RDO-194 RDO-198 router guide

So I was unable to find the sort of router guide I was looking for, so I made one.

In general, updating from the sl-1000 to the rdo-194 in my Polk Monitor 10A was a little more involved than I thought it would be, in case someone else is thinking about doing this I thought I would spell out some of the issues below--

-the sl-1000 is smaller than the rdo-194 and the recess needs to be enlarged for the rdo-194 to sit properly in the cabinet. I laser cut a thin plywood template, based on the profile of the rdo-194 + 1/32" on all sides for tolerance. The router bit I used had no offset between the bearing and the cutting edge. (I used the Yonico 14176q Template Trim Hinge Mortising Router Bit 3/4" Wide x 1/4" High 1/4" Shank) This was my first time using a router, and it worked very well. I set the depth of the router just a hair deeper than the existing recess to make sure the entire surface was even. If anyone is interested in the CAD drawing of the profile, let me know. Or if anyone needs my router template, as I will probably have no need for it again.

-the mounting hole pattern is different on the sl-1000 than on the rdo-194, so if you have already installed hurricane nuts, removing them is a bit of a pain. I threaded a machine screw into the hurricane nut so that the head of the screw was protruding out of the front of the cabinet and tapped it with a hammer until it came loose. I did get a bit of chip out on the inside of the cabinet in a few locations, but not significant enough that it created any problems installing the new hurricane nuts. Existing holes needed to be patched with epoxy and new holes redrilled for the rdo-194. Drilling the new holes is not as precise as it would be as it was going through some filler, not just particle board.

-the rdo-194 does not ship with foam gaskets. I think the intention is to reuse the ones from the sl-2000? for which the rdo-194 is the drop-in replacement. I handcut some out of spare packing foam I had around, as I was worried any of the gasket tape I had was too thick. I used a few small daps of Alene's tacky glue to hold the foam in place while installing the tweeter.

Otherwise, all went well.

I've had these 10A's for a while, last year I re-veneered them with some flat sawn maple.

@TNTsTunes that's an interesting thought about recessing all the drivers--especially if I was going to expose them without the grilles. I probably will not risk it--if the recess was not perfectly aligned I'd have to remove and replace all those existing hurricane nuts.

I may add 4 more points of connection on the passive radiators, however. I noticed those extra holes in the basket.

Thanks.