Vintage HiFi Audio Forum
Audio Discussion => DIY => Topic started by: MATT0404 on September 21, 2017, 11:12:41 AM
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Hey, guys, just thought I'd share my latest project. I recently took in a pair of Infinity RSe's on trade. They are in excellent condition all around; cabs in great shape, grills perfect, Infinity badges in place. As close to perfect as a pair of 40 year old speakers can be expected. While the 8" woofers have been recently re-foamed, the crossovers remain untouched. Given the minimal investment required to replace the aging caps, I placed an order through Erse and had the new caps in hand in a matter of days. Total cost was around $30.
Infinity's schematic of the RSe crossover is known to be wildly different from the crossovers found in the actual speakers. So I pulled the woofer and, as expected, my crossovers were much different. Instead of a single 9.5uF cap, I found one each of the following: 25uF, 8.5uF, and 6.8uF. I ordered values as close as possible to the original from Erse: 24uF, 8.2uF, and 6.8uF.
Disassembly was pretty uneventful. The existing crossovers are actually mounted to a hard plastic board that holds the speaker terminals, fuse, and high freq. attenuator. This board is then glued and stapled to the cabinet from the inside. The biggest challenge was prying the board free without breaking it. A small, flat putty knife/scraper made short work of it and I got both crossovers out without incident.
The new caps were quite a bit larger than the originals, but I managed to make them work. So, with the new caps in place, I buttoned everything back up and had a listen. The difference was easily noticeable. The highs are cleaner and brighter, and the bass tightened up considerably, while also having greater impact. All in all, a worthwhile project.
(https://i.imgur.com/QV0iDKZl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/we7zGwGl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/2fkdt6ml.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ljTF86Wl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ULPDtJTl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RUaCddtl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/D26lUo1l.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/dQJFxijl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Dhiath9l.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/mhAYNRll.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/w8dDSvpl.jpg)
And here they are where they'll serve mostly radio/background music duty.
(https://i.imgur.com/hDwQNVXl.jpg)
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Matt,
nice project/restoration...
Nice pics...
What receiver is in the last pic?
Welcome to the forum...
George
(aka gdv)
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Matt,
nice project/restoration...
Nice pics...
What receiver is in the last pic?
Welcome to the forum...
George
(aka gdv)
Thanks, George! The receiver is a Kenwood KR-9000GX.
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No kidding about the bigger caps. Nice work
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When I did my Hereseys the one cap was so big that I zip tied it to the skinny end of the horn and ran jumper wire to it.
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Yeah, caps can get out of control size-wise pretty quick. I like your ingenuity zip tying it to the horn!
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A recap and a horn dampening mod all at once. ;)
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Very nice! Crossover updates usually pay good dividends. I am glad to hear that you can hear a noticeable difference.
I like that big Kenwood! They were great receivers. Have you done any updates to the receiver? Caps, lights, connectors?
Welcome to the forum!
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Where did you dig these up from? They look remarkably like the pair I had a few years back.
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Nice job and thanks for the pics!!!
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Very nice! Crossover updates usually pay good dividends. I am glad to hear that you can hear a noticeable difference.
I like that big Kenwood! They were great receivers. Have you done any updates to the receiver? Caps, lights, connectors?
Welcome to the forum!
Thanks! The Kenwood is a behemoth. Easily the largest receiver I've had. It's actually going in for some repairs today. The timer and power switches are known issues on these. Mine won't turn on without the timer being set. I'm going to inquire about basic recap cost when I take it in. It's in beautiful shape cosmetically, so it's probably worth it to bring it up to spec sonically.
Where did you dig these up from? They look remarkably like the pair I had a few years back.
I picked them up from a gentleman in Erie who's had them for the last 8-10 years, I believe.
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Nice job and thanks for the pics!!!
Thanks!