Best material for a polydome

Waking this thread up...

I did a little investigation, the dust cap that Millersound is using as a replacement dome appears to be the same as (or similar to) the dust cap used in the Kappa and (believe it or not) SM series woofers. Due to the lack of support from Infinity for vintage products, I have to wonder who made these. Simply Speakers sells them and describes them as being "foam over screen". They are also available on eBay. Don't know if they're exactly the same as the ones used by Millersound, but I can't imagine many different folks manufacturing something like this.
 
What did everyone end up using for glue? I have one Polydome that has a crack near the voice coil that I would like to repair. Also, does anyone know of a foam covered cloth dust cap that is smooth (ie no Infinty logo) that would be correct for the Kappa woofers?
 
No need for the glue now. After I let the dome sit with silicone shock oil on it for a couple of days and then tried rubbing some of the more cloudy areas with my finger the polydome material stated to crack all along the voice coil. Soon after that the dome part started to fall apart where I was touching it. I would not touch the dome after putting silicone oil on it. It could be the brand of oil I used, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else try it. Since the dome was bad anyways I warmed up the pieces with a hair dryer and it cleared right up and got softer. It stayed soft and pliable after it cooled as well. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the silicone oil that was already on it or not. I would like to point out that this dome was good when I started, it was milky but not hard or cracked.
 
Good evening. I'm from Brazil. I got a pair of 9.2i kappa with damaged polydomes. First attempt I made, if the repair were to put a phenolic dome of the brand Snake model 3053, I did not like. Today I decided to use a small brain and I decided to try to make an EVA dome. I'm waiting for glue from the coil to harden and start testing.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1345.JPG
    IMG_1345.JPG
    56.1 KB · Views: 70
  • IMG_1348.JPG
    IMG_1348.JPG
    72.4 KB · Views: 71
  • IMG_1349.JPG
    IMG_1349.JPG
    38.9 KB · Views: 72
Last edited:
Here is a video that I made of the RSDS polydome for anyone who has never seen one before.

The video shows it next to an original and also shows the back of it up close.

If we only knew 20 years ago that the polydomes were going to deteriorate we could have bought all these things up and had decent replacements, I bet a lot of them were installed in cars and ended up in the junk yard with them, what a waste.
MEDIA]
 
Last edited:
This EVA dome using original bobine and structure. Is a repair to original. Where I buy RSDS dome?
If you get lucky they sometimes show up on ebay but they're not cheap. I've seen some that were in used fair condition sell for $300 plus a pair, in excellent condition/new like mine are in I've seen them sell for alot more and as our polydomes Deteriorate the price for the RSDS is only going to climb even higher, if you see a pair for sale I would grab them.
 
I'm just thinking out loud, I don't have the credentials to take on something like this. I do admire the guy that has done it with questionable material.

In this day and age why nobody has embarked on a faithful reproduction or even better with UV inhibitors is interesting. Is the original material trademarked or forbidden to be reproduced or unknown ? I didn't go back and read all the posts and I may have said this before.

It looks to me like the fella that sells the silicone repros didn't spend a life savings making the mold...etc. with the thousands of Infinity speakers out there with polydomes if someone were to do this and keep it reasonably priced, to me that's $50-$75.00 per unit, you could do pretty well both providing the service and making a profit.
 
I'm just thinking out loud, I don't have the credentials to take on something like this. I do admire the guy that has done it with questionable material.

In this day and age why nobody has embarked on a faithful reproduction or even better with UV inhibitors is interesting. Is the original material trademarked or forbidden to be reproduced or unknown ? I didn't go back and read all the posts and I may have said this before.

It looks to me like the fella that sells the silicone repros didn't spend a life savings making the mold...etc. with the thousands of Infinity speakers out there with polydomes if someone were to do this and keep it reasonably priced, to me that's $50-$75.00 per unit, you could do pretty well both providing the service and making a profit.
I agree with you, it's sad when you see people parting out their Kappa's because parts are no longer available to restore them, you see kappas that look like new sold for parts because the polydomes went bad.
 
What happened to the Chinese company that claimed it was working on the polydomes replacements? Same guys who are making the replica mids for the RS series, IIRC.
 
What happened to the Chinese company that claimed it was working on the polydomes replacements? Same guys who are making the replica mids for the RS series, IIRC.
Let's hope something comes of this. The poly cone mid looked very impressive.
 
What happened to the Chinese company that claimed it was working on the polydomes replacements? Same guys who are making the replica mids for the RS series, IIRC.
I spoke with the guy 6 months ago through email and he said it was more difficult than they thought it would be to make the replicas, he said it could be another 1.5 years till they come out, if you could believe him.
 
Here is a video that I made of the RSDS polydome for anyone who has never seen one before.

The video shows it next to an original and also shows the back of it up close.

If we only knew 20 years ago that the polydomes were going to deteriorate we could have bought all these things up and had decent replacements, I bet a lot of them were installed in cars and ended up in the junk yard with them, what a waste.
MEDIA]


Thanks, wasn't even aware of those.
I guess they are no longer made?
Too bad given the number of original polydomes that have not aged well.
 
Ok, how did Infinity do it ? We're the originals made overseas ? Were they made here in the states, in house or subcontracted or sourced from several manufacturers and built in house, who was responsible for the speaker design itself and where are the working drawings for production, addendum for materials.

I was reading in another area that someone has written about the history of JBL, again I'm thinking out loud but I often wonder why the history of Infinity has not been told in depth in a book form. There's bits and pieces all over the web but I'm unaware of a comprehensive in depth history.

An old friend of mine, Lee Emerson did the history of the M14. I've often thought the same could be done with Infinity, is it a niche, yes. But one I think is worthy of the effort. Maybe collectively some of us could make the attempt, one of the original guys is in my neck of the woods ( Nevada ). Arnie & Bascom are still alive, we could gather data and start a compendium of facts while they're still available.

That's my thinking out loud end. Sorry if I got a bit derailed there, it's been floating around in the Burroughs of my mind.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, wasn't even aware of those.
I guess they are no longer made?
Too bad given the number of original polydomes that have not aged well.
Infinity designed them at or about the same time our kappa's were made, don't know why they made them, next gen kappa? who knows but they wound up selling them for car audio applications.
 
Ok, first off, I do NOT own any Infinty speakers, maybe later. A little insight into the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING MAN, Bill Legall at MILLERSOUND. I'm a JBL guy. However, ALL of my JBL woofer repairs and including my friends' professional sound co. uses MILLER SOUND for our woofer repairs. I recently dropped off (10) drivers to Mr. Legall (Bill) at Miller Sound. 4 of which are EV 18"-1000 watt pro drivers that are used on a constant daily basis in live production/venues and take quite the abuse, all in need of full recones. 2 more are my OWN 2245H 18"JBL drivers that have the original white backed aquaplas damped cones... Kinda rare, they need new voice coils. 1 JBL LE14-H-1 will need refoam and new spider. 1 8" Klipsch woofer recone. Lastly, 2 Kef 8" in need of recone. I NEVER question Bill about ANY repairs.... I hand him what needs to be repaired, trust him, and wait for a phone call, which is generally quick AND, NOT EXPENSIVE. On Aug. 17 2017 when dropping all of these into his lap, I was AGAIN fortunate enough to watch him repair no less than 4 Infinity Polydomes right in front of me!!! All I can say is, people in the "know" only use Bill. The man is not just a speaker repair guy. Watching him, you know it is a true labor of love and not just a job. One cannot truly explain, other than he and his lovely wife Lorretta were not ment for this planet alone!!! For ALL Infininty owners that are perplexed... Stop looking!!! E-bay, NOS, all will be tired worn out, close to/if not failing at this point. Send your original drivers to Bill, let him work his magic, and be rejoiced with your speakers once again!!! Most likely ALWAYS SOUND BETTER THAN ORIGINAL. Bill and Lorretta are also the NICEST people you will ever meet in a lifetime, if you're lucky. I already know when I pick all those drivers back up, they will all look and perform like new... No question!!! Being a Viper-Tech at Dodge, I appreciate what a customer expects and how they should be taken care of.... Like it's your own vehicle. My philosophy. Bill and Lorretta Legall (MILLERSOUND) are the epitome of this way of life!!!
 
Hi All,

I am just about to go through all of this... as of today I am a proud owner of Kappa 7's 8's and 9's. The 8's need new polydomes. One of the originals is still intact but very yellow. On the 9's it looks like the original owner went with those flimsy clear silicone replacements. The voice cooks obviously rub and the glue work looks like crap. And it's apparent that the silicone material is too soft and thick. On my 7's I have the Miller Sound polydomes. You can tell the material rubs a bit if you depress the ring gently, I don't think the ring itself rubs, just that foam material has texture that rubs against itself. Pressing on the already cracked original polydome there is no audible friction or rubbing. That smooth thinner material seems ideal. I also have on order the silk domes from Western Speaker. I will do a shootout when those arrive.

Please be in touch. ;-)

--b
 
Back
Top Bottom