Another SRS 3.1TL Rebuild

mackdrool

Hey everyone!!

I recently came into a pair of Polk SRS 3.1TL towers recently and I am starting the long process of refurbishing them. I've already done some work to these and am just now getting around to documenting it. I'll report previous progress in the next few posts as to not have one giant post.

I am new to Hi-Fi audio and am willing to drown in all the small details. With that said if anyone has any advice or if I'm doing something incorrectly please chime in. I've read through a bunch of build logs and threads on the forum for awhile and have learned a TON from you guys.

Let's get at it.

Here they are! As you can see 14 year old me 12 years ago was a little a**hole and replaced a blown SL3000 with a "custom" driver. Ughh. I'm sorry.

I tested each driver and found 1 bad MW6511 dimensional driver, 1 MW6503 and another bad SL3000. I was able to order replacement tweeters directly from Polk and I was able to find pairs of both mid drivers on eBay. From my understanding Midwest is still working on a 6503 replacement but not the 6511. My belief is that the 6511 is going to be more difficult to find as time goes on. It's probably not popular or used enough for Midwest to spend the money to produce it. Sad. Makes me nervous for the longevity of these speakers.

Here is one tower with the replacement tweeter. The upgraded model from Polk sounds great. I need to shim up the screw shroud because for some reason the shroud is recessed further than the lip of the component. I'd hate to over-tighten them and crack the face of the surround. Probably just going to glue washers to them like @verb recommended in a previous build log.

Schurkey

mackdrool wrote: »

I recently came into a pair of Polk SRS 3.1TL towers recently... ...As you can see 14 year old me 12 years ago was a little a**hole and replaced a blown SL3000 with a "custom" driver.

I don't understand. You recently bought them or you've had them 12 years?

mackdrool wrote: »

I tested each driver and found 1 bad MW6511 dimensional driver, 1 MW6503 and another bad SL3000.

WHAT is wrong with the "bad" drivers? Magnets can be repositioned and re-glued. Voice coil wires can--sometimes--be re-attached.[/quote]

Viking64

Schurkey wrote: »

I don't understand. You recently bought them or you've had them 12 years?

Maybe the 2 "recentlys" in the first sentence cancel each other out?

mackdrool

The first thing that I really want to do to these is fix up the cosmetic issues. The tops and bottoms are a little dinged up. The fabric on the sides of the cabinets are also torn/frayed in a few spots. Nothing that a little craftsmanship and elbow grease can't fix. Plus it gives me some time to really appreciate the hard work that went into designing this box.



So naturally, I tore the box completely apart.


My goal was to just peel/replace the veneers around the particle board but unfortunately those suckers were attached pretty good and I ended up cracking both pieces during the removal process. Oh well. Time to break out the wood working tools and whip up some new ones.


I am really impressed with the dado job done on these. What a great way to lock everything together in an efficient way. I had my work "cut" out for me to get these right. Especially since I don't own a plunge router, but only fools blame their shortcomings on their equipment. If you reference the image above you can see I made 5 blanks just in case I screw one up.


I was able to dry fit both pieces on the first go. YAY! Now to choose a stain... I'm probably going to go with Minwax's Early American. I've used it before and was really pleased with the color on Red Oak. I also tried Minwax's Red Mahogany. It looks great but it may be a little dark for my liking in the room that I will be using them in. The last stain I am considering is Minwax's Pecan. It's a little too light for my taste. Plus I'm not a huge pecan fan. HAHA!!

mackdrool

Schurkey wrote: »

mackdrool wrote: »

I recently came into a pair of Polk SRS 3.1TL towers recently... ...As you can see 14 year old me 12 years ago was a little a**hole and replaced a blown SL3000 with a "custom" driver.

I don't understand. You recently bought them or you've had them 12 years?

mackdrool wrote: »

I tested each driver and found 1 bad MW6511 dimensional driver, 1 MW6503 and another bad SL3000.

WHAT is wrong with the "bad" drivers? Magnets can be repositioned and re-glued. Voice coil wires can--sometimes--be re-attached.

Sorry, I should have been a little more descriptive here.

My dad bought these brand new in the late 80s. He allowed me to use them in grade school and once I moved out he held onto them until I settled down. He gave them to me about 2 weeks ago as they are looking to retire and downsize their living situation soon.

As far as what is wrong with the drivers I am not 100% sure yet. I will absolutely look into refurbishing them once I get done with this rebuild. For the time being I was able to get replacements on Ebay. I figured I'd refurbish them at a later time and use them as spares. One project at a time.

mackdrool

Viking64 wrote: »

Schurkey wrote: »

I don't understand. You recently bought them or you've had them 12 years?

Maybe the 2 "recentlys" in the first sentence cancel each other out?

HAHAHAHA, proofreading was never a strong skill of mine. Thank you for pointing out all my inadequacies. You sound just like my mom!

nooshinjohn

mackdrool wrote: »

HAHAHAHA, proofreading was never a strong skill of mine. Thank you for pointing out all my inadequacies. You sound just like my mom!

Now eat your peas... you can play with your toys after you eat.

ddog

Just a suggestion.... you might want to seal the cabinets before you mount the top and bottoms.
It'll make it much easier...

Project is looking really good..

F1nut

The pecan stain doesn't accent the ugly grain/pores of oak as much as your other choices.

If one has to use wiping stains instead of dyes this wiping stain is vastly superior to any other. http://www.prowoodfinishes.com/woodfield-stains/available-colors/

Mike Reeter

Very nice work! They will be Heirloom Quality when your finished. I plan on leaving my SDA's to my son as well.

mackdrool

ddog wrote: »

Just a suggestion.... you might want to seal the cabinets before you mount the top and bottoms.
It'll make it much easier...

Project is looking really good..

Hey @ddog !! Your rebuild thread has been my bible for the past few weeks. Really great stuff!! What would you suggest for a sealant? I was planning on using some type of soft cure construction adhesive.

mackdrool

F1nut wrote: »

The pecan stain doesn't accent the ugly grain/pores of oak as much as your other choices.

If one has to use wiping stains instead of dyes this wiping stain is vastly superior to any other. http://www.prowoodfinishes.com/woodfield-stains/available-colors/

Hey @F1nut thanks for the advise. I actually like the strong wood grain. I feel it gives the material depth and contrast. I've never heard of this manufacturer before but I will look into it for later projects. Thanks!

pitdogg2

Many of us have used this for 3 reasons.

1. tube is easy to maneuver in the tight confines of the cabinets.
2. water clean up since you most time will use your finger to make a final push into the corners.
3. we also use to add glue to the magnets of the drivers to help hold them in place.


https://www.loctiteproducts.com/en/products/build/construction-adhesives/loctite_power_grabexpress6oztube.html

ddog

mackdrool wrote: »

ddog wrote: »

Just a suggestion.... you might want to seal the cabinets before you mount the top and bottoms.
It'll make it much easier...

Project is looking really good..

Hey @ddog !! Your rebuild thread has been my bible for the past few weeks. Really great stuff!! What would you suggest for a sealant? I was planning on using some type of soft cure construction adhesive.

I used the same stuff as @pitdogg2 suggested.
Only I used the bigger caulking tubes (for better milage) in a powerd gun. What I did to make it easier to get into the tighter spots was put a clear hose on the tip of the caulk tube. This allowed me to apply the caulk right where I needed it is with ease.

It'll be much easier for you since you already have the end caps off..

Not sure of the other wood colors you have in the room these will be going in but, I really like the darker stain myself.

Looking good bud
Please keep us posted as you go along.

Thanks

mackdrool

Hey guys,

It's been a few days. Time for an update.

I was able to finish routing on both sets of caps. I'm leaving one cabinet 100% stock until I finish modifications on the other. I want to A/B them to see how much of a difference sealing and spiking makes.

I've done 3 coats of Early American stain on the caps. All there is to do with them is 2 coats of semi-gloss polyurethane and to glue them back into place.



I bought the adhesive @pitdogg2 and @ddog suggested and sealed one cabinet last night. I like how fast the setting time is. Makes for easy application.

Here is a link to the spikes that I went with. The gold looks great with the color of the stain. I'll have more pictures once I get them installed.
https://parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dss4-g-gold-speaker-spike-set-4-pcs--240-718

Thanks for all the kind words everyone! Once the cosmetic issues are fixed I'm going to look into installing hurricane nuts on all surface screws, and rebuild the crossover. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

mackdrool

Another week and another update.

Clear coats done. Spikes installed. I am really happy with them. They look great. Can't wait to hear how much of a difference they make.



Caps installed. Cabinets sealed with the adhesive that @pitdogg2 and @ddog recommended. Worked great! Many thanks!


Next step is to rebuild the side strips of oak and to make new speaker cloth covered 1/4" particle board for the exterior. My dad just gave me a bunch of quarter sawn white and red oak that he saw milled himself so I'm super excited to build some of my dad's material into these.

ddog

Nice work... your speakers are coming out great...

My next thing I want to do is to get rid of the side wood panels and make new all fabric ones. I use my 3.1's in my theater and the wood panels even though they are black and a matte finish still show some reflections.

mackdrool

I had a busy weekend. I've got 3 other woodworking projects going on right now and these take up the most room so I've been trying to get these done and moved to the living room. I'll probably have them done and working today. Woohoo!!!

My dad gave me a few quarter sawn boards and I was able to use them to replace the original upright trim pieces. They give these boxes more sentimental value and they look fantastic.


The last part of the project was to rebuild the speaker cloth clad particle board. I'll be honest. I hated this part. I'm terrible at working with fabric and my staple gun straight up sucks. But it had to be done. They turned out great. My hand is super sore from stapling.



I'll get the trim installed today and call it a wrap on phase 1 of this rebuild. Phase 2, rebuilding the crossovers, will begin sometime this fall.

mackdrool

I got the project completed last night! Got everything hooked up and they sound really great. Got 3 hours of listening and tweaking done last night.



I scored an awesome deal last week on 90 feet of Audioquest Type 4 Hyperlitz for 55 cents per foot. I cut 2, 15 foot cables and currently have bananas but will be moving to spades with banana jumpers once I pick a set of spades.

At this point I'm using a QSC USA 1300 to run them. It's not the amp I want but it's the amp I have. I want to pick up a Parasound A21 or an Emotiva XPA-2. I'd be willing to spend up to $1,800 on an amplifier so if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them.

I'm also in the market for a decent receiver. I'm using a small live audio mixer right now which works but is not of sufficient quality. I'm looking at a Crestron PSPHD PROCISE. https://reverb.com/item/26300236-crestron-psphd-procise-7-3-high-definition-professional-surround-sound-processor-2010

Receiver budget would be about the same as my amplifier budget.

Schurkey

mackdrool wrote: »

I want to pick up a Parasound A21 or an Emotiva XPA-2. I'd be willing to spend up to $1,800 on an amplifier so if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them.

Emotiva? Really?

For that money, you could buy REAL equipment.

mackdrool wrote: »

I'm also in the market for a decent receiver. I'm using a small live audio mixer right now which works but is not of sufficient quality. I'm looking at a Crestron PSPHD PROCISE. https://reverb.com/item/26300236-crestron-psphd-procise-7-3-high-definition-professional-surround-sound-processor-2010

Receiver budget would be about the same as my amplifier budget.

Do you want a RECEIVER or a PROCESSOR? Huge difference. In general, receivers are built to be inexpensive, and processors are built to sound good.

For the money you intend to spend on one item, you could buy high-end used pieces and get both. There's a wide variety of quality used items on eBay and Audiogon and USA Audio Mart; there's a for-sale section on this site, Audiokarma, Audio Asylum, and fifteen other audio-related sites.

There's a dozen brand-names to look for in amplifiers and processors. When it was me--and this was close to two decades ago--I bought used stuff advertised as "Made In America" and which had good reviews in multiple magazines when it was new. The equipment I bought then is still with me, although I suppose I should be thinking about stuffing in some fresh capacitors in the next few years.

mackdrool

Schurkey wrote: »

Emotiva? Really?
For that money, you could buy REAL equipment.

Emotiva seemed okay. Maybe just good marketing if the quality is poor. I need a good resource to research brands and models. I'm going to start a new thread in 2 Channel Audio about amp selection. That should help.

Schurkey wrote: »

Do you want a RECEIVER or a PROCESSOR? Huge difference. In general, receivers are built to be inexpensive, and processors are built to sound good.

I absolutely want a processor. The more tweaking/routing/networking I can do the better. Hence why I'm considering the Crestron unit. Plus it gives me the option to utilize surround sound if I ever want to do that.

Mike Reeter

mackdrool wrote: »

I want to pick up a Parasound A21 or an Emotiva XPA-2. I'd be willing to spend up to $1,800 on an amplifier so if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them.

With the introduction of the new Halo A-21+, there are some nice A-21's out there.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9ech8-parasound-a21-solid-state

mackdrool

Mike Reeter wrote: »

With the introduction of the new Halo A-21+, there are some nice A-21's out there.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9ech8-parasound-a21-solid-state

Hey Mike,
That was my thought too. I have 2 of them on my watch list on Reverb. They're everywhere. Probably one of the best bang for your buck amplifiers on the used market.

mackdrool

la2vegas wrote: »

Here's two more at $1450 each, no affiliation.
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ele/d/vista-parasound-halo-a21-amplifier-mint/6943662251.html

If it comes with the lego table I'm in.