So I’ve got this high-end-for-early/mid-90’s home theater active subwoofer that has spent a few too many year in an environmentally unregulated garage. I fired it up today and everything is great except the surround has a few cracks in it, causing it to sound like broken buttholes. Is there an easy way to patch it up? Or should I just take it to a repair guy?
It’s a velodyne f-1000 B circa 1993, if that helps.
This might work for you:
Otherwise, it will need to be re-coned. Not hard to do and not very expensive.
Right on, $15 isn’t bad. I should probably just go ahead and try it with my hamfists. I was just wondering if there was any way to seal up the cracks without having to disassemble the thing, but at that price, I have no reason not to try.
Thanks!
Foam surrounds die all the time. There is some suggestion that a fungus can accelerate things. Replacing the surround isn’t hard, but it is exacting. I have done a few, and the final result has been worth the effort, reclaiming an old high quality speaker to as new. I’m sure there are no end of YouTube videos taking you through the steps.
Re-coning is hopefully only needed if you kill the voice coil. Which does also happen. I had an amplifier fail with a short to the power rail. The woofer was very unhappy. Eventually it was cheaper to find a second hand driver. Professional drivers OTOH get reconed all the time, and that is often for the surround - which is usually integral with the cone.
I used that same kit for a pair of Paradigm bookshelf speakers and it turned out just fine. It was nerve wracking but the instructions and kit are good.
Another been there, done it, well worth it. I thought it was a pretty easy process, but I work on motorcycles, do all my own home remodels/renovations, and other projects so I’m not afraid of hands-on work.
My issue is eyeballing adhesive. I’m not afraid to rip apart and build computers/electronics, but something about lining things up without a template of some kind when permanent stickiness is involved, I get anxious.
If I remember right, the glue was slow to set so you could move it around after applying.
no, not really. once that foam (usually urethane) starts to degrade, it goes fast. First you see cracks, then the foam basically crumbles.
I have had limited success repairing a tear in a rubber surround using a small piece of tire patch, but that’s not relevant in your case.
There is a specific trick here. You can’t eyeball to the needed tolerance - its simply too fine. The trick is to place the driver on its back and when you are doing the final alignment play some bass heavy sound through the driver. When the surround is aligned it will run free with no rubbing. It is actually quite easy to do. There is just enough play in the glue to allow this to be done.
Funny you should mention that. I have a pair of Paradigm bookshelf speakers (Titans) that are about 15 years old. I read somewhere that they would need new surrounds soon so I opened them to check. The surrounds look great (as far as I could tell). Were there actually cracks and holes in yours?
Mine are Titans too, probably a little more than 20 years old. They were definitely cracked, and you could hear the buzzing and lack of bass. If I remember correctly, the foam was dried out but not completely crumbled away.
Here’s the only photo I could find. I apparently didn’t take one before I removed the old surrounds.
Grr, can’t embed so here’s a link: https://i.imgur.com/YApJ1qd.jpg
I replaced the surround on my Velodyne ULD-12 a few years ago. Not difficult, and the feeling of reviving a unit that cost around $1200 new for twenty bucks was very nice.
Mine had been happily sitting in the living room, doing its thing, then one day …yeah, broken buttholes is a fair description of the noise. It’s still in daily use, thirty years old.
Yep, they sounds great till they don’t. And it becomes noticeable quickly if you use any sort of volume. Broken buttholes! 
Orange County Speakers used to be the place to get stuff for repairing speakers, but I now note that they shuttered that business to concentrate on building microphones and the like.
Thanks all for easing my anxiety. The kit has been ordered and I’ll see how it goes when it gets here next week or so.
Nice. Thanks.
