Speaker repair - replacing the foam surround

In this video, I am repairing a Genesis 12" subwoofer driver. I bought a foam replacement kit from speakerworks.com, and the process of installing it went very smoothly.
The song is One Less Worry by Dennis Chambers and Niacin. It's off the Drum Nation Volume Two album.

[@charlesklein7232]

your back ground music blew my speakers apart! now i have to replace them! well you explained how to do that.

[@SweetTodd]

That’s how super villains get views.

[@GeorgeKarolemeas369]

🤣

[@AppliedScience]

Shimming the voicecoil may be a good idea, however this speaker has been used every weekend since this video was made (over 2 years ago), and still sounds great, so I'd consider my repair a success.

[@hristosmourselas3939]

Is that still true? Have you refoamed it since then?

[@gregmiller9957]

This video convinced me to buy replacement speakers for my Baby Advents instead of trying to refoam them myself. Thanks - this saved me a lot of time and headache.

[@LoganEdwards]

Thanks for sharing. I just inherited a set of vintage Fisher XP-65s speakers and the 10" woofers are in desperate need of new foam surrounds. Great tutorial.

[@thedudeman9000]

a tip I'd wish to give to the viewers of this video: Elmer's Rubber Cement is a great preventative buff to put over a weak cone/suspension. If the hole is too big, I sometimes use paper towel dipped in rubber cement to patch it up. Sure, it adds a little extra mechanical resistance to the speaker, but I can't hear a difference nor have I ever damaged a voice-coil by making it too restrictive. And like always, thanks for the great videos

[@AppliedScience]

I said that I consider my repair a success, which I still do because the speaker still sounds great. I never claimed this was the only way, or the best way to repair a speaker.

[@Znorps]

Cool vid. Going to be doing this myself in a few. Didn't think about using a brush. Looks like it made the adhesive process neater than expected.

[@CheaddakerT.Snodgrass]

Wow! Great soundtrack. You've come a long way in 12 years

[@jeffkamen2307]

Niacin. Billy Sheehan. Good choice! Oh and nice video too… I’ll be replacing the surround on Velodyne UL15 (also servo-driven) and this was informative. Thanks!

[@31Orcas]

Dude, now that I've found this video, you are officially my favorite subscription! I wish I could do projects like yours, like messing with arc lamps, DIY aerogel, all that good stuff. Also, I have (I don't know why) a strange passion for loud bass. The powerful thump of a massive car stereo makes just me feel really happy. Seeing you working with a subwoofer on your channel is an instant favorite! BTW, you should really look up what multi-kilowatt subwoofers can do to their car : ).

[@tsirhclig]

Nice Tutorial - i also have done that to replace my foam - the speaker works good like new again - thanks a lot

[@michaelbauers8800]

Excellent rock and roll organ.

[@DomenecSosValles]

Congrats!

[@3000Bass]

Helpful video, will give it a go!

[@yt678901]

He did check for centering issue after gluing. It was just fine. Doesnot have to be accurate at atomic level, just that Voice coil does not rub the metal.

[@BlackEpyon]

I used an old Heathkit tone generator to keep the coil centered when I redid mine. Different vendor (My Audio Addiction), but pretty much the same kit.

[@flyurway]

Pretty well done video. I was wondering how you were getting around shimming the VC.

[@wojtek3016]

@bkraz333 thank you so much. For now I have put some low quality cellotape on te back but I don't know if its a good Idea. The speaker (Peerless HDS-164PPB PPB diaphragm, 33 mm) sits inside a ported box. I am making it as a project for school.

[@deekay2]

Glad to see and hear that you got LUCKY......

[@847lifestyle]

probably going to try this, local shop quoted me $75 for each sub to get re-foamed .

[@robbjhamann]

Looks good

[@stevekays6029]

Just bought a pair of Duntech tower speakers from Australia yesterday. They were 10 Gs when the came out in the 80s,I got them for 1,300 . Anyhow after playing a few records very loud the surrounds went,all 4 of them. Im just wondering if I should do this myself or get an experienced repair person to do them. I cant even find a place in town that sells the surrounds,and Im wondering how important it is to get the original brand for them. Any advice is much appreciated !

[@c0uchsl0uch]

i have a tip for you, when you buy a new speaker, rub baseball glove oil on the surround and it will stay soft and fresh for a long time, longer than normal

[@rendermatt]

Great work. We want to hear that bass bump

[@Bobbrians]

Very useful video, the music playing 6db louder than the dialogue was a bit annoying though.

[@abekim7]

@bkraz333 thx very helpful. Btw since its old should i even bother paying $20 to fix it? The tweeters seem to be working fine. Not sure about the bass though. I don't want to fix something that can't be fixed to begin with. Or it could be like you said the surrounds are having a huge affect on the bass since its not even on the driver

[@Camilo19832001]

I just have a small separating area in the sub. Do i have to take all the foam out still?

[@MrDeweydog123]

old speakers are da bomb

[@abcdq2]

@unstopable172 I found out you could use "Aileen's tacky glue" from Walmart, which is a thicker glue (than elmers). This glue is more sticky than elmers & useful for binding different fabrics, wood, or plastics.

[@johzho123]

if the surface where you're installing the speaker presses against the foam surround, is that a bad thing?

[@Mattystew17]

any tips for re-attaching a gasket? somehow the kid i bought my subs from blew them off, and he was underpowering the subs. they're alpine type e's, but i think they were just initially poorly adhesed, but i don't know

[@immacook4u]

What solution did you use to remove the gasket?

[@MarkSchuster-ym3iy]

Your misunderstood. Your dual speaker connections are for your dual speaker coils. You have a DVC speaker and ther nothing to do with feedback. Instead it has everything to do with speaker wiring. If your speaker is a 4 ohm DVC speaker if you wire the 2 coils together in parallel then the 2 wires going to your amp is 2 ohms.

[@christiangrech5386]

HI , I currently have a Yamaha YST - SW 80 subwoofer which I have accidently damaged the surround foam and it has a small torn bit, if i consider to change the foam do I need to match the foam rubber kit to the making of the subwoofer or any foam rubber kit would work on it? Thanks :)

[@PAKIZFOLYFE786]

nice video. thanks bkraz333 can you please tell me if i can use any repair kit to fix the cuts on my subs ? please let me know. Thanks

[@GRAFHC]

WOW!!! You needed to apply this speaker surround on a third Thursday in a month that starts with the letter A, with an ambient temperature of 75f to 83.2f while wearing corduroy pants and a thin brimmed ball cap otherwise in 17 years time it's going to reproduce a frequency of 14,000 Hz at 72 dB when it should reproduce a frequency of 13,995 Hz at 73 dB!!!!! Lord have mercy on your ears.

[@WeGetWildTV]

YOU are a success my man! Don't worry about those Debbie downers! When you reach a certain level of success and you will ALWAYS have critics which is how you know you've got your name out their. Great work as always. :)

[@Edward681]

Just did my first re-foam. Cerwin Vega D-3's. The trick is to TAKE YOU'RE TIME AND DON'T RUSH! Can you tell me who the background music is from?

[@pansshow1]

does the size of the foam matters?? i want to replace the foam of my subwoofers 12" but there are different diameters

[@millenia007]

hey i have a JL Audio 13W7 and the speaker was sitting at my garage and it got wet inside of the speaker, but with them time it dried itself. You think being that the inside being wet before will affect the speaker if i repair the rubber??

[@therandomchannnel]

Hey, is it the same thing to "re-foam" Cerwin Vega D 3-E? Thanks! :)

[@kukine]

what is that liquid did you use to clean/rub the old foam off the speaker?

[@abekim7]

Ok stupid questions. Does the surrounds on the speaker have any effect on the sound quality? I am trying to repair an old 1991 sony ss-tl1 speaker and the surround foams on the sub woofer are gone. The bass without the surround foam is very lacking. Will it change once I add the surrounds? Or did i ruin the sub woofer when I used it without the surrounds

[@syntaxerorr]

feed back jacks? Are you sure that isn't just a dual voice coil speaker?

[@donalddroga8761]

If you play speakers with a broken surround you will damage the coil. That's why you need to tend to it before more damage is sustained.

[@tormodhag6824]

Would you say a hour of music is bad? Played only to test my amp which i also repaired but only one hour

[@justenhansen]

My cone doesn't have a big flat lip to put glue on like yours does, but the surround I just ordered does. Any recommendations to make that connection work? Should I try to force the flat part of the surround down into the cone?

[@FSXgta]

You need a angle attached style surround

[@thewayidoit8895]

Normally I don't like a lot of background music but then I started thinking "what will this music sound like through a great speaker?"

[@Mattystew17]

@bkraz333 what happens if you do hear scratching? or its rough

[@TheThetruthcanhurt]

Just wondered mate, why did the surround need replacing? Did it tear through excursion? And ignore the haters, if its lasted, well done :).

[@connerplaysrandomgames]

is there anyway i can make the front suspension/surround

[@mark-1234]

What did you use to clean the foam off the cone, and did that come with the kit? I tried a spot with alcohol and found my cone melting.

[@wupme]

+Mark - his cone was polypropylene, which means you can use a wide variety of solvents since pp is quite hard to dissolve. If your speaker cone is any other material, i would suggest using an old style a razor blade. Sharp and really soft.

[@wupme]

+Mark - his cone was polypropylene, which means you can use a wide variety of solvents since pp is quite hard to dissolve. If your speaker cone is any other material, i would suggest using an old style a razor blade. Sharp and really soft.

[@bhanukishore9360]

can we get Jamo 606 8inch foam replacement from Speakerworks.com?

[@wojtek3016]

hi I have poked a hole in my speaker today. its more like tear. its about 5 mm long. The speaker cost me 50 Euro. Can you tell me how to repair it?

[@dataktar4902]

I liked an instant as it tears off all

[@sweetsweatyfeet]

The measured specs are altered only very minor since the flexibility coefficient of most foam surrounds is similar to rubber. Fs, Q and VAS specs are mostly affected by the speaker's spider (the surround itself having less of an effect). Usually rubber surrounds are an improvement in sound particularly in the bass and especially if they are made of butyl.

[@nachosNipples]

don't get why they didn't use rubber in the first place for so many speakers like this. nice vid.

[@fredrikgranberg611]

I really think youu need to center the voice coil. Remove the dust cap and use shims to center it before you replace the surrounding. Then glue a new dust cap. Edit: Just saw your comment about this.

[@FSXgta]

No, that's for a recone. This is a refoam

[@KensHobbies409]

That's exactly My problem & glad I found Your video. However do not like to Audio put in, Scared the shit out of Me.

[@Nordraw]

How do you know if it's centered stuffing it with paper like that.

[@mark-1234]

The dust seal (spider) at the base of the speaker cone, where the voice coil is, keeps the cone centered. Also, gluing the surround to the cone first allows you to center the cone to the basket later.

[@danglesify]

What band do you have playing during the fast forward segments? They sound awesome.

[@robbjhamann]

Shaun McMillan lmfao

[@WildMidwest1]

Excellent tips putting nuts around the periphery, and newspaper under the diaphragm. Like other commentators, I am going to run audio through my speakers in the first few minutes of glue curing. Three 1990s speakers to repair this week: two NHT One (6.5” mids) and a Paradigm 10 inch sub. Thx for the ideas.

[@viperspd2]

i noticed that the cone surround was blocking the mounting holes. the speaker i ordered has half of each mounting hole (four mounting holes) 50% covered by the speaker cone surround. i'm wondering what do to as the bolts can't go through the holes unless i try to cut the surround out of the holes. what did you end up doing to clear the mounting holes?

[@flyurway]

Well yeah, it's just feeble foam, once you've got it glued down it's not going to move, just shove the bolts through or cut it.

[@viperspd2]

Andork Kuomo thanks! I did that and it worked.

[@madjimms]

Its a dual voice coil...

[@tomburdett6639]

👍👍👍😁

[@MarkSchuster-ym3iy]

I love the nuts lol

[@MarkSchuster-ym3iy]

I apologize about the spelling. I'm typing on my iPod screen keyboard. I have tons of callouses on my hands from years of construction and this glass doesn't read a strike sometimes if I hit it with a callous. Again sorry. But you;l get it . Click the link

[@Jeff99]

Forget the unnecessary music. What liquid did you use to clean the old surround off with?

[@moral4668]

name the speaker?

[@danielpenney9077]

Nice job! And... to all the voice coil centering guys....... He put it exactly as the original was glued so alignment (if it was correct from the factory) should be right-on! This isn't rocket science....... OK!? Yes...... I build rockets.

[@vanlendl1]

I have two servo 12 and IM 8300. All need new foams.

[@mitchlalovie2158]

What is the soundtrack in the background? Sounds pretty good..

[@SkuuchiMane808]

Mitch Lalovie porno music

[@mitchlalovie2158]

Well, that is a good one. But I was hoping to get a name of the author or at least the title of the song. Anyway, may the FORCE be with with you. Thank you for the comment 'gamerman'.

[@SkuuchiMane808]

Mitch Lalovie the composers name is Jonny stayhard. The song was featured in a clip featuring Ron Jeremy in a porn called Fur Trap 3

[@simonbarr9476]

Yes Im very familiar with this movie and the music completely reminded me of it!

[@mynameismyname3038]

I got my subwoofer for free and it came with no foam do I really need it? :/

[@brianrobertson1715]

Wow

[@kenestra123]

Sounds like Brian Auger

[@MarkSchuster-ym3iy]

Nice job just wire that DVC speaker right

[@ComandanteJ]

If you change the material of the surround, the sound of the speaker will change, normally to the worse. If it used foam, replace with foam, and if it used rubber, well, use rubber.

[@jonathanwwichtendahl6930]

The only reason not to use foam is because the sub is very active, like sundown where it moves an inch. If you use foam there it will tear. Foam is more mobile and you get a much richer sound. Unfortunately, it degrades much quicker

[@donaldaustin5892]

sounds like emmerson lake and the rest,,,,,,,,,,,,,my gramma could rock a hammond!

[@KirkMcKinney]

Is speaker foam universal?

[@FSXgta]

Not really. Ther is angled and straight attach types, but also the foam roll can be different shape, height. You can measure and find the one that is the closest to the original

[@canadapainter658]

How do you know it is a surround speaker?

[@FSXgta]

Surround here means the foam surround. It has nothing to do with surround speakers

[@waheex]

great video hampered by the overuse of needless music

[@serenamcquaid7379]

nice, weed scale.

[@headfiunderground8458]

whooot??? Is it super glue??? Why????

[@19980Maciek]

You should take of dust cup of and center the coil

[@floydbeard5073]

You don't need to remove the dust cap you can play a 50hrz tone to center up the foam on the basket.

[@flyurway]

@@floydbeard5073 I've never heard of that, can you elaborate a bit more on that? You've got me curious.

[@floydbeard5073]

@@flyurway what you do is play a 50 hz test tone on your radio I use a old 75 radio and use my cellphone with a rca jack to the aux of the radio. What I do is lay the bead of the foam glue and you start the 50 HZ test tone the volume turn it up enough where you hear the woofer hum and you can presser the foam down on the glue and if the foam is off center it will make a slight buzz so you adjust the foam to center there is actually a KZbin of this also I think it was Springfield woofer repair that posted it.

[@flyurway]

@@floydbeard5073 Hi, thanks for the response. I also ran across another video last night where someone showed how he does it just playing music through it - he was playing Journey in this case, lol. His theory is that as long as you're playing "something" through it, current is going through the coil which is all we need. Pretty cool, I've learned something new! Thx again!

[@floydbeard5073]

@@flyurway hey no problem. I had to do it that way on the pair of 10" rock fosgate. There are from the early 80's and I did not want to destroy the paper cone and paper dust cap. Playing the test ton worked perfect.

[@wrotedog]

Dual voice coil sub..

[@watup110875]

you tell them Ben just b/c they say you have to does not mean you have to and besides if they going to say that to you what will they think when I show them scotch tape works well also soon as I figure out how to put video on here I will

[@danm3188]

really, as others have mentioned, you should try and balance audio levels. Just very annoying.

[@sellsubz]

Super glue is not required.

[@yt678901]

But you don't stop the car and start walking if you see a school zone.

[@Ignominius7]

I have started a video, and when music came, I insta liked video. Sick tired of life-hack-music, can't stand it anymore. Can someone tell me what glue is it? Is that like glue for wood, looks like it.

[@1rbdfl]

wtf are you rubbing it with

[@noriSRV]

i used 27years old speaker　someday repair

[@sweetsweatyfeet]

Since the speaker needed repair because of a rotting foam surround---why replace it with another foam that's just going to eventually rot? Install a RUBBER surround---yes they are available---and you will never have to replace it again.

[@darrelldarrell1447]

stay away from simply speakers. They sent me elmers glue to use as a sealant on the foam surrounds they sent me that didn't even fit. And they sent me model airplane glue to use in the process. WTF!

[@bramblehead0]

LOL xD

[@mojosico]

WOW!! you needed to take the dustcap off to make sure the voice coil is centered . you will be fixing that speaker "REAL SOON!!" when you refoam it again make sure to do that when you refoam next month , if it lasts that long. it says in the instructions to remove dustcap and center the coil.. im not hating on you just letting ya know how to "properly" refoam a speaker.

[@FSXgta]

Please use slightly flexible glue. Super glue is too stiff and is no good for this purpose. The foam surround is supposed to strech a little, making it stiff can wear out your surround faster

[@rogerparent9964]

Bad idea. The driver needs to be relaxed.

[@flyurway]

I wondered about that too but I think as long as it's relaxed when he does the final seam (outside edge in this case) it'll work out just as well.

[@lorcro2000]

Great video except for the excessive porno movie music. 😘

[@michaelaltamirano]

nice.. but the music is annoying...

[@Huppson]

I fixed my speaker with tape 💀💀

[@ChristopherMarshall-nv2lz]

You can fix anything with duct tape. What kind of tape did you use?

[@geofffreeburn868]

Take the rotton loud music OFF

[@gweeeppati772]

Anyone who understands this is faulty advice would remove this video. Why not remove it? Asked of the OP. Well somehow, it is making them money? Then, of course, the reason is ... caaChing. Shimming, or running an audio signal through the voice coil during the gluing process is an accepted method for centering the voice coil. 11 Years ago, maybe it wasn't known, but now it is. Any other method is based on luck, not science. OK, this speaker renovation lucked out, granted. But, this hap-hazard method, as presented, is not based on better, now common methods. I'm peeved this showed up in my KZbin suggested files. The internet does not need more bad advice Get up to speed and remove what is aged, now shown to be wrong, advice.