2.3TL Rebuild Starts Now

machone

Additional photos of the finished Dreadnought.

lightman1

The transformation is nearly complete! Looking good, sir!

Toolfan66

Looks fantastic!! I can still see my finger prints on that case!!

machone

Thanks guys

Gunther16

[Deleted User]

I'm mod'ing a minty pair of Monitor 12 series 2's doing all of the common things but have read a couple of item names I'm not familiar with I'm hoping someone can shed some light on.

Larry's rings?
Dreadnought?
Blackhole 5?


And where is everyone buying Sonicap and Mills resisters from?

Thanks for any and all help.

[Deleted User]

Got y'all's point. Thanks and take care.

F1nut

Machone, looking good, but please upgrade those binding posts and get some better jumpers.

polrbehr

Slapaho wrote: »

Got y'all's point. Thanks and take care.

You asked your questions two days ago, in a thread that someone else started
concerning his 2.3tl rebuild. In my opinion, no one is trying to make a point.

First thing, use the search box on any forum page (upper right side), type in the words
Larrys rings, dreadnaught, or BH5. It will reference many pages with those particular words highlighted. There is a ton of info on all those things, it will keep you reading for quite awhile.

As for Sonicaps/Mills, here is their home > http://www.soniccraft.com/index.php

Stick around, this place is a wealth of info and advice.

[Deleted User]

Did try search which brought me back to this thread. Also tried google. I've read countless threads about stuff I don't care about just to learn anything new. Also have read a comment or two about regulars blowing off people that don't have 1000's of posts.

Machone listed some things I was unfamiliar with in this thread so I thought it was appropriate to ask what they were out of genuine curiosity. Might be things I'd want to do as well if I knew what they were. Thank you for taking the time to post anything and will take your advice. Figure the **** out myself.

BlueBirdMusic

Stapaho,
Here is a link regarding Larry's Rings. The rings are created by Toolfan66, but he does not stock a supply of them. Every so often, Larry decides to create multiple sets of rings per speaker type - maybe twice a year but usually once per year.

No one knows if he will create any in the near future. If he decides to make them, he will create a new thread asking who needs rings. The members who want them respond to his thread, and he creates a certain number of sets. I have learned if one doesn't review the blog every day or so, the opportunity to acquire the rings may pass you by.

He has a cutoff point and takes no more requests for that build. He builds, members pay, and he sends. There is an alternative to his rings which are Hurricane Nuts.

I am taking the link below from my 50+ bookmarks that I have created over the past 2-3 years so I will have any references needed. You have to learn what's in this blog and who does what by some searching and reading.

The whole blog operates pretty damn good, but you have to adapt to it. It does not adapt to you.
Cheers!!
Harry - GA
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/134315/larrys-rings#latest

polrbehr

Slapaho wrote: »

Did try search which brought me back to this thread. Also tried google. I've read countless threads about stuff I don't care about just to learn anything new. Also have read a comment or two about regulars blowing off people that don't have 1000's of posts.

OK, that makes sense, since the item you asked about is in this thread. As for regulars blowing people off, I would say that happens mostly to people who come in
and try to convince the masses that they are silly for believing cables can't make an audible difference, or that there's no such thing as burn-in with components, etc. ; those are just a couple of examples, just pointing out that in most cases there will be very low tolerance for closed minded behavior.

Slapaho wrote: »

Machone listed some things I was unfamiliar with in this thread so I thought it was appropriate to ask what they were out of genuine curiosity. Might be things I'd want to do as well if I knew what they were. Thank you for taking the time to post anything and will take your advice. Figure the **** out myself.

Fair enough.
The Dreadnaught is a custom built isolation transformer that will allow the use of non common- ground amplifiers to work with SDA speakers, I believe that name was thought up by @DarqueKnight? But since your speakers are not SDAs, it may not be relevant to you? I personally do not own one, because my SDAs are driven with a common ground amp, but many here do and swear by them.
As for BlackHole5, it is used to deaden the reflections inside speaker cabinets. Another item I have not tried (yet), in fact I was just given a sample to try by a member here, @leftwinger57 graciously offered up a couple of pieces he had no use for, I plan on trying them inside of my 2Bs soon.

Whatever you do with your speakers, gear, whatever, start a thread about what you're doing and ask questions if you have them. I think you will find that most of us are glad to offer assistance.

Toolfan66

Slap a ho??

polrbehr

LOL, I didn't catch that ^^^, looks like it's Native American... sorta like the Fukawe indian tribe.

machone

Thanks F1. Both are on the list.

F1nut

Ah, good man!

machone

No changes to the 2.3's since the dreadnought. I did add a PS Audio Soloist and plugged the amp into the wall.
I repositioned my seating and tweaked the speaker locations.
It's hard to explain how good they sound.
They are awesome.

machone

Brass spikes with black chrome displayed on my gray carpet sample.

machone

I have been remodeling my listening room so have been delaying spike installation because I frequently move the speakers. Tonight I said f-it I'm not waiting any longer.

Should have done it sooner! More goosebumps!

Bass is tight and more defined with more extension. Imaging is much improved along with more depth. They seem smoother and more detailed. I finally had to stop listening and go to bed.

westmassguy

Everything is cumulative. Time to enjoy them.

tonyb

Pretty effin' sweet, nice job. IMHO....the 2.3tl's are probably Polks best effort in an all around speaker. Certainly one of my favorites anyway.

Looking good man, hope your efforts are being rewarded.

machone

Thanks guys

The room is coming along also. Removed cabinets and pegboard, moved the racetrack, added some furniture and replaced the fluorescent with can lights. Almost ready for paint.

Before:


After:

lawdogg

Loved the read - went through your thread from the beginning. Interesting how much the position of the speakers affected the sound quality itself in addition to the sound stage. Did you ever get those 400hrs of burn-in done? Did you notice much of a change in sound quality?

Final question, since I am looking to spike my 3.1TLs, is where did you source those spikes?

Best,
Ryan

machone

Thanks lawdogg
Yes, the initial 400 hr burn-in is complete. The SQ definitely changes during the burn-in eventually settling down for the better.
I bought the spikes at oregondv.com. I wanted 1/4-20 threads to match the inserts in the 2.3TL end caps.

Gunther16

Nice, Machone! You sure they are spikes and not Nukes? Holy Moses they look good!

machone

Now that you mention it they do look like a MIRV

machone

Old jumper, new jumper.



Binding posts are next.

machone

I am planning to rewire the internals of my 2.3TL's.

I have two reasonably priced choices:
1. Supra Rondo 2 x 2.5mm (13 awg)
2. Wire World Helicon 16 (16 awg)

I believe that the 2.3TL's are factory wired with 16 awg and I had planned to upgauge with the Supra Rondo but the Helicon 16 looks interesting.

Do you guys think there would be any opportunity lost in using 16 awg vs. 13 awg with the 2.3TL's. Maybe use 13 awg from the binding posts to the crossover and 16 awg to the drivers and tweeters?

Hey Dskip,
WireWorld says their Helicon 16 is easy to strip but they don't say how. Any ideas?

Thanks

indyhawg

Where did you get the jumpers?

machone

indyhawg,
I used Belden 5000 10 ga speaker wire from Bluejeans cable and the gold plated spades are Vampire RG6 from Sonicraft. I had to reduce the diameter of the spade, solder one end add both pieces of shrink wrap then solder the other end and shrink the wrap. I found that I needed to bend the spade to an angle to fit into the binding post cup so I used a spare binding post to hold the spade while bending.