Just completed VR3 "Fortress" crossover mod on Polk CS2 center channel! :)
Cybershaman
Posts: 44
Welp, while I was waiting on binding posts from VR3 (http://www.vr3mods.com/) to arrive so I could complete my Ultimate Monitor 70 tri-amp project (http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?137520-The-Ultimate-Monitor-70-Active-Crossover-Multi-Amp-Project, I got bored...and bored makes me want to tear into other perfectly functional items...
Long story short, VR3 hooked me up with a nice little mod kit with a "Fortress" binding post plate to replace the caps and resistors in the passive crossover of my CS2 center speaker. The kit also comes with circuit boards and mounting hardware to hold the massive components in place and then you do the circuit tracing/soldering yourself. Since I was in a multi-amp fever mode, big time, I decided that since I was running a bridged AudioSource Amp-100 (a nice little amp for a nice price!) to run the CS2 I would, you guessed it...BI-AMP!!! Hence, VR3's "Fortress" plate which is meant to replace the conventional bi-amp-able post cup on Polk speakers. Here are a few pics...
My chicken scratchings which sort of resemble the schematic of a crossover for a CS2. Note: VR3 alerted me to the fact that the unknown capacitor (it was obscured by adhesive) is what is called a bypass cap which apparently is used to turn a cheaper cap into a higher quality one. Or so they say...
Here is the stock XO. Note: I had to remove and re-use the choke coils which was a bee- <hack...cough!> -atch to do!
My fully assembled XO! It's too bad that it has to be inside a box because I find beauty in engineering. Note: I used 15 gauge Supra Classic speaker wire. I also hot glued the caps down and on the nuts just for added insurance that they wouldn't come apart. It was painful to ruin such a thing of beauty!
Bye bye, XO! Never to see the light of day again! Oh...what a cool looking face plate! Note: I had to jigsaw the opening to accommodate the larger than normal plate.
She's in place and testing to see if she's firing on all cylinders! Note: I experimented with using 13 gauge Supra Classic wire for the tweeter and some 14 gauge generic super pure copper cable for the woofers. Something to do with "skin effect" for high and low frequency signals, right guys? Oh, and yet another disclaimer about how I just reorganized my system and I haven't installed my wire channels/covers yet. So there!
Well, half the fun is listening afterwards and the results were better than expected. The lowly CS2 is now very much like my modded Monitor 70s. Of course, it's more noticeable in the highs and mids but the detail is just amazing now and the CS2 just disappeared into the sound stage when listening to 7.1 material and even music! Also, I don't have to use my "sock trick" (sock in the rear port) any more but I think that's just because I took it off of the table and mounted it to the wall. Oh, yeah, and it's on speaker spikes too. Cheap but very nice quality ones from Dayton Audio. (have a look/see: http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio-DSS3-BK-Black-Spike/dp/B005CT6AM6/)
Once again, I can't recommend VR3 Mods enough. Do drop him a line and tell him what you would like to do. His stuff can be very affordable but he does also have some very off the hook items as well. Do yourself a favor and grab a kit and get to modding!
Long story short, VR3 hooked me up with a nice little mod kit with a "Fortress" binding post plate to replace the caps and resistors in the passive crossover of my CS2 center speaker. The kit also comes with circuit boards and mounting hardware to hold the massive components in place and then you do the circuit tracing/soldering yourself. Since I was in a multi-amp fever mode, big time, I decided that since I was running a bridged AudioSource Amp-100 (a nice little amp for a nice price!) to run the CS2 I would, you guessed it...BI-AMP!!! Hence, VR3's "Fortress" plate which is meant to replace the conventional bi-amp-able post cup on Polk speakers. Here are a few pics...
My chicken scratchings which sort of resemble the schematic of a crossover for a CS2. Note: VR3 alerted me to the fact that the unknown capacitor (it was obscured by adhesive) is what is called a bypass cap which apparently is used to turn a cheaper cap into a higher quality one. Or so they say...
Here is the stock XO. Note: I had to remove and re-use the choke coils which was a bee- <hack...cough!> -atch to do!
My fully assembled XO! It's too bad that it has to be inside a box because I find beauty in engineering. Note: I used 15 gauge Supra Classic speaker wire. I also hot glued the caps down and on the nuts just for added insurance that they wouldn't come apart. It was painful to ruin such a thing of beauty!
Bye bye, XO! Never to see the light of day again! Oh...what a cool looking face plate! Note: I had to jigsaw the opening to accommodate the larger than normal plate.
She's in place and testing to see if she's firing on all cylinders! Note: I experimented with using 13 gauge Supra Classic wire for the tweeter and some 14 gauge generic super pure copper cable for the woofers. Something to do with "skin effect" for high and low frequency signals, right guys? Oh, and yet another disclaimer about how I just reorganized my system and I haven't installed my wire channels/covers yet. So there!
Well, half the fun is listening afterwards and the results were better than expected. The lowly CS2 is now very much like my modded Monitor 70s. Of course, it's more noticeable in the highs and mids but the detail is just amazing now and the CS2 just disappeared into the sound stage when listening to 7.1 material and even music! Also, I don't have to use my "sock trick" (sock in the rear port) any more but I think that's just because I took it off of the table and mounted it to the wall. Oh, yeah, and it's on speaker spikes too. Cheap but very nice quality ones from Dayton Audio. (have a look/see: http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Audio-DSS3-BK-Black-Spike/dp/B005CT6AM6/)
Once again, I can't recommend VR3 Mods enough. Do drop him a line and tell him what you would like to do. His stuff can be very affordable but he does also have some very off the hook items as well. Do yourself a favor and grab a kit and get to modding!
Post edited by Cybershaman on
Comments
-
Very nice setup. Can I ask why you havent yet invested in a Mid Atlantic rack so you can rack mount all your gear since it looks like 90% of it could have that done with it. It would make accessing it (if its on rollers) much easier than it looks like you have now.
Just a thought.
P.S. new setup looks good. Cant wait to see how clean it looks with the cable and wire organizers "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
Very nicely done Bryan!
The plate looks sweet mounted on the speaker too!
Thanks again, enjoy!- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
