PA speaker replacement

May 1, 2005 11:41 AM

I'm planning on replacing the woofer in my CSX-52 Community PA cabinet. I've never done it before...

...but figure if I put the new one in the same way as the old one, I'll be fine. The speaker came directly from the manufacturer, so I'm not worried about it being the wrong one. I have to solder the wires to the speaker connections, which I'm assuming will be the hardest part. But I'm wondering if there's anything that might surprise me, or something I've failed to consider?

posted by hellbient to technology (3 comments total)

You might not even have to solder the connections. Speakers often have little slip-on tab dealies for the wires. Other than that, I find the hardest part of a speaker swap to be getting the freakin' grillcloth off. I'm unfamiliar with the cab in question (it might even have screws holding the grill on), but it's not unheard of for people to break the baffles in Fender amps when they pry off the grillcloth.
posted by stet at 3:43 PM on May 1, 2005

What stet said. If you do have to solder, speaker tabs are one of the easier things to solder.

Important tip: The bolts or screws holding the speaker in need to be tight, to keep the speaker from vibrating, but too tight, and you'll warp the frame. This will cause problems from bad sound to dead speaker. Be firm, but gentle. Put all the screws in, spin them down finger tight, then tighten them down in a star pattern -- much as you'd tighten lug nuts on a car wheel. You want even pressure on the frame, that way, it won't bend.

Also: Big speakers are big magnets. Be aware of that, and if you can't find a screw, look on the back of the speaker.
posted by eriko at 5:32 AM on May 2, 2005

thanks. The card on that came with the speaker had a "must be installed by a professional" note with it that had me thinking there had to be something else to it. That and I have a knack for breaking things. But it went smoothly, even the soldering (no tabs, unfortunately).
I went to speaker stores beforehand to find that gooey stuff that goes on the back lip of the speaker and couldn't find it anywhere. I ended up using what was on the old speaker. I assume it's purpose is to reduce buzzing.
posted by hellbient at 8:15 AM on May 2, 2005