Re-foaming speaker edges

[bobukcat]

Has anyone here re-foamed the edges of a speaker themselves with the kits you can buy on-line? I have a set of older JBL L100t3s and one of the woofers is badly in need of repair. There used to be a few shops locally that did this kind of work but they seem to have all disappeared so I'm considering buying one of these kits and doing it myself but I REALLY don't want to screw up a very expensive bass driver doing it! Feedback from anyone who has done it themselves would be appreciated.

[Richard King]

I had to have my JBL 4430 woofers reconed when I moved to Florida. I found a place in Orlando to do it and delivered the drivers to them, picking them up a week later. It was about a 200 mile round trip, but, I think it was worth it to have it done by someone who does it all the time.

[bobukcat]

I had to have my JBL 4430 woofers reconed when I moved to Florida. I found a place in Orlando to do it and delivered the drivers to them, picking them up a week later. It was about a 200 mile round trip, but, I think it was worth it to have it done by someone who does it all the time.

I thought about doing the same thing (although not quite 200 miles) but the guy convinced me to give it a shot myself first so I ordered a $25 kit and I'll see how it goes, if I don't like the way it's looking I'll drop back and punt and ship it to someone who does them all the time.

[kfcrosby]

Check out the forums over at Audiokarma (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php). There are all kinds of people that have done just this.

Kevin

[harsh]

There's an outfit in Eugene, Oregon, SpeakerWorks.com, that sells kits for this purpose. The instructions seem quite detailed and the testimonials are usually pretty glowing.

I'm contemplating one of their generic kits to redo a pair of Onkyo 10" drivers.

I have no personal experience with re-doing surrounds or SpeakerWorks ... yet.

[drded]

JBL also has a network of pro-dealers who can help.

http://www.jblproservice.com/service/index.html

Dave

[Richard King]

JBL also has a network of pro-dealers who can help.

http://www.jblproservice.com/service/index.html

Dave

The best suggestion. Actually, I found the place where I took mine on the list.

[bobukcat]

The best suggestion. Actually, I found the place where I took mine on the list.

I received the kit in the mail today and just finished the job (well, it's still drying) which was pretty straight-forward thanks to the DVD and instructions that came with it. I'll put it back in the cabinet tomorrow and see how it sounds but the cone is definitely free of the voice coil so I expect good results. It took me about an hour to 90 minutes but I was being very deliberate and double checking the instructions a lot. For $25 bucks (that kit includes two surrounds but only one of mine needed it) it's a good bargain but the big thing is not having to be without my speakers for a longer period of time.

[Richard King]

Congrats on taking on the challenge. Was the part that they sent JBL factory stock?

[bobukcat]

Congrats on taking on the challenge. Was the part that they sent JBL factory stock?

Ya know I didn't even think of that but there is nothing to indicate they came from JBL other than the JBL part number on the package but it looks and feels the same as the one on the other woofer - the disclaimer is that the other woofer was re-coned about 5 years ago by a certified JBL shop (that is no longer in business unfortunately). I just finished installing it in the cabinet and jamming out to a few songs with some solid bass in them ("Juicy" by "Better Than Ezra" being one of the many) and it sounds excellent.

I'm pleased with the results so far and more than anything pleased I didn't have to be without my speaker for very long.

[wakajawaka]

I've successfully doen this before. The key is to shim the voice coil during the repair so that it is centered. Otherwise it's pretty straight forward.