Some help with speaker re-foam kits

[ae1signature]

I have managed to acquire a spare pair of cones in case of problems with my existing ones in my AE1 Signatures, however, the foams have badly perished and will therefore require a re-foam

Its a task I would tackle myself, however, finding re-foam kits within the UK seems to be a problem, plenty of ebay overseas, none that I could find in the UK

Does anyone know of a suppler, preferably in the South East (Hertfordshire would be excellent) that stocks re-foam kits

[Bertiebee]

I had 4 drive units from a pair of AE2's refoamed by DK Loudspeakers and he did a great job (google the name, there isn't an email address, but he can be contacted by phone/fax). From memory it was about £50 per unit and this includes testing to make sure they are functioning correctly.

Only downside is that it did take him a while, but if yours are to be for spares then that won't be a problem.

[Fatmarley]

http://www.speaker-repairs.co.uk/sho...ic_energy.html

[wicksy111]

i have refoamed four pairs of acoustic research speakers using different kits everytime and the speaker-repairs ones were by far the worst. very thin foam, shims were literally a5 paper chopped up into strips and the glue ! dont get me started on the glue - they give you pva to do the refoam ! if you manage to get them to stick they fall apart a few days later on bass heavy music.

one of the best was from a dutch chap called Maroesjka, his site is here : http://www.goodhifi.com/ superb bloke that will answer any questions you might have - choice of rubber or foam surrounds, quick postage oh and the glue is proper contact adhesive.

good luck with the refoam, its easy just dont rush it !

[Hornucopia]

I second the good_hifi comment. And there's Wembley Speakers (?) too.

[Fatmarley]

i have refoamed four pairs of acoustic research speakers using different kits everytime and the speaker-repairs ones were by far the worst. very thin foam, shims were literally a5 paper chopped up into strips and the glue ! dont get me started on the glue - they give you pva to do the refoam ! if you manage to get them to stick they fall apart a few days later on bass heavy music.

one of the best was from a dutch chap called Maroesjka, his site is here : http://www.goodhifi.com/ superb bloke that will answer any questions you might have - choice of rubber or foam surrounds, quick postage oh and the glue is proper contact adhesive.

good luck with the refoam, its easy just dont rush it !

I bought a refoam kit from goodhifi, speaker-repairs and an American company that was recommended (I forget the name) The foam from speaker repairs was the best fit and the thinest, You want the thinest foam. If it's too thick you will lose bass. You only have to go over to classicspeakerpages to see that the large majority of foams are too thick.

My AR18's never came unstuck and I know a couple of people that have used the same kit without any problem. I use PVA quite a bit in my job and it is more than strong enough to glue foams onto speakers (it's designed to stick wood together).

I've read plenty of horror stories about people using contact adhesive. You only get one chance with contact adhesive. If you get it wrong with PVA, you still get time to re-adjust.

NEVER replace foam surrounds with rubber. It will completely change the properties of the speaker.

[wicksy111]

I have replaced foam for rubber in the past with excellent results & would use contact adhesive any day over pva .... as with all things, each will find the best way for themselves - no one way is right or wrong imo

fwiw the best kit i used was from AR-Repairs.com & the glue they sent was cobblers shoe repair adhesive which combined the strength of contact adhesive yet remained tacky for 30 mins before starting to set.

[Fatmarley]

The compliance of rubber surrounds is normally different (stiffer) than foam, and this can change the resonance frequency of the driver to a higher value, meaning that you will loose some bottom end (you have to use the correct thickness foam)

Foam surrounds are also lighter than rubber and more weight can lower sensitivity.

Foam surround have much better damping properties than rubber, they absorb mechanical energy which would otherwise reflect back through the cone to cause resonances which show up as peaks in the frequency response.

If you change the surround to a different material, then the speakers would most likely benefit from a re-designed crossover.