Foam Replacement Kits

[Guest VinceMosca]

I still have my first speakers in the attic - AR 93's from the late 70's - with dry rotted foam. I can't get rid of them but can't afford to replace the 4 speakers. Anyone have experience using the after market DIY foam replacement kits?

[Carlspeak]

>I still have my first speakers in the attic - AR 93's from

>the late 70's - with dry rotted foam. I can't get rid of them

>but can't afford to replace the 4 speakers. Anyone have

>experience using the after market DIY foam replacement kits?

Yes, I'm currently refoaming four AR94 woofer/mids right now.

It's all about the music

Carl

Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

[Guest matty g]

>I still have my first speakers in the attic - AR 93's from

>the late 70's - with dry rotted foam. I can't get rid of them

>but can't afford to replace the 4 speakers. Anyone have

>experience using the after market DIY foam replacement kits?

Hi Vince -

The replacement foam kits usually run around $20 or so and come with the adhesive and instructions. It may seem like a daunting task at first glance, but it really isn't hard to do yourself. Some kits come with shims and dust caps, but you may not need to use that method. I can't speak for the 93's, but the older AR models have enough room between the voice coil and the frame that they can be centered by feel, so the dust cap and shim option is not needed. Don't replace the speakers if the foam rot is all that's wrong. If you don't want to take this task on yourself, there are many speaker repair shops that will do this repair for you. AR speakers are specially designed for their cabinets and really can't be replaced with aftermarket drvers, so don't chuck 'em.

Good Luck

Matt

[Guest matty g]

>I still have my first speakers in the attic - AR 93's from

>the late 70's - with dry rotted foam. I can't get rid of them

>but can't afford to replace the 4 speakers. Anyone have

>experience using the after market DIY foam replacement kits?

Hi Vince -

The replacement foam kits usually run around $20 or so and come with the adhesive and instructions. It may seem like a daunting task at first glance, but it really isn't hard to do yourself. Some kits come with shims and dust caps, but you may not need to use that method. I can't speak for the 93's, but the older AR models have enough room between the voice coil and the frame that they can be centered by feel, so the dust cap and shim option is not needed. Don't replace the speakers if the foam rot is all that's wrong. If you don't want to take this task on yourself, there are many speaker repair shops that will do this repair for you. AR speakers are specially designed for their cabinets and really can't be replaced with aftermarket drvers, so don't chuck 'em.

Good Luck

Matt

[Guest greg928gts]

If you take your time it's not too hard to do.

It's important to prep the edges of the frame and the cone by cleaning off all the old surround carefully. This takes some time, but will yeild a nicer job overall.

I attach the foam surround to the woofer cone first and let that set up completely. Then to get the glue on both the underside of the surround and the edge of the frame evenly, I use pencils to hold the surround up off the frame while I apply the glue to both sides. Once everything is ready to go, I remove the pencils and set the surround down onto the frame.

I recommend that you use a 30hz test tone CD while you are setting the surround down onto the frame, that way you can be sure to center the voice coil properly and you won't have rubbing or noise issues, or worse!

I get my kits from Vintage-AR on ebay, they are nice.

Greg

[Guest VinceMosca]

Thanks

[Guest VinceMosca]

Sounds good. I didn't want to get rid of the originals but I wasn't aware of the kits until recently. Sounds like I have a new project...thanks.

[Guest VinceMosca]

I'll be ordering later today. Thanks for the tips.