Paradigm 5se's - need some repair advice

[peterz]

So I just bought a pair of original Paradigm 5se's (not MKII or other versions) as the cabinets were in good condition, and the tweeters seemed to act fine. There are two specific problems with them that need attention.

1. Dust caps need to be replaced/reglued.
One of the dust caps was gone, the other was only half glued (the glue seemed to have just dried up).

I pulled the second dust cap because it was audibly buzzing against the driver and the glue had obviously dried out. It peeled right off.

How quickly do these dust caps need to be replaced and where can I get replacements? Parts Express? Paradigm 'doesn't sell or ship dust caps' according to customer service there.

2. Buzzing in one woofer at specific frequency
The first speaker stopped any audible buzzing when I peeled off the dust cap. I saved it if a reapplication is in order.

The second speaker is where I need some AK advice! It's the one that came without the dustcap if you're still reading this.

This speaker's driver has an audible buzz only at certain frequencies in lower octaves. Imagine listening to some rock music only to have certain bass guitar notes cause the audible buzzing.

I can't really 'see' any delam going on between the rubber surround and the driver itself, but as I started lightly touching the joint between the rubber surround and the driver, I found a spot where if I touch it very lightly while the speaker is playing music, I can completely eliminate the buzz.

I have no idea if I'm even supposed to touch a speaker while its playing, let alone if the speaker can be fixed with some refoam glue (I already have some from a JBL refoam project) but is that a good place to start?

I emailed Paradigm and they want $60/speaker to refoam and repair dust caps, etc. $120 to repair these is too rich for my blood. Doesn't seem like they'd be 'worth it'.

Any help would be most appreciated. Where do I start? Try and reglue the foam without removing it? Replacement foam surrounds from that auction site? Replacement drivers from PE that make them 'good enough'?

thanks in advance, I'm really hoping its something easy!
take care and stay cool
peter

 

[sstring]

These are good quality speakers. I have the 7SE and have had no problems. The review I read on the 7SE was so good the reviewer mentioned he is thinking of picking up a pair!

Dust caps are available at a very reasonable price at any number of speaker web sites. These speakers if they are the orginial 8 inch drive should a cast frame and have rubber surrounds that are not generally available. The problem with the buzzing may only be a slightly deformed voice coil former and you should be able to see if the voice coil is rubbing on the magnet pole piece or the outside of the gap. Use a small bright flashlight.

Cheers

 

[tomlinmgt]

Yes, the 5se's are great speakers. Definitely worth a little effort and money to make 'em right. I love mine and don't think I'll ever let 'em go. I had the same problem with the glue around the dust caps drying out. I had the buzz too and it was caused by little pieces of the dust cap glue that broke loose and got down around the voice coil and former. So you might want to look very closely down there and make sure no tiny pieces of dried glue have worked their way down between the voice coil and former. One of the best two-ways I have in my collection and the Vifa tweeter is especially sweet. These speakers kick major ass with a sub!

 

[peterz]

Thanks for the responses. VERY helpful.
Turns out the voicecoil is in fact rubbing along the one edge. Forgive me as I'm not that speaker literate but if you will indulge me...

There is a cylinder that is separated by a very small gap from the voicecoil. Or, in this speaker's case, rubbing along the bottom edge of the cylinder as the driver itself moves in and out. Simply pushing the driver in and out while not even attached to anything, I could discern an audible rub, whereas the other speaker doesn't have that. I can't see any dried glue but could easily see that being the problem, considering how small the gap is. But it's definitely rubbing that cylinder.

Is that difficult to fix? I can't see how I'm going to be able to fix that. What can I do?

One other thing to mention - I was also looking at the rubber surround where it meets the driver on the face of the driver. I see that the glue used here isn't nearly as dried out, but even still, there are a few sections on both this buzzing one AND the 'working' speaker where the very edge of the rubber surround has delaminated. Not all the way through mind you, the rubber surround is still firmly glued, but the edge itself isn't. Is this also something I should pay attention to while I'm in the 'fix them' phase? I refoamed a pair of JBL Studio Monitors at Christmas (foam surrounds) and kept the glue they sent with the kit. Could I assume that glue would work or do rubber surrounds require something different than foam surrounds?

Thanks again for all your help.
take care
peter

 

[sax6]

surrounds that delaminate !

Hello paradigm owner

same problem here but with a 9 se woofer. I have a kind of rubbing on mine too and as I looked carefully, found a segment where the surround doesn't meet the cone no more .....mmmmm !

used some Crayola project glue ( white) for kids ... ( refoamed a pair of mirage sm4 with the same glue and it still holds after a year)
let it sit for about 12 hrs then re-screw the driver in place and ...
that's where i am this morning , haven't try it out yet

hope to salvage this beautiful piece of equipement

Good luck The Gentle Giant

 

[peterz]

Thanks Sax6/

So far I have inverted the driver by 180 degrees and I also wiggled the driver a bunch while facing it straight down in case a piece of dried glue had worked it's way in there.

And.... so far so good. I don't know if those type of drivers (really hard material) can 'sag' but I figured it wouldn't hurt. The interesting thing is that the slightly off center voice coil, or surrounding cylinder - that showed contact at the 'bottom' of the cylinder when it was installed in its factory installed position (the Paradigm logo on the driver mount reading upright) - is now showing the same smaller airspace at the top. It clearly didn't hang or move huge amounts, but it appears to have moved just enough....

I'm playing it a lot today in hopes that the problem won't reappear.

Thanks all for you help, I'll report more if and when I find it not working again.
peter

 

[peterz]

Well I went ahead and used the surround glue I had leftover from my JBL refoam at Christmas. It appears that several areas of surround had delaminated from the driver itself, and that might have been part of the problem also.

After inverting the driver, it sounded great for a few days and then I noticed a much softer low note buzzing in the speaker in question. So I applied glue all the way around (I'm sure there's a reason to not do that but hey I paid $30 for these so I figured what the heck). And now I can't find any audible buzzing at any lower octave frequency.

And MAN what a sound for $30 and a few evenings of tweaking! I still need to order new dustcaps for these. Where? Parts Express? Once those are installed I'm going to have one heck of a nice pair of speakers for $30!

Thanks for the help guys.
peter

 

[tomlinmgt]

Yes, for $30 you are WELL on your way towards a lot of bang for the buck. If you don't have a sub (or subs) I suggest you watch CL for something really good and add it to the Paradigms. Take the low end burden off the Paradigms and they'll go to a whole 'nother level!

 

[peterz]

I own a PSB Century 300i powered sub but I've NEVER hooked it up. I know I know, it was a gift (free) and I don't have a dedicated listening or movie room, so I've never had the opportunity to use it. But I'm using an NAD 5.1 receiver driving these so it'd be an easy addition. I guess I'll have to read up on how to split the load to the sub and not send those lower octaves to the paradigms. Or does the receiver know that if I hook up the sub?

thanks
peter

 

[mikeybc]

I own a PSB Century 300i powered sub but I've NEVER hooked it up. I know I know, it was a gift (free) and I don't have a dedicated listening or movie room, so I've never had the opportunity to use it. But I'm using an NAD 5.1 receiver driving these so it'd be an easy addition. I guess I'll have to read up on how to split the load to the sub and not send those lower octaves to the paradigms. Or does the receiver know that if I hook up the sub?

thanks
peter

I wouldn't be offended in the least if you re-gifted it my way

your receiver should have a dedicated rca sub out connection

 

[Octaven]

............ It appears that several areas of surround had delaminated from the driver itself, and that might have been part of the problem also. ..........
peter

Common problem with the original SE series; I got replacement woofers for my 7SE's when they were less than a year old. Problem solved, permanently.

 

[tomlinmgt]

I own a PSB Century 300i powered sub but I've NEVER hooked it up. I know I know, it was a gift (free) and I don't have a dedicated listening or movie room, so I've never had the opportunity to use it. But I'm using an NAD 5.1 receiver driving these so it'd be an easy addition. I guess I'll have to read up on how to split the load to the sub and not send those lower octaves to the paradigms. Or does the receiver know that if I hook up the sub?

thanks
peter

Yep, dedicated sub out to the sub via RCA cable and look through your receiver's manual to see if you can find a way to choose different settings for the type of speakers you are using...usually "large" (for towers) or "small" (for bookshelves). This is basically an electronic crossover inside the receiver that cuts the lower frequencies when you choose "small" so the bookshelves don't have to try to do what the sub can do a much better job taking care of.

 

[sax6]

9 se replacement woofer

I have contact Paradigm for a replacement woofer for my 9 SE
they don't offer it anymore, will only recone it for about 80$ can fund + shipping

mmmm

I can't support the rubbing noise at low level but at hi level this is no place for rubbing nor scrapping noise bcause these speakers are so wonderful
you can only ear is bass at a pure level
Listen to Genesis's Mike Rutherford bass pedal and the whole house sort of
would fly away.

for a 100$ can fund i'm satisfied !


thanks for reading a guy from the province of Quebec writing in english !

The Gentle Giant

 

[mikeybc]

buy a used pair of 3se's for parts for 100 bucks....same woofer and tweeter.