Speakers Foam protection

[schvarzy]

I have some JBL speakers where the boomer foam has been destroyed due to bad weather or something else. I am havind those repaired. Some other speakers show the same problems. The foam part starts breaking or pealing off. Is there any product that I could put on the foam to protect is and extend its life? The people that did refoam the speakers told me to use some wax that has been heated by hand. This is not easy. Is there an easier or better way to do it?

Thank you.
Frederic

 

[The Dukester]

Personally, I would not put anything on the surrounds. Their purpose is to allow the cone to move in and out on it's axis. Anything you put on the foam that I know of will change the pliability of it, limiting the excursion and changing the sound. Would you be able to tell the difference? Maybe, maybe not, depending on how much it was changed. For me, however, I don't want it changed at all.
You probably got several years out of the first surrounds unless you had them exposed to sunlight or really close to a heat source, so I say just leave them alone and enjoy for another 20 yrs or so. Then you can upgrade

 

[ricocetj]

I agree with the dukester. Once repaired, those new foam surrounds should last you many years without problems. Adding some new substance to the new foam surrounds can only hurt the sound, it certainly won't help it.

 

[schvarzy]

Thanks for your replies. Changing those did cost me about US$ 700 for the pair.... Quite a lot. The people that are doing the repair told me that they would last about 5 years..... They are the official JBL repair shop in France and the only one doing this. Is that something easy to do by a non professional?

 

[The Dukester]

Thanks for your replies. Changing those did cost me about US$ 700 for the pair.... Quite a lot. The people that are doing the repair told me that they would last about 5 years..... They are the official JBL repair shop in France and the only one doing this. Is that something easy to do by a non professional?

Ouch! I paid about $60 each to have my McIntosh 12" woofers redone in original material about a year ago! That's here in the states by a local guy/shop. My original surrounds lasted about 20 years. As far as doing it yourself, well, you can, but it is a tedious job. Making sure that cone is dead on axis takes patience and a little skill. Mess up and you have a speaker that buzzes or locks up the voice coil from what I understand.

 

[j_garcia]

My friend bought a foam repair kit and redid his speakers for $15. They work fine and I highly doubt he paid attention to getting them perfectly on axis. A little measuring and some shims should make it fairly easy to get the replacement surround right enough.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Thanks for your replies. Changing those did cost me about US$ 700 for the pair.... Quite a lot. The people that are doing the repair told me that they would last about 5 years..... They are the official JBL repair shop in France and the only one doing this. Is that something easy to do by a non professional?

$700?? What?? What are they doing?

If you're talking about replacing the foam surrounds, You can buy a kit and do it yourself for about $20, or drop the drivers off at a local 'authorized' repair center and have the surrounds replaced for about $50-70 each. They should last you a good 15-20 years, and your speakers will be as good as new.

 

[j_garcia]

For $700 I would have bought new speakers.

 

[The Dukester]

For $700 I would have bought new speakers.

That's what I'm saying! He did say the repair shop was in France, though. Shipping for that foam overseas costs alot, Foam is heavy, you know. Still; 700 bucks?! Ouch!