La Scala (or any) Woofer Gasket Material

[ooteedee]

I'm building some La Scala's. The only question I have is this:

Exactly how does the 15" woofer mount to the motorboard?

Is there a wooden gasket? Some other material?

Or does it mount directly onto the motorboard?

I would expect there to be some clearance between the woofer and the motorboard.

Thanks.

[Frzninvt]

There is no gasket, the only gasket there is on the K-33E woofer which provides it the necessary clearance to operate correctly. The cardboard material surrounding the woofer is about 1/2" tall hope that helps you.

[ooteedee]

So.......forgive me for not understanding your post.......does is have a gasket or not?

You say it doesn't.

But then you say the K-33E does have a gasket.

[Frzninvt]

What is so hard to understand? There is NO gasket in the bass bin! The gasket that is on the K-33E woofer is all that is needed and used!

The woofer is attached to the inside of the cabinet with machine screws that tighten into threaded inserts.

[ooteedee]

Ok then. I understand.

Although.......hopefully you're not mad or upset with any further discussion about this....but......you said, again, "There is NO gasket in the bass bin! The gasket that is on the K-33E woofer is all that is needed and used!"

Which COULD be interpreted as:

There is no gasket. (Meaning: No Gasket)

But the gasket that's used is X. (Meaning: There actually is a gasket)

Which means, technically....THERE IS A GASKET IN THE BASS BIN!

It just happens to be a part of the woofer.

[colterphoto1]

I use a additional gasket make of goats hair and sheeps bladder, it keep my LaScalas nice and slimey.

[ooteedee]

Of course you mean "La Scaly"...right?

[D-MAN]

The woofer comes with its own built-in gasket, so no extra work is necessary.

DM

[ooteedee]

Cool. Thanks for the info.

[WMcD]

It seems there may be an issue when mounting a driver up against the flat motorboard. With excursion, the diaphragm or the pleated surround can bump up against the motor board.

A correspondent, some years ago, pointed this out to me and was quite adamant that ordinary drivers can't be used without some extra cut out in the motor board or spacer, etc.

I took a look at my situation using various non Klipsch woofers. Echh, maybe that is so. So I included an extra spacer . . . just in case. Just another hurdle in bass loaded horns. I'd wake up in the middle of the night worrying if I didn't take the precaution.

I looked at a K-33 and indeed the built in gasket seems thicker than most, perhaps for this very reason.

BTW, does anyone know where to buy replacement gaskets for 15 inch woofers. I've move so many around and sealed them that I've messed up the fiber.

Best,

Gil

[ooteedee]

I have decided to play it safe. I will construct, either: A plywood 8 sided cutout plate or buy an aftermarket gasket similar to this one:

http://www.speakerrepair.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Gasket-Solid&Category_Code=

(That link may just take you to the home page. If so, search for gasket.)

My aftermarket woofer does not have a thick spacer.

[Good2BHome]

----------------

.......

BTW, does anyone know where to buy replacement gaskets for 15 inch woofers. I've move so many around and sealed them that I've messed up the fiber.

Best,

Gil

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Gil,

Please tell me all about "sealed them" (maybe to included, but not limited to: why, what Klipsch speaker(s), with what sealer, etc.)

Thanks,

Mike

[johnnyp]

Gil,

You can also find speaker gaskets here:

http://www.isesurplus.com/740.htm

No pics but pretty good descriptions (15's near the bottom). I have not done business with this company. It looks like they do have a minimum order.

I think PWK said the volume of air between the diaphragm and the slot was critical. As one who has tried spacers on the motor board, keep the spacer/gasket as small as possible; just thick enough to prevent collisions.

[WMcD]

What happened was that I built the K-Horns and used EVM-15L's. Bruce Edgar was/is a fan of low Q drivers of this family.

One issue was that the gasket is rather thin (radially) at the mounting holes. I was worried about a leak. So I put a thin coat of RTV on the front face before screwing them in.

Later I suspected that something closer to a K-33 would work better. No conclusions on that. I used some Pyramids.

When I took out the EVMs, the RTV glue was too good an adhesive despite my best efforts to slide a razor blade in to break the adhesion. So there was some small damage to the front of the gasket.

Gil

[JohnA]

Here is what Peavey does. The FH1 is quite similar to a La Scala. If you are building a pair, include the side wall to "V" braces Peavey uses.

The groove is not needed if you use a K-33 woofer, the paperboard spacer on the K-33 is unusually tall to prevent contact.

[Dylanl]

A while back I posted that I had a 2 to 3db loss from 1 speaker to another on my Khorns. I suspected the woofers were the problem, so I replaced them. Problem went away so, fixed right, but why? Thinking the woofers were the problem I sent the square magnet K33s to Bob Crites to be tested. His tests showed that both woofers were working properly. What was the problem then? I could not figure it out. Then, I remembered seeing a small gap between the woofer and mounting board on one of my speakers. The speaker with the -2db loss. Never thought much of it at the time. When installing the new K33s I noticed they had a much thicker gasket. I also used longer lag screws to cinch the woofer down to the mounting board there was now no gap. Once everything was back together problem was gone. I was thinking that something recessed would be good or even putting a silicone bead around the exterior of the K33 to eliminate leaks.