Wondering if RS 5001 are worth a rebuild?

I have friend who has had these RS 5001s for a while now. He doesn't use them anymore, they are too "big" for him, so I asked to borrow them, and he may just give them to me. At first glance they seemed in decent shape, and since I have had such good experience with my RS 2001s I thought these would be awesome, with the EMIT-K. After hooking them, up, I'm not so sure..

The woofers definitely need to be refoamed, the Polyspherite Mid I can't seem to hear anything out of either of them, even if I put my ear up to them. The EMIT-Ks I'm not sure what the condition of are. I can hear them allright, but at least one of them seems ringy/fuzzy, but it could be the adjustable crossovers on that speaker, I'm not noticing any difference when I turn the knobs.

I've always wanted a speaker with an EMIT-K tweeter (hence my question before about updating my RS 2001s), but I'm not sure I should even bother re-building these. The enclosures are in a bit of rough shape. I was considering just getting a new enclosure, I saw an RS 4001 and Kappa 6 enclosure on Ebay, but I don't know enough about the volume differences. They seem to use the same drivers, but obviously the RS 5001 is a taller speaker, not sure if it's full volume, or maybe it has a cutoff inside, so could be the same volume. I was also thinking of maybe just getting some of those enclosures from Parts Express. I know my car stereo days that correct volume for an enclosure is important, so I'm assuming I'd have to get something really close.

It would be an interesting project, I have some soldering skills, but would need help identifying components to replace on the crossovers. I also worry about the tweet/mid condition. Any way I can actually test them to see if they are actually working? Would it hurt them to hook them directly to the speaker output, at a low level just to see functionality??



Help...

Sounds like a pass to me. Save your cash for the Kappas 7's or some Quantums if they become available....unless you live in an area where you can refurbish a speakers and resell it if not happy with the sound.
That being said if your friend gives them to you, for a low cost you can practice your refoaming techniques

Without taking the EMITs apart, is it safe to say I have a working tweeter, if it measures around 3.5ohms, and the tracks that are visible through the slots look intact? They both seem to be emitting sound..

The woofers need refoaming, but otherwise seem to work ok.

I'm guessing that at least one of the crossovers will have to be re-built, but I still can't hear anything out of the Polyspherite midranges. Is there a way to re-build these, or a replacement driver I could use?

So I guess these RS 5001s are mine now..

My guess is that the EMITs and the Polyspherite mids are ok, but that the crossover/l-pads are probably in need of a re-build. Does anyone know if it would be ok to test the tweets/mids by just hooking them directly to the speaker out on my amp, at low volume? I just want to make sure they work before spending a lot of money on re-building the crossovers, which about all I know is that I can solder, I'll have to learn everything else.

The woofers definitely need refoaming, so I'll probably give that a shot.

The cabinets however are another issue. They aren't in horrible shape, but there are definitely chips (some big) in the veneer and particle board (seems not as dense as MDF). I'm debating on whether to try to just build my own enclosures out of MDF.

The other option being reconditioning the existing cabinets, which sounds like I would probably want to internally brace (not sure how to do this) the cabinet, and put a new veneer or laminate over the cabinet, definitely have never attempted anything like that.

I already tore the grille cloth off to fix breaks in the frames, and am getting ready to order some grille cloth from Parts Express.

Any advice from anyone on this? I know I'll probably end up spending more money than buying something new, but I do love my Infinities.

What do the polyspherites ohm out at?

The Emits and Polyspherite mid is testing out at 3.2 - 3.6 ohm. I'm really mad at myself right now, I accidentally tore out one of the wires on the other mid. The plastic piece holding the blade contacts came loose from the frame, and the connectors were really not letting go. I was trying to be careful and pull on both sides, but the one wire let go from the voice coil..

I can see where the wire goes, but I can't see a good way of taking the diaphragm apart to see if I might be able to solder it back on. Is this toast? :tears:

wildstar87 said:

The Emits and Polyspherite mid is testing out at 3.2 - 3.6 ohm. I'm really mad at myself right now, I accidentally tore out one of the wires on the other mid. The plastic piece holding the blade contacts came loose from the frame, and the connectors were really not letting go. I was trying to be careful and pull on both sides, but the one wire let go from the voice coil..

I can see where the wire goes, but I can't see a good way of taking the diaphragm apart to see if I might be able to solder it back on. Is this toast? :tears:

Click to expand...

If you can't get to where it connects then yes it's toast!

Ok, so if I can't get this fixed, am I better off trying to get an exact replacement, or maybe replacing with some Polydomes, or maybe that Vifa mid replacement? I'm just wondering if it would sound any better with these other drivers, or just "different".

I'd go with originals myself!

Well I guess I'm not going to get those NOS Polydome K RSDS that were selling on ebay. Too rich for my blood on those. Not even sure they would work properly in this setup.