New mid drivers not polarity marked.

fbm211

I got my 3 new mid drivers today and they came unmarked.The pos did NOT have the little red dot above it like the older drivers did.And hooking them up the same way as the older drivers did not work either.The right channel is out of phase.Bass response isnt there anymore.The left channel is ok though.How could polk not mark there new drivers and how do I tell which is pos and neg??

treitz3

You can use a couple of wires and a small battery [AA or AAA] to see which way the driver moves based on the batteries polarity. You want the driver to move out.

ben62670

Which drivers are you speaking of?
Ben

fbm211

2x 6511 1X 6503 My 2B drivers were worn out.I switched the wires on the right ch 6511 and I seem to have propper phase now.Bass response is backand my speakers sound much better.Midrange is so much cleaner sounding

F1nut

Why didn't you change both 6503's?

fbm211

I already had a newer 6503 when I bought them.You can tell just by looking at it.And you couldnt see the voice coil wires.I still have a slightly better sounding left channel so Ill be getting new crossovers next.Not to mention the fact that the current xovers are a little different.The left one has the mid drivers wires soldered directly onto the board.The other has the m/f plug.Im restoring them a little at a time.After the xovers Im going to install premium binding posts and a custom IC cable with posts for it to.And rewire the speakers with the same canare wire I have for speaker cables as well as gold plated female disconnects and prepare all connections with deoxit gold.And last Im going to replace the wood tops and bottoms with white limba.(Its not white just a light oak color)

F1nut

I already had a newer 6503 when I bought them.

Ah, very good.

Just a thought. Speaker cable and chassis wire are two different things. I'd suggest you use some nice chassis wire from the crossovers to the drivers.

fbm211

OK.Im sorta new to the speaker DIY stuff so what do you think would be the best choice chassis wire? Oh, nevermind I found this cool place in canada but Im sure I can find a US dealer too.Check it out though,they have some nice stuff.I think Ill go with cardas hook up wire. http://www.partsconnexion.com/catalog.php

Face

I would contact Sonic Craft about internal wiring. Jeff(the owner) just hooked me up with a combination that sounds incredible.

While you're at it, you can order a pair of 5.8 uf Sonic Caps and a pair of 2.7 ohm Mills resistor for the TL upgrade.

F1nut

I think Ill go with cardas hook up wire.

Cardas wire is great stuff, but unless you have a solder pot or have the ends pre-tinned, it's a PITA to solder.

fbm211

I beginning to think Im in over my head here.The only soldering I think Ill have a problem with is to those plugs that plug onto the xover.Im planning on using crimp female disconnects.These were the only gold plated ones I can find- http://cgi.ebay.com/CALTERM-GOLDTECH-Gold-Plated-Copper-Female-Disconnect_W0QQitemZ330243728412QQihZ014QQcategoryZ109438QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Parts express has premium binding posts with standard male disconnects on the back of them and I plan to get 3 pair the third being for a custom IC cable.Are solder pots cheap?

Face

Parts express has gold plated female disconnects. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?Partnumber=095-810&FTR=095-810&CFID=30790396&CFTOKEN=70616607

The cheapest solder pots I could find were in the $300 range. I would go with a different cable. I used NeoTech solid core cable for my Tannoys and it was a nice improvement.

F1nut

Solder pots are not cheap, $300.00 or so.

What plugs on the crossover? There should be plastic quick disconnects that connect the chassis wire to the crossover board.

fbm211

Thats them.What would be the best way to remove exsisting wire and solder new wire to them? What guage NeoTech did you use? And for some unknown reason one of my Xovers has the middrivers wires soldered directly to the board.

Face

I used 14 ga for my woofers and 18 ga for my tweeters. I twisted the cables together throughout.

I would email Sonic Craft for their recommendation for your application though.

As for removing solder, Rat Shack has solder removing bulbs(suckers), braids, and a iron just for removing solder. There's plenty of info on Google.

fbm211

Thanks all. Ill be calling sonicraft monday and hope to talk to jeff to get his suggestions on the best wire and solder for my setup. I already planned to get a desoldering iron when I decide to do the xover mod.parts express has one I like with a built in pump.The xover mod is going to have to wait though because I really want that NAD 118 preamp.And Im ordering new Xovers from polk first thing in the morning. So money is going to be tight for a while.

Face

I believe he uses Cardas silver solder, which is also available from him.