[lcaillo]

Sorry I missed this thread. I could have saved you some time. I have done many of these and found that rather than removing the dust cap, I can get more perfect centering by leaving it, and not risk getting dust and debris in the gap. What I do is use a slow drying glue (my favorite is WelBond) and start by gluing the surround to the cone. The slow drying lets me get the centering as even as possible. Once that dries, if you put a weight on the cone (use a smaller speaker) to push it down slightly, it lifts the outer edge of the surround off of the basket, allowing a bead of glue to be run along the inner edge of the basket under the surround. Then release the weight and let the cone rise up. The coil will be very close to centered in the gap if you are careful to place the weight inthe center because of the tension from the spider. Tamp down the outer edge, then as the glue is drying you can move the cone up and down to verify that there is no scraping of the coil on the poles. The slow drying glue lets you center it if needed.

The problem with shimming the gap is that you can get some uneven surrounds or pulling due to glue drying, and still get an off center job. You also have to be very careful not to get dust in the gap.

 

[lcaillo]

If you already have the caps off, just go ahead and shim it. It is the easiest way to do it.

 

[lcaillo]

For the surrounds themselves or for the service to replace them?

 

[lcaillo]

The surrounds are tough, unless you want to pay $20+ for the kits. I have gotten them from MAT and from a handfull of others that have them intermittently, but currently have no good suppliers for you other than recommending the folks who repair them. Some will sell them separately as parts, some will not. The main supplier that most use only sells to speaker repair shops and will not sell retail.

Look in the thread here for speaker repair shops:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...chnical-information/4398-service-centers.html