Polk 5B and ADS 470 Speakers - Information
davidballou2022
Posts: 31
in Speakers
FYI:
I bought an early pair of ADS 470 2-way speakers…
I had bought a pair of Polk Monitor 5B speakers and was unhappy with them so I Vandersteened the Polk’s. I added new poly caps, high quality bypass caps, Air core inductors, 1st order network, added a Zobel Network for the woofer, applied 2-part epoxy to the woofer magnets, added an additional magnet to the Polk 6502 that made the woofer supper dynamic, and I added rather than wool to the tweeter face I added tool-box anti-slip around the tweeters (4x6 with a 1-inch hole in the center) that really helped the 8k peak that the Polk sl2000s are known for and didn’t totally kill the liveliness . The Polk’s sound much better now. The ADS speakers really sounded bad compared my updated Polk’s.
Where do I start? I thought for sure the ADS speakers were going to sound better than my updated Polk’s. I was so wrong.
I bought the ADS 470’s and I can’t leave them the way they are. I started with taking out the fiberglass acoustic material and installed lightly stuffed poly fill (I think better quality stuffing is worth it, and it is not poly.) Internally I liquid-nailed 1” square stock wood to every joint. I braced the front and back baffle with 1” square stock. I bypassed the thermal resistor. I replaced the existing tweeter capacitor with Janzen Standard poly Caps. I feel one cap doesn’t do it all. I put a 1.5 uF, 3uF, and a .1 uF bypass all in parallel for the new 1st order crossover for the tweeter. I also know about EMF and I am not a fan of inductors across a tweeter. The result seems to compress the audio to my ears and I assume the counter-EMF from the inductor may have something to do with that. I also added to the woofer frame strips of deadening tape.
Results:
The ADS 470s sound really great now. ADS speakers are the only speakers I ever heard where you can boost the treble 8db and the speakers don’t mind at all. With all of the added structure I created internally in the cabinet for extra rigidity, I have to set the bass at -6db on the receiver because the speaker has more bass now. When I first tried the speakers there was very little bass, The Polk 5Bs had much more bass. Not now. The ADS 470’s easily go 15 Hz lower than the Polk’s.
I bought an early pair of ADS 470 2-way speakers…
I had bought a pair of Polk Monitor 5B speakers and was unhappy with them so I Vandersteened the Polk’s. I added new poly caps, high quality bypass caps, Air core inductors, 1st order network, added a Zobel Network for the woofer, applied 2-part epoxy to the woofer magnets, added an additional magnet to the Polk 6502 that made the woofer supper dynamic, and I added rather than wool to the tweeter face I added tool-box anti-slip around the tweeters (4x6 with a 1-inch hole in the center) that really helped the 8k peak that the Polk sl2000s are known for and didn’t totally kill the liveliness . The Polk’s sound much better now. The ADS speakers really sounded bad compared my updated Polk’s.
Where do I start? I thought for sure the ADS speakers were going to sound better than my updated Polk’s. I was so wrong.
I bought the ADS 470’s and I can’t leave them the way they are. I started with taking out the fiberglass acoustic material and installed lightly stuffed poly fill (I think better quality stuffing is worth it, and it is not poly.) Internally I liquid-nailed 1” square stock wood to every joint. I braced the front and back baffle with 1” square stock. I bypassed the thermal resistor. I replaced the existing tweeter capacitor with Janzen Standard poly Caps. I feel one cap doesn’t do it all. I put a 1.5 uF, 3uF, and a .1 uF bypass all in parallel for the new 1st order crossover for the tweeter. I also know about EMF and I am not a fan of inductors across a tweeter. The result seems to compress the audio to my ears and I assume the counter-EMF from the inductor may have something to do with that. I also added to the woofer frame strips of deadening tape.
Results:
The ADS 470s sound really great now. ADS speakers are the only speakers I ever heard where you can boost the treble 8db and the speakers don’t mind at all. With all of the added structure I created internally in the cabinet for extra rigidity, I have to set the bass at -6db on the receiver because the speaker has more bass now. When I first tried the speakers there was very little bass, The Polk 5Bs had much more bass. Not now. The ADS 470’s easily go 15 Hz lower than the Polk’s.
Comments
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The SL2000 peak is in the 13kHz range.
The RD0194 replacement is a far better tweeter.
Bypass caps are not needed when
upgrading to poly caps. In fact, adding bypass caps creates undesirable artifacts.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 -
@davidballou2022 Vandersteened the baskets......oh well that's fair lol. So you are another happy modder with the foam inside the baskets? Didn't destroy your bass did it?
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 -
Gardenstater wrote: »@davidballou2022 Vandersteened the baskets......oh well that's fair lol. So you are another happy modder with the foam inside the baskets? Didn't destroy your bass did it?
He added an additional magnet to the mid-drivers that made them "supper dynamic", hence more bass.
Instead of being a cheap a$$ using that foam crap in the wrong place buy some BH5 and do it right.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 -
Oh and welcome to Club Polk lol.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 -
The Polk 6502 is faster, faster doesn't mean more bass with the added magnet. Try it, don't read about it. Next you will tell me that iron-core inductors don't play music in the cabinet.
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I don't like what wool takes away from the tweeter. Even with the star cut-outs, the foam was a happy medium. I do confess the Polk 5Bs aren't done yet. I understand about the upgrade. Why would I put a Polk back in? The only good Polk 5's were the Polk's with the Peerless tweeter. Why would I ever put a Polk replacement with a totally inferior crossover when there are so many better tweeters and crossover upgrades out there. If you think that the Polk tweeters are the best, then I hope you like the sound of your MP3s.Post edited by davidballou2022 on
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I am Dave. Listen to me roar. Stop and think before you speak please. You don’t know everything and the more I learn, I learn I hardly know anything.
Speakers that I remember that I owned or built:
• Acoustic Research center channel speaker
• ADS L470
• ADS L780
• ADS L810
• ADS L1290
• Advent Large
• Advent Baby Advent
• Altec Boleros
• Altec Valencia's
• Altec Model 19 variation - 515 RBD Hollywood woofers, Altec 806a driver, Altec 511 horn installed in a ported 7.5 cubic foot cabinet.
• Altec 409s with 15-inch woofers installed in VW Rabbit.
• Altec 409 cabinets
• Altec 409 infinite baffle (4800 cubic feet)
• Altec 419-8B – 12-inch full range with 40 watts of tube power with an external tuner. (This was my roll-around speaker when I worked manufacturing electro/mechanical devices.
• Altec 419-8B subwoofer installed into the ski-bag location in my Audi 5000
• Altec 755E cabinet
• Altec (2) 755Cs.
• Altec Custom Cabinet - Herald 15-Inch woofers installed in a customized speaker cabinet with Altec 405 midranges and Altec cone tweeters.
• Boston Acoustics 150
• Boston Acoustics PSW1000
• Atlantic Audio (2) 8” subwoofers
• B&W 302 – I modified the crossovers.
• B&W 305
• JBL small monitors
• JBL - D123 12-inch corner cabinet
• JBL- S8: 15-inch woofer, 2-Inch horn, bullet tweeters. I removed the midrange and tweeter and physically aligned the speaker’s voice coils with the midrange and tweeter mounted on top of the cabinet
• Polk Audio Rt15i 25i woofer upgrade, dome tweeter upgrade with crossover upgrade.
• Polk Audio Monitor 4.5
• Radio Shack Minimus 7 – 3 pairs - Crossover Mods
• Radio Shack poly-woofer 8 Inch, Altec 405 midranges, Radio Shack slotted tweeters.
• Infinity RS8 2-way with built-in subwoofer
• Acoustic Research center channel
• Advent indoor/outdoor speakers
• Vandersteen 2C
• 3 Pairs of Radio Shack Minimus 7
• Two 11-Inch subwoofers in custom cabintes powered by a Crown PS400.
• Vandersteen VCC-1
• Polk monitor 5Bs
Books my Dad co-wrote and edited:
https://www.bing.com/shop?q=glen+m+ballou+books&FORM=SHOPPA&originIGUID=B04843AAAA0847FAA0A936DB898558B6
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I have to say my Vandersteen 2s with my Polk 6502 magnet upgrade instead of the Scan-Speak P21WO20-08 sounds not bad so far.
What I learned is my Polk 5s are really bad speakers compared to my Vandersteen 2s.
I like how cymbals sound with the Polk sl2000s with the Janzen cap upgrade/bypass. I understand the tweeters are hot, I just feel the tweeters have that metal dome sound somewhat, without the high harmonic distortion that metal has. With a good cap not the Polk crap crossover, I don't want to give up on the 2000s, I feel the poly-cone has an in-between sound to the fabric and metal. -
I've never heard a Vandersteen speaker that I liked. Isn't it weird how we all have different tastes and preferences?
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Vandersteen made over 100000 model 2s to date.
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Neat.
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Vandersteen has been quoted to be the best speaker ever for the price!!!!!!!!! Richard Vandersteen takes acoustics to the basics. He has speakers for more than $60000Post edited by davidballou2022 on
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When was your last hearing test?
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I have his model 2 and VCC1, I had Altec Valencias, Altec Model 19 variant, and JBL s8s from the 70s. Vandersteen 2s, next to my ear, ADS L470 next to my ear, and Polk 5s, next room, the JBL s8s might be the best I had. (I took the midrange and tweeter out of the cabinet and mounted the drivers on top of the cabinet on center, voice-coils aligned.) I have heard some dynamic/electrostatic once and they sounded good. Sometimes it is all about how loud. Horns or Electrostatic. At the AES convention in 1984 I heard some Tannoy Dreadnouts ( 2x15s with a coax 15) that I can't find on the web that were easily the best speakers I ever heard. My Dad was the chairman of the AES convention at the Waldorf in NY at that time and the Tannoy Rep knew my Dad and turned up the Dreadnouts to maximum level, everyone from the other Hotel rooms at the convention came running in to hear it. Besides working for a sound company/Altec for almost 9 years, I have been building speakers since I was 13 years old… 43 years.Post edited by davidballou2022 on
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I understand preferences. That is why people who love speakers can never be satisfied by one pair. Having several different loudspeakers that sound so different is much safer than having several girlfriends that are different, no one got in trouble for having more than one pair of loudspeakers. Maybe if you are married 1-pair might be all you get.
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Tannoy Dreadnouts that I can't find on the web
Helps if you spell the name correctly.
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 -
So cool! Thanks! I remember a wood finished side, hell I was 18 or 19. When I heard them the speakers were more horizontal, probably because it was in a hotel suite.
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Are those 15 inch woofers?
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They don't look it, but I may be wrong.
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That doesn't look as I remembered.
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Everything looks bigger when you are younger...
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This is it.
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You likely heard the Buckingham monitor.
This is the home version of the Buckingham.
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 -
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How about you being less of an a$$...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 -
I was around when Altec had their 604/904. I have been around when Urei adopted the 604 and signal aligned the drivers. I have the Vandersteen VCC-1. I like the concentric drivers. I only heard the Tannoy's once. Not many people can afford the Tannoys. I like the concept.
