5B Questions

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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    Hi H9,
    I ordered them from Walter, he's the Polk distributer here in Canada, and he sent me the 194's. By the way any idea what kind of glue to use on the dust cap for a 12" PR in a pair of Reynolds Advance A+ speakers?
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  • nduitch
    nduitch Posts: 316
    edited August 2009
    How are they sounding now? How do the clarity caps compare with Sonic Caps with regards to price?
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,196
    edited August 2009
    nduitch wrote: »
    How are they sounding now? How do the clarity caps compare with Sonic Caps with regards to price?

    Clarity has 4 lines of caps I would guess the new "ESA" line is comparable to Sonicap. I've not heard them side by side so I can;t say which sounds better. If you are spending about that kind of money, Sonicaps are hard to beat. But do understand all caps do have their own subtle differences, so opinions vary greatly.

    That said I don;t think you could go wrong with either one.

    Good luck

    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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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2009
    I would say ESA's are above Sonic Caps.
    "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 have about 20 hours on them so far. From what I understand going through the forum that they will come around after about 100-150 hours of playing time. To me I think that they sound better then when they were new 20 some years ago. After I redid the X-overs my daughter said that they sounded alot better then before, seeing that her ears are way young and less abused then mine, (being a 20+ year machinist) I have to take her word for it. But yes they do sound better. As time goes on I will let you guys know more.
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited August 2009
    I checked my 5B's with an DMM and found that these speakers are 4 Ohms and in the brochures say they are 8 Ohms. Would having upgraded the X-overs change the Ohm rating on these speakers? Thanks in advance for any and all replies.
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited August 2009
    Checking across the posts with a DMM will not give you the speaker's true impedance. Besides the fact that you're only measuring the drivers' DCR, the crossover can skew your readings.

    I'd bet it's safe to say your 5B's are closer to 6-8ohms.

    Upgrading the crossovers shouldn't change the speaker's impedance unless you change values somewhere, such as lower DCR coils, etc...but I would advise against it. I do advice updating your caps and throwing some new resistors in there though, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the improvement.
    "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 hace already done the Cap and resistor upgrades and yeah what a difference. I think that they sound better then new and I've only have about 30 hours since new tweeters and X-over upgrades.
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  • ANWKLO
    ANWKLO Posts: 173
    edited November 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.

    Any picture of the mod x-over please?
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited November 2009
    Here is a pic of the finished X-over. It just sqeezes back in the hole.
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited November 2009
    Very nice indeed:)
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • ANWKLO
    ANWKLO Posts: 173
    edited November 2009
    madmike wrote: »
    Here is a pic of the finished X-over. It just sqeezes back in the hole.

    The SA 33uF caps seem so large from this angle. Any side view picture please?
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited November 2009
    Here are some more pic's of the X-over, hope this helps. It does all fit back into the hole, it's tight but it does go back in. I have about 100 hours since the upgrade to the X-Overs and the RDO-194's IMO they sound better then when they were new.
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  • ANWKLO
    ANWKLO Posts: 173
    edited November 2009
    madmike wrote: »
    Here are some more pic's of the X-over, hope this helps. It does all fit back into the hole, it's tight but it does go back in. I have about 100 hours since the upgrade to the X-Overs and the RDO-194's IMO they sound better then when they were new.

    Woo, how can you do that? But, you could.:) I planned to use Claritycap SA for both low and high pass. I gave up the SA 33uF when I saw the large size, which I thouhgt it can't be fixed on the PCB. I used SA 12uF for the high pass and Solen 33uF for the low pass.

    My mod x-overs also burn-in for about 100 hours too. I am always thinking I should have used Claritycap SA 33uF instead of Solen 33uF. Don't know any differences between Claritycap and Solen. Do you think SA 15uF + SA 18uF is another better solution?

    Here is my mod x-over link:
    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89117
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  • madmike
    madmike Posts: 81
    edited November 2009
    The only thing with that, now you would have to fit 3 larger then stock caps on the board where there was only 2 originally. I just used an extra long wire tie to hold everything together. I noticed on your x-overs are screwed in place with stand offs. Mine had 4 plastic stand off clips, and I only had one resistor per x-overs. I used a 33uF cap instead of a 34uF original cap.
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  • ANWKLO
    ANWKLO Posts: 173
    edited November 2009
    madmike wrote: »
    The only thing with that, now you would have to fit 3 larger then stock caps on the board where there was only 2 originally. I just used an extra long wire tie to hold everything together. I noticed on your x-overs are screwed in place with stand offs. Mine had 4 plastic stand off clips, and I only had one resistor per x-overs. I used a 33uF cap instead of a 34uF original cap.

    I will use Solen for some time until it is justify not good enough. Yes, my Monitor 5A is different from your's Monitor 5B. My original 5A have SL1000, MW6500, 8" Passive Raditor, a 2.7ohm resistor, a 6.2 ohm resistor, fuse at x-over, a resistor and unknown capacitor (100V 0.047uf) inside the cup of x-over.

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83521
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