New Guts in the Polks aka Xover Mod

[jbeckva]

Thanks again Larry for getting the caps! Got them in today, and I couldn't resist..

Soo.. here goes..

Here's the crossovers right after I pulled them out. Yeah, that big hulking red thing IS a coil that is part of the crossover!

Then I took inventory of what I had, plus the new Daytons...

At that point I had a little bit of an issue. Note the big forty caps, they had to go up there where you see that vertical blue cap (C2), with the connector on the other side. Yikes...

Naaah.. I'll make em fit... dagnabit...

There were a few left over traces with feedthru holes, so I took advantage of one of them on one end.. and a quick "new" hole in a trace on the other. No worries - the traces on the back are a good 3/4's of an inch wide. Polk wasn't messing around here!

Now... one other thing that "bugged" me, but I had made my mind up...Goodbye 22 year old "tweeter protector". Put a jumper in it's place (to the left of the C3 silkscreen shadow)

And finally, here's the completed crossover ready to be put back in... Note the addition of the green wire/jumper. That's where I had to make the connection on the 40's back to their original position.

So how does it sound??? Was it worth it????

DAMN SKIPPY!!

If for anything else, now my right channel is perfectly clear. Yeah man... now I can finally stop tilting my head to one side and enjoy the music.

Beautiful results.... highly recommend a good xover rebuilt every now and then.

 

[Web Police]

Looks good and the proof is in the pudding or at least in the ears. When are you gonna do the other speaker?

 

[jbeckva]

I just did... all you have to do is read my post again.

See? other speaker... all-done!

Yeah boy.. sounding good. I should put the Yammy amp back up and see how the balance is now.

 

[laatsch55]

Hmmmmm............................

 

[jbeckva]

Hmmmmm............................

Hmmm.. what?

 

[laatsch55]

Excellent work Jer, I love the workaround. You remind me of me. Ever heard of Al Klappenberger? Here's his answer for the Kornerhorns.

 

[jbeckva]

Isn't he a kind of crossover guru affiliated with Klipsch?

Thanks for the compliment, Lee. I used to be a pretty good tech back before I went over to computers. My best compliment back then was "you're scare me" when I interfaced my old 486 PC to my automated test station back on the G.W. (aka CVN-73).

It's good to pick up a soldering iron again! Nowadays tho I need a mag glass, otherwise I'm like Mr Magoo trying to solder.

 

[laatsch55]

Definately THE CROSSOVER guru. Not affiliated with Klipsch. Knew him, loved him but hated his crossovers. Check out alkeng.com. The guy is a genius. These x-overs came as a kit. had to assemble, weren't cheap either, 400.00 for the pair but God what a difference.
Al's had an ongoing fued with Klipsch's head design guy, can't remember his name now but when it does I'll post it. Anyway, Al K sells these by the boatload, but when people started requesting them in newly ordered K-Horns the Klipsch dude had enough.

 

[speakerman1]

Did you have to pull a speaker to get to them? I'm never so lucky that I get to work on a table. I'm usually in the speaker working. LOL To me the air inductors are the way to go. I just looked at the price of a Musicap 40uf it was almost the price of all you caps for one. I have never worked on a speaker that had a PCB. They looked like a very simple xover. Are they 1st orders?

Larry

 

[jbeckva]

Yeah, had to pull the passive radiator. Actually the large coil pictured above attaches the circuit board to it, then the entire assembly is bolted to the back wall with a hex bolt that screws into the coil.

I believe it's a 2nd order. Sort of a 2-way, but it also has that funky circuitry that connects part of the other speaker for the SDA effect.

 

[jbeckva]

Daaaamn

Hooked the Yammie back up. Now I'm finding myself turning off the EQ - I don't need it, really.

Hey Larry - can ya hear me from Woodstock yet??? hehehe

 

[speakerman1]

I just found some Solens and gasket material. Have to get some money before I recap the Normans. Have everything else. I may bypass the CBs and tone switch. I'm not one for resistors in my xovers. I'm almost to the point of bringing them to the garage. LOL Maybe in a couple months. LOL

Larry

 

[speakerman1]

Daaaamn

Hooked the Yammie back up. Now I'm finding myself turning off the EQ - I don't need it, really.

Hey Larry - can ya hear me from Woodstock yet??? hehehe

No no yet. LOL wait till you recap the yammie.

Larry

 

[laatsch55]

Then you can have amp wars over the hills.
When I bought the x-overs from Al K there was a surprise in the package, see berlow.

I've thought for awhile the DaYTONS MAY BE A SLEEPER. What do you think Jer, are they as good as the Solens and Hovlands?

 

[jbeckva]

Hmmm... still evaluating. But heck, as I haven't heard the Solens before I guess I don't have a reference point there.

The caps do seem to be constructed nicely. And yep, they do sound really good and detailed. I wonder if there's any sort of breakin period involved... maybe they get even better with a few hours?

 

[laatsch55]

With most polypros there is about a hundred hour break-in.

 

[speakerman1]

I don't know if the Daytons are self healing. Most polyprops are. That is why they are used in crossovers. They last alot longer than normal caps because they don't breakdown. Like other caps. When I 1st started building speakers they were just starting to use polyprop caps. They were not cheap at all. Don't ask I can't explain the self healing. I have forgotten how it works.

Larry

 

[laatsch55]

Why they're majic of course!!