Hey guys. I recently replaced my stock speakers with a set of Boston Acoustics SL 60s. I think one of my kids got hold of my stock passenger speaker and smashed in the paper dome in the center of the speaker. Two questions:

(1) Is there a way to pop it out?
(2) If not, what purpose does that dome serve and will the fact that it's smashed in affect the sound?

 

Try to use some soft tape like scotch tape. That should work.

 

Thanks for the response, but been there, done that. I even tried some heavy duty tape, but I can't get it to pop out. Also, I'm afraid that if I use tape that's too strong, I won't be able to get it off without ripping the thing.

 

Im pretty sure you are just talking about the dust cap. It should not effect the sound unless the speaker cone was damaged or torn somehow.

 

Yup that was what I was going to say next.

 

kids did that to my home speakers... while vacuming the girlls- decided to try and suck the dust cap back... and it worked.

 

It's just dustcap...doesn't serve any real purpose. I wouldn't worry about it. The vacuuming idea seems like it might work tho?

 

Whew. That's a relief. Thanks guys. As for vacuuming it out, sounds like a great idea, but what if it ends up tearing the paper cone somehow. I would feel pretty stupid if I made matters worse. I think I'll just leave it as is. Thanks again.

e-man

 

e:
For an audiophile nutcase (which I'll admit I fall into that category at selected times), and in the case of a home speaker, any dustcap damage would be a serious flaw. Changes the shape of the soundwaves that propagate from the cone into space. Yeah, right....
But for ordinary use, especially in a car, makes no practical difference for the average human.

 

You might get away with it if it was a woofer with a good amount of excursion and a beefy suspension. But for a smaller speaker, as you get the vacuum near the cone, it could wind up tearing out the whole cone.

 

I actually did it last night and, luckily, it popped right out. I had one hand on the vacuum attachment and the other on the on/off switch. As luck would have it, the end of the attachment fit exactly around the perimeter of the dust cover. It literally popped right out (I didn't know this, though, until I turned off the vacuum after around 2-3 seconds). Looks as good as new. I would suggest that everyone be careful doing this, however, because it very easily could have sucked the dust cover right off.

e-man