Speaker recone? DIY?

Satamax · 07-15-2006, 07:52 PM

Hi everybody!

Well, need to recone old sound city cast frame fane speakers, i'm usualy pretty skilled with my hands, up to the point that i have a guitarmaking diploma, and a mechanics and enginering diploma. I was wondering, should i tackle the job myself, or give them back to fane? One has a coil rub, that's what pisses me off. And both have gaze suround patches.
http://satamax.free.fr/cabfront.jpg
Like the one on the right above.

Is there any DIY site explaining how to do it? I'd rather see in pictures what i'm getting into before doing the job.

Thanks and best regards.

Max.

Mark Black · 07-18-2006, 02:25 AM

Speaker reconing seems to be some kind of closely guarded secret on the web. In truth it's not too tough - IF you can get the right parts to do it. That means getting a recone kit from Fane if they will sell one and also proper glue if not included with the kit.

There are numerous reconing agencies who could get the speakers going again with aftermarket parts, possibly cheaper than Fane, but they might sound different afterwards (maybe better - who knows?). These guys typically get their parts from Waldom, who guards their dealers closely and won't sell to the public.

If it weren't for the bad compliance there might be some tricks to get the speaker to stop rubbing, but at this point reconing seems like the only option.

Hope that's at least some help...

-Mark

Tom Phillips · 07-18-2006, 05:05 AM

Max,
I have thought of doing speaker recone too. Every time the answer to my self is that it's not worth the trouble unless 1. You want to learn just for the experience or 2. you have a goal of gettting into the business. In either case I think that there would be initial mistakes so the first approach would be to practice on cheap speakers. That would not satisfy your goal of repairing the Fanes.
There is a company that offers a re-cone video course. They supply materials and an old speaker frame to practice on. I can't find the link at the moment but I'll keep looking
Tom

pdf64 · 07-18-2006, 12:31 PM

Ask Dr Decibel on the celestion website, he is very helpful. I've done 4 recones from scratch, even the first was fine.
Alternatively, Ted Weber has an answer you might be interested in on his 'ask a question' page on his site, it seems to be feasible to stop the rubbing without a recone. Give it a try, you can't lose!
http://www.webervst.com/sptalk.html
Good luck - Peter

stokes · 07-20-2006, 01:34 AM

https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/parts.htm- Ted Weber has all the parts you need right here.He is very helpful also.I purchased the parts from him and when I disassembled the old Jensen speaker I found that the voice coil post was out of alignment.When I asked him about this condition he offered to fix it if I sent it to him which I did-no charge.When you email a question he always replies same day-most times within a couple hours.After I reconed the speaker,which was my first I discovered that somehow the mag had become demagnetized during the shipping.Sent it to him and he remagged it for me.Said it was unusual with ceramic but happens with alNicos more.If you want to get into re-coning Ted is the guy to talk to.

Satamax · 07-29-2006, 09:35 PM

Rereading the "lets talk speakers" article, they say to remove teh dustcap, huh, not very easy on a aluminium capped speaker. Could i just unscreww the four bolts holding the magnet to the frame? to check what's rubing? the magnet assembly is composed of two steel plates holding the magnet.

Bye.

Max.

Ray Ivers · 07-29-2006, 11:14 PM

Max,

I have one of these speakers, I think - a Fane 'Crescendo', 'Anisotropic blah blah 'Magnet', etc. It has the stiffest surround I've ever seen. My dustcap looks exactly like your right-side speaker, which makes me think that your left one has been reconed, or is a different type Fane.

I'd be careful trying to pull the magnet apart - there's a whole lot of weight and magnetic force surrounding a wimpy little voice coil, and I've seen a magnet assembly wipe out a brand-new replacement cone/basket (Macauley speaker) in the blink of an eye.

The rubber cap in the center of the dustcap could possibly be loosened by heat, if you have a small heat gun (I have one made for heat-shrink that would be perfect) or maybe solvent if you're careful - then with the plug out you could look in and see what's going on at least, and if the aluminum cap had to come off (again, via heat or by loosening the glue - it looks like a mucilage-type paper glue to me), the cap hole would give you a place to lift from. Even if the dome got destroyed, you can get replacement ones - I know a guy who made his own, came out perfectly!

Obviously the speaker on the right is toast, unless the gauze is just covering a perfectly-good surround (unlikely, I think) and could be removed (possibly).

Ray

Satamax · 07-30-2006, 02:11 AM

Hi Ray!

The other speaker is a shitty monacor, wich sounds surprisingly good in this setup, and the right fane is toast, but still works no prob. No coil rub or anything. It's a cresendo, like hiwatt ones. I've noticed that the suspension is stiff on the other one i have which has the coil rub, but the suround was not that stiff! May be you have one of the 100 or 200 watts version. Actualy the one i repaired with the gauze, doesn't seem to care about the repair, and works fine even pushed. I have talked with the guys at fane, and they can't tell me if they have the proper cones availlable! I'd like to disassemble the speaker, to see by myself how it's made,just for the sake of seeing it in real life and not only pics and drawings. But i don't want to make a mess for teh guy who gonna recone it.

Bye.

Max.

Tom Phillips · 07-30-2006, 03:36 PM

Max,
Re: I'd like to disassemble the speaker, to see by myself how it's made,just for the sake of seeing it in real life and not only pics and drawings. But i don't want to make a mess for teh guy who gonna recone it.

I have removed the cone/voice coil assembly from speakers before I sent them in for re-cone just to get a look at the voice coil. (And to have an example around the shop to show customers how speakers are constructed) I unsoldered the tinsel wires at the terminals, cut though the surround where it joins the frame with an exacto knife and cut around the spider where it is glued to the frame. The whole cone with the voice coil attached and the remains of the spider just lifts out. You need to be careful not to let anything get into the voice coil gap. I usually put the frame into a clean plastic bag before I send it to the reconner. I have done this several times and never had a reconner complain that I sent the speaker to them without the cone.

Have fun if you decide to do it.
Tom

Rob Mercure · 08-08-2006, 09:48 PM

Hey Max,

If you do decide to un mount your magnet make sure that you lift the basket from the magnet and not the other way around. That is, remove the bolts and keep the parts pushed together firmly until you can flip the speaker with the magnet firmly planted on the work bench and then carefully lift the basket. I've seen too many replaceable baskets ruined when someone attempted to center the heavy magnet assembly onto the basket - much easier/safer to lower the much lighter basket onto the magnet even if it then means flipping the whole thing over to gain access to the bolts.

Rob

orbanatorfunk · 08-27-2008, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satamax

Hi everybody!

Well, need to recone old sound city cast frame fane speakers, i'm usualy pretty skilled with my hands, up to the point that i have a guitarmaking diploma, and a mechanics and enginering diploma. I was wondering, should i tackle the job myself, or give them back to fane? One has a coil rub, that's what pisses me off. And both have gaze suround patches.
http://satamax.free.fr/cabfront.jpg
Like the one on the right above.

Is there any DIY site explaining how to do it? I'd rather see in pictures what i'm getting into before doing the job.

Thanks and best regards.

Max.

www.orbanaudiospeakerrepair.com

Orban audio is a speaker repair/reconing company since 1981. we specialized in vintage speaker repair. Best work, fair prices. All work is backed by a one year warranty. Located in los angeles. Free shipping

jrfrond · 08-27-2008, 03:34 PM

Another official reconer checking in here.

It is true that speaker reconing is not that difficult, at least not always. However, like guitar finishing, soldering, etc., it is one of those skills that you need to acquire, learn and need to ramp up to. If you have a speaker or two that need reconing, do yourself a favor and bring it to an experienced tech. Besides the widespread unavailability of recone kits to end-users, you need to know what you are doing, what adhesives to use, how the whole speaker motor works, etc. And here's a warning in advance: UNLESS YOUR SPEAKER IS A PEAVEY OR MCCAULEY, WHICH USE REPLACEABLE BASKETS, DO NOT UNBOLT ANYTHING ON THE MAGNET STRUCTURE!!! If you do, you might very well turn a usable frame into a paperweight by misaligning the polepiece or motor plates.

In speaker factories, the cone, voice coil and spider are pre-assembled on a jig. When the speaker is assembled, the worker has an entire, preassembled cone to drop into a clean basket. This is a relatively simple operation.

When reconing, frames need to be stripped and cleaned of ALL old glue (the most tedious part of reconing), and the gap needs to be cleaned and inspected for concentricity. All aftermarket recone kits and some OEM recone kits (most notably E-V) are NOT preassembled. You must fit the voice coil, spider and cone yourself. Hey, even getting a dustcap on straight and neat requires a touch, as well as getting that nice, even glue ring around it to look professional.

As far as adhesives are concerned, CA adhesives ("Super Glues") are generally employed nowadays, even by many speaker manufacturers. The old days of letting a speaker dry overnight before testing is a thing of the past. The only slow-cure adhesive I use nowadays is white aliphatic glue ("Elmers"), the most popular adhesive for "doping" cloth surrounds.

If you DO want to take up reconing, start here: http://www.recone.com/

CountryASS · 05-05-2009, 04:36 PM

Nice pic tutorial from simple speakers.

Speaker Reconing Instructions

rgbchem · 07-25-2009, 10:50 AM

Great post!

orbanatorfunk · 07-29-2009, 07:29 AM

Well there is some videos on speaker repair on google but not the exact repair you need. You will have to get it reconed, If you do send it some where send it to Orban Audio speaker repair. Best work and prices guaranteed and all work is backed by a one year warranty.

Welcome to Orban Audio

orbanatorfunk · 07-29-2009, 07:35 AM

Best speaker repair and reconing and best prices all work is backed by a one year warranty

www.orbanaudio.com

07-15-2006, 07:52 PM	#1
Satamax Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Southern french alps, right by the Italian border Posts: 752	Speaker recone? DIY? Hi everybody! Well, need to recone old sound city cast frame fane speakers, i'm usualy pretty skilled with my hands, up to the point that i have a guitarmaking diploma, and a mechanics and enginering diploma. I was wondering, should i tackle the job myself, or give them back to fane? One has a coil rub, that's what pisses me off. And both have gaze suround patches. http://satamax.free.fr/cabfront.jpg Like the one on the right above. Is there any DIY site explaining how to do it? I'd rather see in pictures what i'm getting into before doing the job. Thanks and best regards. Max.

07-30-2006, 03:36 PM	#9
Tom Phillips Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: California, USA Posts: 676	Disassembling a speaker Max, Re: I'd like to disassemble the speaker, to see by myself how it's made,just for the sake of seeing it in real life and not only pics and drawings. But i don't want to make a mess for teh guy who gonna recone it. I have removed the cone/voice coil assembly from speakers before I sent them in for re-cone just to get a look at the voice coil. (And to have an example around the shop to show customers how speakers are constructed) I unsoldered the tinsel wires at the terminals, cut though the surround where it joins the frame with an exacto knife and cut around the spider where it is glued to the frame. The whole cone with the voice coil attached and the remains of the spider just lifts out. You need to be careful not to let anything get into the voice coil gap. I usually put the frame into a clean plastic bag before I send it to the reconner. I have done this several times and never had a reconner complain that I sent the speaker to them without the cone. Have fun if you decide to do it. Tom

08-27-2008, 03:34 PM	#12
jrfrond Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Oceanside, NY Posts: 716	Another official reconer checking in here. It is true that speaker reconing is not that difficult, at least not always. However, like guitar finishing, soldering, etc., it is one of those skills that you need to acquire, learn and need to ramp up to. If you have a speaker or two that need reconing, do yourself a favor and bring it to an experienced tech. Besides the widespread unavailability of recone kits to end-users, you need to know what you are doing, what adhesives to use, how the whole speaker motor works, etc. And here's a warning in advance: UNLESS YOUR SPEAKER IS A PEAVEY OR MCCAULEY, WHICH USE REPLACEABLE BASKETS, DO NOT UNBOLT ANYTHING ON THE MAGNET STRUCTURE!!! If you do, you might very well turn a usable frame into a paperweight by misaligning the polepiece or motor plates. In speaker factories, the cone, voice coil and spider are pre-assembled on a jig. When the speaker is assembled, the worker has an entire, preassembled cone to drop into a clean basket. This is a relatively simple operation. When reconing, frames need to be stripped and cleaned of ALL old glue (the most tedious part of reconing), and the gap needs to be cleaned and inspected for concentricity. All aftermarket recone kits and some OEM recone kits (most notably E-V) are NOT preassembled. You must fit the voice coil, spider and cone yourself. Hey, even getting a dustcap on straight and neat requires a touch, as well as getting that nice, even glue ring around it to look professional. As far as adhesives are concerned, CA adhesives ("Super Glues") are generally employed nowadays, even by many speaker manufacturers. The old days of letting a speaker dry overnight before testing is a thing of the past. The only slow-cure adhesive I use nowadays is white aliphatic glue ("Elmers"), the most popular adhesive for "doping" cloth surrounds. If you DO want to take up reconing, start here: http://www.recone.com/ __________________ *John R. Frondelli* dBm Pro Audio Services, New York, NY

05-05-2009, 04:36 PM	#13
CountryASS Junior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 1	Picture tutorial here. Nice pic tutorial from simple speakers. Speaker Reconing Instructions

07-29-2009, 07:35 AM	#16
orbanatorfunk Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 6	www.orbanaudiospeakerrepair.com Best speaker repair and reconing and best prices all work is backed by a one year warranty www.orbanaudio.com

07-18-2006, 02:25 AM	#2
Mark Black Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Near Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 341	Speaker reconing seems to be some kind of closely guarded secret on the web. In truth it's not too tough - IF you can get the right parts to do it. That means getting a recone kit from Fane if they will sell one and also proper glue if not included with the kit. There are numerous reconing agencies who could get the speakers going again with aftermarket parts, possibly cheaper than Fane, but they might sound different afterwards (maybe better - who knows?). These guys typically get their parts from Waldom, who guards their dealers closely and won't sell to the public. If it weren't for the bad compliance there might be some tricks to get the speaker to stop rubbing, but at this point reconing seems like the only option. Hope that's at least some help... -Mark

07-18-2006, 05:05 AM	#3
Tom Phillips Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: California, USA Posts: 676	Max, I have thought of doing speaker recone too. Every time the answer to my self is that it's not worth the trouble unless 1. You want to learn just for the experience or 2. you have a goal of gettting into the business. In either case I think that there would be initial mistakes so the first approach would be to practice on cheap speakers. That would not satisfy your goal of repairing the Fanes. There is a company that offers a re-cone video course. They supply materials and an old speaker frame to practice on. I can't find the link at the moment but I'll keep looking Tom

07-18-2006, 12:31 PM	#4
pdf64 Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 610	Ask Dr Decibel on the celestion website, he is very helpful. I've done 4 recones from scratch, even the first was fine. Alternatively, Ted Weber has an answer you might be interested in on his 'ask a question' page on his site, it seems to be feasible to stop the rubbing without a recone. Give it a try, you can't lose! http://www.webervst.com/sptalk.html Good luck - Peter

07-20-2006, 01:34 AM	#5
stokes Old Timer Join Date: May 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 1,305	https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/parts.htm- Ted Weber has all the parts you need right here.He is very helpful also.I purchased the parts from him and when I disassembled the old Jensen speaker I found that the voice coil post was out of alignment.When I asked him about this condition he offered to fix it if I sent it to him which I did-no charge.When you email a question he always replies same day-most times within a couple hours.After I reconed the speaker,which was my first I discovered that somehow the mag had become demagnetized during the shipping.Sent it to him and he remagged it for me.Said it was unusual with ceramic but happens with alNicos more.If you want to get into re-coning Ted is the guy to talk to.

07-29-2006, 09:35 PM	#6
Satamax Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Southern french alps, right by the Italian border Posts: 752	Rereading the "lets talk speakers" article, they say to remove teh dustcap, huh, not very easy on a aluminium capped speaker. Could i just unscreww the four bolts holding the magnet to the frame? to check what's rubing? the magnet assembly is composed of two steel plates holding the magnet. Bye. Max.

07-29-2006, 11:14 PM	#7
Ray Ivers Lifetime Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Connecticut Posts: 442	Max, I have one of these speakers, I think - a Fane 'Crescendo', 'Anisotropic blah blah 'Magnet', etc. It has the stiffest surround I've ever seen. My dustcap looks exactly like your right-side speaker, which makes me think that your left one has been reconed, or is a different type Fane. I'd be careful trying to pull the magnet apart - there's a whole lot of weight and magnetic force surrounding a wimpy little voice coil, and I've seen a magnet assembly wipe out a brand-new replacement cone/basket (Macauley speaker) in the blink of an eye. The rubber cap in the center of the dustcap could possibly be loosened by heat, if you have a small heat gun (I have one made for heat-shrink that would be perfect) or maybe solvent if you're careful - then with the plug out you could look in and see what's going on at least, and if the aluminum cap had to come off (again, via heat or by loosening the glue - it looks like a mucilage-type paper glue to me), the cap hole would give you a place to lift from. Even if the dome got destroyed, you can get replacement ones - I know a guy who made his own, came out perfectly! Obviously the speaker on the right is toast, unless the gauze is just covering a perfectly-good surround (unlikely, I think) and could be removed (possibly). Ray

07-30-2006, 02:11 AM	#8
Satamax Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Southern french alps, right by the Italian border Posts: 752	Hi Ray! The other speaker is a shitty monacor, wich sounds surprisingly good in this setup, and the right fane is toast, but still works no prob. No coil rub or anything. It's a cresendo, like hiwatt ones. I've noticed that the suspension is stiff on the other one i have which has the coil rub, but the suround was not that stiff! May be you have one of the 100 or 200 watts version. Actualy the one i repaired with the gauze, doesn't seem to care about the repair, and works fine even pushed. I have talked with the guys at fane, and they can't tell me if they have the proper cones availlable! I'd like to disassemble the speaker, to see by myself how it's made,just for the sake of seeing it in real life and not only pics and drawings. But i don't want to make a mess for teh guy who gonna recone it. Bye. Max.

08-08-2006, 09:48 PM	#10
Rob Mercure Lifetime Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Wise, Virginia Posts: 624	Hey Max, If you do decide to un mount your magnet make sure that you lift the basket from the magnet and not the other way around. That is, remove the bolts and keep the parts pushed together firmly until you can flip the speaker with the magnet firmly planted on the work bench and then carefully lift the basket. I've seen too many replaceable baskets ruined when someone attempted to center the heavy magnet assembly onto the basket - much easier/safer to lower the much lighter basket onto the magnet even if it then means flipping the whole thing over to gain access to the bolts. Rob

07-25-2009, 10:50 AM	#14
rgbchem Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1	Great post!

07-29-2009, 07:29 AM	#15
orbanatorfunk Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 6	Well there is some videos on speaker repair on google but not the exact repair you need. You will have to get it reconed, If you do send it some where send it to Orban Audio speaker repair. Best work and prices guaranteed and all work is backed by a one year warranty. Welcome to Orban Audio

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