Just picked up 2.3's...Basket case project! Need advice
kickngas
Posts: 35
Hi there and thanks in advance! This is my first post, but I have been reading this site off and on for years, made a profile to tell the tale, and get advice.
So I saw the CL ad locally for 2.3's (been waiting for some SDA's to come up). I love a project and boy do I have one here. I was able to negotiate the price to what I thought was a good deal. He knew they were a project and we worked out a fair deal (<$500). I figured the tweeters would be most of that anyway.
These are not in the best shape but there is a silver lining (I hope). Plus, it did come with the blade/pin cable.
According to the owner, Eight MW have been replaced with Polk versions about 5 years ago along with the tweeters. The owner "redid" the crossovers at that point by replacing the OEM caps with Dayton's. I have not checked the values, but I can assume they are correct. The worse part as you can see in the pics is that he did not notch the surrounds prior to **** in the MW's. Most of the issues are repairable with some surround adhesive. The grills and the side panels have been molested by a Cat that has since passed (hopefully because of this).
I have ordered adhesive, hurricane nuts, and screws. I am sourcing the correct fabric for the grills and the side panels. This forum has provided me with a wealth of knowledge on mods and the like.
So, what do you guys think?
kickngas
Wilmington, NC
So I saw the CL ad locally for 2.3's (been waiting for some SDA's to come up). I love a project and boy do I have one here. I was able to negotiate the price to what I thought was a good deal. He knew they were a project and we worked out a fair deal (<$500). I figured the tweeters would be most of that anyway.
These are not in the best shape but there is a silver lining (I hope). Plus, it did come with the blade/pin cable.
According to the owner, Eight MW have been replaced with Polk versions about 5 years ago along with the tweeters. The owner "redid" the crossovers at that point by replacing the OEM caps with Dayton's. I have not checked the values, but I can assume they are correct. The worse part as you can see in the pics is that he did not notch the surrounds prior to **** in the MW's. Most of the issues are repairable with some surround adhesive. The grills and the side panels have been molested by a Cat that has since passed (hopefully because of this).
I have ordered adhesive, hurricane nuts, and screws. I am sourcing the correct fabric for the grills and the side panels. This forum has provided me with a wealth of knowledge on mods and the like.
So, what do you guys think?
kickngas
Wilmington, NC
Comments
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I'm glad you got them.
I almost went to look at them yesterday if they were still for sale! I went and bought a camera instead.
Looks like you have the issues fixed so far.
Let us know how they sound.
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
"According to the owner, Eight MW have been replaced with Polk versions about 5 years ago along with the tweeters.
Well I kind of question whether those are really drivers of Polk manufacture. In my admittedly limited experience I have never seen cones or surrounds or labels or basket frames that look quite like those. I think you will have a hard time making a satisfactory repair on those surrounds with glue. I have never seen Polk OEM surrounds that didn't have the small rectangular shaped notch out for the screw heads.George / NJ
Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Onkyo A-8017 integrated
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform -
Yep something about those MW's dont look right but for the price you got them for seems reasonable.Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin
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I'm glad you got them. I almost went to look at them yesterday if they were still for sale! I went and bought a camera instead.
Looks like you have the issues fixed so far.
Let us know how they sound.
When I get them finished, you can come to take glamour shots of them! Yeah, a nice guy, and fellow vintage audio tinkerer. If I can't get satisfactory results from my repairs, I will gradually replace them with OEM drivers as they pop up online.
As for the MW's, they do have Polk labels and look legit. I have no reason to doubt the original owner, but who knows. Maybe someone can chime in on their authenticity. -
Those are the replacement drivers that Polk offered a few years ago. They did not have the notch for the cap screws and consequently many suffered the same demise as these pictured. They will have to be replaced, but may not be available from Polk any longer?
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I remember there being a batch of midwoofers from back around that time that did not have the rubber surrounds properly trimmed. Manufacturing defect from a supplier.
On the bright side, those tweeters would have cost $300 anyway.
But now I'm curious about what the censored word was in front of "in the MW's."
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Simply a typo. Insert any expletive there! (Should have been **** in the MW's). I didn't notice it until you pointed it out...had to look back at the post.
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The censored word is s c r e w i n g.
The crossover work is disgraceful. You'll never salvage the surrounds.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
s*c*r*e*w*e*d <<<< what I read it as lol.
Hopefully you can fix the surrounds (multiple thin layers of Ayleens Tacky Glue perhaps?). Some of my notches didn't quite clear the screw heads on my MW's and I used a piece of brass tubing that I sharpened with a tapered reamer, that is larger than the screw heads to cut away the excess rubber. I felt more comfortable using that than an xacto knife, one slip of which could be disastrous!
It's generally considered bad practice to use multiple capacitors to make up a value unless there is no other option, for the simple reason that it takes up more pcb real estate, and then they should be as equal in value as possible. Also leads should be kept short and there should be some sort of cushion between the capacitor and the board, with a cable tie or the like. Polk relied heavily upon hot melt glue.Post edited by Gardenstater onGeorge / NJ
Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Onkyo A-8017 integrated
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform -
It's not considered bad practice to use multiple caps to make up the value required, but they should as close in value as possible. What is bad practice is to use a much smaller value with a large value as the smaller value tends to act as a bypass.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Thanks for the tip George. Yeah, F1, I took one look at the X-Overs and had to look away! Gotta start my parts list for sure. Baby steps. Is there a member here who has a stash of MW's squirreled away? Otherwise, I will be patient in my search and cross my fingers that I can salvage a few of these.
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It's not considered bad practice to use multiple caps to make up the value required, but they should as close in value as possible. What is bad practice is to use a much smaller value with a large value as the smaller value tends to act as a bypass.
Great advice for sure; I remember when I had my 2.3s crossovers rebuilt by a fellow that should've known what he was doing. He used smaller bypass caps to add up to what was needed for whatever reason I'll never know. His reasoning at the time was JBL does it so it must be ok.
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kickngas, Good luck on your journey. You are correct about your description of the previous owner.
"vintage audio tinkerer"
I would add to that:
"vintage audio tinkerer without any touch""Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
BlueBirdMusic wrote: »kickngas, Good luck on your journey. You are correct about your description of the previous owner.
"vintage audio tinkerer"
I would add to that:
"vintage audio tinkerer without any touch"
Haha, yeah the attention to detail was just not there. He had good intentions.
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Crossovers look like some crap I would build. LOL !
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One step at a time! Taking care of the easy items first, mostly aesthetics ie. Grill cloth, re-cover the side panels. Already have hurricane nuts, scres and washers on the way. Searching for a few replacement drivers, then get them up and running while I collect crossover components. I at least want to he able to compare old vs. New.Crossovers look like some crap I would build. LOL !
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Perhaps some E6000 glue on the surrounds. It can be applied very thin and holds very well. Just let dry and out gas well before reinstalling the drivers.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
"..let dry and out gas well.."
Good advice when sharing a sleeping bag. -
KennethSwauger wrote: »"..let dry and out gas well.."
Good advice when sharing a sleeping bag.
Beans over the camp fire eh? I have visions of Blazing Saddles.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
Wow! My questions would be...1.Why were all the midwoofers replaced? And....2. After putting the first screw in and seeing what it did to the surround. Why would he have kept going. And basically ruining the remaining drivers?--Gary--
Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out. -
I did not ask why the drivers were replaced. I also thought the same thing about the persistence of damaging the remaining drivers. Something I would expect from a middle school kid, but not this guy...he showed me several projects he was/had worked on and all was good. Possibly bought them as a project and lost interest maybe? Who knows.
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Interconnect cable question: if the blade is used for support only, why is it wired over to the negative terminal? I checked my cable and have continuity on the pin, but nothing on the blade.
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Interconnect cable question: if the blade is used for support only, why is it wired over to the negative terminal? I checked my cable and have continuity on the pin, but nothing on the blade.
Because unlike the Blade/blade models the Pin/blade models can be used with monoblocs and non-common ground amps. Now to use pin/ blade models on non-common ground or monoblocs amps you'll need either the original Polk AI-1 cable or build a dreadnought. The reason the blade goes to the negative binding post is to be able to pick up a ground for the cable or dreadnought to be able to tie all the cables back together to the amps.
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Thank you for your reply Pittdog, I just didn't want to sink more money into this if not needed. I will probably make a new one using a nNeutrik cable in the future. Now, on to crossover part search for that project within a project!
I just found another post about it, and it has the schematic and an explanation from you as well.
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UPDATE:
I finally got a little bit of time to work on these puppies. I have:
Made temporary repairs to the damaged rubber surrounds (will replace drivers as I find them)
Installed Hurricane Nuts
Caulked inside perimeter of enclosures
Applied Powergrab to magnets/frames
Applied plumbers putty on the back of the all frames
Used Armacell for gaskets
Cleaned up the crossovers a bit (will go full Gimpod replacements soon)
Refinished the wood top and bottom caps.
Bought grille cloth (next project) side panels will be more of an effort
Need to buy spikes too.
Results: I only have one up and running, and it sounds great until I turn it up. One of my MW6511's are about toasted. Voice coil is obviously coming apart (thank you previous owner). These things are as hard as hens teeth to find.
BEGGING ANYONE THAT HAS 6511 or 6510's they are willing to sell. I have reached out to folks on eBay, but that is hit or miss. I would much rather purchase from someone on these boards.
So, please PM or post here if you can help out 😁.
Is there a database of which Polks use the 6510 or 6511's? That would help me expand my search for ones being parted out.
Thanks -
Plumber 's putty has no business on driver baskets. Please use a product such as Dynamat Xtreme.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
MW6511
CRS+
2B
1C
3.1TL
1.2
1.2TL
MW6510
CRS+
2A
1C
SRS2
2.3TL
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Thanks F1 for the reference list. I can't find where the putty is a detriment to the frame. I kinda liked the application process anyway! Cathartic.
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It's a matter of purpose. Dynamat Xtreme is a very purpose designed sound dampening material. Plumber's putty is not even close.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
![[Deleted User]](https://w8.vanillicon.com/83b82048d67877ca27bbc25d5d38f9d3_100.png)
