Klipsch RF-3 w/ crease in woofers

[Hamilton]

I'm looking at a used pair of RF-3's that have a good price but have a crease in one of the woofers on each speaker. How much does that look to alter the speakers audio quality, is this strictly a cosmetic thing maybe? Thanks for any input!

[Chris A]

If the creases are on the dust caps, then the effects are cosmetic only - and light application of "household cement" will plug any holes there.

If the crease is on the cone itself, the questions are:

1) "how big are the creases"

2) "where are they located on the cones"

3) "which orientation are the crease directions - mostly radial or circumferential?"

The problem is cone rigidity (i.e., like a piston) and circumferential creases are not desirable. However, unless you are driving them pretty hard, you may never hear the difference.

If you can push on the cone and hear any noises such as scraping, you've got a problem. Creases tend to distort the basic shape of the cone, which can misalign the voice coil within the magnet aperture, thus causing the scraping sound. That will require reconing or replacement.

If the creases are in the surround suspension around the edge of the piston cone, then check for scraping noises.

Chris

[Hamilton]

The crease goes from left to right across the cone on 1 of each of speakers 2 woofers. If they are not making the scratching noise when pressed, how much does reconning cost, where would one get that done and can they use the same copper conning material to do so (aesthetically matching the other 2 of course! )

Thanks for your time and input!

Brad

[Guest davidness]

I would also add that creases in the copper cones (oh, I'm sorry... "Cerametallic" cones) can sometimes be reduced or nearly eliminated by the careful rubbing with your warm fingers. Remove the speaker driver so you can apply finger preasure to both sides of the crease, and try to work them out.

[Rivernuggets]

One option is to contact Klipsch about purchasing a replacement. About a year ago I purchased an RF-3 woofer direct from Klipsch. I think it was around $65-70. They may still have some available.

[michael hurd]

If you put any amount of power into the speaker, it will fail from flexing. Buy another woofer from Klipsch ( 1-800-KLIPSCH ) and swap it out, you only need a T-20 screwdriver. IIRC around $ 50-60 bucks or so.

Push it hard in it's current creased state and it might look more like this:

[Guest davidness]

Push it hard in it's current creased state and it might look more like this:

Wait! I think I can rub that one out!