Conrad Johnson SL-21: Blown out?

[Etakit]

Hi all!

I'm new here and looking for some assistance as I'm somewhat of a technical newbie.

A family friend gifted me a pair of beautiful Conrad Johnson Sonographe SL-21 speakers. They've worked wonderfully until recently I made an error while rearranging the inputs to my amp. I believe I plugged the out into the in (or something... I really don't know), and as soon as I turned the amp on, one speaker made a terribly loud sound. I believe the lower, bass part of the speaker is blown out as the cone is stiff. I've disassembled the speaker and when I popped the cone back out gently the sound quality improved, but only slightly. Images attached at the bottom via imgur.

Currently any bass audio that goes to that speaker sounds ultra-saturated and pretty terrible.

Does anyone know what might have happened to the cone, and if my assessment is correct?

And if my assessment is correct, how would I go about replacing/fixing the cone?

Thank you so much for any and all help. These speakers mean a lot to me and I would love to be able to fix them.

https://imgur.com/a/DGWQJE2

[admin]

Sorry to hear about the unfortunate accident. The woofer seems ok by your pictures but I'm guessing there was damage to the components that actually hold the magnet that produces the movement of the diaphram. From your description it seems like it was overdriven. If you pushed it back in place but the sound is still abnormal I think the entire woofer may need replacement. I don't think CJ carries these parts any longer but you can call and check. Realistically, I think the best bet would be to find a new pair of woofers to replace both channels with the same spec. Sorry.

You can try this guide but you will have to take more of it apart and due to lack of replacement parts it's unlikely that you can fix it if something is truly broken. https://www.pinnaclespeakers.com/fix-blown-subwoofer/

[AnotherJohnson]

whnay1 has been helpful in issues related to the old CJ speakers. You might send him a private message, or perhaps he will see your inquiry and respond.

[WPG]

I agree with admin's suggestion to replace both woofers. It would be a good starting point in the troubleshooting process.

Based on your photos I did a quick search and I wasn't able to find the exact woofer. I did check on Madisound Speaker Components' site and a woofer by Scanspeak might be a good match. Here is the link https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/s ... fer/#tab-2. If you read the first review of this speaker it refers to replacing a Vifa woofer.

Madisound Speaker Components also offer a speaker retrofit service where you send them measurements & info regarding your existing speaker and they will try to match it up what you are trying to replace. Here is the link to their retrofit page https://madisoundspeakerstore.com/retrofits. There is also a lot of other info on their site that may help you in troubleshooting your problem if a simple woofer swap does not take care of it.

Hope this helps

[admin]

That retrofit service is really nice and possibly a good option if Etakit wants to preserve the original hardware. If you do decide to go that route. I would probably send them the woofer from both the left and right speaker so they can match it properly.

[roberto]

Hola,
Just seen the pics, the suspension of the speaker is out of position. There are workshops that restore all the speaker. The outside rubber round part of the speaker is the suspension and it is separated from the cone. If you want to try to bond it again, the rubber base gum is the one to use there. It is important to have the cone in the center position. The cap at the center of the speaker is just a cap and nothing has to do with the sound. Making an even pressure to the cone, the movement should be free of any noise and it should move easily in and out. If you feel that it is not free, the coil is the culprit and must be recoiled again.

I do recommend to you to send them for a total repair to a dedicated speakers repair workshop. They are not too expensive and the work task is not too hard to do, if you know what are you doing.

[roberto]

If I am not wrong, the speakers are Danish made by Dynaudio OEM. You might get the woofers from them.

[Etakit]

Hola,
Just seen the pics, the suspension of the speaker is out of position. There are workshops that restore all the speaker. The outside rubber round part of the speaker is the suspension and it is separated from the cone. If you want to try to bond it again, the rubber base gum is the one to use there. It is important to have the cone in the center position. The cap at the center of the speaker is just a cap and nothing has to do with the sound. Making an even pressure to the cone, the movement should be free of any noise and it should move easily in and out. If you feel that it is not free, the coil is the culprit and must be recoiled again.

I do recommend to you to send them for a total repair to a dedicated speakers repair workshop. They are not too expensive and the work task is not too hard to do, if you know what are you doing.

Hi Roberto and all,

Sorry to just be getting to this now... Fell off the face of the earth for a bit. I recently spoke to an audio repair shop and the gentleman told me that it was 100% a blown voice coil. That correlates with what I've seen looking a bit more online, and the scraping sound the cone makes when I push it up and down.

He said my only option was to find a specialty repair shop to basically rebuild the entire speaker, but I cannot find any that will do that. Not sure what the next steps are, but I'm pretty sad.

[admin]

Ah,.. that's unfortunate. Would have loved to see that speaker sing again. I don't know anybody specifically that does speaker rebuilds. I would maybe ask your local audio shop if they do or if they know anybody that does.

[Truth71]

Try:

http://www.millersound.net/