Faulty Castle Howard Driver?

[Dulce Tones]

Well I finally got hold of a pair of Castle Howard speakers.
A big fan of transmission line, I have a pair of Regs Ela mk1's too.

I had previously heard some S2's and when these S3's came up
in lovely condition and relatively close I jumped.

Unfortunately I didn't get to hear them till I got home as it was
an old boy I got them from and was a big hassle to move them about.

Anyhow when plugged in at home sadly they have a fault!
There is a 'rattle' triggered by bass frequencys...
It's coming from the forward driver.
Does it sound like it could be a blown speaker or is it possible
It could be something more innocent?

Does anyone know of replacement drivers (carbon weave) or
anybody who repair's these units?

After all this time I'd prefer not just to return them.

Thanks

[walpurgis]

It's quite likely to be a binding voice coil. A misalignment due to cone suspension sag allowing the coil to foul the magnet gap.

I have fixed this myself on several drivers using this method: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?51367-The-walpurgis-fix-for-buzzing-and-rubbing-speakers!

[Dulce Tones]

Thanks for the guide Geoff, I'll take the driver out and see if anything feels misaligned.

[walpurgis]

You should be able to tell easily by putting a finger into the back of the chassis and pressing slightly sideways on the cone whilst moving it back and forth on irs suspension in several places all the way round. Any binding in one position will be evident.

[Dulce Tones]

Now that I've taken the driver out I can see that the
yellow corrugated material has come unstuck.
I guess it just needs gluing back?

[walpurgis]

Sounds like that is the problem. It's the rear suspension spider. Is it coming away at the chassis or at the joint with the cone?

Either way it can be glued back. But care will be required and importantly, the right adhesive.

[Dulce Tones]

It's coming away from the chassis.
What kind of glue is best? How best to apply it?
Thanks

[walpurgis]

For most speaker repairs of this sort, I use 'Aleene's Original Tacky Glue'. It is water soluble and allows you to move glued faces about for a while which can be very handy. Hopefully, as your rear spider is still partly bonded, it will still be correctly aligned in the magnet gap. The glue is probably best applied with a small art brush. It is fully dried in a couple of hours.

This is the stuff:

http://i67.tinypic.com/2je5tvp.jpg

Available on ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aleenes-Original-Tacky-Glue-2oz-BEST-VALUE-IN-EUROPE-Hi-Tac-Tacky-Gold/192475149230?epid=1322814672&hash=item2cd069b3ae:g:IvoAAOSwAKtanst1