Refoam the old speakers !

UPDATE 2016 - Now who has a stereo anymore ? ?   I hear some people still listen to radio station at home.  Old days gone by.  I use to run the TV via my stereo.  Now I use a Zbase.  Two 8" woofers firing down.  Nice.

My BSR speakers purchased back in 1980's through DAK (remember them) started to sound a bits funny.  I checked out the speakers by taking the cover off.  The foam has crumbled away from the edge.  This causes the speakers cone to rub against the magnet portion of the speaker.

In checking Simply Speakers web site (there are a number of places selling refoam kits) I made my call and for a bit under $30 (including shipping) my replacement foam kits were ordered.  These are 15" woofers that really kick out the bass sound.  They also had a 8" midrange and tweeters.

There are two type of refoam kits, a slanting kit and a flat kit.  Mine was a standard 15" foam kit.  See below next photo.

After the foam kits arrived (now a few years ago) I followed the instructions.  SLOW AND STEADY to take off the foam.  Lots of gunk around, so drop paper around your work area and watch were you walk.  Don't want to get this stuff on the carpet. Then you need to carefully scraping it off the paper edge.

I did one slightly wrong.  I did not press down on the cone after gluing.  After drying that one sort of was sticky (off center on the magnet) way at the bottom.  But in a few years do not have any problems with either.   The foam is still good and the speakers run off my DVD player.  Lots of low rumble.  So I would say the kits saved me lots of money.   I can still crank Jimi, Janis and Zepplin with no ill effects (except for the ringing in my left ear for 6 years now).  No rattles or noises except those made by the guitars.

This is the way they look (even after a few years.)

Alas the foam edges are still nice

Addition - March 2007

I just fixed two other sets of speakers by refoaming them. One set was a beautiful 2 - 10 inch per set put on the curb to be thrown out due to foam rot, the other are the 8" speaker from this set.  After another 12 years, the midrange speakers went.   Found someone on www.ebay.com that was selling the foam for $4 per speaker. It's the same foam.  You want to pay the fancy price go ahead.  SHOULD YOU HAVE a slanted cone and you don't get that special foam.  Make cuts 1" from each other around the cone edge but not to the very edge of the foam cone.  That gives you the tiny extra distance on just a V shaped cone.  I did two speakers that way, worked great.  I made sure there were no gaps in the foam by the paper speaker edge by using that glue and spread a thin layer around the top side.

https://search.ebay.com/speaker-foam

It's a messy job, use lots of paper to catch the old foam. Watch the knife ! I'm an oldtimer with sharp objects, if needed, use gloves. Will keep the knife from pressing into your fingers too and protect them if you slip. Use a "push into the frame" then slide the knife back as a cutting action. Never towards your hand! It's a slow process. Scrape off the cone good.  Use your fingers to press the foam to cone edge until it sticks good.

If they don't sell you glue with the cones, I went to the crafts store and bought some "universal" glue for $4, a large squeeze bottle. Scotch Quick-Dry Tacky Adhesive. It worked find. Just centering the speaker is important.

Glue the speaker to foam edge first. Gently pressing down with 4 fingers in the center of the cone and feeling if it's hitting anything. Then glue the edge. You can add the paper edging last and then a large book or something to cover the top as weight as it dries. Face up or down, it don't matter. 3 hours drying and try them. REMEMBER how the wires hook up. Black is ground, there should be a dot on the speaker connection for the positive wire.   Mark what color wire goes to the speaker if you are taking off more then one.  They have to go back to the correct speaker from the crossover system.