Speaker refoaming
Tony M
Posts: 11,180
Here are Mr. Paul's A/R TSW410 speakers I oversaw the re-foaming of in the past 2 days.
2-8" woofers
2-6" midranges
My 80 year young friend "Mr. Paul" and his 69 year young friend "Thomas ( Tommy )" and I started yesterday and then just me and Mr. Paul finished today.
I wish I had thought about taking the "Before" pictures but I was so into getting work stations set-up I completely forgot too. Oh well, we all know what rotten surrounds look like. The surrounds on these were rotten BUT they were of high quality and were 65% still viable. Thanks to their quality, Mr. Paul's reminiscent urge and subsequent actually playing them the other day ( before repairing them ) didn't damage them.
The old surrounds were pretty thick and gooey/sticky.
Mr. Paul, Thomas and I took what was left of the surrounds off all 4 speakers.
Then Thomas took the job of cleaning the cones thoroughly while Mr. Paul and I scraped the frames clean.
These speakers were WELL BUILT back in the day for sure! It was a bi**h for Mr. Paul and I to get the frames really clean. Thomas finished the frames with the rubbing alcohol I provided to clean the cones with. He cleaned the cones so damn good, I couldn't tell where the old surrounds sat when I went to attach the new ones.
It's nice to know where to attach the new surrounds to the old cone! 
I figured it out by marking the inside line with a pencil as the new surround sat upside-down in it's future position. It worked out great!
Mr. Paul cut a few gasket trim pieces to fit today. I did all the gluing for all 4 speakers yesterday and today. The voice coil clearances were tight but everything seem to work out just fine. I was stressing for nothing it seemed. Mr. Paul came up with a plan to use the gasket pieces to help center the coils. It turned out I could use 2 pieces as spacers to the frames and the voice coils seem to float freely!
We 3 had a great time! I was stressed somewhat but still accepted the challenge to help an old friend out and also to help his friend learn how it's done. The cleaning is the hardest part I told them. I also said it would be MESSY and they found that out also. MESSY just doesn't seem to describe the process of removing the old foam and glue well enough! Using a soup can box bottom works great to contain the MESS. I should've taken pictures of our 3 box bottoms full of crap too! Oh well, here's the end results of 3 guys working for about 2 hours yesterday and 2 guys working about 2 hours today.
Finished.
Anybody else besides me that likes doing surround re-foaming jobs?
I remember another guy showing me his re-foaming job a while back on here. We both agreed it's really fulfilling to bring speakers back to life!
2-8" woofers
2-6" midranges
My 80 year young friend "Mr. Paul" and his 69 year young friend "Thomas ( Tommy )" and I started yesterday and then just me and Mr. Paul finished today.
I wish I had thought about taking the "Before" pictures but I was so into getting work stations set-up I completely forgot too. Oh well, we all know what rotten surrounds look like. The surrounds on these were rotten BUT they were of high quality and were 65% still viable. Thanks to their quality, Mr. Paul's reminiscent urge and subsequent actually playing them the other day ( before repairing them ) didn't damage them.
The old surrounds were pretty thick and gooey/sticky.Mr. Paul, Thomas and I took what was left of the surrounds off all 4 speakers.
Then Thomas took the job of cleaning the cones thoroughly while Mr. Paul and I scraped the frames clean.
These speakers were WELL BUILT back in the day for sure! It was a bi**h for Mr. Paul and I to get the frames really clean. Thomas finished the frames with the rubbing alcohol I provided to clean the cones with. He cleaned the cones so damn good, I couldn't tell where the old surrounds sat when I went to attach the new ones.
It's nice to know where to attach the new surrounds to the old cone! I figured it out by marking the inside line with a pencil as the new surround sat upside-down in it's future position. It worked out great!
Mr. Paul cut a few gasket trim pieces to fit today. I did all the gluing for all 4 speakers yesterday and today. The voice coil clearances were tight but everything seem to work out just fine. I was stressing for nothing it seemed. Mr. Paul came up with a plan to use the gasket pieces to help center the coils. It turned out I could use 2 pieces as spacers to the frames and the voice coils seem to float freely!
We 3 had a great time! I was stressed somewhat but still accepted the challenge to help an old friend out and also to help his friend learn how it's done. The cleaning is the hardest part I told them. I also said it would be MESSY and they found that out also. MESSY just doesn't seem to describe the process of removing the old foam and glue well enough! Using a soup can box bottom works great to contain the MESS. I should've taken pictures of our 3 box bottoms full of crap too!
Oh well, here's the end results of 3 guys working for about 2 hours yesterday and 2 guys working about 2 hours today.Finished.
Anybody else besides me that likes doing surround re-foaming jobs?
I remember another guy showing me his re-foaming job a while back on here. We both agreed it's really fulfilling to bring speakers back to life!
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
Comments
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I've done my share.
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Correction: I just read that these TSW 410's have 6 1/2" midranges.Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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I can't say I like doing it, but I don't mind and I am always happy to have the chore finished.
The worst part, to me, is cleaning up the basket -- specifically, getting the little bits of degraded surround and adhesive off of the rim of the basket to get things clean enough to install the new surround. It's a messy process. I usually use a single-edged razor blade, paper towels and isopropanol, and it's just one of those activities that requires a little more patience and attention to detail than I am programmed to deliver
Cleaning up the teeny little bits of desiccated foam off of the bench, floor, and pretty much everywhere at the end of the campaign isn't much fun, either.
The OP looks like a bevy of nice refoams prosecuted by @Tony M and friends!
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My recommendation is a good sharp wood chisle for basket edge work and woofer edge. They make quick easy work of it if sized correctly.
My .02 -
I'm so glad I found a soup can box bottom to protect a small chess table years ago. These short but sizable boxes work so nice to contain the mess. I then tap the mess into a plastic grocery bag or the normal kitchen trash can and use it again to glue the speaker surrounds in.
We 3 guys took our time and were thorough with our cleaning processes. OCD in a way. We didn't have much else pressing on our schedules ( ) so we just cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.
Each of us had a huge pile of crap in our box trays.
It's all a memory now.
Maybe today, Mr. Paul and I will put the speakers back into the cabinets. Maybe tomorrow. I can't wait to hear these med. sized guys. Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Nice.
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Here's an older pic. .
Not a soup can box bottom but a similar cardboard tray and the crap it keeps off of everything. Notice my little 5.00 chess table. It's the perfect height.
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
My recommendation is a good sharp wood chisle for basket edge work and woofer edge. They make quick easy work of it if sized correctly.
My .02
I have sharp wood chisels and might've used one or two in the beginning but I think I've just used razor knives so far. With new blades in them of course.
Mr. Paul liked using a rectangular strait razor blade for his handy work the past couple of days. He's used to working with a straight razor blade when he refurbishes fishing poles.Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Well, the third day was special.
I finally got to here a pair of AR TSW410 speakers.
Mr. Paul came over and we put the speakers back in ( after replacing a bunch of wire clips that attach to the speakers spades. The old ones were loose and broke when we tried to make them tighter. They were too brittle now. Mr. Paul brought his terminal kit over and it was a breeze replacing about 5 or 6 of them.
Here's Mr. Paul **** them in place. He did a lot of the clip replacing and set all the screws down tight.
Then the listening began...
WOW! Pretty amazing sound-field. GREAT TWEETERS!
Here's Mr. Paul enjoying the final stage before the listening session. My cat even came into the living room for the whole event also. She purred in my lap as the sweet music played. I think my cat likes music, I really do.
He took his speakers home a while ago. I'll get a ( at his bigger home ) review from him tonight or tomorrow for sure.
They were placed at a good height, slightly toed in. The sound came from the wall, not the speakers. They were beautiful sounding. A 12" sub DID fill up the bottom registers. We listened with the sub and without. I liked the sub on. Mr. Paul agreed it helped but some might not need the sub. They were balanced from top to their lower range pretty well. The tweeter was soft sounding but if I turned the treble up, the tweeter sounded fine and detailed. Great medium sized speaker for sure!
I forgot to take a pic. of both of them. DUH...
If any of you get a chance to buy a set of these AR TSW speakers for cheap, I say it's darn worth it to re-foam them for 50.00 or less.
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Dude looks great for 80 years young!Just a dude doing dude-ly things
"Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
" I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
"Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
"Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
"Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member -
He eats cheerios w/milk EVERY morning I think.
He can crush your hand with his hand shake too.
He's a good soul! Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
He eats cheerios w/milk EVERY morning I think.
He can crush your hand with his hand shake too.
He's a good soul!
[emphases added]
I think that's correlation as opposed to causation
