Speaker Reconing

[kevinl777]

I am facing a situation where I may have to have a number of base speakers reconed. Does anyone know anything about how reconeing effects the quality and life of speakers?

[JSE]

I am facing a situation where I may have to have a number of base speakers reconed. Does anyone know anything about how reconeing effects the quality and life of speakers?

My father had some old Heil speakers re-coned and they sound awesome. It seems to be a pretty good fix and not that expensive in general.

I am sure others will have more opinions.

JSE

[Woochifer]

That would depend on the availability of parts and if the damage to the cone is just foam rot or if the voice coil's blown. Some of the reconing kits that I've seen don't look like they would provide the kind of fit that you would need to restore a speaker to factory specs.

I know that JBL has a restoration service for their vintage models where they will do the reconing for you, rebuild any damaged voice coils, test the speakers, and provide a factory warranty.

[royphil345]

There are some good places on the web that recone speakers. For many drivers they can get OEM parts. When they can't, they have to substitute universal parts. I've found that they usually do a very good job of trying to match the original specs. Although, even very slight differences like the weight of the cone material, stiffness of the surround etc... can make the speaker sound a little different. Would probably avoid reconing with anything but OEM parts on drivers for a precise, high-end speaker system. Don't have much choice but to try it if you can't get replacement drivers from the manufacturer though. Shouldn't be any problems with durability.

[92135011]

Some higher end companies save all data collected during driver matching of every speakers they ever manufactured...or so they say. If you return your speakers back to the company of origin, they should be able to recone your driver back to or close to the original specs. Actually, I only know of 1 company that does this, although I'm sure there are some others.

[pelly3s]

I do reconing at the shop I work for. As far as quality goes that all depends on if the parts are aftermarket or OEM and who made the parts. Normally the OEM parts will be as close to perfect as you can get. If it is just a surround that needs to be replaced that is a quick process that should only take a reconer about an hour to complete and have it back in your hands. The life of the reconed speaker is the same as a brand new driver as long as the kit was fitted properly and the right glues were used.

What kind of drivers are they? Some companies supply you with direct drop in kits where others give them to you in peices.

[Mr Peabody]

I had some 12's re-coned out of some Infinity Kappa 7's I owned. I am very picky, after calling some of the local places and learning about the process I had them re-coned here in town at a local repair shop. I was very pleased with the result. I drove them for awhile with a Krell 300i and my brother has them now. The job is holding up well after probably 3 years now. I had both cones repaired for a fourth the cost of one new driver. I would recommend calling a couple reputable repair shops in your area to see if they do re-coning and what they can do for you. I was surprised to find they could totally rebuild the driver if necessary, including voice coils.

[phillyguy]

You have a couple of options. Contact the manuf, if they are still in business, and see of they have replacement woofers. If they are available, I would take a shot at the refoam kits. Try www.winstonorgan.com. They are helpful, and will make sure you get the right kit for your application/woofer size. I have reconed a pair of Missions and a sub. The Missions have held up for about 5 years now, and the sub I just did recently. Reconing is not hard to do, but you will need to cut out the dust cap and shim the voice coil to get the coil aligned properly with the new surround. If you screw it up (or do not like the way the speakers sound with the refoam kit), you can always replace the woofers if they are available. You should be able to recone them yourself for about $30 per pair of woofers. If a replacement woofer is not available, you only really have a choice of having someone else recone them or do it yourself. I would bet that it will be difficult if not impossible to buy another brand of replacement woofers and have your speakers sound the same. Besides, I doubt you will be able to hear the difference between refoamed woofers vs. the original ones, unless you can listen to them side by side.

[pelly3s]

phillyguy you mention both refoaming and reconing they are two totally different things. a refoam almost anyone can do with some patience and the right glue and a tone genny but reconing is a long and detailed process and kits can cost up to $200 per driver. if you take the time you don't need to shim the voice coil to refoam all you need to do is use low DC voltage to charge the coil and listen to the sound while you adjust the surround.

[phillyguy]

phillyguy you mention both refoaming and reconing they are two totally different things. a refoam almost anyone can do with some patience and the right glue and a tone genny but reconing is a long and detailed process and kits can cost up to $200 per driver. if you take the time you don't need to shim the voice coil to refoam all you need to do is use low DC voltage to charge the coil and listen to the sound while you adjust the surround.


Oops! I meant REFOAMING. Never thought of using low DC voltage instead of shimming.

[pelly3s]

the dc voltage works it takes some getting used to. i'm still learning as i go along.