Infinity RS6 - blown woofers, what are my options?

[dhf318]

I just bought a set of Infinity RS6s on Craigslist. From the pictures I could see that the woofer surrounds were shot and needed refoaming (which I read up on here and am confident I could have pulled off), but all else appeared in good shape, and the seller assured me all speakers were working and that they sounded great. Like a dope I didn't insist on a test listen since she already had them in the back of her car when I turned up, and in general had a friendly and trustworthy vibe, and I was in a bit of a hurry.

Of course when I got them home and connected to my amp, neither woofer was producing any sound or showing visual signs of life (the mids and tweeters are both producing sound). After watching a YouTube video, I pulled one of the woofers and used my multimeter to confirm no resistance on the connectors. And with gentle finger pressure on the cone I get no movement at all on one of the woofers, and the other moves up and down some but with a rasping/scraping noise (I suspect that cone has also separated at some point I cannot see, as it essentially falls down when I flip the woofer over).

Plainly I should have insisted on a demo first, but here I am. I've contacted the seller to ask about a refund and that might still happen -- it's possible she honestly thought they were good since they still make some noise from the mids and tweeters. But I'd like to assess my options if I'm not able to get a refund. So here are my questions:

1. Is it possible/practical to repair these RS6 woofers? Is that a DIY project along the same skill level as refoaming, and if so what parts would I need to buy? Or should I look to a professional speaker repair-person, and if so any estimates on what it might cost?

2. Alternately, should I just replace the woofers with new? It looks like new old stock infinity woofers were once available from The Speaker Exchange -- https://reconingspeakers.com/products-page/infinity-8-woofer-902-7298/ -- but they're now out of stock/discontinued. Simply Speakers has some generic replacement woofers that they recommend for the RS6 -- https://www.simplyspeakers.com/replacement-speaker-woofer-w-8024.html -- but it's hard to know how those will sound.

Any thoughts/input on either of these would be much appreciated, and I'll accept any taunting for buying Craigslist speakers without a demo as well-deserved. Thanks in advance!

 

[goodolpg]

Ebay
I would search for "infinity woofers" and/or "Infinity RS6 woofers" to start. Or use the codes on the back of your woofers.
I am assuming your speakers DO have the OEM woofers and haven't been changed? Any pictures?
I prefer listings that show the driver/woofer hooked to a meter with the ohm value shown. Use zoom geature to really inspect.
Check often or set up an alert.
There may be other speaker codes than the ones on the woofers if they had production changes or a fairly long production life. That would give options besides the numbers yours have.
Here are 2 that were used 902-4976 and 902-5030

 

[swechsler]

1. Possible? Yes. Practical? Probably not; it would depend on where the problem lies. In most cases, not really a DIY job, especially not for a first timer, and when replacement parts are unavailable. A pro probably can do it, but the repair costs could exceed the value of the speakers. You might consult with Bill LeGall at Millersound to get an estimate.
2. I'm skeptical that the woofers shown from SS would do the job properly; Infinity used several different drivers of this size throughout the years, and they are definitely not all the same.

Assuming you can't get a refund, IMO your best bet would be to try to find used replacement woofers on eBay. Any 8" woofer used in the original RS series (except the RS I) would probably be correct. Note that this is not the same series as the RSx000/RSx0001, where x is an integer between 1 and 6.