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Speaker Questions

I would have posted this on one of the audio newsgroups, but I didn't want to get into discussions about Monster cables and other such crap.

I have an auto stereo speaker mounted in the driver's door with a broken cone suspension. Its a 6" diameter, full range, 4 ohm, inverted cone unit rated at 20 Watts. I just pulled it out yesterday (which required a significant amount of door disassembly), so I haven't checked with the dealer (Toyota) for their price. I took it around to a couple of the local car audio places and nobody there has ever seen an inverted cone speaker before. Nor do they have a shallow speaker which will fit (about

1.25" deep). In anticipation for an outlandish price from the dealer, I'm doing a little research first.

Does anybody have any good leads on sources for inverted cone or other shallow construction speakers?

There's one other approach I can take. There is a small shop nearby that does speaker repair, re-coning, etc. Back in the old days, some of my guitar playing friends used to have speakers re-coned (a little too frequently for the good of their hearing IMHO) and this was an economical alternative to buying new speakers. But these were several hundred dollars apiece (per 'driver', not the entire enclosure) back in the 1980s. I'm guessing that my speaker is equivalent to something on the order of $50 to $100 a pair in a standard configuration (deep cone). What sorts of experience do you folks have with speaker reconditioning?

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Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
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At some point it becomes necessary to behead all the architects and
begin construction. -- Abi-Bar-Shim (Project Mgr. - Great Pyramid)
Reply to
Paul Hovnanian P.E.
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It is sometimes possible to find OEM car parts online for much cheaper than what the dealers charge over the counter. Check on newsgroups for your car model, to try to find online parts dealers.

Reply to
Walter Harley

I've had only a few speakers rebuilt, but each was well done. In the Portland, Or area, I believe the company is Jamac. If the speaker was an option by the car manufacturer, you might find one at an auto part-out yard.

Don

Reply to
Don Bowey

I had a similar problem with a rear passenger door speaker in a '96 vehicle -- another of those "special design" deals.

eBay and junkyards to the rescue! Found a *set* of speakers on eBay for less than an out-of-state junkyard wanted for one.

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Namaste--
Reply to
artie

[snip]

Replace the speakers usually.

I put a photo of it on a.b.s.e as 'Inverted Cone Speaker'.

As someone suggested in another post, I don't think mounting a standard speaker backwards will work. The design of this unit makes it project approximately equal distances from the mounting flange.

Out of all the car audio people I spoke to, only one had ever seen one of these. Most just stared at it and said, "What the h*ll is that?" Everyone else suggested installing a standard depth speaker with a trim kit. Estimated labor: a few hundred dollars plus the new (expensive) speakers. And probably the mandatory set of Monster cables, blue LEDs, etc. No thanks, I'd rather keep it looking stock.

--
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
Optimist:  "The glass is half-full."
Pessimist: "The glass is half-empty."
Engineer:  "The glass is twice as big as it needs to be."
Reply to
Paul Hovnanian P.E.

Have you considered a standard speaker, mounted backwards?

Reply to
Ian Stirling

I've had the suspension replaced on speakers before.

Foam suspensions 'rot' you see, so replacement is quite common.

I can't even imagine what this 'inverted cone' looks like. I doubt you'll find a second source.

Graham

Reply to
Pooh Bear

And how is this a design question?

YOu are better off asking in one of the audio newsgroups, and the ones I look at barely mention monster cables.

Micahel

Reply to
Michael Black

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has good info on what will fit and what will not. I never purchased from them but I use them as a guide.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

Google turned up a 33mm thick speaker.

Reply to
Sjouke Burry

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