I take it that the cones are moving freely and that the magnets have not shifted therefore gripping the voice coil tightly? and have you measured the resistance of the coils?

Craig

Yes to all three, and your comments inspired me to disconnect the speaker and test it out of the cabinet.  After disconnecting it from the crossover and pulling it from the cabinet, it's testing  fine with a 9v battery and I'm showing 4-6 ohms.  I ordered the cap kit from Martin and i hope  it does the job.

-c

Yes to all three, and your comments inspired me to disconnect the speaker and test it out of the cabinet.  After disconnecting it from the crossover and pulling it from the cabinet, it's testing  fine with a 9v battery and I'm showing 4-6 ohms.  I ordered the cap kit from Martin and i hope  it does the job.

-c

Good man......post some pics and keep us informed

Craig

Quick follow up, after re-capping the problem still existed but at least I had eliminated that from the equation.  A a little more extensive testing revealed that it was the soldering point where the voice coil meets the tinsel.  I shaved a little of the black stuff covering the coil wires inside the cone and was able to test the voice coil separately from the tinsels.  The tinsel was worn, so I replaced the tinsel, re-soldered things back in place and covered with black dressing.  I now have a great sounding set of S45 speakers.

-c