Started a new job this week. Lots of old junk they want me to get rid of from my office, including these Genelec 1238ACs. A dust-cap is caved in on a woofer and the mid drivers need re-foaming, but otherwise I think they're fine. Apparently Genelec are dicks about right to repair, so might have to go rogue to refoam. Any thoughts on how critical getting the exact foam surround is? somehow I think it's minor in the scheme of things and close enough would be better than spending $1000 on driver repair from Genelec.

thecr4ne wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:20 am Started a new job this week. Lots of old junk they want me to get rid of from my office, including these Genelec 1238ACs. A dust-cap is caved in on a woofer and the mid drivers need re-foaming, but otherwise I think they're fine. Apparently Genelec are dicks about right to repair, so might have to go rogue to refoam. Any thoughts on how critical getting the exact foam surround is? somehow I think it's minor in the scheme of things and close enough would be better than spending $1000 on driver repair from Genelec.

If sized properly, the surround should be mechanically and acoustically insignificant. I would think any good repair shop would have a butyl replacement so some poor bastard doesn't need to go through the same rigamarole in another decade or two. I can't remember who I used for recone/refoam jobs when I lived in Wisconsin, but I'm sure there's someone in your region who handles this kind of work. Forget Genelec themselves, in my experience they're difficult to work with/get info from on multiple fronts.

PS: If you've got a shop opening them up, might as well have them check/replace the electrolytics too.

thecr4ne wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:20 amA dust-cap is caved in on a woofer

I've had luck fixing that with a little blue sticky tac on the end of a sharpie. Just push it on gently until it sticks pretty good, give it a little pull, and pop! it out

Kniferide wrote:

thecr4ne wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:20 amA dust-cap is caved in on a woofer

I've had luck fixing that with a little blue sticky tac on the end of a sharpie. Just push it on gently until it sticks pretty good, give it a little pull, and pop! it out

see also: careful use of a shop vac if that doesn't work

Kniferide wrote: I've had luck fixing that with a little blue sticky tac on the end of a sharpie. Just push it on gently until it sticks pretty good, give it a little pull, and pop! it out

Spent the last half hour of my workday trying this yesterday, not much luck and was starting to pull fibers from the paper so I stopped.

Garth wrote: see also: careful use of a shop vac if that doesn't work

This was the subsequent approach that came to me on the train ride home. WIll give it a shot tomorrow.

Geiginni wrote:
If sized properly, the surround should be mechanically and acoustically insignificant. I would think any good repair shop would have a butyl replacement so some poor bastard doesn't need to go through the same rigamarole in another decade or two...

PS: If you've got a shop opening them up, might as well have them check/replace the electrolytics too.

Yeah, DIY is how I roll generally, but I'll definitely have a look and poke around a bit. Down to recap if need be. And Butyl rubber was what I was leaning toward, if I can find the right size. I got a few such surrounds from aliexpress for pennies and re-"foam"ed the surround on a sub a few months ago. Cake.

when pulling dents don't be tempted to pull on the deepest part of the dent first--work the shallows out and the deeps will follow

I've glued the tip of a toothpick to a dented cap and then carefully clipped it off the cap with some side cutters. This was a non-paper cap though, so you may just end up removing some surface fibers and not actually pulling out the dent.

Yeah, second guessing this whole idea as those mid drivers are looking like more trouble than they're worth, and taking these home means dedicating storage space to them (also there's a third, not pictured, which I'd also take) If nothing else I could probably try to sell them as is. at $9,500 new, even with the depreciation and all their flaws I'm sure I could get enough from the sale for something else cool. Also there's at least 4 pairs of decommissioned 1031s to choose from as well, one of which I've set up for office listening, and some of those weird little cast aluminium ones too. Only been in this job a week, and just barely scratching the surface of the predecessor's hoarding.

scrotescape wrote: when pulling dents don't be tempted to pull on the deepest part of the dent first--work the shallows out and the deeps will follow

Just like body work on a car. This one's too far gone it seems. maybe it will get replaced, maybe left as is. Sometimes I actually care about aesthetics. Sometimes.

bishopdante wrote: Fri Feb 04, 2022 1:27 am They'd probably sound pretty cool with the plastic faceplate and mids + tweeters just removed and then blanked off, and the associated guts pawned, then stacked up all of them in a column and run full range as a 6x12 bass guitar cab, or a guitar cab. Dent and all.

That'd also work pretty good as a small but mighty subwoofer for a rehearsal room PA, or a very mighty one for a control room.

That sort of stack as a sub hidden behind the nearfields would make any sort of tiny little monitor sound much more confident in the low frequency department.

Those two black boxes they're sitting on top of are Genelec subs. 1092 or something I think. So subs are already present and accounted for. I found the active units for the 1238a's in another pile. they're like 12u rackmounted jobbers that look kinda like the amp mounted on the back of a 1031A (turns out there are 7 of 1031A's in working condition here too, and one missing the amp) also there's a third 1238A with the mid driver apparently intact. Lots of potential here, even if it all just gets sold to fund other stuff. Pretty sure I'm in the clear to get rid of this all on my own terms, but like, I'm new and it seems too good to be true so going about it cautiously.

In other news, apparently one of these buildings was RCA back in the 60's. Got to check out the echo chambers behind the parking garage. Now just storage full of other junk (including some acoustic treatment panels I've been given the nod to take). Sad to see something that was once useful butchered by hedge fund types and turned into a garbage company.

They look a lot like line array boxes.