[Nition]

Lots of traditional speakers already use a rubber ring around the edge of the cone.

[mixmastamyk]

Which is what turned to dust in my twenty year old infinitys. They were the cheaper ones but still surprised me.

[analog31]

Same with my Bose. The foam surrounds were short lived. Rubber lasted longer but was not as widely used.

[smackeyacky]

The foam surrounds can be replaced. It isn't difficult and you can buy kits for a lot of different sizes including the glue.

One thing to watch is to ensure the cone is still centred but anybody who is patient can fix a bad foam surround.

[analog31]

I've done it! A relative of mine had two Gallien-Krueger 250ML guitar amplifiers, which are an interesting bit of kit, but the 5" speakers had foam surrounds that rotted out. I ordered and installed generic replacements from Parts Express. For my part, I was just curious about how the amps would sound.

As for the Bose, they were nothing special as speakers, and I already had a stereo that I was happy with, so I disposed of them.

[smolder]

Yeah, foam surrounds are the cheapo stuff, neoprene lasts.

[analog31]

They should use whatever bike innertubes are made out of. I've used innertubes as bungees outdoors, and they're quite durable.

[wheels]

I bought (separately, used) a full set of older Infinity surround speakers. Eventually they all had to be re-foamed, but I managed to do it myself with parts ordered online. Have some acetone on hand to take the glue back off if you get it wrong and have to try again...

[sornen]

This was about 10 years ago but here in New Zealand I found someone who could repair and replace the rubber so my 30 year old infinities are as good as new.