Interesting mod

apachef1
apachef1 Posts: 60
edited April 2008 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
Recent mod to my SDA SRS speakers. The work was done by a very nice gentalman in CT, Carls custom speakershttp://www.classicloudspeakerservices.com/index.html
Post edited by apachef1 on
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited March 2008
    Very nice!

    I'm sure that wasn't cheap.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited March 2008
    few more pics
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited March 2008
    Your other pics aren't showing.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited March 2008
    cant post more than five pics only had two more.:cool:
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited March 2008
    Hi Face,

    How are the Goertz speaker cables? Look interesting and have good reviews. Hows the Mac equipment treating you?
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited March 2008
    Let's here some more about the crossover mod. What did he use and why, total cost and WTF are those resistors?

    How do they sound?
    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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  • joeparaski
    joeparaski Posts: 1,865
    edited March 2008
    Well I'd sure like to know how it sounds, seeing that I too have SRS speakers. What was the cost????

    Joe
    Amplifiers: 1-SAE Mark IV, 4-SAE 2400, 1-SAE 2500, 2-SAE 2600, 1-Buttkicker BKA 1000N w/2-tactile transducers. Sources: Sony BDP CX7000es, Sony CX300/CX400/CX450/CX455, SAE 8000 tuner, Akai 4000D R2R, Technics 1100A TT, Epson 8500UB with Carada 100". Speakers:Polk SDA SRS, 3.1TL, FXi5, FXi3, 2-SVS 20-29, Yamaha, SVS center sub. Power:2-Monster HTS3500, Furman M-8D & RR16 Plus. 2-SAE 4000 X-overs, SAE 5000a noise reduction, MSB Link DAC III, MSB Powerbase, Behringer 2496, Monarchy DIP 24/96.
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited March 2008
    apachef1 wrote: »
    How are the Goertz speaker cables? Look interesting and have good reviews. Hows the Mac equipment treating you?
    I love Goertz's various speaker cables. I use their AG2's for my Tannoys(even internally) and Flatwire for my Polks. I tried cables costing 50% more and still prefer Goertz.
    The Mac gear is good, I may be looking to move up the chain again soon though.

    So tell us more about your upgrade.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • woofiepaws
    woofiepaws Posts: 215
    edited March 2008
    More details please. Looks like an awesome upgrade.
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited March 2008
    been away a few days, sorry bout that. I only have about 30 hours on the speakers. The mid bass was rough to start but after 20 hours it started to smooth out. I used the Duelunds in the tweeter section of the x-over and this was well worth the money. The resistors are Duelund throughout. There is one resistor on the underside of the circuit board because of space limitations. Carls loudspeakers did an excellent job on this upgrade. When I received the box of caps and resistors from parts conx, I wasnt sure if everything was gonna fit. Carl was creative and really thought this one out well.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited March 2008
    So, you picked the parts or did he instruct you what to order?
    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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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited March 2008
    I'm having issues with uploading to this site. Here is a link to view more pics. This is work in progress and I'll be adding more pictures.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmacsystem/
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  • venomclan
    venomclan Posts: 2,467
    edited March 2008
    Sweet
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited March 2008
    Nice amps! I've never seen a pair of 3500's in person.

    How do they compare to the 225's?
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited March 2008
    The MC3500 has full extension with added slam, and very controlled bass the new crossover work reveled this quite a bit more. They don’t make amps like this anymore. A much different animal than any other amp I've ever listened to.
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  • avguytx
    avguytx Posts: 1,628
    edited March 2008
    Host your pics on a site like www.photobucket.com and then you can just attached the image url here.
    Richard? Who's your favorite Little Rascal? Alfalfa? Or is it........................Spanky?.................................Sinner.
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited April 2008
    I upgraded the internal hookup wire from the binding post to the crossover. This was a huge improvement. The crap that Polk used was 16 gauge and what looked like zip cord wire for one of those old lamps you see at grandma's house. I think Polk was in a rush to produce these speakers in the 80's and pushed them through the assembly line.
    I used 10 gauge copper hookup wire for the upgrade and replaced the binding posts with Cardas copper posts. The heaviness in the bass has disappeared and the speaker is more musical and not strained. There has been a hot debate about hookup wire and if there is any advantage to doing this upgrade. I can testify this one was a very noticeable upgrade besides the cap and resistors.
    Next is to upgrade the SDA cable and conections. More to follow
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited April 2008
    I had similar results upgrading the internal wiring in my Tannoy's. It definitely took things up a notch.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited April 2008
    I still need to upgrade the SDA hook up wires. I'm still getting everything together for that one. I was undecided on speaker cable. I think its gonna be coincidents trs extreme.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited April 2008
    Don't forget to reseal the back of the binding post plate. Hot glue works well.
    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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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,194
    edited April 2008
    apachef1 wrote: »
    I upgraded the internal hookup wire from the binding post to the crossover. This was a huge improvement. The crap that Polk used was 16 gauge and what looked like zip cord wire for one of those old lamps you see at grandma's house. I think Polk was in a rush to produce these speakers in the 80's and pushed them through the assembly line.
    I used 10 gauge copper hookup wire for the upgrade and replaced the binding posts with Cardas copper posts. The heaviness in the bass has disappeared and the speaker is more musical and not strained. There has been a hot debate about hookup wire and if there is any advantage to doing this upgrade. I can testify this one was a very noticeable upgrade besides the cap and resistors.
    Next is to upgrade the SDA cable and conections. More to follow

    I do agree that it can't hurt to upgrade internal wiring (mostly for peace of mind). I'm curious how you determined the internal wiring had such a positive effect since you seemed to do the x-over and binding posts all at the same time? Correct me if I'm wrong and you did each stage individually and noted the changes over a reasonable amount of time.

    I'm sure the sum of all the parts is outstanding, but just curious why the upgraded internal wiring was so superb that you singled it out.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited April 2008
    Polk used 16 gauge hook-up wire through the entire food chain. It would seem some kinda signal drop from the original binding post through the crossover and then out to the drivers would happen. Although I've done no tests to confirm that. Going to 10 gauge to the crossover and then 16 gauge to the drivers would compensate for the resistance. I'm sure the whole upgrade has made a difference.
    Did you see the garbage Polk used?
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited April 2008
    Actually, it's not bad wire and much better than I've seen in a lot of speakers.
    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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  • apachef1
    apachef1 Posts: 60
    edited April 2008
    The tweeter wire from the crossover to the drivers was that zip cord crap that I also replaced. Not really sure if this made any difference since it was done the same time as the caps and resistors. It was a relatively inexpensive upgrade. The hookup wire to the all the mid-bass drivers was good quality 16 gauge and had tightly crimped connections. I didn’t feel this was gonna be worth the time and effort.
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited April 2008
    So approximately how much money did you spend?

    Also, can you elaborate on the sonic benefits of this mod?

    Thanks.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited April 2008
    I used the same cable I use for speaker wire, but a thinner gage. I also bypassed all plugs and soldered directly to terminals. I'm surprised more people don't do the same.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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