Great pics......
Of a great journey into refoam world !
Keep on friend !
Thanks for the encouragement! My success here, and the readily offered assistance has inspired me to push further. I have moved on to restoring my Realistic SA-2001 amplifier and my Realistic 31-2000 equalizer. Be sure to check out my other threads there if you feel you can lend a hand!
WOW This Was One Hell Of A Thread ! Talk about drama !
A spiritual journey : " The Story Of A Boy And His Speakers "
I am currently dealing with exactly the kind of fear and trepidation that this thread reveals. My beloved Kappa 6.1 now has cracked surround and I have never done one . Currently reading all I can in preperation for my first surgery .This thread has been wonderful !
MECH : YOU DESERVE TO BE SAINTED IN THE AK HALL OF FAME .
So glad it worked out for you in the end .. It was wonderful to hear your love of music through the pottential loss of your babies and follow your times of doubt and despair while being propped up by .. SAINTS
VIVA AK
Yes there was quite a bit of drama involved here in this thread. Like I've said before though, the thing that really warms my heart is the dedication the members in this forum have to offering assistance. I hope one day to have learned enough to be able to help others like some of helped me.
There was a lot of frustration and confusion involved, also a little despair when I imagined that I had ruined my wonderful speakers (these guys are like my babies, love the way they sound). I went into the project sort of unsure and with not quite enough patience...and with a little help from my AK-Friends I came out with a repaired set of speakers, knowledge on the proper way to refoam, some do's and don'ts, and an appreciation for patience and attention when dealing with projects such as these.
I got way more attention here than I thought I would, and I'm glad you're getting some help preparing for your refoam. As someone who JUST finished the process for the first time I can offer you some pointers that would have helped me a lot.
First off, make sure that the inside of the surround sits centered with the outside edge of the cone. I have one of my speakers that I refoamed and didn't get the surround centered properly..luckily for me it's only slightly off and still seems to work...however...my other speaker that I originally rushed was off center and because of that I couldn't get the outside edge of the surround to adhere properly.
Also, if you are really eager to listen to your speakers again, I suggest you setup a backup pair if you can...part of my problem was that I slightly rushed the process once I got to the end, and it was because I was eager to get these speakers back. Go into the project not expecting to use them again for a few days, that way you aren't racing to get them repaired and miss something important.
Also...I wish I would of known this before...but don't take off your dustcaps unless you have to. My repair instructions basically had it listed as if it was an essential step and apparently it's not. Opening the VC up to open air introduces the chance for it not to be centered when you refoam, and for particles to make their way into the VC. I encountered both of those issues, so, heads up.
Just make sure you really take your time, it can be annoying getting all the initial material off, that's going to be the most time consuming part of the project. Just be meticulous, get some alcohol to loosen the glue and a knife to scrape it away. Even trying really hard I couldn't get it all off...I've heard that as long as you can get the surface flat and give the new surround a good area to stick to, you'll be okay...but try to get as much as possible.
One thing I just couldn't figure out is how to get my speaker driver DISCONNECTED from the actual cabinet. It looked like two prongs that slide on top of the connections in the back of the driver, but unless I wasn't trying hard enough..I just couldn't get them off. If you can't get them off either then you could do what I did and just put the speaker cabinet on it's side and remove the driver and place it face up on the workspace. It was annoying at time since it was still plugged in but I just worked around it. Does anyone know why I couldn't get these connectors off? I pulled HARD...I think someone mentioned going side to side to slide them off but I don't think that worked either...although...maybe I didn't try hard enough? Do some just not come off?
Anyway, please feel free to post here about your experience...hell...enough people have replied here that I feel like they'd jump in and help you out too.
Good luck!
), you'll get a better feel of when to proceed to the next step. A couple more re-foams, and it'll become second nature. :yes:
IF any of you have experience with such a thing look for my new post soon. Also I'll take pictures and upload within a few minutes!
