Mmmm a lot of my units came from the public school system so dunno if its anything to do with something used in and around those environs... that said, I've even had a couple I got from other sources that were similarly deteriorated, tho admittedly the school ones were the worst. I'm interested to know if the similar 1 inch drivers used in the early Harman Kardon Soundsticks have suffered from the same kinda deterioration with time and use.
But yeh some of these units ive got are probably way too far gone to be a viable repair option... the ones with the surround blown clean out like the one i dismantled for the photos, in all honesty i personally wouldnt be inclined to attempt a repair on. However I cant help but think there could be a sporting chance of stabilising and preserving the integrity of old but intact units, or repairing units that have started to split or have completely seperated leaving the whole ring intact... I guess for what its worth trial and error is the only way to find out. For what its worth i have plenty of duds to work with
The more I look at it tho, the more I am thinking replacement could indeed be the most viable long-term option, providing I can get replacements of an adequate quality in a size that will fit. I've actually thought about using the ones from the little cheap ipod docks with the alloy or chromed plastic cones, tho tbh I havent been entirely satisfied with the sound quality of most of them, and more importantly, they are generally about half an inch to large in diameter, so it'd be difficult to modify the enclosures to fit them in a neat fashion and still maintain the acoustic qualities that HK so carefully designed into them.
The ones I'm looking at as possibly being the most suitable and viable long-term replacement are, funnily enough, a high-bass metallic full-range driver designed for use in model railroad audio systems... took a long time to actually come up with anything that was remotely suitable but these seem to fit the bill almost perfectly on paper, and are a similar (tho at the same time completely different) design to the factory iMac speakers, such that when installed (assuming I can get em to fit), they would visually be near-indistinguishable from the factory speaker drivers. The supplier I called up about em (one of only two in Australia) is retailing them at just under 20 bucks apiece.
But yeh some of these units ive got are probably way too far gone to be a viable repair option... the ones with the surround blown clean out like the one i dismantled for the photos, in all honesty i personally wouldnt be inclined to attempt a repair on. However I cant help but think there could be a sporting chance of stabilising and preserving the integrity of old but intact units, or repairing units that have started to split or have completely seperated leaving the whole ring intact... I guess for what its worth trial and error is the only way to find out. For what its worth i have plenty of duds to work with
The more I look at it tho, the more I am thinking replacement could indeed be the most viable long-term option, providing I can get replacements of an adequate quality in a size that will fit. I've actually thought about using the ones from the little cheap ipod docks with the alloy or chromed plastic cones, tho tbh I havent been entirely satisfied with the sound quality of most of them, and more importantly, they are generally about half an inch to large in diameter, so it'd be difficult to modify the enclosures to fit them in a neat fashion and still maintain the acoustic qualities that HK so carefully designed into them.
The ones I'm looking at as possibly being the most suitable and viable long-term replacement are, funnily enough, a high-bass metallic full-range driver designed for use in model railroad audio systems... took a long time to actually come up with anything that was remotely suitable but these seem to fit the bill almost perfectly on paper, and are a similar (tho at the same time completely different) design to the factory iMac speakers, such that when installed (assuming I can get em to fit), they would visually be near-indistinguishable from the factory speaker drivers. The supplier I called up about em (one of only two in Australia) is retailing them at just under 20 bucks apiece.