Is this a recone?

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

It's that simple, I just want to know if this is a reconed speaker or not. I noticed the spider having excess glue when compared to the midwoofer I received in "new" packaging. If it matters, it's a 6.5. You can see in the pictures where there's excess glue left over and also glue on the basket indicating someone went in there and glued it by hand. In addition to this, the speaker was noticeably more "dirty" (looked to almost be covered in dust) than the original "new" speaker I received prior.

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[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

I doubt it. The "excess" glue on the front of the cone is covering the tinsel leads. On the back, it is securing the tinsle leads to reduce stress on them.

I don't know of people commonly re-coning speakers like that with oem drop-ins. I know you can send speakers in to be re-done, but that doesn't look like this is the case.

 

[ciaonzo 5,000+ posts]

Because China.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

Because China.

...

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Hmm, interesting. Some more information as to why I think it's a recone is because the speakers (I think) are made in the USA. I'm trying not to name brands because I'm having issues with this speaker, which I'm otherwise happy with. It was actually sent as a replacement for another speaker that failed a few days after being installed. Coincidentally this speaker has also blown, well not BLOWN, but the voice coil is shorting when I turn up the volume (I can see it happen).

I'm starting to wonder if my amp is causing this to happen or if I'm just unlucky? I know recones, if not done properly, can allow debris into the voice coil gap causing premature failure in high power systems. The speakers aren't receiving clipped signal, as far as I can tell, I've always been keen to back off as soon as I hear anything "non-musical" in nature from the speaker.

I also feel pretty bad, I don't like when things like this happen where I have to get the manufacturer to replace a component, especially more than once.

Even if it was a recone, I could care less if the cosmetics are off, as long as it functioned as a new speaker. I just want to know whether or not it is a recone so I know if debris from the recone process could of contaminated the voice coil.

 

[t-scene 10+ year member]

Hmm, interesting. Some more information as to why I think it's a recone is because the speakers (I think) are made in the USA. I'm trying not to name brands because I'm having issues with this speaker, which I'm otherwise happy with. It was actually sent as a replacement for another speaker that failed a few days after being installed. Coincidentally this speaker has also blown, well not BLOWN, but the voice coil is shorting when I turn up the volume (I can see it happen).
I'm starting to wonder if my amp is causing this to happen or if I'm just unlucky? I know recones, if not done properly, can allow debris into the voice coil gap causing premature failure in high power systems. The speakers aren't receiving clipped signal, as far as I can tell, I've always been keen to back off as soon as I hear anything "non-musical" in nature from the speaker.

I also feel pretty bad, I don't like when things like this happen where I have to get the manufacturer to replace a component, especially more than once.

Even if it was a recone, I could care less if the cosmetics are off, as long as it functioned as a new speaker. I just want to know whether or not it is a recone so I know if debris from the recone process could of contaminated the voice coil.

This speaker a replacement? If it is made by who I thinking it is, there is a good chance it was reconed and shipped back to you.

Two speakers blowing the same way could be from clipping.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I don't think many midranges are worth the cost/trouble/labor to recone so I wouldn't suspect that. I'd guess you are doing something wrong if you keep breaking mids though.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

I completely agree that it could be clipping, and I will not rule that out. However, it doesn't add up to why the same side blew.. I'm not an expert by any means, but I -believe- that I know what clipping sounds like and it wasn't clipping. Albeit loud, there's no clipping.

This driver was rated at 200w RMS with a HPF of either 100 or 120hz, and I had it cross at around 100-150 hz (can't tell exactly on the dials) amped by a PAD40004 one of those "clone" amps that do rated power, which is in this case, 200w rms @ 2 ohms. I know a lot of speakers are over rated, could this be the case and the thermal management of this woofer is not up to par with the 200w claim?

 

[t-scene 10+ year member]

I don't see that driver taking 200w rms, 60-80rms tops. Is it part of a component set?

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

It comes as a component set or the standalone woofer, the specs for the standalone woofer are in fact 200w RMS. It doesn't appear capable of that, you're right, but that's what I was under the impression they were able to handle and i ensured that there was no distortion as i usually do with new speakers for the first few weeks as i tune them.

I'm still pretty dumbfounded, I might go pull out the first woofer I received that I know is good to see the difference between the two, I'm still pretty confident this is a recone despite what some others have said (no offense, I respect your opinion, but the way it looks says otherwise).

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Oh yeah, look at that... It has to be a recone, it looks to definitely be done by hand compared to the near pristine factory made woofer that has no glue on top of the spider or around it.

Can someone else confirm? There's no way this is a factory made speaker, and with that being said how can I know if this speaker was properly reconed? I'm not well versed on the subject

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

I contacted the manufacturer and was immediately told that it couldn't be a recone. I still have my doubts, so I sent the pictures to their tech support department and we'll see what they say.

this whole ordeal has become a pain, but i've tried to be open with the manufacturer from the beginning about everything that occurs. I still really don't understand why these speakers keep failing on me, clipping is the easiest answer to state, but I think there's more to it than that. Why would one side fail, but the other functions just fine? They would both be receiving the same clipped signal. Maybe I'm just unlucky and keep getting defects? Maybe the speakers cant take 200w? Starting to think these speakers just aren't for me..

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

I highly doubt it was a re-cone. It would be more trouble than it's worth for the manufacturer, honestly.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

I agree, it's really hard to do a recone especially on a driver this small. You'd surely have it fail soon after (similar to what happened to me) which is why I'm trying to be sure whether it is a recone or not.

The reasoning behind this is that when you recone a small speaker like this you can't get all the dust and debris out of the small (compared to a sub) voice coil cavity without a clean room. At high power it rubs and all kinds of havok is caused, I learned this all from researching the subject..

But, say you were right and it isn't a recone. Why might I receive a speaker like this that has a lot of difference in the glue (this woofer has only been out for a year tops, so it's definitely not an "old" woofer). Could it be a repaired spider? maybe the spider seperated so they glued it back, and considered it "good to go." But when the spider failed the woofer voice coil could of rubbed?

Excuse me for making this complicated, but I don't want to keep thinking I'm "blowing" speakers and wasting time and money if it's not even my fault. If it is my fault, by all means, I would accept it, but at this point there's too many variables..

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

Probably a different batch.

It would cost the company more money to pay someone to re-cone that speaker than it would cost them to throw it away and give you a new one.