RS1.5 Watkins refoam

Speedbump71

Buried in speakers
Anything special I need to know about refoaming a Watkins woofer vs a standard woofer. I have some experience, but would like to know any tricks, or things to watch out for before I do this.

I am close enough to Watkins Audio I could just drive them up there, but I'm cheap and I like to do things myself.

Is the RS1.5 setup worth putting money into? Mine had the dogear stands, so I have the ugly holes in the side of the cabinet when they are not installed.
 
Most folks would say YES they are worth putting the effort into.
Getting the old foam and glue off the woofer basket and cone is a big part of the project, after that things may get easier and faster.
It is imperative that the cones be centered when refoaming, other wise you could damage them or end up redoing the refoam. There are a few different ways to center the cones, Google them or maybe someone here will offer their advice.
Some creative putty work (like mixing a couple colors of minwax putty to get the correct color tone if need be) will make the dog ear holes disappear from a few feet away.
 
My guess is the glue will come off of that poly cone pretty easily, but who knows.

I was more concerned there were special "tricks" to getting the Watkins woofers right vs a standard woofer. I know JBL woofers can be tough due to the tighter gap in the magnet for example.

The woodwork should be no problem, I have some black water rings to get out of the oak anyway.
 
I refoamed my RSM woofers (pretty much the same as your Watkins except one voice coil) many years ago.
Can't remember how hard or easy the glue cleanup was. Seems like getting every bit of glue and foam removed was time consuming.
And I think there was still a small amount of glue/foam that wasn't removed.
Botched the refoam, one ended up with voice coil rub.


DANGER DANGER ---Boring story ahead...

Put them in the closet, bought some Snells.
17 years later one of the Snells fell over, damaged foam.
Took Snell and RSM woofers to a pro, had them refoamed.
Once done put them all together, decided to give the good ol' Infinitys another shot.
Snells went in the closet.
 
Check out some of my old posts, I refoamed two pairs of the 1.5`s.
The 1.5`s will rock the place, if you give them enough "juice".
 
Kick ass monitor, maybe Infinitys best one. Worth the effort for sure. Nothing special about reforming, pretty simple job, did a couple pairs of them, I just play low volume music through while I do so the voice coil is centered.
 
Check out some of my old posts, I refoamed two pairs of the 1.5`s.
The 1.5`s will rock the place, if you give them enough "juice".

Juice is the key with these speakers; you have to have a high current amp to drive them. My Jeff Rowland 112 can drive the RSMs easily to ear-bleeding levels but its breakers pop with RS-1.5s when the SPL reaches 86 - 88 dB measured at ~ 10 feet away. Jeff Rowland offered a 7 amp breaker upgrade to owners about 10 years ago when their 112s had trouble with difficult loads; going to have to check and see if that upgrade is still available (stock breaker is 5 amps).
 
I am ordering the foams. I'll see what I think before I go to the trouble of doing much finish work.

They are remarkably intact though. Lots of moving around in the main rig in the next few weeks....about to have the Kappa 9's finished.
 
I`m using a SAE 2410 amp and driving four of these, no issues so far.

Do you mean SAE 2401? I've never heard of a 2410 model. The 2401 definitely has more testicular fortitude than the Jeff Rowland 112. I may also be having troubles in the crossovers (crapped-up rheostats) or maybe even need to run a dedicated line to get more out of the 112 amp. If the 112 still can't pull its weight with the RS-1.5s, I'm probably going to try a newer Pass Labs .8 series amp.
 
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