A Real SL 2000 Hack. Replace stock (burnt voice coils) with "silk diaphragm dome ".

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    VSATs original burnt coil dome, now a burnt Silk dome for experiment. I quickly touched tip of soldering iron and it made about 0.080" dia hole. Gardenstater said the Peerless were about 0.060"

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  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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    HA ! Burn it down ! That is what I call being ready to experiment. I would have done the same. Oh and by the way, check out what I got in the mail today. A miniature nuclear power reactor to power my SDA's with.
    No for real. Thanks @xschop. Love it and it looks great.
  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,181
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    Thank you. That's why I wanted you to try it first on a damaged one :D . Do you think it might work with a smaller soldering iron tip? Or is it just too out of control of a process?
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
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    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    It would work on a nice NEW pointed tip no problem lol.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
    edited October 2020
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    VSAT, you started the madness hehe.

    I just used the mag jig on another SL2K as well.
    As long as you center the pole and magnet first, it works on all Polk's tweeters. Lawdogg said he had a few slipped tweeter magnets recently too.

    First 1" OD felt too big, too much sides to trim unless you're bored...

    2nd 3/4" OD felt perfect, don't even have to trim after the hole punch...

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    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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    xschop wrote: »
    VSAT, you started the madness hehe.

    I just used the mag jig on another SL2K as well.
    As long as you center the pole and magnet first, it works on all Polk's tweeters. Lawdogg said he had a few slipped tweeter magnets recently too.

    First 1" OD felt too big, too much sides to trim unless you're bored...

    2nd 3/4" OD felt perfect, don't even have to trim after the hole punch...

    q0hj8wrtfjq1.jpg

    tp2yj9flh5yw.jpg

    "VSAT, you started the madness hehe." You are not the first one to say that. :D
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
    edited October 2020
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    I've done my fair share of enabling too,...ahem

    Lamb's wool won't show till Tuesday, so I put a light coat of Power Grab just on two opposite sides of back chamber housing to temporarily attach to pole-piece and magnet. It' ll be easy to break off when the Lamb's wool arrives and compare to the Dacron (assuming that's what's in 5Bs). It doesn't take but a handful to do both tweeters.

    Listening to the vented and back-chambered Wuhans, I can definitely say, it is not a gimmick. It's a very distinguishable modification. It definitely clears up the upper midrange frequencies at any volume and you can crank them at higher volumes before distortion kicks in... Some Charlie Mingus jazz and the bassoon notes hit and clarity is unreal.

    And the other good news, the modified SL2K housings sound just as good, they need 1.5mm thick foam to seal to cabinet properly is my only complaint. One of them could also use the extra washers just like the RDO frames need.

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    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
    edited November 2020
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    Been burning in a pair of the newest batch of silks all week. Still haven't received my stainless dome heads (need M4 x 0.7 x 6mm) for the magnets, but the flat heads worked for now....

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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,015
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    Love that radiused rim around the dome. <3

    Filling in those troughs is hard isn't it. ;)
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    Tony M wrote: »
    Love that radiused rim around the dome. <3

    Filling in those troughs is hard isn't it. ;)

    So tough with the silicone, that I only squeezed in from the back side, then smoothed the front to make them air tight.
    They now pass the PR test with flying colors.
    It seems like the off axis listening is improved with the new throat angle.

    My back-chamber mod I'm very happy with and will Karma these off. Just wanted to prove to myself that these could be properly modded as well.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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    I would have probably commented on the chamber mod already because it is just bad as a mother but I still can't figure out what all you have done to get it together like that. I think all you are actually using that is original is the magnet, am I right on that ? Even that was modded correct ? I don't understand where you came up with all the mods in order to design it but as I said before, bad as a ........!!!!!
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,015
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    I got it wrong...like you said above, it's a Chamfer around the dome... ;)
    And I used to be a shade-tree woodworker years ago. :(

    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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    Speaking of wood. A great woodmaker I will bet could make those plates out of some kick **** hardwood or something and that wood (lol) be super bad.
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
    edited November 2020
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    VSAT88 wrote: »
    I would have probably commented on the chamber mod already because it is just bad as a mother but I still can't figure out what all you have done to get it together like that. I think all you are actually using that is original is the magnet, am I right on that ? Even that was modded correct ? I don't understand where you came up with all the mods in order to design it but as I said before, bad as a ........!!!!!

    I'm using the original magnet, pole-piece, and top plate. I drilled the pole-piece 7/16" and chamfered it like some of the high end tweeters are done. The back chamber is 1-piece alloy and just interfaces and glues onto the magnet while being centered (and glued) on pole-piece perimeter.

    Someone could make the chamber out of plastic or wood and it "wood" accomplish same.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
    edited November 2020
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    I found a set of 1-1/2" PVC caps have just the right volume and rear chamber curvature. Will glue them onto the next set of Peerless plates that arrive.

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  • theebisonman
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    Cool. Thanks for sharing
  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    VSAT88 wrote: »
    Finally got all four done. Got the one that kept giving me trouble done well enough to use in a shop speaker or for testing. All the others came out well. Grasshopper out.
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    Patience grasshopper, My shop speaks need tweeter armor too...

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    I was going to post this new hybridized chimera in the vaccine thread, but didn't want to get it shut down lol...

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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    SL2500 magnet fitment matches Sl2000, not RDO bolt pattern. I took one apart to see if it would fit the SL2k billet tweeter plates. The foam ring would need to be carefully removed first. I may Karma these out. They sound pretty good, but will try the Morel/DCF domes and a factory RDO-198 set in the 8TL's I recently acquired....

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  • BlueBirdMusic
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    VSAT88 wrote: »
    Speaking of wood. A great woodmaker I will bet could make those plates out of some kick **** hardwood or something and that wood (lol) be super bad.

    Norm on "This Old House"

    xschop on "This Old Speaker"
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    They won't look anything old-school when I'm done. I refrained from power-porting the 5Bs. Got a few mods in mind for these.
    Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    Started working on the 1.2 monoblock X-O plates this weekend and finished a couple sets of these new chimeras....
    Was going to keep them flat-faced with the Morel/DCF throat radius, but the throat radius and larger throat diameter allowed for the RDO face curvature to be incorporated....

    Can't wait to try these in the 5Bs and 8TL's...

    91tfc5a254b6.jpg
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  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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    Looking very nice there brother.
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
    edited January 2021
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    Thanks again and thanks for allowing me to inundate your thread with all these tweeter mods.
    I agree if someone made the plates out of a hardwood to match a re-veneer, now that would be beautiful.
    Heres the bolt hole dimensions for anyone wanting to make some plates for these sticky domes... They sound very nice in 10Bs and 10B-SDAs, I'll pop them in the 5Bs soon....

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  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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    Man what a good share. having those dimensions will most defiantly help someone on down the line. Keep on inundating xschop !
  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
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    These sound better to me than the factory 194s in the 5Bs. Pianos and Sax are more life-like.
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  • xschop
    xschop Posts: 4,684
    edited January 2021
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    The magnets will need countersunk M4 x 0.7 x 10mm to be completely flat/flush, but the factory ones work for now....

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  • VSAT88
    VSAT88 Posts: 1,227
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    Pianos have always been my trouble. My Dad having tuned and repaired pianos for 45 years, I know what a piano should sound like on a set of speakers. Well, let me re phrase... I know what one should sound like to me. I have not heard an exact piano sound out of any speaker I ever listened to. The SDA 2B's I have are darn close. May well be because Dad normally only tuned uprights, consoles and spinet pianos. He tuned some number of full grands and baby's but I usually was not there when he tuned those.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,554
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    Piano is a great test for any speaker imo. That being said between my new to me Aragon 8008bb and my fully modded 2.3tl's that piano is now in the room with me and sounds pretty darned good and correct.