Music has become a part of life. Every major and even minor event of life is celebrated with music. We even listen to music while on the road and use it as a form of self-expression. So what do you do if you are a huge fan of EDM or hip hop? Most speakers can’t offer you the excellent accuracy and impact of a low Bass.
For this purpose, when setting up your audio system, you should opt for subwoofers. These are speakers built to deliver a low frequency, up to 20-200Hz, which other speakers cannot do. You can hear a good quality of sound from different speakers, but subwoofers make you FEEL the sound.
How to Recone a Subwoofer
Subwoofers are great for people that enjoy listening to hip hop and EDM. In addition to that, subwoofers are perfect for your home theater, if you love watching action movies. This is because it gives the action scene an added pzazz that standard speakers are unable to deliver.
Although these speakers are generally steadily built, they can wear and make your sound experience underwhelming. But you don’t have to worry as you can recone them yourself in the comfort of your home. You must be wondering what recone is, right?
What is Recone?
Reconing a speaker is the process in which you remove the moving part of the speaker. These moving parts include the voice coil, surrounds, spider, cone, etc. It is better to leave it to the pros, but you can easily do it yourself. Many reconing kits are available in the market. You can buy those kits and start fixing your speakers by yourself. Recooning also makes your speakers sound like new by replacing the defective parts with better ones.
Recone Kit
Although it is recommended to have your speakers professionally reconed, you can always do it yourself. There are many kits available that you can buy. Some speaker companies also offer recone kits. Find the recone kit for your speakers and get started. Most reconing kits constitute of the following items:
- 1 Voice coil
- 1 Spider (some might have 2)
- 1 Cone
- 1 Surround
- Former
- 2 Tinsel leads/ wires
- 1 Dust cap
- 1 Gasket
- Centering Shims
- An Instruction manual
This makes it easy for you to recone your speakers because you don’t have to worry about buying all these parts separately. But you must make sure to purchase the recone kit of your speaker’s model. If you cannot find one for your speakers, you should give it for repair instead of doing it yourself.
Reconing your subwoofers might seem to be an arduous task, but you can easily do it at home. All you need to do is follow certain steps, and your speakers will be good as new for minimum time and money. The first thing you need to do is set up a station with your recone kit and some tools.
Tools for Reconing
- Soldering iron and fresh solder
- Drill with Phillips bit
- Utility knife or blade
- Acetone
- Clean cloth
- Sandpaper
- Epoxy adhesive
- Allen wrench
Step 1
The first step to reconing your subwoofers is to unhook the power connection. After doing so, get them out of the cabinet using an Allen wrench. Set up your subwoofers on your station and get ready to disassemble them. But before you disassemble the speakers, remove the dust and dirt from them.
After doing so, remove the gasket from the speakers. Pry them off. You can use a hammer or a chisel, or you can simply do it with your bare hands. Moving forward, use the utility knife or blade to cut around the spider’s outer rim and remove that as well. The spider should come off without any issue.
After removing the spider, use a soldering iron to remove the old tinsel leads. Once that is removed, remove the dust cap as well. When you’re doing the different parts’ disassembly, make sure nothing falls down in the gap. The coil is essential as that’s where the new coil will sit. To keep it safe, you can simply tape it off.
Step 2
Once you are done with taking apart the different parts, thoroughly clean the insides. Spray some acetone on a clean cloth and get rid of all or any dirt and dust. Use the drill bit or sandpaper to clean off the factory adhesive from the surfaces meticulously. This is necessary as the new adhesive will not stick to a rough or dirty surface.
Step 3
Now that you have set up the station and cleaned the speakers properly, you can start with the assembly. To assemble or recone, first, remove the tape from the voice coil that you applied for protection. After that, place the cone in the gap and check the fit. Do this gently and try not to damage it.
Make sure that your speakers are centered. If they’re not centered, they won’t function properly. That’s why the shims are essential, and they keep your speakers centered. Thus, place the shims in the air gap to center speakers and check their fit. Once you are sure that the cone will fit snugly, remove it and apply adhesive.
You can apply adhesive to the spider rim first and later apply it on the outer rim of the surround. It is preferred to do it together as it’s easier to fit then. After you have applied the adhesive, glue the spider firmly in place by applying slight pressure. Make sure to push along the side to secure it properly.
After gluing the spider, glue the surroundings and apply pressure. You can use clamps, but you can simply use clothing pins if you don’t have any. Take the shims off carefully and put adhesive where you want your dust cap to go. After placing the adhesive, gently push down the dust cap. If there are two dust caps, then repeat this process for the second one as well.
Step 4
After you have secured the spider and the top cone, solder the tinsel leads. Simply use a soldering iron and solder the wires carefully, so you don’t burn yourself. If you see any brown coloration, that’s is fine as it will wipe right off. After soldering, secure the terminals, and you should be good to go.
In Conclusion
Subwoofers are an amazing extension to your basic sound system set-up. They give a fantastic audio experience by making you FEEL the music and sound. This makes them ideal for you if you’re a huge fan of hip hop, EDM, or action movies. Because they make you experience the music and movie like the creators wanted you to experience, you aren’t left waiting for more.
Nonetheless, nothing lasts forever, and with time your subwoofer speakers will wear out. But you don’t have to worry as you can easily get that exceptional feel from your subwoofer by reckoning them at home. It might seem like a daunting task, but you can do it like a pro yourself by following the steps mentioned above.
