Sub worth saving?

[mal24]

Let me preface this by saying that I have minimal knowledge of the inner workings of a subwoofer and even less in trying to repair one.

That being said, I have a Paradigm PS-1200 sub that sounds like something has torn loose and makes what I can best describe as a sort of flapping sound when playing music.

It has been sitting in my storage room (climate controlled) for a couple of years and has - to my knowledge - never been played loud enough to blow it out. I did some searching in the forums, but I'm still not sure what the problem is, how to fix it, or even if it is worth saving.

If anyone can give me some guidance, I would be very appreciative.

Thanks,

mal

 

[6L6X4]

It could be a collapsed voice coil or deteriorated surround.

Have you inspected the surround? If its foam, it may have succumbed to foam rot and could be flaking aprt into pieces. Also, the adhesive gluing the surround to the cone may have failed.

You can check for a collapsed voice coil by gentle pressing in on the woofer (not on the dust cap!) and see if it moves freely or scrapes.

Try this and report back to us.

 

[mal24]

Newb alert.

I can't get into the enclosure. I removed the twenty-something screws on the bottom, but I can't get the bottom panel to come off or even wiggle a little bit.

I can see part of the woofer through the ports on the back, but the only screws there are for removing the amp.

I don't want to damage the enclosure and potentially turn an inexpensive fix into an irreparable mess. Any thoughts on how to get into this thing?

Argh,
mal

 

[Knucklehead90]

This could be something as simple as something such as a wire or sound deadening material that has come into contact with the cone. Maybe the dust cap has come loose. Until you get it apart you'll never know - and if you don't take it apart you won't be using it. At the worst you might have to replace the driver. Sounds like the amp is still working great.

Being me - I'd have had it apart by now. But thats just me.

 

[KEW]

Newb alert.

I can't get into the enclosure. I removed the twenty-something screws on the bottom, but I can't get the bottom panel to come off or even wiggle a little bit.

I can see part of the woofer through the ports on the back, but the only screws there are for removing the amp.

I don't want to damage the enclosure and potentially turn an inexpensive fix into an irreparable mess. Any thoughts on how to get into this thing?

Argh,
mal

Can you take a picture? Or are there some good ones on the internet?
It is probably just sticking due to the finish not being fully cured when they installed the amp. Can you get a prybar under the amp plate or is it inset?

 

[6L6X4]

Based on your description, it sounds like your sub is a band-pass design. The woofer is inside the cabinet... yes?

I had a passive Paradigm bandpass sub once. If your sub was like mine that wood plate should come off with a little encouragement. I think the gasket material has partially glued that wood plate to the rest of the cabinet. If you have any tools at all, getting it off without damaging the cabinet should be possible.

Once off you should be able to view the woofer. A hand held mirror might help.

 

[KEW]

I tried to find some pics. No luck on the pics, but it is a bandpass sub.

 

[mal24]

I'll try and post some pics when I get home from work and I'll give that bottom plate a little more encouragement with some tools and four letter incantations.

Thanks, all.

-mal

 

[mal24]

Sorry for the delay, couldn't get to the sub until today. I finally got the bottom off and it appears that the paper cone(voice coil?) is no longer attached around the outer rim.

I don't see any crumbled bit inside the enclosure so I would guess that the glue gave out as 6L6X4 suggested. Is this fixable by re-foaming?

Thanks for all your help,

-mal

 

[6L6X4]

Sounds like it's time for a re-foam or re-cone job. You might contact Paradigm and see what they charge to exchange your driver for a reconditioned one.

Let us know how this turns out.

 

[mal24]

Will do, thanks again for the help everyone.

-mal

 

[mal24]

Well, after talking to the local authorized dealer, they no longer perform any services like re-foaming the kit. They told me I would have to ship the sub off to Paradigm and the round trip shipping + repair would most likely be more than a new sub.

Is there any way to re-foam this woofer myself? I found TLS Guy's post about re-foaming a speaker, and I would assume that those directions would hold true in this instance.

Can anyone recommend somewhere to buy a 12" re-foaming kit?

Thanks again,

-mal

 

[Rickster71]

Depending on where you're located, west coast try: http://www.speakerrepair.com/index.html
or east coast: http://www.classicloudspeakerservices.com/gallery.html
Carl does all the work himself.
You only have to ship the driver, not the whole sub.

 

[dad311]

Just repaired my PS-1200 last week. I have never re-foamed a speaker and found it very easy to-do. Pasted at the bottom are the parts I ordered from simplyspeakers.com.

Its a very easy repair, simply remove the 20-30 screws and 4 black caps from the bottom. After the 4 caps are removed use the holes to pop off out the bottom panel. I used two large 90 degree screw drivers for this task. DO NOT pry the bottom off it will chip out the sides!

After the bottom is off, pull out the insulation covering the speaker. Disconnect the speaker wires and then remove the screws from the speaker starting at bottom (hardest screw to get to). The last screw to be removed should be the easiest one to remove (the one on top).

With a cordless screw driver the whole removal should take about 10-15 minutes.

Simply Speakers told me I didn't need to cut the dust cap to align the speaker, but it is a VERY EASY procedure and will ensure the cone is aligned when using the shims included with the new cap. The new dust cap fit perfect and looks original.

The re-foam kit comes with very good instructions. It took me about 2.5 hours to complete the re-foaming. Most of this time was waiting for the glue to dry between steps.

You must call Simply Speakers to place an order for 1 re-foam kit because the their web site only lists pairs of re-foam kits.

Also, checkout youtube for re-foaming videos. I found this very helpful.



Parts from Simply speakers:
Ordered: 1- FS-12F FOAM SURROUND 12 GRAY, FLAT ATTACH @ $15.00 each

Ordered: 1- DC-3.75F DUST CAP, 3-3/4 BLACK FELT, SHIMS @ $4.00 each

Product Total: $19.00
Sales Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $4.00
Discount: $0.00
Surcharge: $0.00
Grand Total: $23.00
BalanceDue: $0.00

 

[TLS Guy]

Just repaired my PS-1200 last week. I have never re-foamed a speaker and found it very easy to-do. Pasted at the bottom are the parts I ordered from simplyspeakers.com.

Its a very easy repair, simply remove the 20-30 screws and 4 black caps from the bottom. After the 4 caps are removed use the holes to pop off out the bottom panel. I used two large 90 degree screw drivers for this task. DO NOT pry the bottom off it will chip out the sides!

After the bottom is off, pull out the insulation covering the speaker. Disconnect the speaker wires and then remove the screws from the speaker starting at bottom (hardest screw to get to). The last screw to be removed should be the easiest one to remove (the one on top).

With a cordless screw driver the whole removal should take about 10-15 minutes.

Simply Speakers told me I didn't need to cut the dust cap to align the speaker, but it is a VERY EASY procedure and will ensure the cone is aligned when using the shims included with the new cap. The new dust cap fit perfect and looks original.

The re-foam kit comes with very good instructions. It took me about 2.5 hours to complete the re-foaming. Most of this time was waiting for the glue to dry between steps.

You must call Simply Speakers to place an order for 1 re-foam kit because the their web site only lists pairs of re-foam kits.

Also, checkout youtube for re-foaming videos. I found this very helpful.



Parts from Simply speakers:
Ordered: 1- FS-12F FOAM SURROUND 12 GRAY, FLAT ATTACH @ $15.00 each

Ordered: 1- DC-3.75F DUST CAP, 3-3/4 BLACK FELT, SHIMS @ $4.00 each

Product Total: $19.00
Sales Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $4.00
Discount: $0.00
Surcharge: $0.00
Grand Total: $23.00
BalanceDue: $0.00

Add speaker glue, acetone and razor blades. I have a number of post on how to do this step by step so go through my post and you will find it somewhere.

Here is my last post.

Mods, this comes up so often could you please make this How to re-foam a sticky?