[Audiophile58]

Listening to my Alnico -6 speakers yesterday certain frequencies seemed muffled. I thought maybe just the recording .i was told long ago check every 2-3 months on driver to see if screws loosened.
That is exactly what happened . start by tightening at 12 o'clock,6 oclock and alternatate sides just till all are
Just very snug. Imaging snaps back into focus. You would be surprised how screws can work loose .

Also if you have any loose threads  on feet  plumbers Teflon tape a wrap or two  , or a drop of Blue
Non permanent Permatex thread locker will do the trick.

[MarkR7]

Nice! Thanks for the useful tip! I would have not thought that the drivers could come loose!

[DaveC113]

Wow, never seen that happen before or even heard about it... good job with the simple fix though, that saved a lot of headache! 

[FullRangeMan]

58,
What are the screws you use?
Did you used screw with nut?
As this image or just bolt to wood.

[RDavidson]

Don't get too obsessive with retightening. They need to be just tight enough (especially if the speakers have vented cabinets). You're not trying to keep an air tight seal unless the speakers are an acoustic suspension design. The last thing you want to do is possibly strip a hole, so be cautious.

Retightening drivers is something most will likely only need to do once or possibly twice a year, accounting for how much and how loud one listens. Also account for your environment. Changes in temperature and humidity can also cause screws to loosen a bit as the speakers' wood cabinets expand and contract. Again, don't get obsessive. If the screws seem tight enough, don't try and tighten them much more just because you have the screwdriver in your hand.

This isn't a unique characteristic of Omegas, so this thread would probably be better in the Enclosures Circle.

[pstrisik]

Don't overtighten is good advice, but allowing any air to leave via the driver hole would alter the port tuning.

Thread is fine right here.

[Canada Rob]

The Omega speakers with the slotted head brass screws may need snugging up from time to time, as will the early stainless Phillips head screws.  The reason why is because they are machine screws with threaded inserts that can back out over time.  As RDavidson says "just tight enough", and following Audiophile58's tightening pattern.  A wrap of plumbers teflon tape on the screws may put and end to ever having to tighten them up again - I haven't tried it, but it's an idea.  Just make sure you don't need alot of torque or you may spin the threaded insert.

The later stainless and black stainless are completely different and don't need to be tightened at all.  They are a sheet metal screw going into a plasticized hole directly in the MDF.  The threads are cut and then the hole is plasticized making the threaded hole extremely strong.

This method is stronger than the threaded insert for this application, won't back out, and sounds better.  If the driver needs to be replaced, if care is used, the screw will go right back into the hole without cutting new threads or wearing the hole out.  Just another incremental improvement along with recent grill change, logo change, etc.

[RDavidson]

Don't overtighten is good advice, but allowing any air to leave via the driver hole would alter the port tuning.

Thread is fine right here.

Right. If a woofer is so loose that it has created a large enough air gap to affect port tuning, then simply re-tightening the screws is not really getting at the root of the problem....which would have more to do with baffle construction and baffle-to-driver connection.

Thread would be more universal in the Enclosure Circle and would encourage input from others with dynamic speakers.

[hdrider]

Easy does it kiddies, after 18 years of running machine shops I have seen a lot of threads, screws and screw heads damaged by over tightening. Easy does it, please. You don't want to be the first on the forum that ran a screwdriver through his Alnico driver…happy listening, Chris.

[milford3]

Don't forget to also check your subwoofers.

[Canada Rob]

I hope this doesn't become an epidemic.  I'm not suggesting tightening driver screws isn't needed, but, as the old saying goes: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". 

[pstrisik]

I've got a screw loose.  No matter how much I try to tighten it, people tell me it's still loose.   

[Audiophile58]

To check any speaker threads after being thrown around by the shipping companies makes sence. We are talking mainly a 1/4 turn to 1/2 but that little bit can tighten image focus. Yes Subwoofers for sure .unless they are lock tighted in .over time the driver will Rattle loose. Once every few months .if you choose to .

[Mark Korda]

Hi, I'm in the group that says don't go overboard about tightening screws. So many times a screw is tightened is compromising the wood that secures the screw if you are not using a (T-nut) which uses metal threads versus screw metal against wood. I've taken a lot of Dynaco A-25's woofers out and the gasket sealing the woofer is about as thick as the paper wrapping on a pack of cigarettes. If you threw it up on a windy day it would fly away like a kite. The aim is to make the woofer or tweeter air tight and the solution to me is the gasket. I use modeling clay or More-Tite which is strings of modeling clay, that does not harden, on a roll from the hardware store for old windows that leak cold air in the winter. When you put your woofer or tweeter back in the enclosure, screws are almost not even needed and act more like a safety factor. 1 drop of painters caulk with silicone should keep those screws from moving once you put them back in and since it's flexable will let you unscrew the screws when you need to with a little more wrist strength. This way I get air tightness plus the (de-coupling factor) of the woofer against the wood or metal enclosure. Speakerlab from Seattle, a speaker kit company never even used screws although I certainly would, safety factor. That always puzzled me until I took a speaker apart. Here's my tip: When you put the screws in or out, use your free hand as a barrier between the screw and the woofer because your screw driver will jump out of the screw slot and a Band-Aid is much cheaper than a woofer cone replacement, I've been there. I'm not trying to be a dink or rain on your parade but am just putting in my 2 cents from older guy experience...thanks guys.....Mark Korda...PS. As a house painter, the rich people I work for make me take off a screen door every fall and put it back on in spring. The hinges are such that I can't take out the hinge pins,only the screws. After a few seasons the screws just spin around in the wood and I had to replace the wood trim the hinges were screwed into once already, and maybe again this fall. The trim is solid wood. Particle wood is even worse for maintaining the threads (female) for the screw, no pun intended.

[pstrisik]

Hi Mark,

I restored a pair of AR2ax' not too long ago.  Mor-tite is what I used for those 10" woofers and it was perfect.  The AR's are sealed (acoustic suspension), so even more important to stop air leaks.

I also have experience in screwdriver slipping.  Fortunately, it was with my sub and it punctured the rubber surround.  I was able to repair that with the same adhesive that is used for bicycle tire patching - no patch, just the adhesive.  Can hardly tell it ever happened.  But I learned my lesson from that and am extremely careful now.

......Peter

[Mark Korda]

Hi Pete, that was a good story but I got you beat.....I spent all my money on some Dynaudio drivers when you could buy them. The A-28 tweeter 60 bucks in 1989, the best tweeter, can be argued. My screw driver slipped and dented the brand new tweeters dome. I panacked! Instinct took over, or maybe watching too much porn, but I bent down an gave the dome artificial resperation and sucked the dome out. The tweeter still works to this day. My roll of Mor-tite was in brand new condition while sittin around in my apartment for 15 years. The windows I used it on dryed it out when left up all season getting constant sun light but the same roll was brand newish. I just did my Dyna A-25Mk2's with Mor-tite and when you pick the whole speaker up you fill a feeling of solidity? I got the thumb over the woofer from learning how to splice wire rope.If you didn't put your thumb over the tip of a marlinspike while pushing,a slip meant the spike going thru your throat...URI fishing school....Pete thanks for your writing...Mark K

[pstrisik]

Well, I will concede.  It is not a contest I would want to win!

.....Peter

[Mark Korda]

Pete, I did lose the contest. In the 8th grade I put a chisel through my thumb in shop class cause I didn't use a vise.This caused me to not make Babe Ruth, the next step beyond Little League even though I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a bass fiddle,the coach's words...Mark.