Unpacking drivers?

[obieone]

So, I'm thinking of vintage Polk's, and I'm checking ebay, and I've seen some comments here re: unpacking the drivers.
IF they're being shipped in original boxes, is this neccesary? I just don't want to spend $800 on a pr. of sda's, then have to replace the mid's.
Thanks for any feed back.

[geoff727]

Do you mean packing the drivers separate from the enclosures for transport? If so, then yes, it's a very good idea. They should be taken out of the enclosures, wrapped and packed well, and probably sent in their own separate box. It makes everything less susceptible to damage, even if they're in the original boxes. The driver magnets won't be prone to coming off from the box being whacked, and the enclosures won't be as heavy (friendlier to transport). Even the crossovers that have big, heavy inductor coils would be safer in their own well-packed box.

[obieone]

Thanks. I was loooking at a pr. of SDA-1's with a shipping cost of $165.00, but figure the guy will want ridiculous $$$(IF he was willing to do it at all) to take 'em apart and ship the drivers seperate. Guess I'm back to looking for a local p/u.

[geoff727]

Ya, local is best. Or at least transport them yourself, so you can control the conditions. This is what can happen to the driver magnets when the drivers aren't wrapped individually.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63491

[geoff727]

By the way, I transported my 2.3tl's about 800 miles, and I left all the drivers in the enclosure. But, I made custom foam boxes for them, set them on their backs (that's for the crossover), and used about 5 inches of bubble wrap underneath them to smooth out the ride. They were just fine when they got home.