldies.  Is this a decent price?

I had it done by some outfit in PA and that was about the price I paid...no idea if it was competitive, I just did it...
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: twatts (pants are so over-rated...) on June 20, 2007, 04:52:05 PM
My dad got his AR-4s refoamed about 10 years ago, he paid about that per woofer...

You can buy the kit and do it yourself for cheaper...  But at $30, its not really worth the hassle and potential mess-up...

What kind of speakers are we talking about here???

Terry
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: cheshirecat on June 20, 2007, 05:07:17 PM
I refoamed the woofers in a pair of large advents.  Not really a big deal, you just have to take your time and do it right.
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: audBall on June 20, 2007, 05:57:26 PM
Thanks for all the feedback, guys!  +T's around...

The speakers are Bose 601 Series II's.  I know, I know....Bose.  However, I get a call from a friend about a month ago saying he's "had these speakers in his basement for years....got `em from a friend and never used them" and that he wants to get rid of them for free.  Having purchased a new pair of VR1's not too long before, I figured why not?  It'd make for some good at-home comps.

I unplugged the VR1's, connected the 601's, and was immediately hooked.  I haven't even hooked the VR1's back up since.  The 601's sounded a little bright at first, but they were wide open and deep.  The brightness chilled out after running some juice through them for a while.  They're only two-way's but they're about 2.5 times the size of the VR1's.   Does that make it fair to compare?  :P

The thing is, the two bottom woofers have quite a bit of foam rot.....and they still sound damn good.  I figure I'll just have all four refoamed and be done with it.  I can't wait to hear them after it's done.

Here's some info on them:
- 2-way, Dual 8" Woofer Design (one front firing and one up firing)
-Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
-Frequency Response 28 Hz - 20 kHz
-4x 3" sealed frame, cone Tweeters Reflecting front and back
- 2kHz Cross Over Point
- Binding post style wire connections
-Self-resetting circuit breaker for tweeter and overall fuse protection
-2.75" Tuned Port for extended low frequency range and response
-Power Handling 20 watts minimum - 200 watts maximum 

A re-foamed pair just sold here for $500 so I figure I got a good deal.   ;D
You'll have to scroll down about half way or just search the page for "601 Series II".
http://www.oaktreeent.com/Stereo_Speakers.htm
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: sygdwm on June 20, 2007, 06:07:31 PM
i have a pair of 301's that instead of replacing the foam, i got 2 punch(rockford fosgate) free-air 8"s. you can get them in 8ohm versions. yeah it cost a little more ~$80/pr. but the sound improved DRAMATICALLY. i realize you'd have to replace 4, but it would be well worth it. since they were free anyway.
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: cshepherd on June 20, 2007, 06:17:57 PM
I doubt the drivers are worth $30 brand new.  I would take one out and look around on eBay for replacement parts before paying to have it re-foamed.

Chris
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: audBall on June 20, 2007, 06:51:52 PM
i have a pair of 301's that instead of replacing the foam, i got 2 punch(rockford fosgate) free-air 8"s. you can get them in 8ohm versions. yeah it cost a little more ~$80/pr. but the sound improved DRAMATICALLY. i realize you'd have to replace 4, but it would be well worth it. since they were free anyway.

That's not a bad idea.  I'm assuming these are woofers intended for car audio?

I doubt the drivers are worth $30 brand new.  I would take one out and look around on eBay for replacement parts before paying to have it re-foamed.

Chris

Thank you for pointing this out. +T  I'll do some searching.

Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: sygdwm on June 20, 2007, 08:02:24 PM
Quote
That's not a bad idea.  I'm assuming these are woofers intended for car audio?

exactly. make sure you look at "free-air" and 8ohm.
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: ero3030 on June 20, 2007, 09:02:28 PM
check out wooferrepair.com.  did a pair of 10" bostons for about 25$ shipped.  comes w/ a dvd on the whole process.  came out nice.  give it a try.  ed
Title: Re: Refoaming Speakers
Post by: eclark on June 20, 2007, 10:21:14 PM
yeah i refoamed my speakers too (Infinity RS425s) they were old and i had blown them a long time ago. i bought the kit on ebay for like 15-20 bucks. it came pretty fast, i had a good time doing it, and they sound GREAT! fwiw