Adding some splash to SK-550 speakers.

Well, as so frequently happens, my simple SK-550 rebelt project has turned out to be another big job. The overall condition of the boombox was worse than I expected and not as represented by the seller. One thing leads to another and I'm deciding to add some fun and splash to my boombox.

The speakers surrounds on this model (like many others) are simply made of tar impregnated paper. Gets crispy as a dorito chip over time. Well they needed replacement and true foam dampening will allow the speakers to move more freely. But while it's easy enough to settle for factory looking surrounds, I thought I would take this opportunity to dress up the speakers a bit.

HERE IT IS: CLEARLY NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR REINSTALLATION.


FIRST SPEAKER DONE.


SECOND SPEAKER DONE. New, fresh look without introducing any efficiency robbing paint or dye. Also, should perform better than new since the foam surround should provide better performance than the tar paper surround.


Once new speaker gaskets are installed (none were installed at the factory which contributed to the surround tear), it will be ready for reinstallation. However, the boombox still has a lot of work ahead of it so I'll post the completed boombox when it's done. However, you should know that I REALLY TAKE MY TIME so don't hold your breath -- I've got many projects going concurrently. Whenever one gets frustrating, I move on to another to take the edge off.

that pioneer series needs some color

Great job , but those foam surrounds remind me of Cerwin Vega surrounds... I hope they last a whole lot longer.

Superduper said:

....I REALLY TAKE MY TIME so don't hold your breath -- I've got many projects going concurrently. Whenever one gets frustrating, I move on to another to take the edge off....

Click to expand...

Great job and...

Are you some sort of kindrerd spirit?

Well, yes they do look like Cerwin Vega surrounds but remember that these speakers are only 6-1/2' and I believe the smallest Cervin's are 8 inchers. No matter, they are just generic foam surrounds and won't last forever but if I can get another 10 or 20 years on them, then they've done their joba and I'll just redo them again -- it wasn't very hard. I really dig the look however. I placed the grills over them to see what the effect would be and they really look good peeking though the grills.

As for kindred spirit -- you know what they say -- birds of a feather flock together. I figure there is a reason why we are all gathered here?

wow norm where did you get the red surrounds?? excellent project

Got 'em from Speakerworks, Ramon. There are other places but this place seemed to be the cheapest and the only one I saw that had red surrounds for 6.5 inchers. I'm going to buy more in the future because I really like the way they look and they add nice color accents behind the grills. However, just because I say cheapest, doesn't mean they are cheap. In many cases, I think you can buy replacement speakers for not much more than a pair of foam and if you mess up, you still won't have a good set of speakers. On some models like the M70, the speaker depth is very important due to the PCB being immediately behind the speakers so you can't just stick any 'ol speakers in there. You may not have much of a choice.

Great job Norm, please post pics of them once installed!

That's very cool Norm, can't wait to see the SK when your finished.

...love the red speaker surrounds...nice job Norm.