How do you remove the LSI9 midrange driver?

mikejl46

I just removed all the screws that hold the LSI9 mid range driver in and it dose not want to be removed. Before I start adding some force that may break things, is there hidden connections I need to know about? Whats the best way to get one of these drivers out with out scratching things up?

Thanks,

Mike

eclypse

I'm sure theres a ton of people that have done this doing mods and suck so please wait for the experts to shed some light on it for you before you go tearing up that fine speaker!

eclypse

I've asked VR3 to come in and give ya some tips to get it done.

VR3

The best way to remove a LSi9 driver is as follows -

NOTE: EARLIER LSI SPEAKERS WITH VINYL FINISHES, THEY DID NOT USE A "SEAL" BUT MORE SO LET THE BASE PAINT ADHERE TO THE DRIVERS AS A SEAL. THEY ARE VERY HARD TO REMOVE!

1) Remove the screws to the tweeter
2) Take one of the screws, place the screw into a set of needle nose plyers or a multi tool, pressing the head of the screw against the plyers (so most of the threads are exposed)
3) Place the screw into the mounting hole of the tweeter just enough to sink it into the top of the hole
4) Apply sideways pressure to the screw against the mounting plate
5) Pull upwards, keep the sideways pressure
6) The tweeter will pull free
7) Once the tweeter is removed position your hand under the magnet of the midbass you want to remove
8) Take your other hand and apply pressure to the top of the driver so that the direction you are pushing underneath will level out the driver. This is very important or you will rip the finish off of the speaker.
9) If for some reason number 8 does not work due to extreme adhesion, I recommend taking a paint can opener or a knife and prying from underneath the driver but being careful that it does not slide in and puncture...

This should get you started

Best of luck

eclypse

Thanks!

mikejl46

Thanks for the help.

I was able to remove the driver by removing the tweeter first, then taking a flat screw edge driver and hammer. A couple of taps with the flat edge of the screw driver between the wood and driver broke it loose.

RamZet

I was going to say "use a hammer" because it would have been funny. Looks like you did use a hammer....

nice.

sk88

It's been my experience that it's very difficult to remove drivers on Lsi9 and Lsi25 by hand except for the tweeter. It's not because of any seal or adhesive paint, but because that they were crimped/pushed into place when they were screwed in place. You can think that the diameter of the driver basket is just a bit bigger than the cut-out hole. Actually, after you removed the drivers and are ready to mount them back again, you'd have to tighten those screws evenly and diagonally in order to crimp/push the driver back in place. They won't get looser until after you've pulled them out more than 30 times.

In my experience, I was never able to pull those drivers out by hand. A hammer may work for Lsi9 (I've not tried) except that you'd have to do that from the binding post opening on the back which is possible for Lsi9 but definitely not for Lsi15 or 25. What I ended up doing was using a DIY L-bar with the long side about 2' and the short side about 2". I take out the tweeter first and then insert the short end through the tweeter opening and pull the drivers out from their behind. You'd only appreciate how tight they were after you've pull them out.

Just a caution not to remove all the screws when you are pulling the driver so that it won't fell on the ground when you break it loose.

mikejl46

sk88 wrote: »

It's not because of any seal or adhesive paint, but because that they were crimped/pushed into place when they were screwed in place. You can think that the diameter of the driver basket is just a bit bigger than the cut-out hole. Actually, after you removed the drivers and are ready to mount them back again, you'd have to tighten those screws evenly and diagonally in order to crimp/push the driver back in place. .

Your right about that, I had a hard time getting one of the drivers back in. The driver has to be perfectly level and then evenly tighten down the screws. Even then I thought I was going to strip out the screw holes tightening the screws down.

Thanks again Polk Audio for the great customer service.