2.3TL Rebuild Starts Now

machone

I picked up my 2.3TL's today (10 hr round trip). Boy; their size is impressive.
I ran a polarity test with a battery and found one dead driver. Turned out to be a disconnected wire. All good now and polarity checks out.
Performed a push test; not very good. End caps are loose too.
Overall they are in very good shape. There is one small hole in the grill cloth but other than that they are very good and no cigarette smoke smell.

My first listening impression is that for 25 year old virgins they sound pretty good but they have a long way to go. I could attempt to go into details but to put it in a nutshell they are not very articulate. Compared to my modded 1A's they do have more bass but they are loose and they are veiled.

But I am not worried because I got you guys and I jumping into the rabbit hole head first!

BTW: I will be rearranging my listening room so disregard the current furniture nightmare.

machone

Does anybody know the hardware size for the end caps?

boston1450

Not sure if this helps. http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/171363/important-advice-for-sdas-with-bolted-on-end-caps#latest

machone

Does anybody have a copy of the 2.3TL manual?
Mine were supposed to come with a manual but it was a Polk brochure.
Thanks

Nightfall

http://www.polksda.com/pdfs/SDASRS1-2.pdf

Print it, use a hole puncher, and put it in a binder.

machone

The first phase of my rebuild will be all mechanical enhancements.

1. Seal the cabinets using Loctite Powergrab and secure the end caps
2. Install Larry's rings
3. Install Blackhole 5
4. Glue the driver magnets with Powergrab
5. Dynamat the drivers and passive radiators

Am I missing anything?

Nightfall

Spikes

machone

Yes.
They came with long set screws with rounded tips as spikes. I took them out and put the cabinets on furniture glides to help move them around for now.

george daniel

Maybe I missed it,,but are you gonna upgrade the x overs and tweet replacements?

machone

Yes
After I get all the structural/sealing/etc I will go after the x-overs/wiring/etc. Tweeters are on order.

george daniel

Have fun and enjoy!

PolkieMan

Nice to have a big work area have fun.

machone

I did some more listening last night. In their stock form I find them sluggish, muffled and veiled. They have nice mids and vocals sound good. Top and bottom end is not extended. I am writing these notes so I can come back to them as the rebuild progresses.
My hope is that this rebuild will transform these speakers just like my last SDA-1A rebuild.

westmassguy

You will be impressed once all the upgrades are completed.

machone

Thanks wmg

machone

I swapped the tweeters to RD0198s. Right out of the box they kill the SL3000s. I did not realize how much of an impact they would have on sluggish bass. I will keep the radio on for the next day to start the burn-in process.

dkfreebird

Enjoy the upgrades,It's a fun journey .Those are great speakers.

machone

I pulled the passive radiator and took some photos.
Where should the polyfill be located? Looks like it slid down a little.
I would think there should be visible glue along the seams in the back of the cabinet. I will take care of this with PowerGrab.
I see they used sand cast resistors on the crossover!
I am not crazy about the way the x-over board is mounted. With gimpod boards do you guys move them?

dkfreebird

The polyfill should be above the passives behind the mids and tweeters only.The gimpod boards will not change where the crossovers go.

westmassguy

If you're eliminating the spool inductor, you can make a new mount out of MDF. You can also mount Tony's board directly to the back panel with standoffs.

machone

Got it!

PolkieMan

I'll never forget in 1990 reading in Stereo Review about how great they were :-)

machone wrote: »

I swapped the tweeters to RD0198s. Right out of the box they kill the SL3000s. I did not realize how much of an impact they would have on sluggish bass. I will keep the radio on for the next day to start the burn-in process.

machone

When swapping the tweeters I found several fastons that fit loose. It was the small ones that fit loose. I tweaked them with a pair of pliers.
Also one of the dimensional drivers had a wire that fell off.
Is this common?

F1nut

Is that your workshop, kitchen or what?

machone

It's a two car garage that was converted to a play room years ago when family moved in for a while. It's completely finished, insulated and climate controlled.
My plan this year is to remove everything but the hot water heater and sink and make it a nice open room. I will be adding bass traps and acoustic panels. I plan to install new outlets, change the lighting and repaint.
It will take me all year but it should be nice.

westmassguy

Sounds like a fun project

machone

I am looking forward to it!

I attached a 3d pdf file to show my plan. It may take a few seconds to load. You can zoom in and out with the scroll wheel and rotate the model by holding down the left mouse key while moving the mouse.

westmassguy

Very cool

F1nut

That'll be nice.

machone

One cabinet down, one to go.
I should finish the second one early this week.

I installed the following upgrades:
1. Larry's Rings
2. Sealed cabinets
3. Tightened end caps
4. Glued magnets
5. Dynamated drivers and passive radiator
6. Blackhole 5
7. New gaskets

Push test is now very good

boston1450

Looking good over there. Wheres the spikes