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EPI 100 woofer issue

A

Amir Flesher

New Member
I am relatively new to the whole vintage audio gear thing. Been perusing threads here for a year with much benefit and this is my first post!

Anyway, here is my issue: A month ago, I found an EPI 90 single speaker at the local thrift for $3. I bought it, for no good reason, and replaced the surround without issue. It played well, but alas, was only a single speaker and is kinda ugly because it's the dark fake wood veneer kind. Low and behold, a week ago, I found a pair of EPI 100s with the real walnut veneer cabinets at the same thrift shop for $12. They look quite nice! I figured I'd just refoam those as well and then I'd have three matching-ish speakers for no good reason. I did the refoam on the 100s, but one of them isn't coming out right. When I got them, the the whole cone was way high and off center. . I got it back down and more or less centered, and when gluing tried to recenter with the 30Hz tone CD. It seemed to work fine when the speaker was laid flat on the table, but once I was done and had the speaker back upright, there is some rubbing on the most bass heavy songs. (or at least I think that's what's going on). I undid the outer seal where the foam meets the basket and tried again with the speaker vertical...thought I had it, but, rats-- same issue!

So, should I try re centering again--using shims, or doing something else differently than I am, or should I try to swap the woofer from the vinyl EPI 90 into the 100 that seems to be rubbing? (I want a matching pair and as stated earlier, like the look of the real veneer better anyway).

If I go for the second option, how exactly do I undo the solder connection and resolder once I swap woofers? (I have no experience with soldering or unsoldering). Finally, is the woofer from the 90 the same one as the woofer from the 100? They look the same as far as I can tell-- in fact the entire speaker looks the same except for the veneer--not really sure what difference there is if any? Thanks!

P.S. both the single 90 and the pair of 100s have the masonite tweeter style.

Amir
 
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Having an unpaired orphan EPI-90 with a good woofer, I'd definitely think that swapping the good 90 woofer in place of the faulty 100 woofer is your obvious first thing to try. Best-o-luck...will be following your progress.

And welcome to AK, Amir.
 
Try using a AAA battery -- that was easier and more "accurate" for me than the test tone. It just holds the cone up. You put the glue on the basket, disconnect the battery, and the cone falls straight back down where it belongs.
 
I constantly "adjust" while the glue is setting up
Battery as above both directions and simple pushing in centered over dust cap

Also pressing down on glued join for full contact till its all cured

in other words i dont leave the driver alone for 20 30 minutes or more


Shouldnt need shims. Epi are easy. The magnets tend to shift on these. Yours may have shifted just a little
When i found mine 1 was frozen from a very shifted magnet
One day just messing with it after giving up hope i fixed it by hand
You have to remove the dustcap to see the gap in order to determine if its offcenter or not

Exchange the woofers
 
I believe it is the same woofer. The fellow who runs the Human Speakers website could verify.

I always thought the version with the masonite tweeters was the earliest, and that the corresponding woofers had rubber surrounds. Doesn't appear to be true in your case.

In any case, make a good pair by using the woofer from the 90, keep the tweeter as a back-up, and call it good.
 
Did the cone detach from the woofer? If so, use a bead of glue to reattach. As mentioned, the magnets shift easily, is there any rub when you try to move the cone by hand? If so, the magnet shifted.
 
Please don't fall into the fairly-common trap of thinking that rubber surrounds last forever. They do not. They last longer than foam, but they are not impervious to breakdown. Add in exposure to direct sunlight, and/or cigarette smoke, and you will find that the butyl rubber surrounds grow stiff, and then crack, and fail. If the speakers are cared-for, it is not unusual to see 40 years of life from a surround, and that might seem like forever, but it's not, and more examples of the early EPIs are reaching that end-life stage. Replacing early butyl surrounds is somewhat akin to recapping a 40+-year-old receiver. I consider it to be maintenance. I purchased my Epicures, new, as a young man, and had to re-do the surrounds. I'm now 62, and I don't think I'll have to do them again. I've done many other pairs, that are back in service to other people.
 
luvvinvinyl said:
Please don't fall into the fairly-common trap of thinking that rubber surrounds last forever. They do not. They last longer than foam, but they are not impervious to breakdown. Add in exposure to direct sunlight, and/or cigarette smoke, and you will find that the butyl rubber surrounds grow stiff, and then crack, and fail. If the speakers are cared-for, it is not unusual to see 40 years of life from a surround, and that might seem like forever, but it's not, and more examples of the early EPIs are reaching that end-life stage. Replacing early butyl surrounds is somewhat akin to recapping a 40+-year-old receiver. I consider it to be maintenance. I purchased my Epicures, new, as a young man, and had to re-do the surrounds. I'm now 62, and I don't think I'll have to do them again. I've done many other pairs, that are back in service to other people.
Click to expand...

Trap? Are you referring to my comment about the first version having rubber surrounds?

I certainly did not suggest that they last forever. But they do generally last much longer than foam surrounds. I too have done many, many pairs. I replace surrounds when they need to be replaced...not before.

The OP mentioned foam surrounds combined with masonite tweeters. My comment had nothing to do with rubber vs foam longevity. Rather, I was commenting on the unusual (at least to me) combination of foam surrounds and masonite tweeters.
 
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Yes, the cone did get separated as it turns out. I am going to try and glue it down as Smurf suggests and see what happens. As for the foam paired with the Masonite tweeters, all 3 speakers are definitely like that. No rubber in sight. Not sure how common that was, but I’ve seen another pair on CL like that.
 
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