Major Contradiction, Can you replace foam surrounds with Rubber Surrounds on Speakers ???

erik_squires10,924 posts04-23-2021 9:28amI believe, and this is foggy, that the answer is that the majority of the compliance in a driver is the spider on the inside, next to the magnet. The foam or rubber ring we see on the outside is normally the one that contributes the least amount. It's more or less there to keep the cone centered and therefore you can change it quite a bit before having it behave significantly off.

Using much more concise language and detail, erik communicated what I tried to above.  At resonance (QMS) for a woofer, the spider, conductivity of the former, etc. are dominant. Push the woofer to the upper end of its frequency range and that changes, and for high frequency drivers, it can be critical across the range. Think of a simple filter. At 1/10 the cutoff frequency of that filter there is no impact. As you approach the cutoff, the impact is noticeable. 

My experience with some Infinity Watkins woofers was that the change was slight and better than old woofer surrounds with holes in them. 

Based on the following link, they’re saying it’s trial and error, and mention things to be aware of.
https://speakerrepairshop.nl/en/questions/foam-or-rubber-surrounds/c-9

My impression is that you want to use rubber surrounds so you won’t have to worry about re-foaming in the future. You’ll still have to replace the diffraction pads at some point, so it’s not going to be completely future proof with rubber surrounds.

You haven’t indicated how long you’ve owned these speakers. Do you have a point of reference to how they use to sound with good surrounds?
I think it’s an important question because if you decide to go rubber how will you know if they sound right? What happens if they come back and you don’t like the way they sound, or you do, but after a couple of years the rubber starts to sag a bit due to weight of driver. How will you know if the rubber surrounds are the proper thinness/thickness for these drivers? You’ll be back to where you are today.

If you do use rubber, and decide in the future to sell the speakers, will you inform any potential buyer you had them re-foamed with rubber instead of foam as they were originally?

My recommendation is to just use foam and not worry about it. Chances are, you’ll sell the speakers before they need to be re-foamed again anyway.

Sure you can. They're yours to do as you please. Is it advisable? Probably not. Its part of the cone's suspension with different properties. Kinda like replacing a Ferrari's suspension. That can be done too. Will it be better? Probably not, especially since the mfg spent time researching the best suspension materials.  I'd stick with the OEM.

Then proceeded to call the well regarded Miller Sound in PA, who is recognized to one of the best in the Industry to do the replacing of speaker surrounds.

You got some GREAT advise from a professional rebuilder, why are you asking.

You got some generic advice from a rebuilder who probably did not consider how the product was used in application, in your specific model of speaker.

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Like I said, Twice NOW. the OP got some great advice from a professional builder.

dletch2, before you make comments MAYBE you should read a tad closer.

If you change the surround it WILL change the driver. There has been a few thread about getting Wilsons refoamed and they didn’t preform correctly. NOT CLOSE.. They were sent in AGAIN and refoamed to correct the issue.

As I recall it was behind not using WILSONs foams, they didn’t even go to different type.. It was the "Wilson" surround that DID make the difference..

Like timlub I’ve done a slough of VC/Cone swaps, Surround, hundreds.
Surrounds are kinda 101 for the DIY.

Unless you’ve listened to a surround swap, I just wouldn’t go there..

Get the surrounds from Wilson if you liked the performance you had.
Get the surrounds from someone ELSE if you want to change the sound..

BR will reduce the efficiency of the speaker.. Don’t believe, THEN READ..

A speaker manufacture will tell you just that.. Change the surround change the efficiency...
I do have some speakers with silicone surrounds.. Close in efficiency.

BR rubber is TOUGH, but not known for speed. Fabric on the other hand is probably the fastest and toughest.. Butyl Rubber works really well with high excursion drivers, Foams just won’t hold up.. Sense when did Wilson start using High Excursion drivers? Medium excursion and HIGH efficiency..

Happy Happy...