Sub Woofer Repair

[curiousB]

2004 LS430 Mark Levinson

Well after 10.5 years of ownership I got bit by the sub woofer surround problem. Started to hear large distortion out of sub woofer in rear deck.

I removed the speaker today and sure enough the surround was crumbly and cracked all the way around. Removal was a bit of a pain as you have to remove the rear seats and door/side moldings to get the speaker deck out. Once all the trim out the speaker removal was a breeze.

I ordered a repair kit online

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140722138905?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D140722138905%26_rdc%3D1

They had great instruction video at their web site so I figured I'd give it a try.

Anyone here done this repair yet?

[curiousB]

OK so this repair was quite simple and cost me $20.70 instead of $330 for new woofer.

I cleaned off the old cracked surround as best I could then used some lacquer thinner sparingly to get the rim clean and the cone edge foam free.

The regluing of a new surround was easier that I expected. I had though the alignment would be tough without some exotic factory alignment jig. In fact it was quire easy. I think the speaker spider keeps the voice coil pretty well aligned and not so much the cone surround.

Simply Speakers has a terrific uTube video to walk you through the process. Kit was delivered in just a couple days from order.

I tested it at low volume and all is good. After a few days for the glue to fully cure I'll give it a stress test and rock out.

[FatCat23]

Yes. Works fine.

Personally, I think the Mark Levinson system sounds great. I'm an audiophile with $250 head phone and $9000 speakers in my house.

I've built many sound systems, car and home and unless you are ready to spend a LOT of money it's tough to beat the ML system.

If you want boomy base, or you want to brag then change the subwoofer. If you appreciate good, balanced sound then stick with the ML