2.3TL Rebuild Starts Now

machone

Thanks Randy,
If the next ones i ordered don't fit well I will check it out.
Bob

RandyCroissant

Sorry Autozone, the part numbers are 84546 for the .187 and 84547 for the .110 and they come in a ten pack.

machone

I rebuilt the 2.3TL binding post wire harnesses this weekend.

The WireWorld Helicon 16 OFC is easy to strip, twist, crimp and solder. I used their flat stripper to remove insulation and twisted the wires with my fingers and needle nose pliers. I used standard crimpers to crimp the quick connects (fastons) and needle nose pliers to crimp the sockets that snap into the molded connector that connects to the cross over board. After crimping I soldered all connections.

One thing to watch out for is the Helicon insulation melts at a low temperature. I used a clothespin to hold the connector during soldering and be sure not to touch the warmed insulation until everything has cooled. I found that a soldering gun on high worked best because it heats the joint almost instantly.

Also the Helicon wire is directional so this must be considered during assembly.

After everything was assembled I covered the back side of the binding post cup with hot glue (forgot to take photo).

I plan to rewire the tweeter and driver harnesses as time allows.

I will not have any feedback on how things sound until I have finished and moved the speakers back into position.

In the mean time I am listening to my 1A's.

Schurkey

1. What makes a wire like what is shown, "directional".
2. What is the advantage of a "directional" wire, when the signal it's carrying is AC--that is, rapidly switching direction?

machone

Good question Shurkey.
All I know is there are arrows on the wire and the text "TO SPEAKER".
Bob

machone

My Wire World IC'S are directional.

Schurkey

machone wrote: »

My Wire World IC'S are directional.

Interconnects are an assembly, they're more than an insulated conductor. I've owned "directional" interconnects; the ones I had were directional because the shield was connected to only one RCA plug. Therefore the shield did not connect the grounds of two components, since it was not in contact with the second RCA plug. I no longer remember which component was supposed to get the RCA plug that was connected to the shield.

Since these wires are not shielded,, but do carry an AC signal, I have not enough imagination to understand what could make them "directional", or what the advantage could be.

machone

The literature explains their DNA Helix but it says nothing about direction.

I followed the arrows; didn't want electrons spilling inside the cabinet.

machone

Finished one of the tweeter harnesses.

honestaquarian

machone wrote: »

I rebuilt the 2.3TL binding post wire harnesses this weekend.

The WireWorld Helicon 16 OFC is easy to strip, twist, crimp and solder. I used their flat stripper to remove insulation and twisted the wires with my fingers and needle nose pliers. I used standard crimpers to crimp the quick connects (fastons) and needle nose pliers to crimp the sockets that snap into the molded connector that connects to the cross over board. After crimping I soldered all connections.

One thing to watch out for is the Helicon insulation melts at a low temperature. I used a clothespin to hold the connector during soldering and be sure not to touch the warmed insulation until everything has cooled. I found that a soldering gun on high worked best because it heats the joint almost instantly.

Also the Helicon wire is directional so this must be considered during assembly.

After everything was assembled I covered the back side of the binding post cup with hot glue (forgot to take photo).

I plan to rewire the tweeter and driver harnesses as time allows.

I will not have any feedback on how things sound until I have finished and moved the speakers back into position.

In the mean time I am listening to my 1A's.

Hey the arrows are pointing AWAY from the terminal cup there

honestaquarian

The second to last pic

machone

Yes, that is going towards the x-over, drivers and tweeters.

honestaquarian

Oh yeah the direction of the signal is coming IN from the terminal.

DUH!

machone

That's ok.

I used male pins on the first harness to plug into the male pins on xover socket.

Had to remove the pins from the plug (real fun), cut them off the wires, restrip, crimp, solder, etc.

DUH

[Deleted User]

All I can add, is that you do beautiful work.

indyhawg

Very nice work.

machone

Thanks

westmassguy

Looks great.

machone

Thanks Dave

machone

Two driver harnesses finished.

machone

I labeled the drivers and driver harnesses and finished the remaining tweeter harness. I did not label the tweeter harnesses because the tweeters have two different size fastons so they cannot be connected out of phase.

Next I reassembled everything and ran a quick battery check to ensure that everything was in phase.







How does it sound?

Unless I am tripping or having some kind of ultra-mega-placebo affect I would say beyond my expectations. The improved separation of instruments and vocals creates more depth, clarity and realism. Also there is more tactile feel if I am explaining this correctly? Lastly they are silky smooth. Lots of goosebumps!

I am very happy with the results!

Someone with more experience than me needs to do this upgrade and give their opinion to verify my findings. The dollar cost is not much but it did take me 16 hours to disassemble, build the harnesses and reassemble. It is a big job but IMHO worth every penny and minute.

I will post a bill of materials for anybody that may be interested.

honestaquarian

Mmmmmmmmmm
Prettttyyyyyyyy

machone

Attached is the BOM for the internal wiring.
15 meters is enough wire but extra connectors should be ordered

machone

So I have been moving my speakers while installing new power outlets. I always mark the floor with painters tape before moving the soeakers so I can move them back into position.

FYI: For some time the stereo image has been shifted slightly to the left. I have been planning to troubleshoot this problem another time.

I decided to double check the distance to the wall to make sure the speakers where parallel to the wall and discovered that the left speaker is 2.5" further from the wall than the right !!!

I don't know when this happened but now that I have moved it back to match the right speaker the image centered.

machone

This is a duplicate from another thread "is there such a thing as too much black hole five?".

After reading through that thread I decided that maybe I over-did the BH5.

I decided to remove any BH5 that was not directly behind the mid stereo and SDA drivers. I did a quick calculation and realized that this is a significant percentage.

I removed the BH5 from behind the tweeters and cut 5" off each end of the strip behind the SDA drivers. So now it is only behind the mid stereo and sda drivers. Turns out this is 42% of the original BH5 area. Not a trivial amount.

I think the overall balance is better along with the stronger bass. Especially deep bass.

A little bit goes a long way. Live and learn.

machone

One thing I will add is that my room is on a concrete slab and has always been bass shy. If these speakers were in a room with joist construction I am sure my choices might be different.

pitdogg2

looking very good. That wire doesn't look fun to play with.

BlueBirdMusic

machone,

You are always doing interesting electrical work. Here are some new type connectors.

Available on Amazon at $14 for 50 three conductor version. I saw them referenced in a question on another blog.

machone

F1nut wrote: »

Ya ain't heard nothin' yet.

F1, you were right.
I thought they were good but now that I am improving sources and treating the room they are beyond my expectations.

machone

I covered my Beldin cables with Furez sleeve and changed to 90 degree Speakons connected to the Dreadnought.
Next I am stealing F1's outrigger and spikes idea for the Dreadnought.

Before


After