A question about trim rings around speaker drivers

Except for the speakers that I built or repaired, I have never bothered to tighten the screws on the drivers in any of the speakers I've owned over many decades.

@kr4 

+1

Bob

This question has came up before and after reading through all the responses, I tried it on some speakers I had at the time that had visible screws. Every screw required some tightening with a couple that needed more than a quarter turn to do accomplish it. 

It surprised me.

All the best,
Nonoise

If you haven't you should. A driver is ideally supposed to act as a perfect piston, and if it is loose and shaking that isn't possible, and yes, it is very audible. I'm sure that there are members here who will say that they check them on aa regular basis.

Two years ago, I picked up a 2-year-old set of floor standing speakers from a man in California. He had a nice system and two other pairs of good speakers. When I got them home and checked the driver screws, each of them turned for at least two revolutions!  I Immediately emailed him and told him to check his other speakers. He did and wrote back to thank me. 

It's worth doing, but be careful not to over tighten.  You can also check the loudspeaker's binding posts.  They to can come loose.  It cost you nothing to inspect.

My GE speakers grills are very time consuming to take off, the speakers still sound the same as they did 7+ years ago and I will not fool with them.  If Locktite were originally used on the screws, I see no need to tighten them. 

@stereo5 

Do you know if locktite was used ? I've never seen it on any speakers I've had. If not, I'll guarantee that your drivers are loose.

I would say that we see more problems from over tightening bolts than under tightening them.  Most baffles made of a non resonant material are soft and can be compressed between a bolt and a driver frame, so it's normal for a bolt to "feel" loose.  It may not necessarily be so.  I have seen some speakers that are 10 years + old have a loose bolt or two- but I cannot recall anyone sending a speaker back to us for repair solely over these loose bolts.  I would say if they are tight by your hand, using only your fingers, that's enough. If you put a big long wrench on them and tighten them until you cannot tighten anymore, you've gone way too far.  I would expect tightening bolts with a big wrench twice a year will likely destroy the baffle in time; I have actually seen this in our ATC service department where we had to replace a baffle from over overtightened bolts.

One might jump to the idea then why not make the baffle metal or some other non compressible material?   Super hard baffles have other negatives (such as resonances) to deal with that can be far worse to sonics than a loose bolt.  

Lock tite makes it challenging to get the bolts off when to comes to replacing a driver.  Ive seen my service techs struggle over this too, even to the point of sawing the bolts off to replace a damaged or blown driver.

Brad     

I'm much more worried about speakers, especially small speakers on tall stands, rocking back and forth than I am about a wood screw ever coming loose.

If you have a small, stand mount it's sometimes beneficial to add weight to the top.

I would guess it depends on the screw thread, the material, and how much they were tightened in the first place.  

With older speakers it's prudent to rotate the woofers 180 degrees every few years to offset the pull of gravity on the suspension, but never once have I encountered loose woofer screws.  

@roxy54 ,

Rox, just started a thread reminding people for the New Year to check to see if they have a screw loose!

Just checked the screws on my Avance speakers, surprisingly unsnug. Had to rummage around to find a T10 torx head bit to do it. Tightened up the drivers, tightened up the sound!

@thecarpathian 

Thank You Sir!

This isn't a ''maybe" or "sometimes", it is something that I believe must happen with all speakers. I have had this experience with almost all of the 20 sets that I have owned over the years. I think I picked up the habit from advice that I read in one of the Brit mags many years ago.

@knotscott

I had to chuckle a bit when you said that you had never encountered loose woofer screws, because they are the drivers that become loose most frequently due ti the heavy movement and vibration!

This isn't a silly tweak, it's part or regular system maintenance. Of course, you need to use common sense and don't over tighten.

@roxy54,  Sandy Gross, the desiger of GE Triton Reference speakers told me after I asked him at the 2017 RMAF. He was demonstrating their new subs at the time and I got his ear and asked. A few questions regarding the speakers as I was waiting for my pre-ordered pair to be delivered. I explained I was worried the drivers would loosen up over time and that the grill was very hard to remove.  That is when he told me about the lock tite or something similar that does the same. 

@stereo5 

I believe you, but I still don't believe that it's the best idea. For example, what if it was secured by loctite and the humidity changed for a period of time? There would be no way to adjust it. I just think that it is something that needs to be done twice a year from my own experience, but I understand if it is too difficult to remove your grills.

@erik_squires 

I agree, and I have done that, but they are two entirely different things with different results, as I'm sure you know.

@roxy54   You have to tight  every  week . If you see the  screws is loosed , get  a new bigger sze 

Well there you go. That's a high end speaker manufacturer confirming my experience.

A worthy topic…. I will ask TAD what they advise…. the trim ring on mid tweeter looks bonded on……or the driver likely fastened from rear = would require removal of back input plate. The woofer is easy….

Also re tippy stands…. i love the TAD stands and Sound Anchors and of course anything Arnold the sensei at Core Audio designs and builds…..