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Infinity RS4b woofer repair.

Livin4

Livin4

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
One of the woofers from my RS4b's has a rubbing voice coil, and is in need of repair. While I am comfortable with re-foaming, messing around with the spider and voice coil is not something I want to do. I would have sent it to Orange County Speakers, but they have unfortunately closed for business. And Simply Speakers doesn't do repairs any more. So, I am in need of a reputable speaker repair service. Any suggestions?
 
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Infinity sourced RS-II woofers from Watkins. They used to recondition them, maybe still do. Give them a call.

www.watkinsaudio.com

Home | Watkins Stereo & Loudspeakers--Home Audio Store since 1958

Since 1958, Watkins Stereo and Loudspeakers has sold premium home audio systems with hi fi products like Oracle, VPI, Yamaha, Klipsch, UTurn, Ortofon, Spin-Clean, Watkins and more. We are also the award-winning, high-end speaker manufacturer of the Watkins Generation Four bookshelf speakers...
www.watkinsaudio.com www.watkinsaudio.com
 
One of the woofers from my Infinity RS4b's has a rubbing voice coil, and is in need of repair. While I am comfortable with re-foaming, messing around with the spider and voice coil is not something I want to do. I would have sent it to Orange County Speakers, but they have unfortunately closed for business. And Simply Speakers doesn't do repairs any more. So, I am in need of a reputable speaker repair service. Any suggestions?
 
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Livin4 said:
One of the woofers from my RS4b's has a rubbing voice coil, and is in need of repair. While I am comfortable with re-foaming, messing around with the spider and voice coil is not something I want to do. I would have sent it to Orange County Speakers, but they have unfortunately closed for business. And Simply Speakers doesn't do repairs any more. So, I am in need of a reputable speaker repair service. Any suggestions?
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Midwest Speaker Repair... I have used them in the past and that is where I buy my
surround kits from.
 
Livin4 said:
One of the woofers from my RS4b's has a rubbing voice coil, and is in need of repair. While I am comfortable with re-foaming, messing around with the spider and voice coil is not something I want to do. I would have sent it to Orange County Speakers, but they have unfortunately closed for business. And Simply Speakers doesn't do repairs any more. So, I am in need of a reputable speaker repair service. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
You mean Speaker Repair Pros right? Speaker Repairs Pros opened when Orange County closed years ago.

 
Cactus Bob said:
You mean Speaker Repair Pros right? Speaker Repairs Pros opened when Orange County closed years ago.

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No, I meant Simply Speakers. They used to do repairs, now they only sell parts.

I have looked at Speaker Repair Pros, but they only list Re-edging for Infinity woofers, so I'm not sure they can do it. As they are only open Mon-Thur, I will have to wait till Mon to see if they can
 
Lux Man said:
Please rotate the driver 180 degrees re-mount it and report back. The spider can sag and cause this. Rotating it may be your fix- if it isn't it is still worth the try.
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That's not necessary, looking at the spider, I can see that the cone is pushed in. If I apply even, light pressure to the cone and try to get it to move like a normal woofer should, it won't. It takes an abnormal amount of pressure, then it moves, but grinds, and when released it does not move back to where it should.

When I spoke to Midwest Speaker, and described the issue, he suggested that it sounded like the coil had bottomed out in the magnet and bent the aluminum sleeve the coil is wrapped on. When he said that I remembered seeing a toddler of a friend of my wife pounding on the grill last Sunday, and yeah, I'm betting on bent coil sleeve.
 
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Livin4 said:
No, I meant Simply Speakers. They used to do repairs, now they only sell parts.

I have looked at Speaker Repair Pros, but they only list Re-edging for Infinity woofers, so I'm not sure they can do it. As they are only open Mon-Thur, I will have to wait till Mon to see if they can
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Send Bao an email. He and his Dad (Orange County) are very good techs and have done over 25 JBL recones and new surrounds for me over the years.

Speaker Repair Pros contact.
 
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No need to start 2 threads on the same topic. I posted a recommendation for Bill LeGall at MillerSound in your other thread. He is a recognized authority on Infinity woofers.
 
Lux Man said:
Please rotate the driver 180 degrees re-mount it and report back. The spider can sag and cause this. Rotating it may be your fix- if it isn't it is still worth the try.
Click to expand...
Yes this ^ I've had my RS4b for forty years now and I've always rotated the woofers every 12-18 months. I also do this with my Dynaco A-25's (PIA due to them being held in with sticky icky stuff).
 
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classic carl said:
I've used @GordonW on a couple of occasions. Excellent work and reasonable prices with quick turnaround.
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I've had to cut back on what I'm doing in terms of speaker repairs sent to me, due to out-of-town job commitments. I'm away from home about half the month every month now. It's really diminished what I can do in terms of repairs at my home shop.

I've been putting people off, until close to the end of the year, when they've been asking lately. And even then, we'll have to see how my schedule cooperates. Some time-consuming jobs I have even turned down altogether, unfortunately- just because it isn't fair to keep people's stuff tied up indefinitely.

I wish I could still do more, but responsibilities do stack up sometimes.

Regards,
Gordon .
 
I've serviced dozens, (maybe hundreds?) of speakers. One simple trick is removing the dust cap and examining the VC. You can easily move the VC up and down to get some idea if it actually is damaged. If it is, and it's an aluminum "former", you can actually clean it up moving the VC against the pole piece. Not that complicated and yes I've done it successfully. After that you can install the new surround and shim the VC to ensure alighnment. Dust caps are readily available. Absolutely get the same style. Do not substitute a plastic for a cloth cap, this is so the driver can "breath".
 
Copa1934 said:
I've serviced dozens, (maybe hundreds?) of speakers. One simple trick is removing the dust cap and examining the VC. You can easily move the VC up and down to get some idea if it actually is damaged. If it is, and it's an aluminum "former", you can actually clean it up moving the VC against the pole piece. Not that complicated and yes I've done it successfully. After that you can install the new surround and shim the VC to ensure alighnment. Dust caps are readily available. Absolutely get the same style. Do not substitute a plastic for a cloth cap, this is so the driver can "breath".
Click to expand...

With aluminum formers- it's also possible, to sometimes deal with bent bottom ends of formers (from bottoming out a voice coil), with a shim. Sometimes the shim will push back the errant bent aluminum, enough to not rub against the pole piece anymore.

Once the dust cap is off, it's worth trying.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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