Any tips for shipping large speakers?

[MichaelShaffer]

I need to ship some KG4's but don't have the original boxes. How do I pack them without them getting messed up? BTW here's some pics

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5788168833#ebayphotohosting

I hate to sell them but they're probably better off in somebody else's hands anyways. My cat would destroy them.. I got them on craigslist for $50

[jerohm]

minimally, unscrew the bases from the speakers. They are structurely much weaker than the cabinets, and tend to get damaged. My rule of thumb is if you aren't using a pallet, any box that ONE person can not comforatably handle (weight and/or size), is too big to ship (unless you like to live risky). Good Luck

[Daddy Dee]

Speakers are hard to ship without their original cartons. You can pretty much replicate the protective value of original boxes by cutting and stacking pieces from one inch thick sheets of styro insulation. Three inches thickness all the way around is a minimum to survive the UPS or FedEx gorillas. They need to be packed to survive a five foot drop on the corners.

[meuge]

Wrap the entire speaker in bubble wrap for surface protection, then add 2 inches of styrofoam on each side. For the outer layer I like to use about 2 inches of compacted shipping peanuts.

You might want to double box them, and use the peanuts between the two boxes, but the package might get too large to handle.

[greg928gts]

I've packed and shipped a lot of large speakers. A pair of La Scalas a few months ago, and a single Belle a year ago.

UPS is set up to handle larger packages than Fedex.

I wrapped each speaker in plastic, then made custom boxes from flat stock cardboard for the inner box. Then I made another set of custom boxes for the outer box, accounting for a 2" layer of polystyrene all around and a 1/2" layer of plywood on the bottom. Polystyrene is a denser foam than the open-cell white foam board.

Making the boxes is a little tricky. I usually go searching for large appliance boxes. Washer and Dryer boxes were nearly perfect for La Scalas. Make sure they are bigger than needed, it's easier to cut them down to size than to add. I break down the boxes and recut them to the correct size, being very careful to measure twice and cut once. I use contact cement to glue the overlapping seam back together. I add about a 1/4" to all 3 interior dimensions. It helps to have a shop with a large table for this.

I have not had one damaged yet. But anything is possible, so be sure to insure it for 125% of what you think the value is.

You actually have to be careful shipping speakers in their original boxes. Those boxes were meant for shipping via common carrier trucks or a company's own distribution network. Shipping via UPS is a lot different. The packages will be subjected to a lot more abuse. The only speaker I sent out that was damaged was one that I didn't add any packing to the original box. That was a large Cambridge Soundworks tower speaker. What a crappy speaker that was.

Greg

[WMcD]

I observe that the factory packing of most items, including big speakers, rely upon the styrofoam buns. I've not experienced any damage when they, i.e. orginal boxes and buns, are used.

OTOH, a sea of styrofoam peanuts in never enough. The speaker settles to the bottom and a corner inevitably gets crushed.

If I was doing it, I'd get some commercial pink insulation board from HD and build up home made buns. It is about 1 inch thick and I'd use two layers.

Maybe a tray type structure covering the top and bottom would be the way to go. That is the way buns are usually formed.

Best,

Gil

[tuned4life]

hello, i went through the speaker packing school of hard knocks (pun intended). i purchased about 10 pairs of heavy speakers on ebay. what i learned from other peoples mistakes has served me well. any thing with weight and sharp corners will cut through bubble wrap like a knife through butter. i hardly ever use caps but for this i will ( DO NOT USE BUBBLE WRAP PERIOD). the second thing i learned is that its nearly impossable to find a box the right size so you have to make your own. refrigorator, stove, furnature boxes. these boxes are large enough that you can cut pieces large enough that you can get a front and side piece out of each piece. use a straight 2x4 to make your folds. this way you only have 2 side seems instead of 4. use 1 inch fiber reinforced tape for seems. measure speakers and custum build each card board container that it allows for 3 1/2 inches on all 6 sides for packing material. you will only be using 3 inch thickness material. the extra 1/2 inch is so pieces will slide in easier. go to the lumber yard and by 24 inch by 8 foot sheets of 1 inch thick soft white bead styrofoam board. it also comes in 2 inch thickness. measure bottom and top pieces that side and front pieces sit on them. measure the front grill and back panel pieces that they are 6 inches wider than front of speaker (3 inch extention each side). cut side pieces to exact size of speaker sides. this way the side pieces serve to support front and back pieces from being pushed in. you need 3 inches. 2 inches isnt enough, 3 inch thickness on all sides is 100% gaureenteed to save speaker from impact. the styrofoam neads to be soft bead type so that when impact happens (and it will happen) that speaker cuts into styrofoam and has room to decelerate. personally, i use 1 inch thickness for styrofoam closest to speaker and then 2 inch thickness between box and 1 inch thick piece. this technique is expensive and labor intensive but fool proof. do not use fedex, or dhl, only UPS. if the speakers get lost or stolen they will pay the claim for the full amount. and last but not least. speakers that weigh less than 70 lbs are more likely to get picked up than packages over 70 lbs. over 70 lbs get special sticker and most ups guys will use hand truck rather than lift. i am considering packing a pair of cornwall's using this technique. i dont think 1 person would even attempt to lift them. if buyer has a problem with cost of packing and shipping, find another buyer. hope this helps.

[Klipschfoot]

I agree on the 2" of pink styrofoam insulation from HD. Add one more inch on the bottom since our friends who ship sometimes are caught off guard by the weight and may elect to drop them suckerz instead of using their legs to rest them on the ground. Generally, they don't care about what is inside. If you did not pack well, it ain't their bloomin' fault. I'd probably feel the same way if I was in their shoes. You can put a label on the outside saying ELECTRONICS - FRAGILE. That may help.

[blindman]

This is kinda off-topic, but I thought those of you contributing to this topic might find it interesting.

It pertains to how warehousemen treat shipping cartons.

One summer when I was in high school, I worked at a Montgomery Ward warehouse. It was the main distribution center for a 20 county area and received deliveries by truck and railroad.

Periodically we would receive a train car loaded with refrigerators. The first time I opened the rail car door, I was dumb founded. There were refrigerators packed floor to ceiling. Actually the ones near the ceiling were laying on their sides. The load had shifted during transport, and I could not figure out any way to get the first refrigerator out of the boxcar, it was like a big puzzle to me.

About then one of the older guys came along on a fork lift. He raised the fork lift tines to the level of one of the refrigerators on the top layer, and just rammed them smack through the side of the carton. It was clear that he had also punched two huge holes right through the refrigerator inside the carton. He noticed my look of amazement as he explained, "that was the 's-a-c-r-i-f-i-c-i-a-l" refrigerator"! He went on to explain that anytime he couldn't easily remove a load from a truck or boxcar, some of the items would just have to "become damaged in transit"!!!

One day I also pointed out that we were not paying attention to the arrows that were printed on the side of the cartons that stated, "THIS SIDE UP". I was told that those instructions were "for the customer" and not for the warehousemen!!!

To this day, whenever someone is helping me move a large carton, and they notice that we don't have the arrows pointing up, I always remark, "those arrows are for the customer". Even when I'm the customer.

[tuned4life]

i can relate to the warehouse guy point of veiw so much. especially the sacrificial refrigerator. thats great. in my early work years in international brotherhood of teamsters and warehouseman i had to unload beer from railroad cars. 98 cases of cans per pallet. they were packed in like sardines accept for the door area where there were huge inflated air bags. although the canvas air bags were designed to be reused we considered them to be sacrifical. the real interesting part was that somewhere after leaving st. louis the tops of some of the rail cars ofter got torched off and the top 3 or 4 layers of cases were gone. theres no smell quite like that of a beer soaked rail car on a hot summer day. only in America. my appoligize for going off topic.

[boom3]

Craters & Freighters do a great job, then sent my CW IIs to me without a scratch. They're not cheap-motor freight for 2 CWs was about $250.

[sunburnwilly]

Got Lucky , 2 Belles Shipped Almost 3000 Miles . Custom , Somewhat Thin Cardbord Boxes . Belles Wrapped In Plastic , 1/2 Inch Styrofoam Between Speakers And Box . No Support On Bottom , But Lots Of Nylon Packing Tape On Corners And Seams . Belles Arrived In Perfect Condition . Could Have Been A Disaster . Freight Company Was Roadway . Yes They Sound Great .

[colterphoto1]

What Tuned4life said- exactly.

NO PEANUTZ

NO BUBBLE WRAP

MUST BE 2" or 3" of solid foam with custom box around them. This is for Heresy sized speakers. I wouldn't dare ship Cornwalls or LS unless they were boxes like this, then strapped securely to a pallet and motor freighted.

EMPHASIS ADDED

THEY AINT MAKING THESE SPEAKERS ANY MORE AND THEY SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE IRREPLACEABLE FINE FURNITURE.

Michael