It depends. Are these paper or polypropolene speakers ? I've actually in bad cases. taken the grill off, and carefully using the blower part of a vacuum cleaner extension cord, OUTSIDE, and not too much air compression.... tried to blow dust off've speakers. I've found half decent polyprop. speakers dirty but in really good shape, and have actually used a slightly moist cloth with warm water to clean caked on gunk off've the speaker itself.. not saying this is the correct thing to do, in fact it might be TOTALLY wrong....Yet It's worked well on the polyprop speakers but not the paper speakers of course.. How about a gentle dusting cloth ??
Try being resourceful, and doing a websearch IE..... "Old stored speakers" "Cleaning dirty speakers"...etc.. It might say do not touch them, yet not sure.... or better yet, KEYWORD: "Crate XXX Speaker care", see if there's a general maint manual for your speakers on the net....or call a respected audiostore in your area......sometimes the best way to get dust off is playing them...
... Make sure they are at room temp for awhile.. If they've been in cold storage don't just take them out, plug them in, and blast them.... They'll rip... They might be VERY brittle anyway now... sometimes the surround dries out and cracks....as it hardens...like alot of old brittle materials....Let them sit at room temp, and break them in GENTLY.....OFten vibration will knock dust off.... Sometimes (outside of allergies to dust and slight mold) it's best to just leave them as is.... See what you can find regarding care of your speakers....
POLK AUDIO SITE. CLEANING CAR SPEAKERS: (perhaps some tips can help)
Quote:
Some simple, though very important, things to do when you clean up your act.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RCA and other connectors
Corrosion, moisture, dirt. They all can be present, and they’re all easy to deal with. Check your RCA connectors once a year. A simple unplugging usually is enough to clean them out, but if they’re looking grungy, denatured alcohol (98% Isopropyl) and some cotton swab will do the trick.
Speakers
Dust buildup over time will affect a speaker’s performance, though this applies more to tweeters than woofers. In any case it looks sloppy, so here are two options. Best would be compressed air in a spray can, the same kind used to clean computers and practically every other piece of electronic equipment. The low pressure spurt of air is enough to remove surface accumulation, gently. You could use a compressor, but only if you can reduce the air pressure to a gentle summer’s breeze. Too high a pressure, and you could be saying adios to a diaphragm. A dust cloth is another option to use on woofers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RCA and other connectors
Corrosion, moisture, dirt. They all can be present, and they’re all easy to deal with. Check your RCA connectors once a year. A simple unplugging usually is enough to clean them out, but if they’re looking grungy, denatured alcohol (98% Isopropyl) and some cotton swab will do the trick.
Speakers
Dust buildup over time will affect a speaker’s performance, though this applies more to tweeters than woofers. In any case it looks sloppy, so here are two options. Best would be compressed air in a spray can, the same kind used to clean computers and practically every other piece of electronic equipment. The low pressure spurt of air is enough to remove surface accumulation, gently. You could use a compressor, but only if you can reduce the air pressure to a gentle summer’s breeze. Too high a pressure, and you could be saying adios to a diaphragm. A dust cloth is another option to use on woofers.
Maybe Keith, or Karyoker would have an idea... Let me see what I can find tho... I have a few friends that are audio-engineers I talk with every few days on the phone.... I run into them at their "real day jobs"...HEHEHEHE.. Try being resourcful with KEYWORD searches on the internet, see about speaker maint... that's what I'd do....[/quote]