Best material for a polydome

[sagebug]

[QUOTE="slimpikkins, post: 9265934, member: 35314" The big problem I feel is the relationship of the coil and magnet. Using any of these surrounds places the coil a little lower than the original dome and roll does. They don't seem to bottom out while playing music but it does bother me when you push on them there is less travel is the original. Were you able to overcome this?
Jim[/QUOTE]

Glad you mentioned this. I have found variances in different polydomes. It would appear as it ages, the membrane shrinks and pulls the coil higher. I've seen as much as an 1/8" difference. The surrounds I used, place the voice coil right where one of my best polydome's VC sits (it's like new), so I was happy with that.
Edit to add.
Also, the different dome, place the VC higher or lower, depending on their arch.

 

[slimpikkins]

I see, I am glueing my coils to the inner roll of the surround than the dome on to the surround. I guess I need to find a slightly smaller surround to try it your way. Very cool indeed... Right now I can't experiment any more because I do not have any speakers that use that driver good luck with your progress. Keep us posted.
Jim

 

[okeeteekid]

View attachment 660612 I see, I am glueing my coils to the inner roll of the surround than the dome on to the surround. I guess I need to find a slightly smaller surround to try it your way. Very cool indeed... Right now I can't experiment any more because I do not have any speakers that use that driver good luck with your progress. Keep us posted.
Jim

slimpikkins, what size surround did you use? is your inside edge that attaches to the coil flat or angled? I'm looking on the bay and most 4 inch surrounds where the roll meets the cone or in our case the coil, is 74 mm, 74 mm is slightly smaller than the coil, they do have rubber surrounds but I wonder if they will be too stiff, I have a spare pair of polydomes that only have the coils left on them they're so bad so I thought I'd try and invent something here Lol

 

[slimpikkins]

slimpikkins, what size surround did you use? is your inside edge that attaches to the coil flat or angled? I'm looking on the bay and most 4 inch surrounds where the roll meets the cone or in our case the coil, is 74 mm, 74 mm is slightly smaller than the coil, they do have rubber surrounds but I wonder if they will be too stiff, I have a spare pair of polydomes that only have the coils left on them they're so bad so I thought I'd try and invent something here Lol

They are from speakerworks.com. The ones pictured are #SWK425 but I also used SWK4 which has a smaller roll and SWK4R which is rubber. They are pretty cheap so you might want to buy a couple and see which you like best. I wish there was one inbetween SWK4 and 425 as the roll is a little small on the 4 and a little big on the 425. 425 requires some cutting to make the ID a little bigger.
Jim

 

[okeeteekid]

They are from speakerworks.com. The ones pictured are #SWK425 but I also used SWK4 which has a smaller roll and SWK4R which is rubber. They are pretty cheap so you might want to buy a couple and see which you like best. I wish there was one inbetween SWK4 and 425 as the roll is a little small on the 4 and a little big on the 425. 425 requires some cutting to make the ID a little bigger.
Jim

Thanks I will take a look at them.

 

[sagebug]

Check out ebay Item
252171875878

 

[okeeteekid]

Check out ebay Item
252171875878

Thanks.

 

[markuus3889]

Not sure if you guys need to keep trying this, although I have great admiration for your abilities and patience.

After noticing some new Chinese RS series midrange driver clones, I contacted the company selling them today and asked if they could persuade the manufacturer to clone and produce some 3 inch Kappa Polydomes. In fairly short order I got a reply stating that the cloned Kappa Polydomes were going to be arriving in less than a year. If this is true, our prayers for new polydomes may have finally been answered.

I just wanted to pass along the info since I can't contain my excitement. I sincerely hope this works out for all of us and our Kappa's.

Mark K.

 

[okeeteekid]

Not sure if you guys need to keep trying this, although I have great admiration for your abilities and patience.

After noticing some new Chinese RS series midrange driver clones, I contacted the company selling them today and asked if they could persuade the manufacturer to clone and produce some 3 inch Kappa Polydomes. In fairly short order I got a reply stating that the cloned Kappa Polydomes were going to be arriving in less than a year. If this is true, our prayers for new polydomes may have finally been answered.

I just wanted to pass along the info since I can't contain my excitement. I sincerely hope this works out for all of us and our Kappa's.

Mark K.

If this is true it will be awesome, keep us posted if and when they arrive.

 

[okeeteekid]

Not sure if you guys need to keep trying this, although I have great admiration for your abilities and patience.

After noticing some new Chinese RS series midrange driver clones, I contacted the company selling them today and asked if they could persuade the manufacturer to clone and produce some 3 inch Kappa Polydomes. In fairly short order I got a reply stating that the cloned Kappa Polydomes were going to be arriving in less than a year. If this is true, our prayers for new polydomes may have finally been answered.

I just wanted to pass along the info since I can't contain my excitement. I sincerely hope this works out for all of us and our Kappa's.

Mark K.

Can you post up the website that makes those RS series clones so we can see how they look.

 

[markuus3889]

That large auction site and I would definitely point them out when they become available. Do a search for RS 5000 midrange replacements. They look exactly like my originals with specs.

 

[okeeteekid]

That large auction site and I would definitely point them out when they become available. Do a search for RS 5000 midrange replacements. They look exactly like my originals with specs.

Thanks, they look just like the originals.

 

[slimpikkins]

They look really nice, price is right too. Great information. Hope they come along soon, I will not miss fixing these things one bit!
Jim

 

[sagebug]

Quick update.
I received some polydomes repaired by MillerSound and I am very impressed! I only tested one for a few minutes but it sounded better than the Vifa/Scanspeak I had in the other speaker.
I also found some Dynavox 3" fabric dome mids as well. They sound nice, but again just a quick listen.
I even bought a pair of 3" RS5000 mids (re-foaming this weekend).. hahaha!!

Is there a simple way I can measure the frequency responses of each speaker? I want to see which is better through the 500-4500 crossover frequency range. I know for a fact the silicone replacements are missing some "range" and I want to find out where in the range it is.
I also suspect the "brighter" scanspeaks will sound better in my 8.1's than in my 7.1's because of the bass coupler taking some of the "work".
Will not have time to test all these untill after Christmas. I have 7 different sets to try!
My mission for the best Polydome replacement is almost over...

 

[Berg]

Hi Sagebug, could you post closeup pics of the MillerSound Polydomes? And how is the testing and comparing going?..

 

[sagebug]

Hi Sagebug, could you post closeup pics of the MillerSound Polydomes? And how is the testing and comparing going?..

I didn't think anybody was interested? hahaha

I will get some pics up, but the long story short is, I am using OEM polydomes.

 

[pworm14]

long story short is, I am using OEM polydomes.

Awwwwww man! This is not what I want to hear right now!! My domes are at Miller sound right now getting rebuilt. Should be back any day.

Why did you go back to OEM? It's so hard to find OEM that are in decent shape only to have them tear a year after you start using them. I'm REALLY wanting the repair to be the fix for me.

 

[sagebug]

Awwwwww man! This is not what I want to hear right now!! My domes are at Miller sound right now getting rebuilt. Should be back any day.

Why did you go back to OEM? It's so hard to find OEM that are in decent shape only to have them tear a year after you start using them. I'm REALLY wanting the repair to be the fix for me.

It's really nothing against the MS polydomes. His domes sound great! You will be very happy with them. I was just lucky enough to come across a few OEM sets in excellent shape, and instead of "saving" them , I'm using them!

In MY testing, nothing was as detailed as the originals, but they are a little "bright", where Millers are warm.

 

[pworm14]

It's really nothing against the MS polydomes. His domes sound great! You will be very happy with them. I was just lucky enough to come across a few OEM sets in excellent shape, and instead of "saving" them , I'm using them!

In MY testing, nothing was as detailed as the originals, but they are a little "bright", where Millers are warm.

Understand, and thanks for the input. Got a shipping notice this morning and it looks like tomorrow is the day they come home. I'm looking forward to getting them back and giving them a run. Going to run them for a couple weeks/months to see how they sound and then do a cap job (kappa 7's) to see what that does. I may just go ahead and start a "rebuild" thread to report my opinions since it looks like I may just go all the way with the 7's as i have already refoamed the woofs and the cabinets are excellent/like new condition, AND, I just love the sound they produce with the same vintage Yamaha amp/preamp.

As far as using "few OEM sets in excellent shape" I'd do the same thing and play the crap out of them. "Didn't buy em to look at em" is what I like to say about anything that might be "collectable". Unfortunately I haven't run across any NOS/used that were worth buying.

Cheers.

 

[pworm14]

Well, my MillerSound repairs got here this evening. Look pretty snappy.