This page under reconstruction - pardon the inconvenience.

Repair Services

click to view larger   Reconing This is the process of removing all the moving parts of a speaker driver and replacing them with new parts. The parts are called a speaker recone kit. A kit consists of a cone, spider, voice-coil, lead wires, dust cap and gasket. A full recone is usually necessary when: the suspensions (surround, spider) are collapsed (in a down or negative position); the voice-coil is rubbing (there are numerous varieties of this phenomenon e.g. the voice coil is bottomed, overheated or blown); or, the spider or cone is ripped and not available separately. Original recone parts are often available and, when not, replacement or after-market parts are usually available. We take great care to match the individual parts as closely as possible to the original. click to view larger   Surround Replacement This is a repair usually used for hi-fi drivers as they are the most common speakers that use foam material for the outer cone suspension. The foam surround has a usual life expectancy of 8 - 14 years depending on climate, usage and speaker placement. Direct sunlight (ultra violet rays) as well as a very dry or humid climate will speed up the deterioration process. Being near salt water will also have an effect on the speaker surround life. At Fab Audio, we carefully select the surround type to match the original part. Mass and compliance are very important. We pay close attention to these details when restoring a speaker. click to view larger   Cone Replacement A cone can only be replaced if there are no other damaged or worn parts. Cone replacements are usually performed on a speaker that has been accidentally ripped (a flying shoe or thrown beer bottle?). This repair type depends on the availability of the cone. Otherwise a complete recone kit would have to be installed. click to view larger   Voice Coil Replacement This type of repair is normally performed on vintage and older speakers where recone kits are no longer available. The moving parts are extracted without damage and the voice-coil is matched and replaced. When matching a voice-coil, the following need to be considered: material – phospher-bronze, aluminum, paper, Kapton – diameter and height of the former, height of winding, wire material – aluminum, copper, flat or round, number of layers – and impedance. The voice-coil replacement process is time consuming, requires skill and is expensive. However, if properly working vintage speakers are important to you, then voice-coil replacement is a good decision. click to view larger   Spider Replacement This repair is performed when the spider only has a tear (usually circular around coil). The cone kit is carefully removed without damage and a new spider is installed. Most often this repair is performed on vintage and occasionally on pro speakers. click to view larger   Dust Cap and Lead Wire Replacement Dust Caps The dust cap keeps dirt/dust from getting into the voice-coil gap. Also, the dust cap can affect the sound of the speaker. For example, an aluminum dust cap attached to the voice-coil former will add a substantial amount of high frequency. We closely match the size and material (aluminum, paper, felt, cloth, plastic, rubber etc.) of the replacement dust cap to the original. Lead Wires When a speaker does not work or measure on a multi meter, but all parts seem good and are moving freely, the speaker may only need lead wire replacements and not a full recone. When you take your speakers to a repair shop do not allow them to take a knife to your speaker (cut it open) before proper testing has been completed. Otherwise, you will be paying for a whole recone when the less expensive repair of lead wire replacement was all that was needed. However, it is possible, through arcing, that the voice-coil is damaged below the spider where the winding separates from the coil and runs up the former. In this case a full recone may be necessary. click to view larger   Diaphragm Repair and Replacement Sometimes a compression driver diaphragm or dome tweeter diaphragm can be repaired if the wire on the coil is not burnt or has not come unwound. This repair, when possible, can save a lot of money, especially for compression diaphragms. click to view larger   Cross-over Work When all speakers in a cabinet are functioning properly when hooked up individually, but not working when hooked up through the terminals, there is usually a cross-over or terminal problem. Cross-overs are mainly made up of resistors, capacitors, inductors, L-pads, wiring and sometimes circuit boards. We have all these parts on-hand and, because we also have many years of design experience, can repair most cross-over problems. click to view larger   Speaker Replacement Parts For one reason or another, a speaker repair may not be possible. In this case, replacing the entire speaker part would be the only alternative. We can provide an original (or a very close match) replacement speaker (sub, woofer, mid or tweeter).

copyright © 2009 fab audio. All rights Reserved. Legal home  :  our services  :  special buys  :  links  :  contact us made by iNTERAVENUE