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Refoaming Advent Large - "Bullnose" model

Jim Lyons

Jim Lyons

New Member
I visited Simply Speakers today and asked which surround I need for these later model Advent speakers - "Bullnose" model. Waiting for their response.

I bought these a few weeks ago for $80.00. Cabinets and grills are in pretty good shape. I suspected they would need refoaming, since the seller said he had them since high school - 1970's. Opening them up today revealed only shreds of the original surrounds remaining.

I have never refoamed any speaker, and so wanted to know if I should give it a try and risk damaging the speaker cones, or find a shop near me who will refoam them for me. I also read that the tweeter crossover should probably be replaced. I have basic soldering skills, but don't have any testing equipment to check if I replaced the crossover correctly. Should I boldly refoam and replace the crossover or find a shop? Thanks!
 
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If you bring the crossovers into NYC, I can double check them for you. I'm in the city Wednesdays during the workday. Have you ordered capacitors and resistors? Just duplicate what's in there (assuming factory installed). Share some pics, we can confirm.
 
Billa said:
If you bring the crossovers into NYC, I can double check them for you. I'm in the city Wednesdays during the workday. Have you ordered capacitors and resistors? Just duplicate what's in there (assuming factory installed). Share some pics, we can confirm.
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I have not ordered any parts. I guess the crossover is under the tweeter? I had a link on my Mac for the correct parts. Thank you!
 
If you watch the instructional video from Simply Speakers it's quite easy. I put several shims around mine to make sure the cones wouldn't rub. T thing I didn't like was all that batton materal inside was a dusty mess.
 
Jim Lyons said:
I have not ordered any parts. I guess the crossover is under the tweeter? I had a link on my Mac for the correct parts. Thank you!
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The crossover is on the back of the rear plate the connectors/switch are mounted on. Best to remove the woofer to see what you have. Take a pic and we can confirm what you need to order.
 
If you have the all-metal woofers, the correct surrounds have just a small flange around the outside to fit on the approximately 1/8" "shelf" on the frame and not overlap onto the angled part of the frame. I have seen many done with the surrounds meant for the Masonite woofers which can have a larger flange around the outside.

Also, when I refoam the all-metal woofers, I attach the surrounds to the frame first and then to the back of the tweeter edge. It's easier.

Doug
 
Refoaming is not difficult and should be learned if you like buying speakers. My only suggestion is to use some sort of method to align the VC. Some swear by the test tone, others use shims. IMO, if you want the speakers to appear virgin, use the tone. If you don't really care, shim. You can toss the drivers around like a pizza and they'll stay perfect while gluing. Some speakers are so valuable that keeping as much as possible looking original is important. Advents, not so much, they made a million of 'em.
I use the following method most of the time. I don't use the dressing step and to hold the dust cap down, a 1/2 drive socket works good, like a 7/8 or thereabouts. If you have a multimeter and basic soldering skills I'm sure someone can walk you through the crossovers. My kid in high school did his.
Good luck and congrats on the purchase.

https://www.decware.com/newsite/refoam.htm
 
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If you get your surrounds from Simply Speakers be aware that their glue tacks up fast. It looks easy in their videos but consider how much experience that person has. I find their glue relatively unforgiving of mistakes and use it only in situations where I need a fast setting glue. Admittedly I no longer have the digital dexterity of my youth. My preference is Aleene's Original Tacky Glue, which I think is essentially the same as the white glue other surround vendors usually include. I've aligned Advent woofers using the 30Hz tone, shims, and just by feel. I used shims the first time I did a surround and have never chosen to use them since. If I'm working on a woofer I'm not familiar with I use the tone.
 
Glue the surround to the cone first being sure it's centered and let it dry.
If you don't have a test tone cd just play some music through them. Turn up the bass to get the cone to move enough where it centers itself but doesn't pull the newly glued surround from the frame. Keep touching the surround to the frame to help the glue spread evenly as it sets up. Don't slide your finger on it at first as that can move the centered surround out of place. Just touch it everywhere until you know the glue has dried somewhat. When you're sure it won't move you can then gently slide your finger lightly around the edge to smooth out the glue.
 
The Advent all-metal woofer is an exception to the rule to attach the surround to the cone first because the small ledge on the frame leaves almost NO room to move the surround around there and if the surround is attached to the cone first and isn't perfect, well, there's not much you can do. By attaching the surround to the frame first, you have more leeway to adjust the attachment to the cone.

Doug
 
Doug G. said:
The Advent all-metal woofer is an exception to the rule to attach the surround to the cone first because the small ledge on the frame leaves almost NO room to move the surround around there and if the surround is attached to the cone first and isn't perfect, well, there's not much you can do. By attaching the surround to the frame first, you have more leeway to adjust the attachment to the cone.

Doug
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Which woofer are you referring to? The metal frame woofers I've repaired in the past all have the surround attached to the back of the cone which is easy to center. I didn't know there were more than two woofer designs in the Large Advents. Thanks for this.
 
Doug G. said:
The woofer which succeeded the Masonite woofer. The all-metal woofer.

Doug
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This one?

IMG_20221128_163451046.jpg

This one has the surround attached to the back of the cone, and it's hard to not get it glued to the cone centered because of how tight it fits, see next pic. I've done close to a couple dozen of these gluing the surrounds to the cone first, then to the frame. This is using Simply Speakers surrounds and surrounds from Rick (looneytune2001).

Never had a problem doing it this way. There was always enough frame under the outer lip of the surround to put glue on when attaching.

IMG_20221208_222642215.jpg
 
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It can be done either way but I found it easier to attach it to the frame first because of the tight fit there, too. There's just that little ledge there and you can't move the surround around much at all. I just glue the outer flange to the frame and let it set, lay a bead on the inner flange, push the cone up so the flange pops underneath (with assistance) the cone edge, make sure there's no rubbing, and let set and dry.

I've never had a failure this way.

Doug
 
Ovderwhelmed by all these great informative answers! Just renewed my subscription for these answers alone! The Simply Speakers refoam kit for the NLA should be arriving soon. I am going to remove the speakers today and take a look at the crossovers. Maybe I am a little OCD, but the golbs of glue for the crossovers just look messy. Hope to do a neater job on the replacements. I guess a mass-produced speaker had to to be assembled as fast as possible to move the merchandise. My first large Advents were the original, and after many moves, and much damage to the cabinets, I tossed them during a garage cleanup. Again, thanks to everyone for your expertise. B-)
 
Jim Lyons said:
Ovderwhelmed by all these great informative answers! Just renewed my subscription for these answers alone! The Simply Speakers refoam kit for the NLA should be arriving soon. I am going to remove the speakers today and take a look at the crossovers. Maybe I am a little OCD, but the golbs of glue for the crossovers just look messy. Hope to do a neater job on the replacements. I guess a mass-produced speaker had to to be assembled as fast as possible to move the merchandise. My first large Advents were the original, and after many moves, and much damage to the cabinets, I tossed them during a garage cleanup. Again, thanks to everyone for your expertise. B-)
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the woofer baskets can be VERY SHARP!
i ended up putting painter's tape on all the exposed edges for when i was cleaning the old junk off. one slip = slice.
 
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