IvanB Posted March 30, 2020 Report Share Posted March 30, 2020 I have a pair of Sansui SP-1500 speakers, they have the 12" woofers with an inverted surround. The surrounds have become stiff over the last 40+ years,. ( as have i ) I am not sure if they are cloth or foam because they are brittle, as in hard but not fragile though. I saw somewhere on the intetubes that it is a common malady. They are not giving the best bass they are capable of, the woofer just can not travel as freely as it should be able to. I am going to order new capacitors and i would like to get new surrounds, they are not torn or separated so maybe there is an alternative to new ? They actually sound decent considering, one is a little better than the other. Any input as to what kind of surrounds i need to order or remedies i can use to address the stiffness would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transmaster Posted March 30, 2020 Report Share Posted March 30, 2020 You need to replace the surrounds. Simply Speakers is were you need to check. This were I go for such stuff. https://www.simplyspeakers.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsYb0BRCOARIsAHbLPhH_0bNW6C_iUojduh_B2iGje9J0nSe7vHVRVZtGOBQNC-TdngPdHMYaAs0HEALw_wcB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IvanB Posted March 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2020 Thank you Transmember I did as you suggested and they do not have any. They replied Quote Sorry we do not have parts available for your particular model. You might try the manufacturer directly to see if they can help you. If they no longer support your product, you may find helpful information or used and new old stock parts available at one of the websites listed below: They did say they are cloth but none of their cloth ones will work. I will check on the forums they listed and eBay. Any info on where to source them would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 Try calling Bill LeGall at Millersound. If anyone can fix them he can http://www.millersound.net/contact-bill-legall-millersound.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisM Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 I second the Millersound suggestion but the cure may be expensive. If they are really stiff you have little to lose so you might try using a small paint brush to apply a bit of MEK to them. Instead of MEK there is Toluene or Xylol/Xylene. It is hard to say what Sansui used although any of them should work. These were commonly used as solvents to apply the sealant to the cloth which has obviously dried up. Reapplying some of the solvent might loosen it up. Be careful to just apply it to the curved area not the part on the cone or frame. Try a small area on the worst afflicted part and gently prod it to see if it is softening before continuing. Do not saturate it and don't do it indoors. Interestingly enough, I was going to try the same thing on a set of otherwise good woofers I salvaged. If you want to wait a bit, I can try it on mine first measuring them before and after to check how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 31 minutes ago, ChrisM said: I second the Millersound suggestion but the cure may be expensive. I've used Millersound for re-coning and re-foaming and I thought his prices were very reasonable. Give Bill a call. The solvent trick could work. Early AR and KLH woofers were sealed with a toluene based sealant. All that stuff is pretty nasty. PS: Just checked my records. Cost to re-cone a pair of Cizek (6") woofers was $78 including shipping. Re-foaming some messed up AR-91 12" woofers was $70 + $15 shipping. Well worth it IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisM Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 I just meant expensive in relation to an older Sansui driver. If IvanB loves them it's worth it. I've only ever heard good things about Millersound and the prices mentioned are very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transmaster Posted March 31, 2020 Report Share Posted March 31, 2020 That is a problem you will have with the Sansui speaker in their day they were not considered to be top line speakers. We considered them too boomy. So repair pairs are going to be a problem. You need to decide if they are worth repairing. I just checked there are a pile of Sansui's available on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted May 5, 2020 Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 A lot of discussion has been done on the SP line of speakers. There seems to be a way to free up the stiffness. You take acetone and carefully remove the compound on the surround. Larry at AR sells a compound for cloth surrounds that doesn't get hard. People have had success with that. I have a pair of SP 2000's that I want to try this on...as the surround on these woofers is stiff as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starch1224 Posted December 8, 2022 Report Share Posted December 8, 2022 This thread is two years old but for the record, I ordered my surrounds from Springfield Speakers. They are made in the US. I also ordered the glue. It worked out very well. My Sansui SP 8000’s were made in 1969 and the widgets had almost no travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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