Anyone have any knowledge of speaker repair?

[south3rn]

I bought a pair of studio monitors and got a warranty on one (luckily the one that crapped out). So I'm replacing basically for free the busted one. But I'd like to fix it if at all possible.

Here's the symptoms.

At low frequencies (not terribly low, my Beatles records make it do this) I get a rattling sound. It's high(ish) pitched. When it does rattle, if I put my finger on the sub cone and apply light pressure it stops. If I apply a little more pressure the noise stops even if I move my finger, but resumes within a minute or so.

Any ideas?

Edit: the monitor is a KRK RP-5

[caeraphym]

Use your warranty please.

I'd implore you to use your warranty to save future regret.

Could be any number of things causing it: dislocated spider, a gap between the cone and the suspension, a feather in the port even?

Putting your finger on the driver is only going to damage them further still by impeding the work of the motor assembly and even possibly the amp.

[south3rn]

I did use my warranty. This is just a free speaker to play with, really. Just hoping I could fix it so I wouldn't have to just toss it.

[zeno]

Difficult to say. If it's the driver it's self that's causing the rattle, you could have it re-coned. You could probably also replace the entire driver it's self for not a lot of dollars. However, it could be the cabinet that's causing the issue. You may have to mess around in there with some screws & super glue.

To isolate the issue, I would take the driver out of the cabinet and see if it still happens. Also, in some situations, you can repair a ripped cone with some nail polish. However, it could also be the voice coil rubbing against the magnet. If that's the case, a recone or drive replacement is in order...

[caeraphym]

I did use my warranty. This is just a free speaker to play with, really. Just hoping I could fix it so I wouldn't have to just toss it.

Ahh... I understand now

I couldn't quite fathom that from your OP yesterday.

Check for any faults with the driver or cabinet and if necessary as zeno says recone or replace. The problem would seem to be mechanical so fixing it shouldn't be too hard, be careful if reconing yourself though (do they even do recone kits for those KRK's?) you need perfect alignment and steady hands when gluing.

And whatever you do I wouldn't chuck it out, as I now understand you've scored a free amp, crossover, cabinet, tweeter, possibly reusable low/mid driver, which could all be invaluable in some future mishap with your monitors. It's happened before, what's to stop some other fault occuring?

[psylensa]

I had a similar problem with a KRK monitor (V88). Sounds like the same symptoms. Fixed the problem with some krazy glue.

I dont know much about the technical side of speakers so bear with the descriptions here...

The paper inside the base of the speaker (that yellowish paper inside with the grooves on it...) had come unglued from the sides which was causing the cone to rub against whatever the cone rubs against when it flexed. I took some crazy glue and re-glued the paper to the edges so that it would hold the speaker straight when it flexed. Has worked great ever since.

Hope that helps.