Polk SDA-SRS 1.2tl Refurb

[kve777 6,888]

I've successfully removed dented dust caps with an Exacto knife, reshaped them and glued them back in. A thin bead of glue and no one will ever see it.

[dcl 3,276]

This is a great thread, Dominic, addressing the things I never got around to, nor had the ingenuity for. 

[zumbini 6,147]

No big deal David. I have plenty of time now that Zack is back at school, and lotsa help from the "experts".

 

Today I finished repairing the mid woofer surrounds on the right speaker.

 

 

 

I also inspected the passive radiators and found them to be in great shape.

 

 

[PDR 1,194]

Good job Dom.......rock on....

[Tronman 51]

Looking GOOD!    

 

Those passives being in great shape is a blessing, I would not want to have to find replacements for those!!  Woofers are easy to find because at least they are available! 

 

Thanks for showing how those side panels come off.  The guy I purchased mine from had taken them off but I have never seen a picture of how they are fastened on to the box - Great!!  

[zumbini 6,147]

Two steps forward, two steps back....

 

After giving the RTV on the right speaker 24 hours to cure I powered up for some critical listening.

I used a y-adapter cable to twin the left channel preamp output and sent that to both amp channels.

I heard an improvement in detail and transient response in the repaired right channel speaker. 

 

Then I listened to the output of each of the mids and tweeters using a 2" mailing tube to isolate them.

Bad news. The middle tweeters (T2 and T3) on both speakers had zero output. I'll follow up today. 

 

I patched a few pinholes in the right speaker mid surrounds that I'd missed and recoated one of the large rips.

Then I put a first coat of RTV on all the rips, tears and pinholes in the left speaker mid woofer surrounds.

 

Finally I stripped down the left side panel for the right speaker with the intention of recovered them.

More bad news. I wound up cracking the wood insert piece (veneered MDF) while trying to remove it.

After I got it out I saw why. At the point where it cracked I found a huge blob of glue and extra nails.

I glued it back together so the break doesn't show but I'll probably replace all of the inserts with solid oak.

 

Today's project - Recoat with RTV (if needed); pull the 4 "dead" tweeters and check the voice coils and wiring. 

[danowood 2,167]

The love for audio equipment shines, the love for your son outshines the previous statement.     

[zumbini 6,147]

I pulled out the non-working tweeters and compared voice coil resistance to one that works.

The working tweeter reads 5.4 ohms; all of the non-working units read 0 ohms .

Also checked the fine wires that connect the voice coils to the terminals. They look OK.

Unless I'm missing something these results indicate that the voice coils are fried.....

 

 

 

[Daddyjt 9,612]

Dom,

 

Are the middle 2 tweeters the "SDA" drivers? Are you using the interconnect cable? Would the SDA drivers operate on a summed mono signal?

 

Just a couple thoughts...

[Daddyjt 9,612]

Never mind - just saw your last post:-(

[Daddyjt 9,612]

Dom,

 

Check out this thread over at Polk for re-doming your tweeters... I would use the second dome they are talking about (the silk one), at about $11 a pair.  I'm sure with your skills, this would be a breeze!

[zumbini 6,147]

 

 

Check out this thread over at Polk for re-doming your tweeters... I would use the second dome they are talking about (the silk one), at about $11 a pair.  I'm sure with your skills, this would be a breeze!

 

Interesting, but there are differences between the SL-2000 and my tweeters (SL-3000's).

I will disassemble one of my non-working units further and see what it looks like inside. 

[Tronman 51]

Zumbini,

 

     I'm sure you've figured out that the tweeter DOME will just pop off when you lift it by the terminals.  On the back you will see the voice coil and where the wire has broken due to the years of movement/stress.

I have a couple here at home that I am going to bring into work and look at them under a 40x microsope and repair them.  The repairs can be done but you have to have a microscope a nice soldering iron and of course a steady hand.  I repaired a few SL-2000 this way.

 

[zumbini 6,147]

 

 

Zumbini,

 

     I'm sure you've figured out that the tweeter DOME will just pop off when you lift it by the terminals.  On the back you will see the voice coil and where the wire has broken due to the years of movement/stress.

I have a couple here at home that I am going to bring into work and look at them under a 40x microsope and repair them.  The repairs can be done but you have to have a microscope a nice soldering iron and of course a steady hand.  I repaired a few SL-2000 this way.

 

 

I haven't tried removing the voice coils yet so thanks for that tidbit Tronman. .

 

I don't have a scope but I have several 10-20x linen testers that should do the trick.

 

 

 

[zumbini 6,147]

Yesterday I recovered the side panels with the same material I used on the grill.

There are a few "issues" that only I can see, but overall I'm happy with the result.

 

before 

 

 

after recovering 

 

 

completed speaker 

 

[CT-Seven 764]

Im in awe of the work Dom! Zack is going to be blown away

[00cbirdw 195]

Looking good Dom! Those grilles look SUPER clean.........if there's anything wrong with them you must be using that 'linen tester' to see it LOL!!!!

[zumbini 6,147]

Thanks guys. Most people (Zack included) won't notice the "defects" unless I pointed them out.

But I'm more than a bit anal about my own work, and I know where all the bodies are buried....

[Bean 384]

Dom:

 

I'm sure if you cant get the SL3000 repaired you can find some folks with some lying around.  Most upgrade to RD0-198's as I'm sure you've seen but many just keep the SL3000's as a just in case.  Should be able to snag a couple for low low cost if nothing else.....

 

Hell might even find a couple guys who will give em to ya for free.  But you gotta ask first lol... 

[zumbini 6,147]

 

 

Dom:

 

I'm sure if you cant get the SL3000 repaired you can find some folks with some lying around.  Most upgrade to RD0-198's as I'm sure you've seen but many just keep the SL3000's as a just in case.  Should be able to snag a couple for low low cost if nothing else.....

 

Hell might even find a couple guys who will give em to ya for free.  But you gotta ask first lol... 

 

When I started my thread at Polk Audio nooshinjohn offered to ship me a freebie RDO.

Earlier today messaged him to see if he was serious, and asked if he had any more for sale. 

[kve777 6,888]

Well done, Dom. Your flawed work is better than some professional's best work. Would you consider any other tweeters, like SL2000? I have some Polk tweeters here somewhere, but not SL3000 or RDO.

[zumbini 6,147]

Thanks for the props Kevin. Coming from you that means a lot to me.

 

Apparently the SL3000 crossover network is different than what was used with the SL2000.

But I should be able to make it work, and a working tweeter would be better than none.

[zumbini 6,147]

Over the weekend I finished recovering the left speaker grill and side accent panels,

I also filled in the scratches in some of the wood side panel inserts (from the cats I assume).

I used screws to attach the inserts so I can easily replace them with solid oak at a later date.

 

 

 

 

 

That completes the cosmetic restoration for now. Time to enjoy the music while I search for some tweeters!  

 

[chiroacademy 833]

Very nice work. I wish I had those skills.

[kve777 6,888]

 

 

Thanks for the props Kevin. Coming from you that means a lot to me.

 

Apparently the SL3000 crossover network is different than what was used with the SL2000.

But I should be able to make it work, and a working tweeter would be better than none.

 

Dom, I found I have four SL2000's. All work. One has a torn dome. You could cut a dome off of a blown SL3000, trim the SL2000 carefully and glue the SL3000 on the SL2000. For you-$60.00 incl. shipping for the set.