SIGforum
Anyone re-foamed speakers?

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https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/3360023984

February 08, 2022, 10:30 AM
p08
Anyone re-foamed speakers?
quote:
Originally posted by smschulz:
quote:
Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Just get new speakers.


To repair or replace depends on the speaker.

Repair vs value vs sound quality.
To be honest the OP's Pioneer speakers are not what I would call an audiophile quality speaker.
If you want to upgrade the sound then now would be the time..

If they were originally expensive high end audiophile speakers then definitely I would repair them especially a lot of the old school audiophile speakers are jut not available.

IF you are or want to do it yourself it does require some precision but certainly doable for someone with a proficient DIY ability.
If looking for a quick fix then sub it out or replace the driver.


As noted above I am going to hook up the set of Legacy speakers I already have. They are just kinda large right at 5' tall. The Pioneers were much smaller. Will probably just buy some cheapo woofers to throw in the Pioneer set since the mid and tweeters are still good.


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Always the pall bearer, never the corpse.
February 08, 2022, 12:11 PM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by doublesharp:
I bought a pair of Bose 901s from a pawn shop. Sounded fine for a couple loud weeks and then got fuzzy. I had a pro refoam the speakers, 9 in each box. Wasn't satisfied.
In all the years I auditioned higher-end audio stuff I never once heard a Bose speaker or system I liked.

Was funny when I first started looking at surround speakers. I'd stopped into this one high-end audio shop. Told him what I thought I wanted. "Listen to these," he said, and played some decent eval music. "Ew," I said. "No, no Bose." He looked at me with surprise on his face and asked "How did you know they were Bose?" (They were in-wall speakers.) "Because they sound like Bose speakers." Got a questioning look. "Muddy low end, brassy mid-range, screechy highs," I explained. "Typical Bose."

He just laughed. "You're right, but few people actually hear those flaws."



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
February 08, 2022, 01:25 PM
jhe888
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Was funny when I first started looking at surround speakers. I'd stopped into this one high-end audio shop. Told him what I thought I wanted. "Listen to these," he said, and played some decent eval music. "Ew," I said. "No, no Bose." He looked at me with surprise on his face and asked "How did you know they were Bose?" (They were in-wall speakers.) "Because they sound like Bose speakers." Got a questioning look. "Muddy low end, brassy mid-range, screechy highs," I explained. "Typical Bose."

He just laughed. "You're right, but few people actually hear those flaws."


Bose's marketing is excellent, however.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
February 08, 2022, 02:25 PM
smschulz
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by doublesharp:
I bought a pair of Bose 901s ... {snip} wasn't satisfied.


In all the years I auditioned higher-end audio stuff I never once heard a Bose speaker or system I liked.



Before I was in IT, I was in the AV (mostly audio) business.
Never liked Bose either but nobody in the business did.
Sound wasn't great, profits were thin but demand was high due to the great marketing.
And FWIW ... I even got to meet Dr. Omar Bose at a sales seminar.
Still never liked 'em. Eek
February 08, 2022, 02:30 PM
BigSwede
I think I had that same Denon in the late 80's from AAFES

I wish I had kept the Cerwin Vega D7E's I had Frown



February 08, 2022, 02:58 PM
Hamden106
The Mac 1s never produced low frequencies until I cranked up the volume. But that was drive you out of the house volume. I paired the Macs with a pair of bookshelf Klipsch R3. They add the low level highs just right. When I crank up the Mac 1900, I turn off the Klipsch.



SIGnature
NRA Benefactor CMP Pistol Distinguished
February 08, 2022, 03:14 PM
doublesharp
I've got a pair of Bose 301s, another pawn shop find from the late 1980s that have been played loud for thousands of hours and still sound as good as they ever did. Cool pawnshop in Riverdale Georgia called Daddy's Money. Think I paid under $100 for the pair.


________________________
God spelled backwards is dog
February 08, 2022, 04:05 PM
clang
I bought my sound system at the AAFES AV store while I was in Germany in the 80s. A couple of guys got suckered into buying Bose 901s and I never could figure out how they put up with the sound. 9 midrange drivers in each speaker and 8 of them pointed backwards. No woofer, no tweeter. Sounded liked a really good AM radio.

A couple guys had the Bose 601s, which were better, but nothing to write home about. Well at least they had a tweeter. I still don't buy into the direct/reflecting hype.

I bought a pair of JBL 4312A Control Monitors. I wish I still had them, but I foolishly sold them about 10 years ago for $800.
February 08, 2022, 05:07 PM
4MUL8R
Paid an expert service to reform Boston Acoustics BA-5 speakers. Centering the voice coil seems important, so I chose to pay for an expert.


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Trying to simplify my life...
February 08, 2022, 05:33 PM
83v45magna
I did exactly the same, bringing a mid eighties set of Yamaha separates out of mothballs about 10 years ago. I re-foamed a set of mid eighties Boston Acoustics A-100's. I felt the same trepidation and had the surrounds/glue/instructions for about a year before the correct mood struck me to begin. But a few google searches and I found some discussions and YT videos that made me feel silly that I had delayed the chore. They turned out fantastic. They are acoustic suspension enclosures and seem to have the same precision and flat response that I bought them for in the first place in 1985.

Just do it, but research first so you are confident.



I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. -Ecclesiastes 9:11

...But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by Him shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. - Psalm 63:11 [excerpted]
February 08, 2022, 05:56 PM
Fly-Sig
quote:
Originally posted by p08:
I did remove the old dual cassette deck. Anyone want it for free? You pay shipping.


Interested. I have a bunch of 30+ yr old cassettes of family interviews about family history needing to be converted to mp3.

email sent to the address in your profile.
February 08, 2022, 07:09 PM
flashguy
I haven't, but quite a few folks on The Organ Forum have done it for their organ speakers.

flashguy




Texan by choice, not accident of birth
February 11, 2022, 01:22 AM
83v45magna
A little more googling and...

Evidently you can apply a 30hz tone to the driver to aid centering when replacing a voice coil but also can be beneficial on surrounds. I can see it being a must for a voice coil but I (and many many others) have replaced several surrounds without doing the 30Hz tone thing and never had issues afterwards. YMMV.