Did these ever come with rubber surrounds? Was there a Watkins woofer with rubber surrounds? Is the 55-1220 woofer the original to the 1.5? Thank you.

I am unaware of any Watkins that came with butyl surrounds, though it's always possible that the surrounds were replaced after the foam rotted. The parts number you've provided has pretty much discounted this. According to the technical sheet available here (http://www.infinity-classics.de/infinity/manuals/RS_1.5_technical_sheet.pdf), the Watkins in the RS 1.5 was #902-1180.

- JP

The woofers in my 1.5's had foam on them. Not much but it was foam.