The SRS 1.2TL ..should I buy them?? :-O

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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,015
    edited July 2019
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    Good luck in finding the reason they sound thin and awful. ;)

    I hope it's an easy fix for you. :)
    Post edited by Tony M on
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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  • hauxon
    hauxon Posts: 161
    edited July 2019
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    I did notice something unusual before going to work this morning. The binding posts are different between the speakers. The right side are gold plated and the left one is not. Both look authentic though. The serial numbers are 155 apart (6935 and 7090). The one with the higher serial number has gold plated posts. Probably normal but rather strange for such expensive speakers.

    bz0mdwasz6hc.jpg

    SRS 1.2 TL | SDA 2B Studio TL | NAD M51 preamp/dac | DIY SET 300B tube amplifier | Cambridge Audio Azur 851W | Chromecast Audio | RoPieee Roon Raspberry Pi endpoint
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  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,076
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    I hope you are not planning to sell your 2B's that you purchased new in 1991.
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
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  • hauxon
    hauxon Posts: 161
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    I wont sell them unless I get the SRS 1.2TL working properly. And I would preferably sell them to someone in my family. ...or just let my oldest daughter (16) have them in her room. ..but I'll keep 'em at least until the 1.2TL are good. :)

    Here they are side by side in my living room. My 2B's look tiny all of a sudden :D
    j794ifvdt5gx.jpg

    SRS 1.2 TL | SDA 2B Studio TL | NAD M51 preamp/dac | DIY SET 300B tube amplifier | Cambridge Audio Azur 851W | Chromecast Audio | RoPieee Roon Raspberry Pi endpoint
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  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
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    Congrats, monsters ain't they.... :D

    I've had mine for about 7 years, have done some minor upgrades.

    I do get a kick out of when I've had them in the loop and people see and hear them for the first time.

    Buddy of mine who is really short. I remember the first time he saw them, we both got a good chuckle as he said "they're taller than I am." I think they outweighed him by about 15 lbs also :D

    Although I am currently demoing various new speakers, I'll always have a soft spot for my Polk's :)





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  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,480
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    I've never seen gold plated posts on that era of Polk. I think someone has been in there & didn't reconnect things properly. Bass that thin sounds like they might be out of phase.
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,322
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    The posts on the left speaker were most likely replaced. When I purchased my first pair of SRS, they had stainless steel wing nuts(!) on two of the posts. Removal of the “cup” allows easy replacement of the posts, which I’d guess someone did on yours.

    Incidentally, if that did happen, and whomever did the work made a mistake in the wiring, that could explain the sound issues you are having.

    Congrats on the acquisition, and welcome to the family:-)
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
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    Congrats! Lots of folks here to help you on your journey! I also started with 2B’s and eventually got a set of SRS’s! Love em! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
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    verb wrote: »
    Congrats! Lots of folks here to help you on your journey! I also started with 2B’s and eventually got a set of SRS’s! Love em! :smile:

    and most all the craiglist, eBay and for sale stuff on Polk audio east of the Colorado river.

    a little know fact......
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
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    https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/1/8/5/1/1/26689.pdf


    https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/attachments/1/8/5/1/1/26688.pdf


    Your correct wiring diagram
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  • hauxon
    hauxon Posts: 161
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    Thanks pitdogg2!

    I tested the polarity on both speakers and it seems correct, plus terminal on the battery to the plus post (red) on both speakers send the woofers outward.

    I removed the plastic speaker terminal plate to see if there was any sign of an amateurish job with the golden speaker posts but they look properly done.

    Right speaker (gold plated posts)
    nkrwnuly30jx.jpg

    Left speaker (regular posts)
    0xj71tn7mps8.jpg

    Then I remembered hearing a little rattle when we rotated the speaker to the back for transportation. So I removed the passive radiator and voila! There lies a yellow capacitor on the buttom of the speaker cabinet (and a plastic thing for fitting the gill to the speaker, not missing from either speaker!).
    kajap9pfwnc8.jpg
    gwpe34wydgk3.jpg

    The I took the crossover plate off and just as suspected one of the capacitors was missing (12uf from C5). My guess is that it must have fallen off when sombody tried to put the crossover plate back onto the cabinet, it is a tight fit.
    e8n8t87i61a3.jpg

    I will make an attempt to solder it back to it's place. Not too optimistic on that working. Then I might desolder one of the 12uf capacitors (look like the same type) from my 2B crossover to see (hear) if the 1.2TL will sound like they should. Then I will have to order proper capacitors for each side until I upgrade the rest.


    SRS 1.2 TL | SDA 2B Studio TL | NAD M51 preamp/dac | DIY SET 300B tube amplifier | Cambridge Audio Azur 851W | Chromecast Audio | RoPieee Roon Raspberry Pi endpoint
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
    edited July 2019
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    Buy some @gimpod new boards and make your life easier. @westmassguy sells them for 100.00 i believe. They have more room for newer larger caps and are not nearly as cramped.
    They're fantastic
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  • michaeljhsda2
    michaeljhsda2 Posts: 2,170
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    That piece of wood laying on the bottom of the cabinet is one of the cross braces and should be reinstalled. I would recommend reinforcing the other cross braces as well.
    SDA SRS 2.3TL's
    Silk Audio MS-90-BT integrated tube amp
    Yaqin MS-20L integrated tube amp
    SDA 2B TL's
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  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,480
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    That might explain how the cap was taken out.
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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
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    hauxon wrote: »
    I did notice something unusual before going to work this morning. The binding posts are different between the speakers. The right side are gold plated and the left one is not. Both look authentic though. The serial numbers are 155 apart (6935 and 7090). The one with the higher serial number has gold plated posts. Probably normal but rather strange for such expensive speakers.

    bz0mdwasz6hc.jpg

    Both are original. Polk used both types.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • hauxon
    hauxon Posts: 161
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    I managed to solder the cap back into the crossover and "voila!" they sound normal. :)

    The soldering job was a mess so I don't trust it 100% and I will order two 12uF caps (for both speakers) after the weekend. I used ClarityCap ESA for the TL mod on my 2B's so I'll probably also order ClarityCap caps for my 1.2TL and keep the legs long enough so I can reuse 'em when I do the whole crossover thing.

    I find the sound as it is now pretty good but the 2BTL sound more open and rounded, probably the RD0-198 tweeter. Since I plan to either have me 2B as secondary speakers or sell them I think the SL3000 would be good enough for them. Is there a one most important tweeter in the array I should put my 198 into. What tweeters should I swap out first? :smiley:
    SRS 1.2 TL | SDA 2B Studio TL | NAD M51 preamp/dac | DIY SET 300B tube amplifier | Cambridge Audio Azur 851W | Chromecast Audio | RoPieee Roon Raspberry Pi endpoint
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  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
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    First thing (mod) I did was replace the 8 tweeters. Well, that's the only mod I've done, so far! :smile:

    And, well done in finding the root cause of the issue! Congrats!
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,322
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    westmassguy wrote: »
    hauxon wrote: »
    I did notice something unusual before going to work this morning. The binding posts are different between the speakers. The right side are gold plated and the left one is not. Both look authentic though. The serial numbers are 155 apart (6935 and 7090). The one with the higher serial number has gold plated posts. Probably normal but rather strange for such expensive speakers.

    bz0mdwasz6hc.jpg

    Both are original. Polk used both types.

    My bad - thanks for the correction. Never seen those before (on my 4 pair of SDAs, or anywhere else - except my Klipsch RF7s).
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
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    I'm with you @daddyjt I've seen a ton and never seen any gold. That being said Dave has seen many many more than I. Heck my 2.3tl's are plain nickel, I've feel robbed.
    Lol
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,015
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    Fantastic! :D

    I'm glad it was a simple fix! :)

    Now get some new replacement tweeters when you can. I think you will need the highly praised rdo-198 models. :pB)
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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  • honestaquarian
    honestaquarian Posts: 3,186
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    Congrats on scoring the king of all SDA's! Glad to see it was a simple fix for you as well.
    Now all ya gotta do is get used to that amazing extreme low bass capability!!!
    There are truly few speakers which can reproduce the subterranean bass that these are capable of (and they all cost a LOT MORE)
    I'm not just talking about bass in the boom range of 50 to 100hz. I'm talking about a couple of octaves below that in the 10 to 20hz range. B)
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,794
    edited July 2019
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    Someone was playing around with those binding post plates. You can see the glue Polk used around the SDA socket, which is slightly yellow while the rest is modern hot glue. In fact, in the second pic you can clearly see where they didn't entirely cover the one binding post nut......not good. That will cause an air leak.
    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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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
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    F1nut wrote: »
    Someone was playing around with those binding post plates. You can see the glue Polk used around the SDA socket, which is slightly yellow while the rest is modern hot glue. In fact, in the second pic you can clearly see where they didn't entirely cover the one binding post nut......not good. That will cause an air leak.

    Right is right ;)
    Excellent observation skills
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,794
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    westmassguy wrote: »
    hauxon wrote: »
    I did notice something unusual before going to work this morning. The binding posts are different between the speakers. The right side are gold plated and the left one is not. Both look authentic though. The serial numbers are 155 apart (6935 and 7090). The one with the higher serial number has gold plated posts. Probably normal but rather strange for such expensive speakers.

    bz0mdwasz6hc.jpg

    Both are original. Polk used both types.

    I've never seen gold binding posts on any stock SDA.
    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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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
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    F1nut wrote: »
    westmassguy wrote: »
    hauxon wrote: »
    I did notice something unusual before going to work this morning. The binding posts are different between the speakers. The right side are gold plated and the left one is not. Both look authentic though. The serial numbers are 155 apart (6935 and 7090). The one with the higher serial number has gold plated posts. Probably normal but rather strange for such expensive speakers.

    bz0mdwasz6hc.jpg

    Both are original. Polk used both types.

    I've never seen gold binding posts on any stock SDA.

    I've only seen them on late production SRSs, not older SDAs or Monitors.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • hauxon
    hauxon Posts: 161
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    westmassguy wrote: »
    F1nut wrote: »
    westmassguy wrote: »
    hauxon wrote: »
    I did notice something unusual before going to work this morning. The binding posts are different between the speakers. The right side are gold plated and the left one is not. Both look authentic though. The serial numbers are 155 apart (6935 and 7090). The one with the higher serial number has gold plated posts. Probably normal but rather strange for such expensive speakers.

    bz0mdwasz6hc.jpg

    Both are original. Polk used both types.

    I've never seen gold binding posts on any stock SDA.

    I've only seen them on late production SRSs, not older SDAs or Monitors.

    The right speaker (with gold) is serial 7090 the left is 6935.

    I found out that the 3rd tweeter from top is silent. I connected the RD0-198 from the 2B's and still no sound. The SL3000 from the 1.2 produced sound in the 2B so my guess is that I need a take a better look at the crossover. Maybe a broken solder jount or something.
    SRS 1.2 TL | SDA 2B Studio TL | NAD M51 preamp/dac | DIY SET 300B tube amplifier | Cambridge Audio Azur 851W | Chromecast Audio | RoPieee Roon Raspberry Pi endpoint
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  • hauxon
    hauxon Posts: 161
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    I took a look at the schematic for the SRS 1.2TL and found out that the 12uF capacitor that fell off (C5) is in line with the 3rd tweeter (the silent one). Seems like either the cap is done or the soldering does not make enough contact with the side where it was broken off close to the cap. So I need to replace the caps.

    My plan is to use ClarityCap CSA for the crossover update process
    so I've placed and order for 12uF CSA for each side and will reuse them when I start. I will probably start a new thread for the rebuild. The only "restoration" I've now is giving the wood a massage with Danish oil (as recommended by F1nut), looks beautiful.

    Thanks for all the help and comments! :smiley:
    SRS 1.2 TL | SDA 2B Studio TL | NAD M51 preamp/dac | DIY SET 300B tube amplifier | Cambridge Audio Azur 851W | Chromecast Audio | RoPieee Roon Raspberry Pi endpoint
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  • westmassguy
    westmassguy Posts: 6,850
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    Clarity CSAs are very large. You might want to consider @gimpod circuit boards. A lot more real estate to work with, and much better quality than the original boards.
    Home Theater/2 Channel:
    Front: SDA-2ATL forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/143984/my-2as-finally-finished-almost/p1
    Center: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/150760/my-center-channel-project/p1
    Surrounds & Rears: Custom Built forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/151647/my-surround-project/p1
    Sonicaps, Mills, RDO-194s-198s, Dynamat, Hurricane Nuts, Blackhole5
    Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV, Carver PM-600, SVS PB2-Plus Subwoofer

    dhsspeakerservice.com/
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  • hauxon
    hauxon Posts: 161
    edited July 2019
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    I will probably be able to find a way to fit the single 12uF 250V CSA (38mm length ) onto the original board just to get the speakers up and running. I will however order Gimpods for the new crossovers.

    Right now I'm looking into what parts to order and how much I'm willing to spend. Lot's of options to agonize over.

    I've also been wondering how the Gimpods mount to the crossover plate in my 1.2TL's.
    SRS 1.2 TL | SDA 2B Studio TL | NAD M51 preamp/dac | DIY SET 300B tube amplifier | Cambridge Audio Azur 851W | Chromecast Audio | RoPieee Roon Raspberry Pi endpoint
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
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    They should be able to mount in the same place the old plate. They have the same hole pattern as old
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