This radio's speaker is missing the middle covering. The speaker has that vibrating sound when playing.
Are there any suggestions that may work without having to remove and replace the speaker?

I welcome all suggestions.

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Vibration sound? That seems to me like rubbing voice coil or magnetic particles in the magnet gap. Those would be fixable but not simple. As for a cover, if particles have gotten inside it is closing the barn door too late, but glueing a small patch of thin cloth over the center would serve the purpose of keeping crud out, the main purpose in those old speakers. If the magnet were removable you could perhaps do that and eliminate the attractive force for any sort of iron particles. Then blow it out with canned air, maybe. Maybe. If it is a valuable unit you could have it reconed and reworked for a sizeable sum. Fixing a rubbing voice coil varies from somewhat difficult to impossible, depending. That is why experts do it and charge a good sum for it.

Well if there is not already crud down in the air gap between the magnet and the voice coil there is one thing you could try. It kind of looks like the cone is warped so this might work.

First you need something to use as temporary shims between the voice coil and the magnet. You might have to experiment a little, but something like 1/4" strips cut from a business card might work. If that is too tight you might have to resort to something thinner.

What you want to do is shim all around between the magnet and the voice coil to make sure there is guaranteed clearance between them. Once you have this in place then mist the cone with water from a spray bottle. Make sure it is all damp. Then let it dry. With a little luck you might be able to un-warp the cone enough to stop the voice coil from rubbing on the magnet.

If that is accomplished then glue a little circular piece of felt over the center to protect the gap. A little white glue works fine for this. Don't get anything in the gap. You are just trying to cover the opening so stuff doesn't get in there.

If this doesn't work you are probably looking for someone to re-cone it or looking for a replacement speaker.

Curtis Eickerman

Thank you for the suggestions.
So, the small cloth that is attached to the middle part of the speaker is there only to keep the crud out. That helps to understand what is causing the extra vibration when the radio plays.