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Boston Acoustics HD5 refoam issue

jukeboxfun

jukeboxfun

Active Member
I bought some foam surrounds from Ebay for my BA HD5's. They seemed kinda thin, but what the heck, I put them on. They fit the cone edge well, but not any extra on the frame. Looked okay when done with no coil rub. But when I tried them, they pop at higher volume or if the bass is turned up. What ya think. New foam again? New driver, (suggestions from where)? or throw them away?
 

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Just fired them up using a CD player as a source and they played good at high volume. This morning I was trying to play them with a turntable with a high output Shure M44-7 cartridge. With the rumble & everything I think I just overpowered them. I think being smaller bookshelf speakers they can't take a heavy bass.
 
what was the final outcome of surrounds for the HD5? I've seen a listing on ebay for foams but at a whopping $25, I've left my foam plagued HD5 sitting on the "project" shelf. I try to keep drivers original but at that price it's clearly worth considering driver alternatives or just using the HD5s as bookends. :) although, when working, they sound great. it's a sleeper model that often gets passed up. Add a sub and the HD5 makes a fine satellite, but the type of foam surround they used originally is it's downfall.

Anyone find foams that fit properly at "reasonable" costs?
 
Bostown said:
what was the final outcome of surrounds for the HD5? I've seen a listing on ebay for foams but at a whopping $25, I've left my foam plagued HD5 sitting on the "project" shelf. I try to keep drivers original but at that price it's clearly worth considering driver alternatives or just using the HD5s as bookends. :) although, when working, they sound great. it's a sleeper model that often gets passed up. Add a sub and the HD5 makes a fine satellite, but the type of foam surround they used originally is it's downfall.

Anyone find foams that fit properly at "reasonable" costs?
Click to expand...

The cheaper foams I found on Ebay are a tight fit so if I was doing it again, I would get the $25 ones.
 
jukeboxfun said:
The cheaper foams I found on Ebay are a tight fit so if I was doing it again, I would get the $25 ones.
Click to expand...

Not the news I was looking :no: but it is, what it is. Is it possible that the HD5 woofers are actually 5.25? I have a pair of generic 5" foams and you're right. there is little surface contact with the basket. It would be nearly impossible to use these surrounds on those speakers, and I haven't.
 
The HD5 is going to bottom out (pop) when playing deep bass...especially at higher volumes. It's a 5.25" bookshelf speaker after all. It's a great speaker, but it has its limits. That's why it was the smallest and least expensive in Boston's line at the time...

At least from the description in the original post, sounds like the replacement surrounds were fine!
 
redcoates7 said:
The HD5 is going to bottom out (pop) when playing deep bass...especially at higher volumes. It's a 5.25" bookshelf speaker after all. It's a great speaker, but it has its limits. That's why it was the smallest and least expensive in Boston's line at the time...
!
Click to expand...

They are ideal candidates as satellite speakers with a sub, particularly when used with a high pass filter ( standalone, like the M&K HF-80, or built into a surround processor/receiver). I ran a pair with a Velodyne SPL sub and the results were pretty solid.
 
Bostown said:
They are ideal candidates as satellite speakers with a sub, particularly when used with a high pass filter ( standalone, like the M&K HF-80, or built into a surround processor/receiver). I ran a pair with a Velodyne SPL sub and the results were pretty solid.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I used mine with a Polk PSW202 subwoofer for a few months and the combo sounded great.
 
Total agreement on the subwoofer comments. These things make BEAUTIFUL midrange and can throw a huge stereo image. Deep bass on the other hand just isn't their forte!
 
jukeboxfun said:
I bought some foam surrounds from Ebay for my BA HD5's. They seemed kinda thin, but what the heck, I put them on. They fit the cone edge well, but not any extra on the frame. Looked okay when done with no coil rub. But when I tried them, they pop at higher volume or if the bass is turned up. What ya think. New foam again? New driver, (suggestions from where)? or throw them away?
Click to expand...

This thread's longevity pushed me over the edge and I finally clicked on it.

As someone else pointed out, it's a small woofer and as such it's capabilities are somewhat limited.

Your later observation about the problem being worse with vinyl is to be expected. Playing records, you can get a lot of sub-20hz woofer movement from record warps, footfalls and other extraneous vibrations. None of that is present with CD's or FM.

Also, it's an acoustic suspension system, and they rely on air pressure created by the backward movement of the woofer cone to prevent bottoming. It's crucial that you have no air leakage. Gaskets are important.
 
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