new inductors for my 2B TLs

sda2mike
sda2mike Posts: 3,131
edited January 2014 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
kudos to VR3! i need to figure out mounting option for the big inductor..i'd like to keep the old one in place to mount the crossover. thanks!

mike
Post edited by sda2mike on
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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited January 2014
    Not sure in the 2BTL's. I have a pair, but have not replaced the inductors in them yet. I have replaced the inductors in my 2.3TL's and moved the large inductor 5 times to find the best place to put it (by listening). I finally put it in the same orientation as the original inductor, but up above the crossbeam against the rear of the cabinet.

    I would install the inductor (temporarily) and listen, then move it and listen and move it and listen, until you find the spot that sounds best. I cannot help in saying for sure where that would be in the 2BTL's, but can say that you should keep the same orientation as the original inductor. Hope this helps Mike.
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited January 2014
    thank you
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  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    edited January 2014
    I mounted the large Solen SDA inductor on the floor of the cabinet with the hole facing up. This was the farthest from the PR, MW's and the Xover I could place it inside the cabinet. With that orientation and distance from the various drivers, there's no detectable interaction with the metal basket of the PR or the MW's. See the last pic in post #3: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?157399-New-Jantzen-inductors-installed

    Big improvement in sound. FYI I found that the stock SDA inductor with the Xover board mounted to it was the source of an air leak through the bolt, even though it was covered with hot melt.
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited January 2014
    thanks for your post and the link
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  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited January 2014
    It sounds like inductors are the in thing with the 2BTLs now. I'm sold on doing mine... my only complaint with my 2B's has been the bass (I've seem some describe it as tubby, and that description seems pretty accurate to me). I was thinking as long as I was going to do the big inductors I might as well swap out the small HF inductors also.

    Does anyone know if there's a one-stop-shop place where you can buy all at the same time? It sounds like most folks go with Solen's for the 16mH inductor from Parts Connexion and get Jantzens for the smaller ones from Parts Express. Is that about right? I've also seen some posts where folks have gone with Erse SuperQ's for the big inductors, but I'd prefer to stick with air core if I can find them.

    Is this pretty much the standard approach?
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  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    edited January 2014
    I bought my SDA Solen inductor from Parts Connecxion, and the Xover mounted inductors for both the lows and highs from VR3 right here on the forum. He had exact replacements for me, and was easy to do business with. Good prices too!

    Gotta say, I only have around 5 hours on the new inductors and the improvement in sound quality is beyond what I hoped for.
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited January 2014
    I used the Erse Super Q when I had the 2BTL's, the improvement was tremendous. I used the Erse in the 1C's as well, with great results. Now I am using the big Solen with my 4.1TL's, which are basically 2BTL's in a smaller box. The results have been superb.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited January 2014
    Thanks for the info. I'll see if PC can order me up some Solen's and PM VR3 to see if he has any more small inductors he's willing to part with. Hopefully it'll be time to warm up the iron again soon! Oh, and apologies for the threadjack... I'll definitely make use of the placement advice too.
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited January 2014
    One thing about the Solen is that each individual strand is coated with an insulation layer, and it needs to be scraped off each strand. I used my new solder pot and just dipped the ends and the insulation just burns away and it was perfectly tinned, very cool.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited January 2014
    Great... and I thought stripping the strands of my XLO speaker cable was a pain. Sounds like I've got some extra fun to look forward to. I can't really see picking up a solder pot just for this although that does sound like a pretty handy solution.
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  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    edited January 2014
    On the inductors you only need to strip two wires per. I just used 120 grit and than 320 to smooth it out.
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
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  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited January 2014
    drumminman wrote: »
    On the inductors you only need to strip two wires per. I just used 120 grit and than 320 to smooth it out.

    Wouldn't that depend on whether you got the regular perfect lay Solen's or the new "hepta-litz" kind? Based on the look of the hepta-litz it looks like all the individual strands would need to get stripped.
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  • gmcman
    gmcman Posts: 1,806
    edited January 2014
    Interesting thread, now it looks like I will need to upgrade some more..... :)

    Those of you in this thread that have replaced the inductors in the 2B TL, which ones have you changed? Just the big one or all 3 in each speaker?

    Can you post the inductors used with their values?
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  • On3s&Z3r0s
    On3s&Z3r0s Posts: 1,013
    edited January 2014
    Here are the 2BTL inductor values:

    0.40 mH, 22 AWG
    > 0.416 mH, 0.71 ohms.
    1.25 mH, 20 AWG
    > 1.279 mH, 0.88 ohms.
    2.50 mH, 20 AWG
    > 2.470 mH, 1.27 ohms.
    16 mH, 18 AWG
    >16.300 mH, 2.66 ohms.

    From this thread: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?133543-SDA-2B-HF-Inductor-Measurements&

    I'm no authority (haven't replaced any inductors yet myself, but gearing up to do that), but it seems like people generally feel replacing the large 16mH inductor with a lower DCR inductor of the same value improves the bass. If I can get my hands on suitable replacements for the others I figure I might as well try replacing them all while I have the XO's out.
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited January 2014
    Jantzen has exact replacements for all of the small inductors in the 2B. Same XO as the CRS+, I replaces them all last year.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    edited January 2014
    On3s&Z3r0s wrote: »
    Wouldn't that depend on whether you got the regular perfect lay Solen's or the new "hepta-litz" kind? Based on the look of the hepta-litz it looks like all the individual strands would need to get stripped.

    If they're litz you're correct. I didn't realize that's what he was talking about. Wonder how they sound c/w Jantzen or solen perfect lay?
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited January 2014
    drumminman wrote: »
    On the inductors you only need to strip two wires per. I just used 120 grit and than 320 to smooth it out.

    I used Solens, which are multi-strand, and each strand is insulated.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited January 2014
    See pics in post #6:

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?137026-My-new-4.1TL-s-are-complete
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • drumminman
    drumminman Posts: 3,396
    edited January 2014
    I glanced at those pics earlier, but didn't notice the litz wire in the inductors. Interesting.
    "Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited January 2014
    Here is the link to all the Jantzen air-core coils:

    http://www.jantzen-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Air-Cored-Wire-Coils-List-18-11-2013.pdf

    0.4mH 22GA - index #000-1489
    1.25mH 20GA - index #000-1137
    2.5mH 20GA - index #000-1695

    Not sure that anyone has tried a Jantzen for the 16mH 18GA, but that part number is 000-0873.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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