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Rubber vs Foam...
#95317 05/20/05 09:26 PM
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freesey Offline OP
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No this isnt a kinky question...
Is there a major reason why some companies still use foam surrounds around the driver rather than change ro rubber? What are the advantages or disadavantages between the two? I know the last set of home made boomers I made had foam around the cones (25 watt 8 inchers) and i blew the cone right out of the basket. It was funny. But...any thoughts?


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Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95318 05/20/05 10:48 PM
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Most likely it's a cost factor. Foam is cheap.

Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95319 05/20/05 11:04 PM
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My thoughts exactly. Of course, there may be some purists out there who swear by foam. Who knows...


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Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95320 05/20/05 11:53 PM
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Rubber is much more durable; foam will deteriorate. This may be especially true in humid climates. Many years ago I owned a cheap pair of speakers with foam surrounds. The surrounds deteriorated in about ten years time. I own a pair of speakers with rubber surrounds that are about 16 years old, and I've had no problems with those.

Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95321 05/21/05 12:56 AM
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A friend of mine has a pair of old speakers with nearly completely missing foam surrounds. They still sound pretty good though. Is there an acoustical reason for them?


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Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95322 05/23/05 08:20 PM
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They're not supposed to add any sound, if that's what you mean, but they help the speaker cone maintain linear excursion (i.e. prevent any side-to-side motion which would color the sound).

Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95323 05/23/05 08:52 PM
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axiomite
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I guess sealing the gap between cone and frame is also a good thing, particularly for air suspension speakers where the compressed air in the cabinet is used to control cone excursion at resonance rather than "back pressure" from a tuned port.


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Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95324 05/23/05 09:01 PM
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I had 80's vintage Large Advents until last year. The foam disinigrated after the first ten years. I bought new woofers. Last year the foam started to separate from the cones so I got out the rubber cement and fixed them...then dumped them and bought Athena AS-F2s.

Last edited by Twebbz; 05/23/05 09:02 PM.

Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95325 05/30/05 01:37 AM
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freesey Offline OP
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thanks for the replies, I was just always wondering why :0


1xAxiom ax 1.2 2xPolk Audio R30 2xMordaunt-Short 3.0 H/K AVR 225 Paradigm PDR-10 Sub HTR MX-500
Re: Rubber vs Foam...
#95326 05/31/05 04:05 AM
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freesey Offline OP
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how do you like the F2s? I bought a pair of AS -B2's at futureshop on boxing day for 200$, they arent as great as all the people on epinions.com and audioreview.com say but they are very good for the price. Some people compared them to mission and tannoy - which I dont understand at ALL (I also disagree lol)


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