Boston Acoustics T830 woofer replacement

nick_ville

Active Member
I grabbed a pair of T830's a little while ago for $40. Sounded like a good price, but it turns out one of the 8 inch woofers isn't working. The good woofer gives me a 4 ohm reading with my multimeter but the other one shows nothing. Also, when messing around with the broken driver, the foam ripped so it would definitely need a refoam as well.

I have found a lot of people asking about replacement woofers for these, and each time people are told not to replace the woofer and find an original. I was wondering if anyone has managed to find a nice drop-in replacement woofer for these speakers yet. I can keep an eye out for an original driver but it will likely be a while before I find one.

Any ideas?
 
Sorry... Boston Acoustics generally makes excellent drivers, and it is very unlikely that you will find an off-the-shelf part that will give you the performance of the original 830 woofers.

BTW- I had a pair of T830's in my stable of "competitive samples" for several years... a very nice speaker for the $$.

-k

-k
 
Contact BA and ask if they have any woofers available. I have e-mailed them a few times, and they have always answered my questions promptly. Peace and goodwill.
 
Sorry... Boston Acoustics generally makes excellent drivers, and it is very unlikely that you will find an off-the-shelf part that will give you the performance of the original 830 woofers.

BTW- I had a pair of T830's in my stable of "competitive samples" for several years... a very nice speaker for the $$.

-k

-k

Contact BA and ask if they have any woofers available. I have e-mailed them a few times, and they have always answered my questions promptly. Peace and goodwill.
Thanks for the replies! I have read others say that off the shelf drivers will likely not work, just though I would put it out there incase anyone had personal experience of something else working.

I have inquired about getting a new woofer from them, but haven't gotten a response yet. Fingers crossed, but I'm not quite sure I'll be in luck. I read another post saying they no longer stocked them... We'll see!
 
I may have a couple of stock woofers. On the magnet they say "woofer 2539 7 ohms. Both need refoam. These are very hard to refoam due to very close voice coil clearance.
 
Would a woofer from a BA HD-8 work? If so I have a pair, but they need to be refoamed as there are small tears in the foam.

EDIT: Just did a google search and it doesn't look like the same driver. Sorry.

Boston_HD8_cup3_rt_615x446_pixels.gif
 
I may have a couple of stock woofers. On the magnet they say "woofer 2539 7 ohms. Both need refoam. These are very hard to refoam due to very close voice coil clearance.

I did not see any marks on the woofer aside from a label marked with the date and identifying the positive lead (same label as on my T1030 woofers). Also, the resistance I measured on the working woofer was 4 ohms....seems curious that yours is different. Are you referring to Boston T830s?

Would a woofer from a BA HD-8 work? If so I have a pair, but they need to be refoamed as there are small tears in the foam.

EDIT: Just did a google search and it doesn't look like the same driver. Sorry.

Boston_HD8_cup3_rt_615x446_pixels.gif
Thanks anyway! Looks like those drivers are similar to what is in the T1030s; similar shape. I'm not sure if other Boston speakers used the same 8 inch driver as the T830s, but if so, I would accept donors from any source if its the same driver!
 
Wanting to look into getting some replacement woofers for these speakers now. I have been keeping an eye on the bay and haven't seen T830 specific woofers come up for sale. I have seen on other threads that people have had luck using drivers from other Boston speakers (I have read mention of A70-II and A60's working and perhaps being the same drivers altogether). The thing is that when I search for these drivers to replace mine, I find they don't look the same. So two questions:
1) Can anyone confirm that these drivers can be interchanged and sound nice?
2) Do any AKer's have a pair of drivers that they would be willing to part with?

Thanks!
 
I may have a couple of stock woofers. On the magnet they say "woofer 2539 7 ohms. Both need refoam. These are very hard to refoam due to very close voice coil clearance.

I disagree. These are probably the easiest refoam job you will ever do. The gap is HUGE. Infinity RS4000? Not so much. :no:
 
I am pretty sure the A70/A60/T830 are all the same. Great speakers and a good deal! I love mine.

I disagree. These are probably the easiest refoam job you will ever do. The gap is HUGE. Infinity RS4000? Not so much. :no:

Thanks for the input! I looked a little more into the different models, and it appears that the Series 2 for the A60/A70 looks more similar than the Series 1 ?? versions. This might be a good option. And I'm not worried about a re-foam, but the cone has broken off on the bad driver. Re-foam will not help that one.
 
The refoam should be a piece of cake, and I agree you should try to find an original.

The hardest part about the refoam is getting the BA ultra-sticky glue off the metal basket without scratching the paint job to hell. But lining up the VC is a cinch. Gravity does most of the work for you since the gap is huge and the spider is fairly stiff. (I agree with above that Infinity are the hardest drivers to refoam, those and KEF)

Be patient, you will find what you need.

Also, for the broken woofer, have you looked any closer to see why you are getting a dead reading? is the VC seized or moving freely? Have you tried taking the dust cap off to see if you can identify if the VC has overheated? I wonder if a wire lead came off somehow and this is fixable.
 
Just use your thumb and rub the old glue off the basket. Once you get it rolling, it wont take long to get it clean. I also like that Boston put a line around the cone so you can line up the new foam just right.
 
The refoam should be a piece of cake, and I agree you should try to find an original.

The hardest part about the refoam is getting the BA ultra-sticky glue off the metal basket without scratching the paint job to hell. But lining up the VC is a cinch. Gravity does most of the work for you since the gap is huge and the spider is fairly stiff. (I agree with above that Infinity are the hardest drivers to refoam, those and KEF)

Be patient, you will find what you need.

Also, for the broken woofer, have you looked any closer to see why you are getting a dead reading? is the VC seized or moving freely? Have you tried taking the dust cap off to see if you can identify if the VC has overheated? I wonder if a wire lead came off somehow and this is fixable.

I don't think that a re-foam will be an issue. I have now performed a few and they have all gone quite well. And the T1030's I refoamed probably had the same glue, which I didn't mind removing. I like stupid mindless tasks like cleaning the woofer basket and the cone off. I will post a photo or two of the damaged woofer. I don't know if the voice coil had overheated or not...I don't know what to look for. I was thinking of pulling the damaged woofer apart and call it a learning experience if nothing else, but perhaps it is fixable if I don't totally destroy it by doing something stupid first!

I will keep an eye out for a replacement T830 woofer I can refoam, or perhaps a Series II driver from one of the other models. But in the meantime, I'll post the photos since I don't know what I should be looking for on the damage woofer. The tinsel leads are intact, but I don't know what to look for regarding the voice coil.

Thanks for the help so far guys.
 
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