quick couple of questions

[fyremarble]

Hello from your friendly female audiophile. How is everybody doing? I'm doing a research paper on why bose sucks. I have a couple of quck questions. I would like to know A)When its trated paper for woofers, what do they treat it with? And similarly, B)When its treated foam for surrounds, what is it treated with. I know there are products one can buy to treat the fom but i would like to know what they use commercially. I want to be as specific as possible. I cant say "some companies treat their foam with something to make it a little more durable." I'm sure both the teacher and i would like to know what the "something" is. If someone could help me i'd be extremely grateful. Thank you in advance.

[Mark Hardy]

Well, the problem is that most if not all makers of loudspeakers keep their cone treatments as a trade secret. Popular ones in the DIY world include Dammar (sometimes spelled Damar) varnish, really cheap hairspray (which uses some sort of shellac or varnish as the 'holding agent'), and a very expensive material called "C37". The latter (if not the former) is probably quite similar to the varnishes used on the finish for violins and similar instruments. The secret to the sound of a Stradivarius violin was (largely) in the finish.

Do a google search for something like "speaker driver dammar varnish" and see what turns up. A good source (although somewhat hard to browse) is James Melhuish's Full Range Driver website www.fullranger.com or www.melhuish.org/audio

I don't know anything about the coatings used on foam surrounds. I think the major purpose is to prolong the lifespan of the foam, not to alter the mechanical/acoustic properties of the surround.

[tommyboy]

Fyremarble,

go to dogpile.com, and type in "why Bose sucks". You'll be surprised what pops up. Lots of different reviews, and forums on the subject.