B&W 802N Replacing internal foam liner (part 24-FF04200)

[Hitters]

I am new to the forum. Got to know this group while trying to find info on how to replace the foam liners in my old B&W 802 Nautilus and came across some wonderful pictures of the inside of a pair of 802s made by Race Car Driver and generously shared on a thread.

Some time ago after a listening session at high volume levels of Saint-Saens' 3rd Symphony I noticed that pieces of grey foam had "erupted" from the base of my speakers. I suppose this had to do with the strong air current produced by the intense low frequencies of the organ. When I looked closer with a lantern, I found out that these pieces of foam had come out of the down-firing port of the bass-reflex system of the speakers. Got rid of it all and cleaned the bases but now I seem to hear a difference in the bass response of the speakers. To my ears the bass has got a boomier quality. Therefore, as I assume there are much more experts in the Club B&W than I happen to be, I would like to ask you two questions that someone might be able to answer to me.

1) is it possible that the bass has got boomier because of the absence of this foam liner (part 24-FF04200)?

2) if so, I would need to replace the part. This does not seem like a very difficult task to perform. My question is if it would be better to access to the port tube from upside or from downside. If it would be simpler from upside, I understand I should need to take the lower bass driver out and access from the front hole. On the second option, I believe I should need to carefully tilt the speakers, remove the base and access to the port from there.

Hope anyone is familiarized with what I am talking about and is able to help me. Thanks a whole lot for your help in advance. Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Hitters

[Hitters]

802 N disintegrated foam liner replaced successfully

I wish to share my experience. I decided to give it a try and removed the lower woofers of the speakers. It was not as simple as it looked, as they were kind of stuck. Eventually I was able to take them away and access the interior of the cabinets. As I had guessed, the upper end of the port tube was clearly visible and I had not great difficulty in installing a new foam inside them. I had to come up with the right size by trial and error but I finally succeeded in installing both foam liners. I was also able to see that the rest of the damping material inside the speakers was in good condition in spite of the many years of use. I put some extra foam on one of the sides of the port tube where B&W had put very little material. I believe they are now better damped. I am quite proud of the results. I am attaching two pictures in case anyone comes across this very same problem. Greetings from Buenos Aires.

[wkhanna]

and greetings back to Buenos Aires and to you!!

nice work.
thanks for sharing the information & photos!!!!!