speaker cone doping?


I found a wonderful pair of AR-2ax speakers in very good condition at a friends apt used as lamp stands. I have them at the moment and enjoy there ease that it takes to drive them. I noticed the bass drives are made of paper and wondering because of age would it make sense to dope them using a solution of thinned out white glue to stiffen them? Is this mod still being done and wondering will it help the sound in anyway? Thanks
schipo
I should revise my first statement above to say that SOME of the early AR's, including the AR-2ax, had cloth surrounds. If they're foam, forget everything I said!

I do not think it is advisable to put anything on the paper cones.
As a speaker designer and manufacturer, I would say NO. It will affect free air resonance by adding weight/inertia to the cone and will change the character and possibly even the sensitivity of the speakers. Dope is usually applied to damp over enthusiastic cones at resonance and is not primarily used for stiffening cones. Any additional mass is not a great idea on older cones as the (worn) spider suspension will also be affected. Play as-is and enjoy would be my advice.
Thank u all...I have made my decision not to dope the cones and leave as is.. again thanks and enjoy the weekend
Best to pass this by Bill Legal at Millersound in PA. He can point you in the right direction.
Hi guys, I'm chiming in a few days late, but Hopefully can contribute... I've doped hundreds of cones... yes hundreds.
Refc's concerns are correct, but not necessarily an issue for a light coat... (more of a problem on ported boxes than sealed)Sealed box woofers handle doping better, so for much mass, your driver needs to have enough Xmas and sensitivity to blend.
Doping adds mass, which lower FS, raises your final QTS and will in some way cut sensitivity.
I have always used doping as a tool trying to achieve a final outcome...
Also, different dampening materials have different effects.. Glue will stiffen a cone and could cause frequency extension (crossover should handle that).. Latex is a soft material and tends to smooth out peaks...
With that said, I would recommend a thin coat of latex on these old cones... The mass is insignificant to change spec of the driver to an audible change, but I have always found the smoothing of the peaks in these old cones audible.
If you have an old gallon of paint sitting around, open it carefully without shaking, you will find that the latex has separated from the pigment. Use a single coat and take a listen. This is very minor and will not effect your drivers overall spec. If needed, you can even add a second thin coat, but, I would stop there.