mach three refoam

scottyboy76

i was just gifted some very nice optimus mach threes, i have never replaced surrounds before, im pretty handy, is there much to it. also would there be any extra benefit to letting a shop do this, in other words, is there a "tune up" or anything they would do that is worth it.these have two horns and 15 in woofers and two dial controls, one for mid and one for high. everything works fine just the woofer surrounds need replaced. any help would be appreciated.

scottyboy76

i am overwhelmed with the response from the communatay. someone respond even if it is just something smart alecky about mach threes. i found an ad for audio atlanta, their website is very impressive, and its certainly doable as far as distance from us. they charge 50 each for 15 inch refoaming. they warranty for 7 years so i guess they do good work with good material. i read somewhere that foam should be replaced with foam and rubber with rubber because of weight and response differences. also the prices online for refoam kits range from 10 dollars to over 40 per for 15s. also some customer reviews report surrounds advertised for their speakers were BARELY large enough for their particular speaker. im leaning towards letting a shop do it. i mean 50 per with 7 year warranty,not bad.anyone with experience if you have some advice let me know. thanks.

nooshinjohn

Silence is golden:D:D;)....


I know only the Mach III razors and thats about it. Good luck with your project.:)

dane_peterson

For the cost of admission, I'd probably have the shop do it myself. Foam surrounds shouldn't run more than $10/set, but if you see them cost as much as $40, I'd rather give that to a shop to have them done right and know they'll last a while.

mhardy6647

Refoaming is straightforward; Steve Deckert has a photo-tutorial on his website www.decware.com (at least he did the last time I looked). You can buy a kit from PartsExpress (see link below) or generic surrounds individually from MAT Electronics very cheaply (but both vendors have minimum orders).

For a "tune up", replacing the crossover capacitors with good modern caps would be worth the effort and relatively low cost (the Dayton caps sold at www.partsexpress.com which are made by Bennic, are cheap and perfectly decent).

FWIW, IMNSHO, etc... The speakers in question are nothing to write home about.

halo71

Scott....if The Speaker Clinic is still in Marietta, they do excellent work! Or were they called The Speaker Doctor? Don't remember now. But I have had several subs repaired they before.

HB27

like Mhardy said.
Foaming is easy if you follow the directions.
The generics from Mat won't fit the Mach 3 and barely fit the 2.
rcobb@tampabay.rr.com for a quality surround at very fair prices

pitdogg2

refoaming is very easy my only word of advice is to take tour time do not try to do both sides in one day(foam to cone and foam to frame). Do the foam to cone on both in one day but make sure you get all surfaces clean that matters the most. I've done several from 6" to 15" speakers. What you have going in your favor is sizer the bigger the easier. Orange county speakers in California I've delt with on all mine they carry a large slection of O.E.M product and are very reasonable
good luck and take the dive you'll be glad you did

mhardy6647

HB27 wrote: »

...
The generics from Mat won't fit the Mach 3 and barely fit the 2.
rcobb@tampabay.rr.com for a quality surround at very fair prices

Listen to this man; he knows more about these speakers than I do! :-)

scottyboy76

thanx guys, i shot an email to the guy in tampa. i think if someone can assure me a repair kit they have will fit im gonna do it. i found a video from a woman in the netherlands and it looks very simple. she just turned a cooking pot upside down after gluing to the cone, and then used clothespins side by side all around after gluing to the rim. i think even my fat fingers can pull it off. and with the shims to keep the voice coil from rubbing it seems like its down to being fastidious and patient. some kid around here is gonna have that party speaker he thinks he wants, and im gonna have some cash to put towards som dcm time windows, which is what i think i would like to have in the old living room. thanx again everybody.

HB27

You shouldn't need shims on the woofer voice coil if it's just rotten foams. Nothing wrong with doing it that way but it's usually not necessary on a straight re-foam.
I use a 30hz sine wave disc now but I used to "float" them out by feel for years.
When you glue the foam to the frames all you have to do is move the surround around until you feel no rubbing at all. You'll pick up on it immediately.

pitdogg2

I agree with HB27 the only time i ever used shims was on woofers that had pointed phase plugs, and that was just to keep foam pieces out of the motor assembly. Larger woofers seem to want to set true most of the time. pulling the dust cap off sometimes can lead to big problems.