Speaker cone damage?

[mickeyb]

My son recently poked the center cone of my KRKV8 speaker which has left the cone all collapsed. I can't say I noticed any change in the sound but can anyone tell me about the seriousness of the act of vandalism?
Can I just unscrew the speaker and poke it out?

Thanks for any advice. :cry:

[Howard Jones]

When you say "centre cone" it sounds like you might be describing the dust seal or cone that covers the gap in some designs of drivers. If this is the case, it shouldn't affect the sound at all, as you have observed.

Give us a better description of the speaker. In any case, no, you can't unscrew the speaker and poke it out.

[wez]

as the father of 5 year old twins i can tell you that i've been there...

if you very gently apply some fresh (ie sticky) blu-tack so that it's just lightly adhering, then very gently remove... you may need to do it a few times to get all of the indentations out, but it worked fine for me. some not-too-sticky sticky tape might also work (that 3M 'magic' tape is pretty good).

fortunately it was just my old soundcrafts at home, not the PMCs.

next weeks tip - removing pretty drawings from an LCD screen...

[chris p]

If it is the dust cone and its beyond the Wez fix (which I heartily endorse), try Speakerbits in Melbourne for replacements. You just cut the old one out with a knife.

WARNING - the dust cone dimple is cosmetic. Cuttting it out can cause actual damage to the speaker cone. You have to ask yourself whether you really want to go there.

[Chris H]

Another method if the bluetack doesn't work is the vacume cleaner hose. I have used it with success but had the vent on the handle open to reduce suction and holding the end of the hose with my thumb on the speaker cone to prevent complete contact.

[Linear]

Yeah I've had this problem before as well. yes the dome is merely a dust cap, it doesn't really serve any other purpose. So the fact that it's dented won't seriously affect performance.

But me, I couldn't look at a dented dustcap on speakers.

You need to get creative. Go to jaycar, they have little suction pickup thingys. Or alternatively go to clark rubber and get a tiny little suction cup, buy some small plastic tube and drill a hole in the middle of the cup that will fit the plastic tubing in. Stick the suction cup carefully on to the speaker and suck, using your tongue as a valve. Seriously, it sounds ridiculous but it works.

Basically you just need something that is small, has suction so you can pull the paper back out to it's original shape. I'd be wary of a vacuum cleaner, I could just imagine losing the whole dustcap or piercing it accidently.

Chris

[Kurt]

Using a pin can also work, especially if it's a cloth dome rather than a paper one.

[mickeyb]

Thanks guys thats great .... It was one of my 5yo twin boys as well Wez!

[wez]

welcome to the club ;-)

[scott]

Yeah I find it very easy to, when tightening the screws on guitar speakers, slip and add a new 'port' to the speaker design. So you got of pretty light me thinks.