Refacing old speakers

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RJaco
RJaco Posts: 113
edited March 2009 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
I bought a pair of old Jensen speakers for my son to use. They are the cs-315. They are pretty big and the laminate is starting to pill. I am thinking about building some new cabinets or putting some 3/4" over the existing cabinets. I have also thought about moving the tweeter and mids to the side panel. Then I would turn the speakers 1/4 turn and have the woofer side firing. Making the side the front and having a smaller front area.

Has anybody done something similar? Will this work? Anything I can do to help in the sq without messing with the xover? Maybe some extra bracing or some adding fill. Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Post edited by RJaco on

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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited March 2009
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    If the finish on the cabs is bad and you want to replace it feel free. Revinyling them will probably be the best bang for your buck. As far as the drivers go, I'd just leave them as is as that is how they were designed. If you wanted to try to make a difference in the SQ, rebuilding the XO would be fine as would bracing, but I doubt it would make a huge difference as it appears they were designed to be "house speakers" to begin with.
  • ShinAce
    ShinAce Posts: 1,194
    edited March 2009
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    Bracing and filling is not going to make this speaker shine. You need to either change the drivers or rebuild the crossover. Can you say, $$$?

    You can redo the vinyl if you want without breaking the bank. I wouldn't recommend building a box around the existing one, as there is a risk of rattles. If you prefer, build a new box entirely instead of redoing the finish.

    For SQ, speaker placement, and room treatments(heavy curtains, cushy furniture, and sound panels) are your best bets. Otherwise, look into new speakers; However, I take it that is not part of your gameplan.
  • John30_30
    John30_30 Posts: 1,024
    edited March 2009
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    Most economical way to reface them would probably be formica or a sheet of 1/4" oak or maple veneer plywood. You've got a table saw. 3/4" cladding seems like total overkill to me.
  • RJaco
    RJaco Posts: 113
    edited March 2009
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    Thanks for the ideas guys. Would it hurt to move the placement of the drives? I am not too worried about the sq. Just thought that I might could do something while I had it apart. What about the port? It is only about a 2" port and not very long, maybe a couple of inches.

    3/4 might seem like overkill but I was wanting to make radius corners similar to cabinet corners. I can't do it with 1/4. I think I can add the 3/4 and not get any rattles. I would use liquid nails and nail it to the old cabinets. I will do some more investigating before I attempt anything.