Rs II refurb. Advice on sealing my RSII cabinet's

Well. I think the time has come teardown the RSIIs and address the cosmetics as well as address some issues. Both of the speakers but one more than the other appears to have some ait leakage that becomes audible during ass passages. Kinda sounds like the speaker is letting one rip. As amusing as that is the first few times, I really needed to address it. It would appear that the air is leaking from the cross over panel. How does one seal that up? Figure since I will be pulling out the crossovers for a refresh anyway. It would be good to resolve when I am ready to put them back together.

 

Especially "during ass passages".
Caulk works.

 

Caught that flatulent slip did you.....

 

There is some very narrow depth foam gasketing around the inside perimeter of the crossover panel.
I'd pull the panel (the panel itself is kind of heavy, it may be wise to have something for it to sit on so the wires don't take all the stress/weight. There is not a lot of slack in the wires but there is just enough to lay the crossover panel on its back) and check that gasket Replace the gasket if needed, and make sure the screws all pull the panel tight to the cabinet.

 

Thanks. Wonder what foam they use?

 

I went to home depot and picked up the smallest window seal adhesive foam strip I could get when I did some work on them a couple years ago. I just opened mine up the other day because I'm gonna do a recap, and that foam was completely compressed. But, they didn't leak. Before I did that, I could feel air moving around the crossover board. I'll need to put new foam in there when I put these back together. I also ran a bead of caulk around all the inside edges of the cabinet, which was probably not necessary. I think I used the same foam on the woofers to seal them. Don't recall for sure though.

 

Can't wait 'til you document the recap!
Lot'sa capacitors.
I use 3M butyl strips for any seals.

 

I like the idea of the butyl strips better than foam weather stripping. Also, I used some thick silicone type glue and sealed the plastic board that the pots are mounted to. Mine was stapled on, but there was definitely air leaking around that.

 

I had to order the 3M strips. Not in stock around here. The previous owner also filled the cabinets with balled up acoustic damping foam of some kind. It is going to be a full refurb it would appear. Enough to fill 2 large garbage bags. Not sure what effect this has on the sound though.

I wish I could farm this out but no one around here wants to touch this project. I am trying to also decide if I want to restore the cabinets to the original color or If I want to go a bit out there and have them painted. Toying with the idea of taking them to an auto body shop and having them sealed up and painted with automotive paint. That would seal the cabinet for sure! Coyld go with a cool color to make them look more modern.

 

White "polyfill" was used in that series.
Woofer spaces are loosely filled full, not a lot of free air space but not crammed in tight either. Hope that makes sense.

 

That explains it then. Thanks. Still mulling a direction on where I want to take these.

 

Both my RS II and RSM models use the white fiber fill.
It is a pretty solid yet somewhat loose "bed" from side to side and from the back wall up to the magnet area and maybe puffed up on the outside edges of the inner cabinet.. I made sure none of it was actually touching the cone or pushing the wires into the cone where they could rattle or be audible.

 

You going to keep them original on the finish Sound Dragon ? Maybe a nice piano black finish !

 

That or any automotive color I want. The sky is the limit. Ferrari red maybe?

 

Yes, the cabinets are stuffed quite well, not hammered tight though.
Effectively "increasing" the cabinet volume the woofers see.

 

Would you mind expanding in this? Not sure I am tracking what you are saying.

 

filling or partially filling a cabinet with acoustic stuffing fools the driver into acting like it's in a larger enclosure then it really is, lowers the F of a driver iiuc.

I'm sure there is a formula for how much stuffing = how much larger enclosure, but I don't know it.

 

Thanks. That makes a whole lot of sense.

 

I look forward to watching and seeing your refurb, especially the recap of crossovers, I'm sure that's going to be fun.

I've been researching colors and I always come back to Wilson Audio, I really like the gun metal gray if that's what it is and the powder blue on the Sasha model. Specifically speaking for my Ren 90's.

Also on the stuffing in the bass cabs, mine were pretty tight. I'd say like if you removed the woofers and pushed you hand against it, it depressed about 2 inches before you really felt resistance against your palm. And for the crossover panels I used the 1/4 inch foam strippy stuff (door seal) from Lowes, seemed to work pretty good.

 

The door foam is a good idea. Might give that a try as well. Got some new pieces in that I am just eager to try before I start on the speaker tear down. As to the crossovers, I am looking to farm the work out. I just dont have the skill set to do it myself. It will not be cheap though and I would really like to work with someone who is an Infinity fan. We shall see.

I am also toying with the idea of doing external crossovers. This way I would seal the box after rewiring the speakers. I would wire them to binding posts on the panel and maybe use banana plugs to connect the two. Just trying to think this all through.

As to the cabinets. I am going to check out a fee auto body shops on Monday. Get some quotes and get a good feel for the total outlay for the project. This is not exactly the kind of thing that most shops do and I have to be prepared for the possibility that they will not take on the job.