Hi Ken,
Quote Originally Posted by edgewound
Fitting a new cloth m-roll surround is typically a losing proposition.
- As a professional reconer , what leads you to make that statement ?

- Is it the cost of all the additional prep-time needed ( like neatly cutting out the old surround ) to get a nice-fitting, good-looking result ( ie; this approach being labor intensive & therefore reflected in the final price ) versus the known cost & time of a straight recone in a cleaned up basket ?

- I have a few surplus 2225s and am mulling over installing some of Rick Cobbs foamed surrounds to create a lowered Fs , short coil hybrid . Hence my interest in your answer .

Quote Originally Posted by edgewound
I'd rather do these fixes on an injured, working JBL cone assembly than waste my money on an aftermarket cone kit with the wrong electrical and dimensional properties...the voice coil is the heart and soul of JBL drivers, and wrong ones just sound wrong.
- I certainly agree wth that, if one installs aftermarket kits then a person will have no idea if the voice-coil is wound with the proper gauge of wire and whether or not the proper length in the winding has been achieved.

Quote Originally Posted by edgewound
If you've got cracks in the 2205 surround you've got two decent options.
One is to find a recone shop that has the flexible PVA. Electro-Voice uses two different formulations, one for cloth surrounds(semi-flexible), the other for foam surrounds(flexible)...these are known by the brand name "Airflex". This is the method I use to make simple surround patches when one doesn't want to pay for a recone and just needs a "fix" to get up and running.

The other option is to sparingly use black silicone weather strip sealer like that by GE found in hardware stores. Apply it sparingly to the folds in the surround and next to the cone and spread it evenly around the perimeter with your finger, then let it cure for 24 hours.
- I'm glad you articulated these two approaches to "temporary fixing" the old surround. In the distant past , I've successfully used the 2nd as a temporary bandaid on a couple of 2225s . ( Though I didn't want to bring it up without a leadin from someone with more seniority in this area. )