Picked up a set of 3.1tl's, Here I go again

vintage dad · October 1

Luckily my cabinets are in good shape, tops and bottoms are good.

vintage dad · October 5

Today I got the cabinets sealed and MW magnets glued. I also recieved my 1 1/4 inch Sonic Barrier from Parts Express. I decided to try the SB on my 1C's to see if I could really tell the difference.

This is the easiest mod I have done. Cut into 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 squares, (I used a table saw) remove MW's, slide polyfill up, stick squares behind MW's, slide poly back into place, reinstall drivers. Probably took 45 minutes.

I am surprised. The difference is dramatic. In a good way. The mids are much cleaner, the imaging is sharper, the SDA effect has more space. I think the bass may be cleaner as well. The gentle subduing of the mids has also allowed the highs to shine through, something previously lacking. The 1C's have never sounded this clean, this balanced.

IMO this may be the best bang for the buck mod. An 18X24 inch piece of Sonic Barrier is about $30. I was able to make enough sqares to do my 3.1's, 1C's and 2B's with enough left over to do my Monitor 7's when the time comes. If you are on the fence about this mod, just do it! I understand many consider Black Hole 5 to be superior, but my ears and my budget are truly appreciating this Sonic Barrier. It will go on all of my vintage Polks. Now I am going to do the 2B's.

pitdogg2 · October 5

I understand many consider Black Hole 5 to be superior

The original Black Hole 5 is no more, the new stuff is not the same stuff we used in the past.
Fwiw

vintage dad · October 7

To those who questioned the age of my equipment, you were right to do so. I picked up an Onkyo 9555 integrated amp in like new condition yesterday to use while sending my Adcom GFP555 and Hafler DH500 to the shop for a good going over. I tested it at the sellers house on his nice B&W speakers. I was impressed, so I handed him $150., took it home, and hooked it up to the 1C's. I wasnt expecting too much, so I was pleasantly surprised. As much as I hate to admit it, the Onkyo sounds better than my separates. Yes, it has it's limitations (at less than half of the wattage) especially near 12 o'clock on the volume knob, but at moderate levels it sounds very nice. My old stuff is definitely out of spec. It only makes sense, I throw gobs of $$$ updating the guts of my 30 year old speakers and ignore my 30 year old equipment. A big part of that has been that while I am comfortable inside of speakers, I am not qualified to tear into equipment. Now to try to find someone locally to service them. The Hafler weighs a ton, shipping alone would cost a fortune.

vintage dad · October 14

The cabinets are ready! They were lightly sanded and 3 coats of satin black enamel were sprayed. Cover fabric has been replaced. Drivers reinstalled securely into hurricane nuts.

The binding posts have been replaced with Cardas. Stock interconnect replaced with SpeakOn.

All that's left are the crosovers. The Clairty CSA caps are expected to arrive tomorrow. I should have them up and running before the weekend.

pitdogg2 · October 14

When the sticker glue dies, red or black shrink tubing works pretty good. I cut off about 1/4" ring of my adhesive lined red and put it over the back half of my Cardas binding posts.

vintage dad · October 14

pitdogg2 wrote: »

When the sticker glue dies, red or black shrink tubing works pretty good. I cut off about 1/4" ring of my adhesive lined red and put it over the back half of my Cardas binding posts.

That's a great idea! Sticker is meant to be temporary, but considering I still get my left and right confused I had to do something to protect myself from myself.

F1nut · October 14

I used red and black pinstripe tape. This is the black one.
https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/ultrastripe-black-1-16/HANU80420.html

This is the red one.
https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/ultrastripe-true-red-1-16/HANU83520.html

Toolfan66 · October 15

Those are looking great. Nice job..

halo71 · October 15

Where did you find the black paint?

vintage dad · October 15

halo71 wrote: »

Where did you find the black paint?

I will tell you if you promise to keep an open mind.......

Some may scoff, but I have refinished several pairs of speakers with this exact paint and each time gotten great results. Mind you I refer to myself as an exceptional **** polisher and have decades of experience with rattle cans.

It's Rust-oleum protective enamel. I get it at Home depot.

Rust-oleum recently upgraded the nozzles to include 5 settings; normal, heavy, light, vertical fan and horizontal fan. I used the light settings for all of the edges first, the horizontal fan for the sides, and the vertical fan for the tops which I always paint last because they are the most noticable.

Some experience or a good deal of practice with a rattle can is important to get an even sheen, smooth finish, and avoid runs.

I very carefully mask and cover everything I dont want paint on, lightly scuff all surfaces with a sanding sponge, wipe down and spray 3 light coats. A heavy coat will run. The sheen is spot on. All of the detail and grain still shows through. And it holds up very well, no peeling, chipping, etc.

With the new fabric the 3.1tl's look better than new, an improvement over the black vinyl they came with.

Somewhere someone is judging me. I can feel it.

vintage dad · October 15

Hmmmm. I did not think the word I used in my polishing comment was offensive, but it got **** anyway. My apologies to the editing robot.

vintage dad · October 15

GRRRRR. USPS. My Madisound order was to arrive by 9pm today. It's 9:20........

vintage dad · October 18

The caps arrived Wednesday and I finished the build yestrday.

After working out a few bugs I finally got them right at about 10 last night. I wasn't able to listen for long, but I love what I heard! The 3.1tl's are a big step up from my 1C's and 2Btl's. I will save the details until I get the chance to listen some more, but I am one happy camper!

vintage dad · October 23

I am totally in love with these 3.1tl's! Absolutely the best pair of speakers I have ever owned. I don't actually understand why they sound so much better than my 1C's and 2Btl's. The only real difference is that I used Clairity CSA's in both the high and low pass in the 3.1's instead of Sonicap for the highs for the other pairs with Clairty PX for lows on the 2B's and Dayton in the 1C's. The imaging is precise and the soundstage is huge. The SDA effect is there, but not as pronounced. It is more seamless, natural, and blended. I can't hear the separation between stereo and SDA, which was more obvious on the others, especially the 1C's. They just create a wall of believable and engaging sound. The detail is fantastic without being bright, forward or harsh. I could not be happier with the result, can't seem to find any faults, which for me is a miracle.

Just before I finished the build my Hafler DH500 let out the magic smoke and one of the MW''s in my 1C's actually caught on fire. My first listen to the 3.1's was on an Onkyo A9555 integrated amp. I could hear the limitations of the Onkyo which forced me into some obsessive searching for a different rig. I found a Classe Model 30 preamp and CA150 power amp about an hour away, so I picked them up Saturday. They are both in mint condition. I was concerned about going from the Haffler's 225 WPC down to the Classe's 150 WPC, but the Classe has proved to be equally as capable as the Haffler. This current set up has brought me the sound experience that has eluded me since I dove back into this crazy hobby more than a decade ago. I am finally content! We will see if that lasts.

pitdogg2 · October 23

As you found out all watts are not the same.

Picked up a set of 3.1tl's, Here I go again

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