Hi Gang. Elementary question perhaps, is the felt dot over the magnet in the speaker cone on most radios simply there to just protect magnet from picking up filings metal junk, etc..... Is there any other function it performs? Just wondering if it would harm a speaker to play without the felt? Thanks for any info.
Paul
It serves as a dust cap. It doesn't affect the sound quality of the speaker if it is removed (unless the voice coil gets crud inside of it). Many early speakers didn't even have dust caps on them. So what do you do if dust gets inside the voice coil? Simple, just turn your speaker face down on a flat surface and play the radio for 12 - 24 hours at a moderate volume level and most of the dust should vibrate out.
Dave
I had a set that someone replaced the output transformer but didn't cover up the voice coil or the pole when they drill the holes in the steel frame. It got all kinds of filing in it and the speaker sounded terrible. Took the cone out and used a strong magnet and a strong vacuum to remover the filings. Worked great and now the speaker sounds much better!
Terry