Best Way to Pull Out dented Dust Caps on Speakers & Tweeters

[dantheman91]

Hi Lads

I can buy a pair of B&W dm603 s2 Speakers but the bottom cone on both have a dent in the dust caps and the tweeters also but no rippling or tares to the metal whats the best way of dealing with this problem.

Thanks
Dan

[struth]

a drinking straw can do it if not too bad..

[dantheman91]

Hi Thanks Grant

Picture to help see if its doable.:scratch:

[struth]

they look bad... might need more than a straw...other methods depending on type and how determined you are etc is slowly bend a hook in a needle and pop it in a pull a few times but thats better with other types...you might have to resort to the hoover attachment:eyebrows:

good luck

[Barry]

I'm not sure if a drinking straw will be sufficient. A vacuum cleaner hose and nozzle might be needed: apply the nozzle to the dented cap, switch on the vacuum cleaner, gently pull and when restored, switch off the cleaner before pulling the nozzle away.

I think that will work well for the woofers, but the tweeters look tricky. :(

[hermit]

Those tweeters look really bad. I'd walk away from these speakers personally and wait for something better to come up.

[Desmo]

Those tweeters look really bad. I'd walk away from these speakers personally and wait for something better to come up.

+1 I'd just walk away......

[Stratmangler]

Save yourself the hassle and don't touch them!

[struth]

sorry thought you had them..lol...yep id leave em unless silly cheap

[dantheman91]

OK.

I'll take the Arcam Alpha 8R & Alpha 7SE then :lol: thats a good price.

[Firebottle]

I've a pair of these and the bottom woofer is almost a sub woofer, only handling 150Hz and below, so I don't think the dents will affect the sound from these.
However the tweeters look really pushed in. If they are cheap then worth a punt, can you hear then before purchase?

:cool: Alan

[Beobloke]

As mentioned the woofer issues are largely cosmetic and the dust caps should be suck-outable or are fairly easily replaced.

As to the tweeters, they've had it. The only way to get them back to some semblance of normality again would be to completely strip each tweeter down and push the domes back out from the inside. Even then, the structural rigidity of the dome will have been compromised and they will never behave as intended again. Obviously, they might still sound acceptable to your ears, but you won't really be listening to what you should be!

As said above, I'd walk away from them.

[DSJR]

This was the low cost range from B&W and if a spare tweeter 'module' (dome/coil assembly but not the magnet) cannot be got, the complete tweeters won't be silly money.

I must admit to not ever being a fan of the Alpha 8 amp, although it did change during its life. The 7SE was nice though as I remember, but the 8SE was the star for value...

[agk]

I'm with the leave well alone crowd Dan.

Might I indulge in a small shift off topic and ask how that E100 amp you have sounds?

[sumday]

I agree with posters who say the tweeters are shot but have a good, proven solution for future reference.

its pretty simple really but the answer is masking tape!!!

the paper variety mind, plastic insulation tape is way to adhesive and will pull your caps off.

simply apply a strip across the face of the dent and GENTLY apply pressure in a scraping manner with a fingernail.

you will notice the extra adhesion is working as the tape go's slightly darker under pressure. now take BOTH ends of your strip and again, GENTLY pull both end up keeping parallel to the face of the cone.

for stiffer plastic caps (as on a KEF sub I treated recently) use sellotape but be extra careful

NIGE.

[Firebottle]

Good one Nigel :thumbsup:

[Stratmangler]

The tweeter dome is spun aluminium. Tape will not pull them out and leave them looking as new.
The MkI version of the tweeter had a replaceable dome, so the MkII is likely to be the same.

I had a pair of DM601 MkIs which had the tweeter diaphrams damaged once by a dusting incident and again by prodding action from youngsters, and I managed to obtain the tweeter diaphrams - I'd expect the MkII tweeter to be the same.
Then there's always the option of completely replacing the tweeter.
You'd need to phone B&W on 0800 232 1513 to find out.

However, with the very obvious damage done to both tweeters and both bass drivers I can't help but wonder what kind of damage the mid/bass units could have.
The kevlar cone is extremely robust and can take abuse without showing signs of it, but the speaker motor may well be in a poor state too.

My advice is still to give these speakers a wide berth.