Tsi Driver dissection and Phase Plug

2

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    Tension rod glue is dry. I picked up the cabinet by one and shook it vigorously. It's locked solid....
    I also added some adhesive to the corner Polk decided not too add the little angle braces to...

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    The factory MW seals are sketchy. Measuring the cabinet cut-out, the thin gasket probably has small leak/s around flange. Used high density neoprene sheet on these....

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    Karma time. Was going to mod a set of 65xx semi-rings to fit these Tsi drivers, but going another route.
    Chime in here and I'll draw a name to send these out next week....

    They will drop right in to any vintage Monitor 4,5,7 pair....

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  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,124
    DaveHo wrote: »
    I have to question if any TSI series speakers are worth the effort. I don't give them a second thought when they pop up locally. Am I missing a gem in the rough?

    Your not no gem in the rough in that series gave away a pair of TSI 300s some years ago phase plugs and cabinet reinforcing wont help much. They do look cool with the phase plugs, worth the effort maybe to the OP.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    The tensioning rods did their job. Last bit of hollow tone is history.

    After being inspired by @plastic_avatar, I lined the cabinets with butyl mat squares on the inner surfaces of panels and fully sealed the corners with adhesive.

    Astonished at what these simple mods have done for the mid-bass on these. Cabs are very inert and no longer a contributing factor to any hollow/nasal tonality...

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    DaveHo wrote: »
    I have to question if any TSI series speakers are worth the effort. I don't give them a second thought when they pop up locally. Am I missing a gem in the rough?

    Best nearfield monitors per price point I've ever laid ears on now.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    skipshot12 wrote: »
    ^ Damn nice solution.
    Want to hear your evaluation once you get them installed.

    Inexpensive, doesn't take up much airspace/cab volume, EASY to install, and transforms them sonically into keepers...

    Next up cap and wire upgrades...

    zdcp5i8bgbog.jpg
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  • JayCee
    JayCee Posts: 1,500
    xschop wrote: »
    Karma time. ...Chime in here and I'll draw a name to send these out next week....They will drop right in to any vintage Monitor 4,5,7 pair....

    Thanks, Rob. In. I have a pair of 5A's that will go in a basement project I'm working on.
    24vq3qdepfyk.jpg
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  • plastic_avatar
    plastic_avatar Posts: 708
    I know zero about the TSI. Only thing I knew by that name is the old Eagle TSi (AWD turbo was the one to get).

    [Googles TSI, reads through thread]

    Ah, up to speed now.

    Neato project =)

    The brace rod is only side-to-side in this?

    Squares of Peal-n-Seal = I'll probably do that to the 5, rather than the full deal like I did on the bigger speakers. Good idea. Mitigating by just using enough on the parts that really vibrate is a better (and less wasteful) solution than mine. [thumbs up]
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    I still need to brace the bridge between MW and tweeter. Everything else is rock solid.

    An analogy would be the cabs sounded like a dried coconut when thumping on the sides. Now they are almost dead silent.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    I went ahead and braced the bridge with 3/4" dowel because the flange nuts are 1.25" wide and won't clear there without grinding 2 flats.

    I could only get the low-profile yellow dragons to clear the enclosure hole and not take up alot of airspace, which is the goal of this resto-mod. Easy peasy and didn't take up much more airspace than the electrolytics.

    Having also tested this brand out in the 5Bs, I can say they actually sound about on-par with Clarity PX, not as nuanced as Clarity CSA's however...

    ualym47e4egd.jpg


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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    Been listening to these off and on while the caps are burning in. Very balanced and clear with a bigger sound stage than the electrolytics no doubt. Wider listening field now too, so they could be set up in the living room perhaps with a good sub.


    I'm not sure if I want to tame the tweeters with a slightly bigger value resistor or not. But they are on the desk and Polk saw fit to have the tweeter on bottom with this model. Maybe I'll flip them and have a listen for awhile, but the tops are slightly curved, so a thicker foam pad would be in order.

    The midrange is STELLAR with @Gardenstater's
    foam frame mod, so I have the extra rear sound foam removed for now and factory dacron in place. Again Mid-bass is now very accurate. These taper off quickly @55 Hz however so perfect for my jazz habit.

    BTW, I'm running these with an Ayima-A07 Class D amp with 36Volt 5A power supply.
    Happy tunes...



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    Post edited by xschop on
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  • Jazzhead
    Jazzhead Posts: 533
    Time to crank Mr. Clean...
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    I was sitting on fence about adding in the 2 ohm resistor on these to tame the tweets since they are near-field use. The midrange is something to experience now. A little more low end grunt/output without them having to be right near the walls would be ideal. Think I will do another P3 retro-fit B)

    Cal Tjader on the continued cap burn-in and don't want to leave my desk lol.
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,500
    Try Wayne Shorter El Gaucho. Great impactful drum test. "P3 Retro-Fit" ?
    George / NJ

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    Polk Power Ports....
    These will be simple to convert. Had these ports on hand and they look like they were made for these enclosures.

    Being the 3rd set Polks retro-fitted with them, I can say I found the secret sauce of their design.

    It appears that whatever port ID Polk used on any model also matches the base of the opposing curved base with its tip length being exactly 1/2 the base length....

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    Post edited by xschop on
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    widyhdbv16u5.png

    Going to try a little more lower Hz extension on these at first and not trim any of the factory port length. The TSi-100 port ID is 2" These are CSi5 Center Channel Power Ports with 2" bases at bottom of curve and 1" tip lengths.... 4"x5" platforms. The laminar flow pylons are not included in the port calculation.

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    Going to have a listen. I'll have to trim those little embosememts off the pylons...

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    Post edited by xschop on
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    Jazzhead wrote: »
    Time to crank Mr. Clean...

    Wifey asked why I keep leaving the "stereo" on in the office all night lol

    The vibes with plugs and foam frames are incredibly life like on these little Polks too🙂
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,500
    Yeah man. I don't listen to a lot of vibraphone music but that Cal Tjader made me realize how the combination of these two mods has extended the decay time and the purity of the tones. Very lifelike indeed.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
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    Onkyo A-8017 integrated
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    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
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    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    Him and Roy Ayers... More nuanced revelations in the tone....Blissful... Gotta go check the garden chili. Then set these up on the main rig and check the bass extension with them up against the main wall. So far we have more impact on the desktop arrangement. B)

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  • Jazzhead
    Jazzhead Posts: 533
    Any man with a chili garden has his priorities in order...

    Your phase plugs transformed vibes and steel drums for my speakers.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    About 6" off the long wall, these now extend down to upper 30's/lower 40's Hz.

    Spending time at the shop, so set these up on the PC there. Hard getting any work done...

    2xzbs27ufoii.jpg

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    edited July 2023
    Added a 5x5x 5/8" piece of SoundCoat foam sandwiched between the factory dacron. Slitted the skirt as the baffle dowel keeps it suspended between the rear of the MW and back wall. Found this to be best practice for foams on my builds, as it sounds like it catches more backwave reflections than just placing on back wall.

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  • ChrisD06
    ChrisD06 Posts: 929
    Replace the ferrofluid in the tweeter now lol. Will make it sparkle that much more.

    I will say, it's pretty neat to see the amount of modification you've made here. I wonder what the frequency response chart would look like compared to the stock TSi100?
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    All worth the extra effort. Don't think Polk could have hit their market price point with these leaving the factory this way. Only Polk would know if there was ferrofluid in these. I was going to make billet tweeter plates, but they didn't intend for them to be taken apart with their neodymium motors permanently glued to their bezels.

    If frequency responses can determine sound quality, surely they would excel over factory.
    Caps still burning in and the sweetness continues.

    Next up is TeCu posts...
    Got some certified alloy on the way....

    tbmuyvbdh1ur.png
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  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,500
    ChrisD06 wrote: »
    Replace the ferrofluid in the tweeter now lol. Will make it sparkle that much more.

    I will say, it's pretty neat to see the amount of modification you've made here. I wonder what the frequency response chart would look like compared to the stock TSi100?

    I think that viscosity and quantity matter and would have to be experimented with, as I'm sure Polk must've done in development.
    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
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    JayCee wrote: »
    xschop wrote: »
    Karma time. ...Chime in here and I'll draw a name to send these out next week....They will drop right in to any vintage Monitor 4,5,7 pair....

    Thanks, Rob. In. I have a pair of 5A's that will go in a basement project I'm working on.
    24vq3qdepfyk.jpg

    You owe us a build thread🙂
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  • ChrisD06
    ChrisD06 Posts: 929
    Gardenstater wrote: »
    ChrisD06 wrote: »
    Replace the ferrofluid in the tweeter now lol. Will make it sparkle that much more.

    I will say, it's pretty neat to see the amount of modification you've made here. I wonder what the frequency response chart would look like compared to the stock TSi100?

    I think that viscosity and quantity matter and would have to be experimented with, as I'm sure Polk must've done in development.

    Viscosity does matter, I'm sure Polk would know what was used though.
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  • ChrisD06
    ChrisD06 Posts: 929
    xschop wrote: »
    All worth the extra effort. Don't think Polk could have hit their market price point with these leaving the factory this way. Only Polk would know if there was ferrofluid in these. I was going to make billet tweeter plates, but they didn't intend for them to be taken apart with their neodymium motors permanently glued to their bezels.

    If frequency responses can determine sound quality, surely they would excel over factory.
    Caps still burning in and the sweetness continues.

    Next up is TeCu posts...
    Got some certified alloy on the way....

    tbmuyvbdh1ur.png

    Ah right, I forgot the neo motor was glued in.

    Makes one wonder, if you were ballsy enough, could you slap the neo motor onto an SL6506 diaphragm?
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 5,000
    If the BL is the same, should sound the same I'd assume?
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  • ChrisD06
    ChrisD06 Posts: 929
    xschop wrote: »
    If the BL is the same, should sound the same I'd assume?

    Probably would sound like a tri-lam but handle much more power. Only one way to find out... but I'm not ballsy enough to do it. Probably not even needed, the silk dome replacements for the SL6506 are better anyways.
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