Speakers Ratteling NEED ADVICE PLEASE. [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Y2KVert
08-16-2007, 12:54 PM
First of all hello to everyone I am new to this forum and hope to learn allot from you folks.
I recently inherited some audio equipment from my late father. Everything is in pefect working order accept for a small problem I am having.
I have a pair of Vandersteen Model 3 speakers. At low volume they sound great but at mid volume the woofers rattle. I can put my hand on the edge of the woofer and the rattling stops.
I am assuming that due to their age they may need to be tightened. My question is this.
How in the world do you remove the covering material from these monsters? I know I can solve the rattling problem but I'm not sure how to get in there. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Here is a list of the equipment I have:

Acurus P10 phono preamp
Acurus L10 preamp
Adcom GFA-555
McCormack DNA-1
Vandersteen Model 3
Acustic Reasearch turn table
Denon 2200 DVD/CD/SACD player

PDN
08-16-2007, 03:25 PM
Y2KVERT:

I owned a pair of Vandersteen 1B's for about 17 years but just recently traded them in for B&W loudspeakers. Knowing how they're made, I doubt you can remove the covering material yourself. I looked at those speakers for all those years and still would have no idea how to remove that material. I strongly recommend not trying this yourself but contact your closest authorized Vandersteen dealer. They'll most likely tell you to ship them back to Vandersteen, Hanford, CA for repair and reconditioning. I considered sending mine back but after 17 years, it was time for new speakers. The technologies today are far superior and it just wasn't worth reconditioning them. How old are yours?

dingus
08-16-2007, 06:19 PM
sounds like the seal has been lost. this is fairly common with Vandersteen woofers, they need only be resealed and you are back in business. the following pdf details the removal of the grill cloth to allow access to the drivers.
http://www.vandersteen.com/pages/Pdffiles/RepairIns.pdf

Y2KVert
08-17-2007, 06:30 AM
Thanks for the responses guys. Looks like a rainy day project.:16:

DOM B
08-19-2007, 10:04 AM
Not sure on what type of surrounds vandersteen woofers use , but there is a good chance they are made of foam rubber , which tend to rot as the years pass by . I have owned AR3...AR3a ,Boston acoustic towers T 1000 which all used foam rubber . The way you describe your problem is exactly the way a woofer reacts with foam rot . If you are handy you can replace the foam surround yourself , there are places that will supply the foam surround for you to do( with instuctions on how it's done) , or they can do it for you . You will have to remove the woofers and mail it to them . . A web search should provide you with names of places that may do refoaming locally .
Good Luck
Towerpower

eddd7
09-15-2007, 04:29 PM
If the surround isn't rotted, and it's a rubber material, try uninstalling the woofer and putting the top where the bottom used to be. Woofers can "sag" in their suspensions, so swapping the top and bottom may help. I had this happen with a Pioneer HPM 100 woofer and the "flip" worked. There was also an "issue" where the paper cone material was like a two-layer thing, and was starting to separate. With nothing to lose, I figured that I needed some kind of liquid material that would not harm the paper, yet would act like a coating and "glue" to repair the existing separation and stop further separation. I needed something thin that would always remain flexible. The solution? Semi-gloss house paint. Just paint the cone, not the dustcap or surround, or it will look like, well, like you painted it. Interior or exterior....your choice. Comes in colors too. For about a dime's worth of paint, the woofer was fixed, looks great, and has been working super for the past 5 years. The above is as low-tech as it gets, so may not appeal to everyone. But it worked!