DRMcD
Member
Looking for opinions on what to do with these:
They are Synergistics S-52B's from 1979-80, as far as I can tell. I've learned that RTR might have made these in California, and they are considered so-so "house brand" speakers for their time, but they rocked whatever house I was living in from 1985 to 2002, when the surrounds finally disintegrated and I retired them. I had one driver replaced by a shop in 1992 or so (the blue one), and only last year pulled the one driver to see what I could see, in order to get ideas on how to refurbish these. I want to do all new drivers, crossover, wiring, and finishes.
The ideas I have:
Tweeters: you'll see an extra tweeter on each side of the cabinet, a total of four per. I liked the imaging of these - whatever room these were in, they shined.
Thinkin bout staying with the 2" holes, and use big cone tweeters like these have on the sides, and use piezos or domes in the front. Have the crossover split just low and mid highs (6-10 kHz) to the sides, but full tweet range to the fronts.
Open to any ideas on brands, types, etc...
Woofers: these are 8", and AFAIK both woofs in each were wired as such - it sounded like they both handled low and mids.
Thinkin bout staying with 8" drivers, but have crossover split lows to bottom, mids to middle, maybe add an extra level control for the mids (these had one for "tweeter"). Or, stick with how I knew these - crossover treats them as both woofers and mids.
I'm thinkin Cerwin Vega woofers, or a woof and a mid. Open to other brand ideas, would rather stick with modern drivers rather than vintage. More interested in accuracy than window-rattling. Would prefer synthetic materials for longevity. These cabs are not ported, so I know I'm going to have to visit some infinite baffle formulas before buying drivers.
Crossovers: I haven't started investigating them yet, and I would think the extra tweeters and the low/mid idea for the 8's complicate things. I would consider DIY, but for my skills and free time, I'm probably looking at something already built and I can adjust. I would also consider just using a new crossover wired identical to what's there now.
Cabinets: the tops are walnut veneer, and many plants and/or beer bottles were parked on them. The bodies are MDF/particle board, and show no signs of moisture damage.
Again with time and skills, I could veneer, but I'm thinking stripping it and using some sort of cap - something carved out of one piece, that just slips over the top and bottom, and extends them about an inch square more.
Smooth out driver holes around tweeters, or find ones that will cover existing holes. (Can you tell I don't want to modify the cabinets?
)
The grilles had molded plastic "Synergistics" logo badges (like what's on the foil in pic 2) but they disappeared ages ago. They are three piece wraparounds, with typical 70s tight black knit polyester. Would probably be leaving the grilles off to admire my handiwork, but will want to replicate what's there now. Salvage the foil and relocate to back.
No veneer on bodies, just new black paint (something thick and matte, like maybe automotive undercoating)
I want these speakers to be my A's with my 9100. I also have a pair of Cerwin-Vega bookshelf speakers that I want to use as B's, or maybe even park them to the sides of the S-52Bs on stands someday. I'll post pics/descrip of the CVs in another post. I've been using the CV's as A's since I retired the Syns in 2002.
My budget: $1000 at the very max for the pair. I'd rather dump that kinda coin into a project like this - my brother will freak when he sees/hears these and the 9100 reborn (and be jealous he gave this stuff away).
Discuss
They are Synergistics S-52B's from 1979-80, as far as I can tell. I've learned that RTR might have made these in California, and they are considered so-so "house brand" speakers for their time, but they rocked whatever house I was living in from 1985 to 2002, when the surrounds finally disintegrated and I retired them. I had one driver replaced by a shop in 1992 or so (the blue one), and only last year pulled the one driver to see what I could see, in order to get ideas on how to refurbish these. I want to do all new drivers, crossover, wiring, and finishes.
The ideas I have:
Tweeters: you'll see an extra tweeter on each side of the cabinet, a total of four per. I liked the imaging of these - whatever room these were in, they shined.
Thinkin bout staying with the 2" holes, and use big cone tweeters like these have on the sides, and use piezos or domes in the front. Have the crossover split just low and mid highs (6-10 kHz) to the sides, but full tweet range to the fronts.
Open to any ideas on brands, types, etc...
Woofers: these are 8", and AFAIK both woofs in each were wired as such - it sounded like they both handled low and mids.
Thinkin bout staying with 8" drivers, but have crossover split lows to bottom, mids to middle, maybe add an extra level control for the mids (these had one for "tweeter"). Or, stick with how I knew these - crossover treats them as both woofers and mids.
I'm thinkin Cerwin Vega woofers, or a woof and a mid. Open to other brand ideas, would rather stick with modern drivers rather than vintage. More interested in accuracy than window-rattling. Would prefer synthetic materials for longevity. These cabs are not ported, so I know I'm going to have to visit some infinite baffle formulas before buying drivers.
Crossovers: I haven't started investigating them yet, and I would think the extra tweeters and the low/mid idea for the 8's complicate things. I would consider DIY, but for my skills and free time, I'm probably looking at something already built and I can adjust. I would also consider just using a new crossover wired identical to what's there now.
Cabinets: the tops are walnut veneer, and many plants and/or beer bottles were parked on them. The bodies are MDF/particle board, and show no signs of moisture damage.
Again with time and skills, I could veneer, but I'm thinking stripping it and using some sort of cap - something carved out of one piece, that just slips over the top and bottom, and extends them about an inch square more.
Smooth out driver holes around tweeters, or find ones that will cover existing holes. (Can you tell I don't want to modify the cabinets?
)The grilles had molded plastic "Synergistics" logo badges (like what's on the foil in pic 2) but they disappeared ages ago. They are three piece wraparounds, with typical 70s tight black knit polyester. Would probably be leaving the grilles off to admire my handiwork, but will want to replicate what's there now. Salvage the foil and relocate to back.
No veneer on bodies, just new black paint (something thick and matte, like maybe automotive undercoating)
I want these speakers to be my A's with my 9100. I also have a pair of Cerwin-Vega bookshelf speakers that I want to use as B's, or maybe even park them to the sides of the S-52Bs on stands someday. I'll post pics/descrip of the CVs in another post. I've been using the CV's as A's since I retired the Syns in 2002.
My budget: $1000 at the very max for the pair. I'd rather dump that kinda coin into a project like this - my brother will freak when he sees/hears these and the 9100 reborn (and be jealous he gave this stuff away).
Discuss
