cjs18

In an effort to restore audio performance to factory greatness for minimum $$ I spent this morning refoaming the surrounds on the ML 6 x 9 woofers in my '02 SC. In the event that there are others out there who know the process and would consider doing it themselves, I can confirm that The Speaker Exchange in Florida (Google the company to get a link - they seem to have rebuilt their website and some of the URLs may not work correctly yet) has a refoam kit that is an exact fit for these speakers. You can order their RFK6x9 Flat kit, which contains material to do two woofers, for $16.00 plus postage. The post by ZGone here on CL from about 2007 is a great guide for access to the front speakers although I found that I didn't need to completely remove the front door panels to R&R the woofers. I did, however, end up laying in an awkward position on the garage floor. Making this sacrifice allows you to get by without removing the trim from around the tweeter at the corner of the door. Also you don't need to disconnect the door handle / lock cables. When you get to the actual refoaming be prepared to remove some incredibly nasty, sticky Mark Levinson adhesive from the baskets and cone to prep for the new surrounds. I am pretty sure that glue was the only high quality part of those speakers. This isn't an upgrade but it certainly sounds better than with loose cones.

sakataj

iTrader: (182)

that sentence made me laugh, we have issues with the ML in the gs also but most of us just replace them

cjs18

I am guessing that in the GS there could be a little more clearance behind the speaker thereby allowing more choice of replacement units. As it stands the OEM unit in the SC is fairly shallow and I didn't want to risk interference between the window regulator and the speaker magnet assembly. I also wanted this to be over with in 4 hours so my options were limited.

cjs18

I thought it was a lot harder to get the units out of the car than to rework the surrounds, but I've done it before and I knew what to expect. I was also able to take a shortcut that you might not want to - I didn't cut the dust covers off and use shims to center the voice coil. My personal feeling was that the risk of making a bad cut or introducing debris into the magnetic gap was greater than the risk of creating a voice coil rub by doing a bad job of putting on the new surround. You may want to follow the directions precisely. To answer your question, in my case I used one of those utility knives that has the break-off blades so that a lot of cutting surface is usable initially. I used a set of binocular magnifier glasses that crafters use for miniature work (Optivisor brand) and I went very slowly with the knife. The foam almost always fails at the outer edge so in all probability it will be loose most of the way around the outside. Take a piece of foam with your fingers and start working it loose with the knife leaving the entire cone edge. You just go around the cone very carefully and slowly. At that point I circled back to remove the part of the foam that's stuck to the basket. That's where the nasty adhesive is worst. You will need to remove it more or less down to bare metal. The same utility knife can be used if you hold it at the right angle. When it 's time to glue it up pay attention to the instructions and DON'T put any adhesive on the foam. Put it on the cone and basket. It will curl up and become unmanageable. Hope this answers - if not let me know and I'll try to explain further. Good luck.

Bigredone

Removed my right lower speaker yesterday. The foam had some tears around the cone. Otherwise, it looked pretty good. Used my hot glue gun and went completely around the foam where it meets the cone. Let it for cool 10 minutes and plugged it in. Sounded great (or as good as new). All the crackle was gone, even with the bass on +5. $0.00 cost and 1.5 hours of my labor. Very easy fix even for someone like me. And I didn't have any screws left over!

cjs18

I hope that holds well for you. Generally as the foam deterioration process continues it will all just break down and crumble out in time leaving the cone flapping in the breeze (especially with the bass on +5!) So you could be back to work on that speaker at some point despite the zero investment this time. I splurged for what I believe should last as long as I keep the car - $26 once and done.

Bigredone

The foam on mine was just fine. It had pulled away from the cone or was never properly attached in the first place. Not the best workmanship by any means. Hopefully ML has improved their quality control.

Alterious

iTrader: (1)

damn it my mids in my sc430 started to crackle, was it easy to replace?! is there any directions? Thanks

cjs18

So far as the actual re-foaming process is concerned you should get generic instructions with any re-foam kit. There are a couple suppliers. The one I used from The Speaker Exchange came with an instruction sheet and they have color photos on their website. I believe that they may have a video as well. You can also find refoaming instructions on YouTube. There are excellent instructions (with photos) for accessing the speakers in the ZGone post referenced earlier. If you choose not to do the work The Speaker Exchange will do it for about $40 / unit.

Alterious

iTrader: (1)

i am thinking about redoing all my speakers, was it easy? i just don't hear anything from my rear speakers anymore i think. i might take the whole car apart today to see!

cjs18

Before getting too serious about taking your car apart I suggest doing a systematic evaluation of the audio system. With engine off and in an otherwise quiet area use the fader and balance controls to isolate what's not sounding right. If you have no sound coming from any corner I would be suspicious of a different fault because failed foam just leaves the cone free at the edges (creating a lot of distortion) but you will still have some sound. There are other threads in this forum and other model forums with great advice about troubleshooting the system in more detail also.

So far as difficulty of re-foaming is concerned, a little will depend upon how handy you are with tools. You can read the posts in this thread to get an idea, then also check out the speaker repair websites to see it from their perspective.

Alterious

iTrader: (1)

well the front speakers are crackling for sure when i fade to the back i hear sound from the sub woofer but not from the sides. So i have no idea what happened to the rear speakers?!

Alterious

iTrader: (1)

ok i just redid the balance and fade test and it appears the crackling sound only coming from the 6x9s on the front, i hear sound from the back speakers but no bass and i have the bass all the way up to 5. do you hear bass from your rear speakers? BTW did you replace your dust caps as well?

cjs18

There's not a lot of noticeable bass from the rear door speakers as I recall; however, there is a post somewhere on this forum regarding the "normal" performance of the subwoofer that would be worth reading. I think that without using the same program material it would be hard for us to calibrate on what the rear set should sound like. But it sounds for sure like you need the front 6 x 9s repaired.

In answer to your question about the dust caps, no I didn't replace mine. BUT the usual procedure for re-foaming would be to remove them and use the shims furnished in the kit to center the voice coil. Having done this a few times before I took a risk and just applied the foam while relying on the spider to center the cone. The voice coil gap seemed fairly wide in my units. If you want to be dead sure that the cone is centered you will need to cut the dust caps off and do it per instructions. Dust caps (1.6" is a good fit) were furnished with my kit. As I mentioned earlier you should have good success if you follow the directions packaged with the kit. By the way, in case it wasn't clear from what you've read, one kit from The SPeaker Exchange included material from two speakers.

Alterious

iTrader: (1)

i put the order in today and i selected the "DCP1800 paper DC 1.75" OD flat top dome" is that going to be ok or should i contact them and have them change it?