How Hard is to Recone a Speaker?

[rek50]

Wow Edge, .002 of an inch.........., the man said precision is what he does all day

While .002 may seem precise, PRECISION is more into .0001 or microns. If you have ever worked in microns or tenths, .002 is a walk in the park. I'm not slamming your chosen skill here, just adding some "Light" .

1audiohack , I watched a guy do some dust caps, using a "Poster Board" mask. He cut the PB into a circle, cut a slit in it, then slipped it together to form a cone. Stapled it together. Cut the cone tip off to yeild a hole slightly bigger than the dust cap. Lay the "Mask" on top the speaker cone, hold your tongue just right, and have at it.

4313B, your sense of humor reminds me of a Giskard..........

carry on......

[edgewound]

Wow Edge, .002 of an inch.........., the man said precision is what he does all day

While .002 may seem precise, PRECISION is more into .0001 or microns. If you have ever worked in microns or tenths, .002 is a walk in the park. I'm not slamming your chosen skill here, just adding some "Light" .

Wow....you're right. Maybe we should start press-fitting these cone assemblies in. That way they won't make a sound.

The light is shining brightly.

[1audiohack]

Hey, I think your on to something with the press fit thing!

Just think how many issues that resolves, no need to clean the gap, no need for those nasty adhesives, and you wouldn't even need dust caps!

The sound quality would change a lttle, just guessing there.

rek50, Thank you for the tip.

Edgewound, I PM'd ya.

[Thom]

Edgewound, I have no desire to put reconers out of business or suggest that they don't deserve whatever level they live at (I don't have a clue) but they tend to get grumpy at questions and at experimentation and that sort of leaves one to ones own devices. Seems with individual parts you could mix cones and still put the voice coil where it should be but also seems with individual parts there is more need for an expert. It would be nice to know an expert that could tell you why you should or shouldn't do a particular thing and then would do it for you anyway. With that I'd lose temptation to cone myself. Instead I find purists and /or uncurious technicians who will put what you want where you want it with no clue of the results.

[edgewound]

Seems like it would be hard to go astray with the preassembled kits. I see all sorts of pit falls with individual pieces.

Who said anything about you wanting to run reconers out of business? Some are perfectly capable of doing that on their own. Three or four others in my area have done just that.

Please just keep in mind that the scope of this here particular forum is restoring and maintaining Lansing manufactured products....we're not here to redesign or reinvent them.

You had a previous comment about how JBL changes driver characteristics when updating models. Well...those are factory improvements that come about in the evolution of of a particular model...very common in every industry...done with extensive and published testing on how to make it better.

When it comes to restoration and maintainence, your quote above says it all.

[Thom]

Who said anything about you wanting to run reconers out of business? Some are perfectly capable of doing that on their own. Three or four others in my area have done just that.

Please just keep in mind that the scope of this here particular forum is restoring and maintaining Lansing manufactured products....we're not here to redesign or reinvent them.

You had a previous comment about how JBL changes driver characteristics when updating models. Well...those are factory improvements that come about in the evolution of of a particular model...very common in every industry...done with extensive and published testing on how to make it better.

When it comes to restoration and maintenance, your quote above says it all.

So modifying and upgrading crossovers is OK, perhaps even recommended. Putting in newer drivers to "upgrade old systems is good, but to modify a driver is sacrilege. It's got to be all those hours I put in. I obviously slept through something again. Please explain. Why is it OK to throw away an old driver in favor of a newer one and change the crossover thus changing the speaker system totally. (Well we did keep the cab) but thou shall not modify the driver. And, if you want to get into expertise and knowledge I don't think that always stops people in the other areas. I'm no driver expert, that's for sure but I may know more about them than some of the crossover people know electronics. A lot of what Gordon has to say in another thread makes a lot of sense to me. Too bad he's so far away. I have a feeling that reconers like him are rare. That's not a knock on "factory types". All run there businesses in the way that makes sense to them. If I lived in your area I'd feel comfortable having you re-cone my speakers but to have someone knowledgeable who was a freer spirit and more curious would be a treat. I'll bet not all JBL drivers came of a drawing board. Serendipity is responsible for lots of things. I'll bet more than once someone said I want this cone on that frame. Or something like that, and someone else liked it. When you are making PA equip fit your living room sometimes a little tailoring is in order.

[Robh3606]

but thou shall not modify the driver

Do you just like to argue or do you simply not understand what the difference is?? It's only been said 3-4 times in as many different ways. This post looks like a troll to me.

Rob

[edgewound]

Serendipity is responsible for lots of things.

That's true. Just ask that 10 year old in SoCal about his serendipity with playing with matches that started a 40,000 acre fire destroying peoples homes.

My point is....again.....most JBL drivers can't be improved with aftermarket parts, and the full circle journey to get there isn't worth the trouble or the cost.

But, Thom....what the hell....do what ever you want, say whatever you want. I'm done debating with you.

Do you just like to argue or do you simply not understand what the difference is?? It's only been said 3-4 times in as many different ways. This post looks like a troll to me.

Rob

That's ok, Rob.

I learned something here today...again.

It's not a good idea to pee into the wind. Better to just flush it down the toilet.

[4313B]

edewound, I know it's tough, sometimes I have a hard time doing it too, but you just have to put these guys on ignore. Even the guys at JBL have said "You know, you start reading this stuff and you almost have a stroke. You get so f*****g pissed off at some of these people and you can either humiliate the hell out of them or you can just push away from the keyboard and go into the lab and eventually forget about it."

Humiliating them gives one a negative ding more often than not unless one is extremely good at it so it's probably best to just walk away. It rankles for a little while but by the next day it shouldn't be too bad. The real problems start when each of these little incidents begin to add up, then the good guys leave and never come back.

[edgewound]

...just push away from the keyboard and go ...

...mow the lawn...then change the oil.

Now....that's advice I can use today.

Thanks Gis....er...4313B

[Harvey Gerst]

I can't speak to the newer JBL products, but the older JBL products were built to a standard and a devotion that would be hard to instill in today's workers. The standards were such that a line worker had veto power over any of the management people, clear up to Bill Thomas, the president.

We didn't have "seconds" - it was either perfect, or it didn't go out the door. That was the policy at JBL during the "golden years"; maybe that's why they're so highly prized today, and maybe that's why so many are still working.

[edgewound]

Harvey,

In today's waaaayyy more "complicated" audio world where most new users seem to think everything should be "plug and play" with zero education on what these things are supposed to do with proper application...

They're still pretty damn good built to a very high standard...especially within their pricing parameters.

If you want better still, we know where to go and what to expect to pay....and to expect a long wait.

Thanks for all of your wise insight into the "golden days". Many times I wish we were still there.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Edge,

Do you subscribe to Voice Coil?

Ian

[4313B]

.

[Thom]

I don't particularly like to argue and it's quite likely that I'd be unhappy with my "frankenwoofer" were I to build it. I just don't like the choice of either you who says if the factory didn't do it it shouldn't be done, or OC who will put anything I want anywhere it will fit with no care as to if the VC depth will be right or anything else. I think if I want to put a 2225 cone on a 145 frame I should be able to count on the reconer explaining why I shouldn't, after which it would be my choice, which would be no. If I could get the VC centered I might try it. (I know underhung overhung but I think the biggest problem is symmetry. It's not a debate and I don't think I'm being held back from creating "the greatest woofer of all time", it's just service. When I did auto repair I tried to inform my customers to the greatest extent possible. I had no problem with modifying things, but not blindly. For many I think (from conversations) that they may just be technicians who are good at replacing cones with little understanding of how and why things work as they do. You are probably just a purest. That is totally defensible and I respect it. I just wish there was a reconer like Gordon sounds like he is in my backyard. No argument. No right or wrong. Just different viewpoints. Most important, I'm sure you know much more about drivers than I do and that is fact not sarcasm. I do wish I had a dime for every time a reconer has told me an aftermarket part sounds the same, and I know he doesn't know if it does or not.