Treating Cloth Speaker Surrounds

[Guest energyandair]

My problem is with some Leak 2060 speakers.

I am posting here because I've been told that the treatment on KLH speakers looks to be similar to that on the Leaks and I've seen a lot of good discussion on the issue here.

The cloth surrounds on my Leak 2060 speakers are stiff and porous. The original sealant now looks like thin dry golden varnish and you can see areas where it does not seal the cloth.

I want to restore flexibility and seal without risking damage to the speakers. (The cones are sandwich construction with a Styrofoam core

between aluminum facings)

Suggestions I've seen here for treating and softening the existing coating are:

- Armorall

- Hexane solvent with Betane to seal

- XL-89

Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be most appropriate for the Leak 2060?

Thanks for any help.

David

PS if my upload of pictures did not work, you can see them here: //audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1025735&posted=1#post1025735

1960.txt

[dynaco_dan]

Hi David;

Hold off using anything right now.

You may have a special coating if it looks like varnish.

Our AR and KLH cloth surrounds sure don't look like that and you may destroy your surrounds if you apply one of our fixes.

Don't even attempt a sampling just yet.

[Guest energyandair]

Thanks for the feedback. These 2060's are great sounding speakers and I don't want to damage them. Hopefully I'll find someone who knows what they used on the cloth. If not,I guess that I'll have to experiment very carefully.

David

[soundminded]

It's been a very long time since the Leak Sandwich speaker has been on the market and my memory of it has faded considerably. If this is NOT an acoustic suspension speaker, no action is probably necessary and the suspension is supposed to be stiff. In those days, a stiff mechanical suspension was the more common design, the stiffness of the suspension supplied the cone's restoring force rather than air trapped inside. A clue to whether or not it is AS, is whether the enclosure is sealed. If it has a port or deliberate opening of any kind, it is not supposed to be air tight. In that case, treating the surround will not only not likely improve the speaker, it could degrade it. Hope this helps.

[Guest energyandair]

The 2060 is a 3-way a with no port openings and an internal enclosure around the mid range driver. It looks like an acoustic suspension design to me.

The cloth surround is very thin and you can see where the existing treatment provides an air barrier and where it is now porous. If you tap the treated cloth, it feels more stiff than flexible.

Cone movement is quite stiff but its hard to be sure how much of this is from the spider and how much from the surround.

All drivers are heavy with unusually large magnet assemblies.

Overall dimensions are 25.5"H x 15"W x 13"D and about 47lb. Wall construction is unusual with a heavy damping layer inside the outer shell.

Orion lists the 2060 as 77-81, new list $650.

David

[soundminded]

Assuming that this is an AS speaker, the surround must be air tight and flexible. Have you contacted the manufacturer for advice? I'd also give Orange County Speaker Company a call at 800-897-8373 about XL-49 or whatever they now have to replace it. It may be necessary to first disolve and remove whatever dopant they initially used at the factory which might have cured before applying a new sealant. This was a rare speaker in the US but undoubtedly much more common in the UK. UK speaker repair services should be far more familiar with it and with recommended service procedures. Good Luck.

[Guest energyandair]

>Assuming that this is an AS speaker, the surround must be air

>tight and flexible. Have you contacted the manufacturer for

>advice? I'd also give Orange County Speaker Company a call at

>800-897-8373 about XL-49 or whatever they now have to replace

>it. It may be necessary to first disolve and remove whatever

>dopant they initially used at the factory which might have

>cured before applying a new sealant. This was a rare speaker

>in the US but undoubtedly much more common in the UK. UK

>speaker repair services should be far more familiar with it

>and with recommended service procedures. Good Luck.

I agree about the desirability of first dealing with the existing dopant and I'd like to find out what it is before looking at options such as XL-49. Most of the stuff currently sold or recommended seems to be water soluble latex or silicone based. I am not sure how it will interact with the existing material and it might just seal in a problem and make it harder to deal with.

The idea of talking to UK people is a good one but, so far as I'm aware, Leak is no longer in business and my web searches have not brought up any UK web sites or business names.

David

[soundminded]

Try to find repair services in the UK which services Leak speakers. Even if Leak itself is not in business, there are undoubtedly people who have dealt with this problem, if not first hand, then try to get a referral to someone who has.