Upgrades to the RM-2350
A few weeks ago my brother was complaining about the SQ of his setup and that one of his speakers was making a rattling sound. He brought the problematic speaker by yesterday(even though I asked for all of them) and I took at a look at it.
It appears that the satellite may have taken a fall at some point and a few of the pegs holding the woofer in place snapped. The x-over board also appeared to have a dent/crease where the woofer made contact with it, so it must have dropped at least a few feet.
After reattaching the woofer, I took a look at the x-over. It appears all electrolytics are used with the exception of a .1uf bypass cap on the HF section. The LF section also has a 330uf filter cap to protect the small woofer from low frequencies. I took out my bin of spare parts to see what I could replace to help it's SQ. I replaced the 8.0uf and .1uf caps in the HF section with a pair of Solens that added up to 8.3uf(close enough). I put everything back together and gave it a quick listen. The highs improved a little, but the rest of the speaker was still in dire help. It still had a hollow sound to it and the mids were really congested.
I took everything apart again and bypassed the 330uf with a .1uf Dayton 1% cap, removed the small piece of polyfill from the cabinet, and stuffed it from top to bottom with some polyfill left over from another build. I would have liked to use a larger cap for the bypass, but there was very little room left in the cabinet. I hooked it back up and give it another listen. Most of the hollow sound was gone and the mids seemed a little more open. I don't know which of the two mods contributed more, but there was definitely an improvement.
Will these compete with a pair of $50-100 bookshelves, maybe, maybe not. But, for someone who uses his rig for background music and the occasional movie, he should be content. He plans on bringing the other speaker by next week and possible his rear speakers also. Luckily I have enough spare caps in my bins for all of them. Here's a few pictures of it's guts.
It appears that the satellite may have taken a fall at some point and a few of the pegs holding the woofer in place snapped. The x-over board also appeared to have a dent/crease where the woofer made contact with it, so it must have dropped at least a few feet.
After reattaching the woofer, I took a look at the x-over. It appears all electrolytics are used with the exception of a .1uf bypass cap on the HF section. The LF section also has a 330uf filter cap to protect the small woofer from low frequencies. I took out my bin of spare parts to see what I could replace to help it's SQ. I replaced the 8.0uf and .1uf caps in the HF section with a pair of Solens that added up to 8.3uf(close enough). I put everything back together and gave it a quick listen. The highs improved a little, but the rest of the speaker was still in dire help. It still had a hollow sound to it and the mids were really congested.
I took everything apart again and bypassed the 330uf with a .1uf Dayton 1% cap, removed the small piece of polyfill from the cabinet, and stuffed it from top to bottom with some polyfill left over from another build. I would have liked to use a larger cap for the bypass, but there was very little room left in the cabinet. I hooked it back up and give it another listen. Most of the hollow sound was gone and the mids seemed a little more open. I don't know which of the two mods contributed more, but there was definitely an improvement.
Will these compete with a pair of $50-100 bookshelves, maybe, maybe not. But, for someone who uses his rig for background music and the occasional movie, he should be content. He plans on bringing the other speaker by next week and possible his rear speakers also. Luckily I have enough spare caps in my bins for all of them. Here's a few pictures of it's guts.
"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