speaker cone doping?

Google -RoyC. AR dope-, then decide whether you would like to try and find/purchase some (if it's still available).

In the meantime do not put anything on the surrounds.

As a speaker designer and manufacturer, I would say NO. It will affect free air resonance by adding weight/inertia to the cone and will change the character and possibly even the sensitivity of the speakers. Dope is usually applied to damp over enthusiastic cones at resonance and is not primarily used for stiffening cones. Any additional mass is not a great idea on older cones as the (worn) spider suspension will also be affected. Play as-is and enjoy would be my advice.

The AR's are an acoustic suspension design which uses very compliant woofers that have a cloth surround. The cloth was doped to maintain the acoustic seal. Sometimes the sealant fails over time and develops pinholes which allows for excessive cone movement. One way to test the acoustic seal is to lightly press in on the cone evenly and release. If it pops back immediately like it's spring loaded, the cabinet has lost its seal and the surround sealant MAY be the reason. If the surrounds need sealed, the trick is to apply something that's just enough to plug the pinholes, but not screw with the compliance. Stiffening them is not what you want to do.

Several years back, I reconditioned a pair of KLH Seventeens that needed doping. I followed some advice from Audiokarma and used a siliconized latex caulk thinned down to the consistency of heavy cream. It sealed the surrounds and seemed to do the job just fine, but I don't know if I screwed with the compliance or not.

There is much information on this subject on Audiokarma and Classicspeakerpages. RoyC is a member who is very knowledgeable on the subject. There is a seller on eBay named vintage-ar that may be able to help you.

I should revise my first statement above to say that SOME of the early AR's, including the AR-2ax, had cloth surrounds. If they're foam, forget everything I said!

I do not think it is advisable to put anything on the paper cones.

Thank u all...I have made my decision not to dope the cones and leave as is.. again thanks and enjoy the weekend

Best to pass this by Bill Legal at Millersound in PA. He can point you in the right direction.

Hi guys, I'm chiming in a few days late, but Hopefully can contribute... I've doped hundreds of cones... yes hundreds.
Refc's concerns are correct, but not necessarily an issue for a light coat... (more of a problem on ported boxes than sealed)Sealed box woofers handle doping better, so for much mass, your driver needs to have enough Xmas and sensitivity to blend.
Doping adds mass, which lower FS, raises your final QTS and will in some way cut sensitivity.
I have always used doping as a tool trying to achieve a final outcome...
Also, different dampening materials have different effects.. Glue will stiffen a cone and could cause frequency extension (crossover should handle that).. Latex is a soft material and tends to smooth out peaks...
With that said, I would recommend a thin coat of latex on these old cones... The mass is insignificant to change spec of the driver to an audible change, but I have always found the smoothing of the peaks in these old cones audible.
If you have an old gallon of paint sitting around, open it carefully without shaking, you will find that the latex has separated from the pigment. Use a single coat and take a listen. This is very minor and will not effect your drivers overall spec. If needed, you can even add a second thin coat, but, I would stop there.

By the way, an addition, siliconized latex caulk is heavy... much much heavier than the thin latex liquid in paint... This is a fine dampener for some cones, but would not recommend it for the AR mentioned here.