Damage to Soft Dome tweeter on AR98LS

[Guest jazomir]

I have been lucky enough to own a pair of AR98LSs for many years, and despite the lack of dealers stocking spare parts in the UK I have been lucky enough to be able to source replacment speakers from the US whenever I had a problem (so far 2 x 12", 1 x9", 1 x complete HF array). However, I have had one of my soft dome tweeters sustain a knock, distorting the dome. I have run a check using my Stephen Court test CD, and at reasonable listening levels the dome seems to be holding out with no apparent distortion that I can detect.

My question is this - is the deformed dome repairable? I have tried the usual trick of using a (suitably guarded) vacuum cleaner nozzle to suck the dome into shape (dangerous, but acceptably so)but it will not retain it's shape. Knowing how difficult these HF units are to source, are there any solutions to repair the damage?

Hope you guys can help,

Regards,

Trevor

[ar_pro]

Carefully using tape to pull the dent sometimes works, but if the dome didn't retain its shape after pulling it out with the vacuum cleaner, then it's probably got a permanent crease.

[Guest jazomir]

Thanks for this - I shall try it with various 'adhesive-strengths' of tape. It may also remove some fluff/dirt which has attached itself to the unit.

regards,

Trevor

[kkantor]

Sometimes the use of a hair dryer, set to "Low," will help remove residual creases in the dome. Also, I have sometimes resorted to the (careful!) use of a fine sewing needle to pry the dome up. Yeah, I know the tiny holes are emotionally bothersome. In reality, they rarely cause any discernable change in the tweeter's response.

-k

www.aural.org

kkantor.spaces.live.com