5B Questions

madmike
madmike Posts: 81
edited November 2009 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
Hi, I'm fairly new to the forum, I have a set of 5b's that I am replacing tweeters in, they should be here next week and I was wondering if a person should replace the wires with 16 gauge, the original seams like about 20 gauge wire. Should I upgrade the x-overs while I'm at it? Thanks in advance for any feed back.
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  • MillerLiteScott
    MillerLiteScott Posts: 2,561
    edited July 2009
    Do what you wish but I think you will be fine.
    I like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,196
    edited July 2009
    Upgrade the x-overs and you will be a very happy person!

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51420&highlight=5b*

    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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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited July 2009
    Thanks for the info.
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    Just put the new tweeters in my 5B's. Man I forgot how sweet sounding these little speakers are.
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  • NJPOLKER
    NJPOLKER Posts: 3,474
    edited August 2009
    The new tweeters will sound better after an adjustment time. Heiney is right, as usual, you should do the x-overs too. You will find a lot of information here by doing forum searches. Then ask all the questions you like. Pictures are always good too. I like that word "too" it seems.
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I have all the parts ordered for the X-overs. They should be here next week, they just went through customs on the 6th. My daughter is putting time on the system and she says that they sound better then before.
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I have already put Dynamat on and mortited the speakers and that made some difference. The tweeters really bring out the voices according to my daughter, I haven't had a lot of time listening to them yet.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,196
    edited August 2009
    Cool Madmike, after about 100-150 hours the tweets will really open up. What brand parts did you get for the x-over? Those will take even longer to break in, especially if they are the premium Sonicaps.

    If you think they sound good now................wait about a month and they should be even better.

    Enjoy...........I use my 5B's in a secondary rig in my office and I love them.

    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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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I picked up my parts at madisound, I got Clarity caps and the Mundorf resistors. I will try and post some Pictures.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,196
    edited August 2009
    madmike wrote: »
    I picked up my parts at madisound, I got Clarity caps and the Mundorf resistors. I will try and post some Pictures.

    Nice "economical" choice............compared to Sonicaps anyways. I used Solen's originally and I'm putting in an order for Clarity caps (at Madisound) on the high pass (12uF). They should be smoother and a little more open than the Solen; so I'm told. I originally used Mills resistors and I don;t see a need to switch those at this time.

    You will be amazed at how good the 5b's will sound. A whole other level or two.

    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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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    That's what I have been reading about here. I've owned these since 1985 and have yet to hear any other speaker that is as good as these for the size. So I thought I might as well do some upgrading and with all the help on this forum it should be fairly easy.

    MM
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  • NJPOLKER
    NJPOLKER Posts: 3,474
    edited August 2009
    MM,
    I do have a question for you. Why the thumb down in your heading?
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I thought it was a question mark, is there any way of changing that?
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I have about 5 hours on new tweeters and all I can say is WOWWWW!!!!!:):)
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  • NJPOLKER
    NJPOLKER Posts: 3,474
    edited August 2009
    madmike wrote: »
    I thought it was a question mark, is there any way of changing that?

    I don't know if you can but I wouldn't worry about it.
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    Have my new tweeters in and have upgraded the X-overs with Clarity caps and Mundorf resistors. Have about 5 hours listening time and I don't remember these speakers ever sounding this good. I have also put Dynamat on MW's and Passives and mortited eveything in place and man what a difference in bass that has made. The RDO-198's sure makes female voices sound way less harsh then with the SL-2000's. From what I understand is that the sound is only going to sound better as everything breaks in. I will keep giving you guys updates as time goes on.
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2009
    Which ClarityCaps did you go with?
    "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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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I went with the SA series of caps. They pretty much take up the whole X-over, (huge) you can just get them back through the hole. I use a long zip tie and wrapped it around the circuit board to keep from putting tension on the wire connections,
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I'll try and post some pictures later.
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I used the 33 mfd since they didn't have 34's listed was told by Josh at Madisound that it would not be an issue. Like I said before I don't remember these 5B's sounding this good. And they will only sound better as time goes on. My daughter even said that they sound way better then before. I may have to get my Carver M500t gone through in the near future. I have had this Amp since new in 1986 and it has never been touched yet. Also got the C1 pre-amp at the same time.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited August 2009
    The RDO-198's sure makes female voices sound way less harsh then with the SL-2000's.

    Those are the wrong replacement tweeters for the SL2000. You want the RD0194-1.
    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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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2009
    F1nut wrote: »
    Those are the wrong replacement tweeters for the SL2000. You want the RD0194-1.

    That can be corrected: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18767&d=1155784608
    "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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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    Sorry about that they are the RDO194-1, for some reason I had the 198's in my brain. I just checked the invoice and they are the RDO 194-1's, again sorry about that.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,647
    edited August 2009
    No problem, just wanted to make sure you were getting the most out of them.


    Good suggestion, Face.
    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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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    Just off the Polk Audio topic, I have a pair of Reynolds Advance A+ speakers that I have not use for a long time, I just took them out of the boxes and pulled the grills off and I have a passive that has the center cap that has fallen off, the glue just let go by the looks of it. I was wondering what kind of glue one could use to glue it back on? Thanks in advance for any input on this.

    Mike
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  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited August 2009
    Not to stray off topic, but would the 198's be the correct upgrade for the sl2500 in the series II's?
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I'm not sure about that one I know the replacement for the SL2000 are the RDO194-1. I'm sure some one here can help out.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,196
    edited August 2009
    McLoki wrote: »
    Not to stray off topic, but would the 198's be the correct upgrade for the sl2500 in the series II's?

    No, IIRC you still use the RD0194-1. But let others chime in or call Ken tomorrow. I'm about 95% sure about it.

    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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  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,430
    edited August 2009
    McLoki wrote: »
    Not to stray off topic, but would the 198's be the correct upgrade for the sl2500 in the series II's?

    The 198's are the replacement for the SL2500 (and of course the SL3000). I ordered them for my 5jr+ Series 2's some years ago, to very satisfactory results.

    Jay
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,196
    edited August 2009
    Mike, I'd still check with Ken to make sure.
    "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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