My father has a pair of old Realistic Mach One speakers. Apparently the foam surrounds on the woofers are known for failing, which is the case here. I know you can get replacement kits, but is there much work/risk in the replacement procedure?

Thanks.

i dont believe its a very complicated or risky procedure as long as you have good instructions and patience. basically a matter or removing whats left of the old foam and gluing on the new stuff.

I too have a pair of Snell Acoustics that need the surrounds replaced. I just haven't had the courage to order the kit. I'd hate to mess it up and damage the speakers.

I ordered a kit for my Advent Legacy speakers that came with a how-to video which was helpful. I'm not handy with this sort of thing so the video was great.

As far as the actual repair goes, it wasn't hard at all. The second speaker turned out much nicer than the first one did because I guess I got better at it. The kits usually come with pretty detailed instructions and the proceedure to get the new foam installed is fairly simple. You don't have to be an expert at all.

I think it's worth the money to get the kit, though, unless you just want to throw the speakers away. Why not take a chance?

Let us know how it turns out. Good luck.
-kevin

In my case I absolutely don't want to throw them away. They cost me $500 over 10 years ago! They're still sweet sounding speakers. I just can't turn them up at all anymore because of the dry rotted foam.

Is there any chance I could ruin the speakers if I completely botch the job? If so, I'll find someone else and pay them to do it. If not, I'll give it a shot myself. If I screw it up, I'll be out the cost of the kit, but at least I'll still be able to get a pro do it right.

My father feels the same way. It would be a shame to screw them up. I think I'll ask some of the electronics shops around town if they can do this kind of job.

I was worried about botching the repair job, too, but if you've got even an ounce of ability for home repair (which I don't) you should be fine. It's really not too difficult to do. The only issue that comes to my mind about it is that my speakers were on the cheap side to begin with, so I didn't have to worry about screwing up a more expensive set.

First off, make sure that you find the correct foam for the surrounds. Usually, the places selling the packages tell you which ones work with what speakers so you should be okay there. The major concern about the job is to be sure to not bend the metal piece that moves back and forth in the speaker (the one that the woofer cap goes over. I can't remember what it's officially called). In my kit, they supplied me with shimms to insert between the moving parts to make sure that they don't move during the repair. I would assume that all kits come with these.

Any speaker repair shop can easily handle this sort of fix, and I doubt it'll cost you an arm and a leg. I would assume it'd be under $100. Probably more like $50 for both speakers, but I could be way off so check into a local shop first for pricing on the job. If you're still worried about ruining the speakers, you may want to not bother with the repair yourself and just take them in. It's a pretty routine repair for these guys and it may be worth the money in the long run to have them do it, instead.

Hope this helps you both.

-Kev

You might want to contact Snell and see if they offer replacement drivers.

I had problems with my Axiom AX3's, and they sent me a complete set of new drivers. They are under the lifetime warranty issued by Axiom for the lineup.

Sorry to hijack the thread with "Axiom service is excellent", but I called about the woofers, and was issued the entire driver array.

I'll check with them, but I HIGHLY doubt they'll do anything for me.

They may not cover them under a warranty, but you may be able to purchase a set.

That would put you at ease in terms of destroying your speakers.

Hi Spiff,

The problem with foam-surround repair is that the compliance of the repaired surround may be quite different from the original foam, so the performance of the driver may also be quite different from spec.

I don't know anyone at Snell anymore, but they may still have stock or replacement drivers that meet the original spec. Given the vintage of your Snells, I'm fairly certain that Kevin Voecks designed them (he now heads up Revel), so he might be a help. I'll see if I can dig up Kevin's email address and I'll send you a PM with it. He's an old friend, so you could use my name.

Regards,