Woofer Tear Help

[alumpkin]

I have a pair of DCM floor standing speakers with 12" subwoofers in them. One of the speakers has a hole about the size of a pencil eraser in the foam-like sub lining that holds the internal part of the sub to the part that is attached to the speaker itself.

So my questions are the following: Do I need to worry about this? Is this going to get worse? Are there any easy fixes?

I use these speakers in my party room by the beer pong / beruit table and love to play some loud music at parties without worrying about the speakers... a situation I would never put my B&W's. Anyway, the speakers still sound good and are about 4-5 years old. I really just don't want the hole to get any bigger or any worse. Thanks for the help.

[Lensman]

I have a pair of DCM floor standing speakers with 12" subwoofers in them. One of the speakers has a hole about the size of a pencil eraser in the foam-like sub lining that holds the internal part of the sub to the part that is attached to the speaker itself.

So my questions are the following: Do I need to worry about this? Is this going to get worse? Are there any easy fixes?

I use these speakers in my party room by the beer pong / beruit table and love to play some loud music at parties without worrying about the speakers... a situation I would never put my B&W's. Anyway, the speakers still sound good and are about 4-5 years old. I really just don't want the hole to get any bigger or any worse. Thanks for the help.

Surrounds on drivers are basically there to allow the cones to stay centered, though on woofers they also form a seal to build pressure in your enclosure. In a reflex design, this pressure is then used create the extra bass extension from your port. As a result, you may be losing a little bass, but perhaps not enough to notice.

Will it get worse? Hard to say. It really depends on the hole and the workout you give your speakers. The fact that you play them loud certainly doesn't help.

Do you need to worry about it? As I'm not too familiar with DCM speakers, I couldn't really say, though I do know some drivers are quite sensitive and playing them with torn foam can result in damaging the voice-coil - which is much worse. This is not said to scare you. You could be just fine for years. I just don't know, so I'm inclined to err on the side of caution and advise you fix it.

Are there easy fixes? Some folks do their own home-made repairs using things like silcone sealant or fabric glue. I personally wouldn't recommend this. The extra weight of the adhesive can unbalance the cone. Some sealants also can produce fumes that will deteriorate the foam. The best thing is to look for a local shop that repairs speakers. They can refoam your woofers at modest expense. I had this done a couple of years ago on a pair of 12" woofers from an old pair of speakers I own (foam also disentigrates over time). Cost was $20 per driver.

Even though your other subwoofer is fine, it'd be best to refoam both drivers to keep the sound balanced. The new foam will be stiffer than you old foam, so you'll need to break then in again when you first get them back.

[alumpkin]

Surrounds on drivers are basically there to allow the cones to stay centered, though on woofers they also form a seal to build pressure in your enclosure. In a reflex design, this pressure is then used create the extra bass extension from your port. As a result, you may be losing a little bass, but perhaps not enough to notice.

Will it get worse? Hard to say. It really depends on the hole and the workout you give your speakers. The fact that you play them loud certainly doesn't help.

Do you need to worry about it? As I'm not too familiar with DCM speakers, I couldn't really say, though I do know some drivers are quite sensitive and playing them with torn foam can result in damaging the voice-coil - which is much worse. This is not said to scare you. You could be just fine for years. I just don't know, so I'm inclined to err on the side of caution and advise you fix it.

Are there easy fixes? Some folks do their own home-made repairs using things like silcone sealant or fabric glue. I personally wouldn't recommend this. The extra weight of the adhesive can unbalance the cone. Some sealants also can produce fumes that will deteriorate the foam. The best thing is to look for a local shop that repairs speakers. They can refoam your woofers at modest expense. I had this done a couple of years ago on a pair of 12" woofers from an old pair of speakers I own (foam also disentigrates over time). Cost was $20 per driver.

Even though your other subwoofer is fine, it'd be best to refoam both drivers to keep the sound balanced. The new foam will be stiffer than you old foam, so you'll need to break then in again when you first get them back.

Thanks Lensman! I feel a lot better now that I have a better understanding of the situation. I will look into getting it fixed asap. Thanks again.

[piece-it pete]

The Lensman has good advice. $20.00/driver is a steal! If you can find it affordably, I'd do it.

That said, you might be able to at least put it off. You could a) let it be, and keep an eye on it, maybe even jam it a bit, push it HARD while watching, to see if becomes worse, if not just check it once in a while, b) fill it with a spot of something, RTV or something, with the Lensmans' warning in mind, or c) do it old school and glue a tiny piece of tissue over the hole with Elmers. No matter what you do, rock them and see what happens.

Regardless, you will probably have to refoam sometime down the road, I'm assuming the speakers are at least 10-15 years old.

Good luck!

Pete

[Lensman]

Thanks Lensman! I feel a lot better now that I have a better understanding of the situation. I will look into getting it fixed asap. Thanks again.

You're quite welcome. You'll have to let us know how things come out.


The Lensman has good advice. $20.00/driver is a steal! If you can find it affordably, I'd do it.

Thanks for the validation. You failed to mention you'd written your own DIY refoaming article, which I just found this evening digging through the site:

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=5371