I have a nephew that is a bit of a monster and during a party this past weekend he decided to push in the center of all the speakers on my M80's. Has anyone ever had this happen? I need a way to fix this without ruining the speakers. I was thinking a shop vac may be strong enough to pull them back out, but I will freak out if it does not work as planned. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Scott...

Others have had success with vacs... but I'd start with a straight household one first....

I don't think it effects your sound quality at all to leave it dented in.

I would want to fix it too though!

Tape also sometimes works although I dont know how well it would adhere to the material these dustcaps are made of.

If you use the vac, I'd put the hose up to the cap then turn on the vacuume, then turn it off and remove after the motor stops to prevent any damage to the drivers.

If i saw some little kid pushed in every single dust cap on my speakers... I would probably just about loose it.

Yeah, I'd have to pillsbury the little doughboy, see how he likes his own medicine.

They are dust covers in the center, I have Pioneer HPM 100's that are now 33 years old. My wife was babysitting about 25 years ago when a little boy pushed the center in on a tweeter. Now 25 years later they still sound great, I go back and forth between rooms Sunroom with Sansui 9090 and Pioneer HPM100's and Living room Denon 4308 Axiom m60 VP150 3-QS8's and Klipsch RW10 sub. Both rooms sound excellent, main difference is the suround staging of the Axioms. The pushed in center has no apparent effect on the sound quality.

lessons learned:

Keep on the grills!


Speaking of monsters- It looks like Monster cable is seeking money for trademark infringment again:

http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/monster-cable

Thanks for everyone's input. I will try the vacuum tonight. I think I will remedy the problem by not allowing him in my house any more, I like having the grills off too much. When I saw the damage I almost fell off of the couch. I would bring my speakers to bed with me at night if they weren't so damn heavy.

I will report back on whether or not the vacuum worked.

Thanks again, Scott...

Hey Scott,

This is a common scenario that happens when little tikes are running around the house. Mike and I put together this quick little video that should do the trick. Enjoy!



Note: No speakers were harmed in the making of this film.

You guys rule!

That was a pretty bonus video. I like that new feature. Also, very good to know that there is a solution if (god forbid) this ever happened to me.

Sorry to hear your tale of woe. let us know if you get it sorted out.

Send the nephews parents/guardians a copy of the receipts for your speakers...hopefully they can try to emphasize respect for other peoples things. If that doesn't work get one of those fencelss dog collars for when he comes over

And my wife wonders why I ask her not to go in our bassment for playdates...there's plenty of room upstairs, outside or at the park.

wow, that looked easy!

That was a great instructional video

The music track makes the video.

I tried the tape and it worked perfectly. Thanks again!

cool! Great vid!

Great Video!!!

You should make one where you show how to use a fine steel mesh for speaker grilles and electrify them to shock would be speaker denters.

This is why I think AXIOM needs to produce there metal mesh grills like the outdoor speakers have. I had asked this a while ago and they said they were looking into/working on it. I think it would be a killer option becasue you can see the spekers but they are protected too. I have a 2yr old girl that even if the cloth grills were on she still could hit a dustcap.

PLEASE AXIOM DO THIS FOR YOUR LINEUP!!! I would be first in line!

Using a lower power home vacuum will also pop the dust caps back out, especially the ones that have been pushed in for a long time. The tape works better if you fix the problem right away.

Hey, that is a pretty slick video.

But, has anyone tried the little suction cups that you use to hang things, like a radar detector, from a glass window??

I doubt they'd attach as they need a smooth airtight surface to generate suction. Maybe if you put two-sided tape inside the cups before pressing them on... but at that point you just as well use the tape.

Well, I had to try this tonight--both of my lower midwoofers were poked in. The right speaker came out after a few tries, but no luck with the left one yet. The tape's just not sticking.

Anyone tried this with a Dyson? I don't have a low power vacuum cleaner, other than a really crummy dustbuster...

Other types of tape? We've tried painters, masking, and duct.

Possibly applying some heat, say from a hair dryer, should cause the cone to expand and pop out. I wouldn't think the driver would mind a little heat on it, never tried it myself though.

For tape I would try some house wrap tape, ie. Tyvek tape(red), this is some very sticky tape.

The vacuum worked fine--the cap still has a few bumps in it, but so does the tape one. I suspect I'll have to replace those drivers at some point, but they'll do fine for now.