Cleaning speakers
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mlistens03
Posts: 2,767
I just cleaned off the cone of an old paper cone subwoofer with a microfiber cloth, and it actually worked really well. I don’t have a picture if the sub before, but below is a similar example on the same driver (Velodyne CHT-10). I used a microfiber cloth which is supposed to really take care of dust (although I have never believed it was true), and it came right off! Before I had tried with a normal cloth, but it didn’t work very well. Once again, below is a picture of mine, after being cleaned. I had to use an old flashlight to show it as the camera in my tablet couldn’t focus on the black cone in the black cabinet, so the lighting is a little weird. Maybe everyone else in the audio world knows about the magic of these things, but I certainly didn’t 
. Anyway, that is something I thought I would share, in case any of you had dusty speaker cones and it was bugging you, like me.
Micah
. Anyway, that is something I thought I would share, in case any of you had dusty speaker cones and it was bugging you, like me.Micah
Comments
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I will have to try this. I have a ton of microfiber cloths. I live in a dust bowl and swiffers just move the dust around.
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Exactly where I was, I was very surprised by the results.
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I just take mine outside and fire up the pressure washer. For some reason the music sounds like its coming from a fish tank now.2 Channel in my home attic/bar/man cave
2 Channel Focal Kanta 3 I Modwright SWL9.0 Anniversary Pre I Modwright PH9.0X I Modwright KWA-150SE I VPI Prime Signature w/ Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC I Lumin U2 Mini I North Star Designs Intenso DAC I Audience OHNO ICs/Audience Furutech FP-S55N and FP-S032N Power Cables/Acoustic Zen Satori I Isotek Sirius -
HAHA I didn’t think about air pressure, water pressure probably is not the best idea though.. although maybe with a polymer or graphite or some other water resistant material would be a usable solution.
How many holes did the pressure washer put in your speaker? Five? -
What speaker! Just a voice coil now.
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
There was a really interesting article, some years back, by a local (New Englander) who restored rare & historic British Parmeko LSU/10 (BBC) monitors. He used bread to clean the cones
source: http://www.highfidelityreview.com/parmeko-lsu10-bbc-studio-monitors.html
caveat. This link seems to have some funny redirects associated with it. I cite it for completeness, but I can't recommend visiting it; sorry!
This is, apparently, a thing in the museum biz. Just sayin'.
About the LSU/10:
https://www.markhennessy.co.uk/rogers/bbc_txt.htmLSU/10
This large assembly, in an oak cabinet, was designed just after the war for general studio use. Some may still be found in service in talkback or PA applications.
The following units were used:
- Parmeko 18-inch dual concentric woofer/ horn tweeter
- Lorentz LPH65 tweeter (for extended hf)
- Modified Leak TL/ 12 valve amplifier: 12 watts
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The microfiber cloths work really good. I just ordered Clorox dust wipes before I saw this thtead, they work pretty good but kind of a waste of money now.
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White bread? I’ll have to try that next time I get some dusty old speaker cones, but this one is clean now so it’s too late for that
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What speaker! Just a voice coil now.
Haha exactly. I tried to clean a Magnavox speaker from the 70s with a can of compressed air. (give me a break, I was 10) I accidentally got a new one instead of the old one my dad gave me to use which was almost empty, and then I opened the switch. Then I turned it off and went to find the cone in my neighbors yard. -
It didn’t work very well, but I’ve always wanted to try again with a low powered can of air, perhaps almost empty. I didn’t care about the magnavox speakers, they cost someone $50 and I found them on the side of the road, beat up. Tweeters were toast, but the woofers worked, so I was gonna blow them up, but they looked gross, so I had to clean them for my subscribers (I had 10 )
