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1st impressions: RS Nova-7B's
- Thread starter Artie
- Start date
terra1
Addicted Member
You may want to do some searching, but many were just recommending recapping before videolady came up with his mods for the 8B.
The whole purpose of recapping or modding is to improve the known existing performance and design, so you are introducing a new variable if you replace with a different tweeter.
Not sure about the 7B but if I recall, the Nova 8B has an 8 ohm driver wired as the tweeter and two 4 ohm drivers wired as the midranges. So you may want to verify the type of driver for any replacement.
I haven't recapped or modded my Optimus 5B, Nova 8B, or 7Bs. But I may try just recapping the 7Bs first. To me, the sound of the tweeters/midrange are what I like about the Nova series in the first place, not to mention the tight bass.
The beauty of the two way Nova designs was just that. The Nova 8b/Optimus 5b that Videolady modded had midranges that didn't "roll off" by the crossover and played up into the range the tweeter played. The VL crossover mod fixed this.
Just seal up the air leaks (tweeter cups, RCA jack in terminal plate), put in some good poly caps and enjoy. I'd also recommend tossing the stock fiberglass stuffing and adding a pound of poly-fil. Doing this on my 5b's made the bass very nice
I also found out the binding posts from some LX5 cabs fit right in place of the stock terminal screws :thmbsp:
Just seal up the air leaks (tweeter cups, RCA jack in terminal plate), put in some good poly caps and enjoy. I'd also recommend tossing the stock fiberglass stuffing and adding a pound of poly-fil. Doing this on my 5b's made the bass very nice
I also found out the binding posts from some LX5 cabs fit right in place of the stock terminal screws :thmbsp:
jameselmer66
Active Member
7B tweets are 16 ohm. Just had to replace a pair a few weeks ago. I haven't recapped mine (my next project) but I love my 7b's. So much so that right now they are my main speakers. I had a pair of Mach 2's I traded for the 7b's I have now and a few other toys. My next goal is to get a hold of some 8b's. I am also very fond of the Nova 6's.:thmbsp:
Flaminroids
Active Member
I have a set of 8B's and I love them. I wasn't really impressed with the range but they are punchy speakers. They have an amazing amount of bass as well. And the fact that I picked up a pair of perfectly working 8B's for $10 also made them sound that much better.
Artie
Super Member
The beauty of the two way Nova designs was just that. The Nova 8b/Optimus 5b that Videolady modded had midranges that didn't "roll off" by the crossover and played up into the range the tweeter played. The VL crossover mod fixed this.
Just seal up the air leaks (tweeter cups, RCA jack in terminal plate), put in some good poly caps and enjoy. I'd also recommend tossing the stock fiberglass stuffing and adding a pound of poly-fil. Doing this on my 5b's made the bass very nice
I also found out the binding posts from some LX5 cabs fit right in place of the stock terminal screws :thmbsp:
I like these ideas, and those binding posts are perfect. I'll look for something similar. :thmbsp:
+1 :thmbsp:
I put in Solen 400V ones in mine and the change (after a pretty disappointing initial sound after the mod; it needed a break-in period) was astounding. I talked about this in another post about the 7B's, but putting in the Solen caps got rid of the congestion and soundstage collapse at higher volumes.
I'm always amazed that even with that diffraction nightmare of a grille, and the front baffle being as deeply recessed as it is, how well they image and how smooth the response sounds. So much for conventional wisdom.
For the connector, I installed 10-32 brass screws from behind, using as much of the original design of the terminal as possible. I bolted the screw down from the front with a captured washer nut, put ring terminals on my speaker cables, put that on the screw and tightened another captured washer nut on that. Works better than any binding post I've ever used.
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Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Or make a new xover plate entirely. Even add pots instead of switches. One of the idea's I've been batting around, that allows me to leave the original xover's intact (other than upgrading caps).
Artie
Super Member
I'm always amazed that even with that diffraction nightmare of a grille, and the front baffle being as deeply recessed as it is, how well they image and how smooth the response sounds. So much for conventional wisdom.
That's an interesting point, and one that I wondered about. I was thinking of re-doing the grill to be a more conventional black, flat grill cloth. And, perhaps, bringing the baffle forward. Now I'm wondering if this would be worth the trouble.
I may do it anyway, just to hear for myself. :scratch2:
Great to see so much love for these. I picked up a pair of Nova 7b speakers yesterday at an estate sale, $20 for the pair. Love how full the bass sounds. I saw a Radio Shack ad for them in a 1975 newspaper that said the RCA jacks were for phono. Would it have been normal for a turntable of that vintage to have a preamp built in? Just wondering what would have supplied the power.
You either misread or are misremembering the ad (if it's an old memory) or someone screwed up big time in the ad department at RS if you found a vintage 1975 ad for them online. RCA jacks are/were also known as phono jacks, which might be the source of the confusion.
Those are just for hooking up to older amps that used RCA jacks for speaker input. I have a set of Nova 7s (older than your "Bs") and I really like them. They are acoustic suspension designs so it is a good idea to plug in an old RCA end to those open jacks......they came new with plugs in them to keep the air pressure up in the cabinets. I have mine in the closet since I got matching Marantz speakers for my front rig, but they are a solid and good looking/sounding speaker.
I think we NOW know what an end table was REALLY made for! Looks terrific!Those are just for hooking up to older amps that used RCA jacks for speaker input. I have a set of Nova 7s (older than your "Bs") and I really like them. They are acoustic suspension designs so it is a good idea to plug in an old RCA end to those open jacks......they came new with plugs in them to keep the air pressure up in the cabinets. I have mine in the closet since I got matching Marantz speakers for my front rig, but they are a solid and good looking/sounding speaker.
Let ol' Bully resurrect this old thread! Over the many years, and long before AK (of which I was an original member), I had 'stuff.' Buncha stuff I gave to family members to use. Prolly the biggest set was the Mach One's and a JVC JR-S501 receiver (TOTL, 120 wpc, 1978), when my niece and two nephews were in high school in the very early 90s. Sis in law was thrilled. Their house was already a place for the kids to hang out, despite my brother being the school system's boss, and my sis in law, well, they had bullmastiffs, and those dogs knew she was the boss (after the cats, of course). The kids rocked the house with their early-90s stuff; my brother got back with blasting his stuff, and for shits and grins, would blast the (only thing in SE KS on radio) country music. As they went off to college, I had stuff for them, too. Some of it came back over the years since. Last year, my bro and sis in law moved out to SCarolina, and in Sept or so, brought a **** load of stuff, some I'd forgot about, and about filled the back of his Ram *smh* ... a pair of Nova 7B, and a pair of Optimus-45. A couple Yammie recievers, and an older Akai receiver. Some source playing stuffs. The Optimus-45 had completely rotted surrounds, so heyyyy, I had a spare pair of 10s, so put 'em in. Actually better drivers. Not sure why, but I dug out a new old Yam RX-V1500, which I've meant to clean inside and out, and just check if it's still okay. (the V1500 is early 00's, 120 wpc in stereo, clean and strong, typical Yammie). 'Cause it is there, I have an H100 12 powered sub hooked up, too. Been 'testing' the Yam all afternoon, still am, and unless the vol knob is messed up, not much more to go. The tenners are 'sweeter' than the various 12s I have, I'd call them 'East Coast' sound, harking back to old old terms for us stereo guys. Prolly should check the caps, but hey, I just turned 70 a few days ago, and I blame Newton for **** being heavier than I remember, and this stereo stuff, if it's good, is heavy!! hell's bells, the rx-v1500, like a 2004? model (I have a couple v2500's too 
) is 36 lbs., and that's a pip to the R-2000 I have, or even the CR-1040. I'd got away to using separates for a very long time, and have too damn many (joke, never have too many, and I'm a widower, now) amps and pres. Anyway.
The 7B sounds very polite, the 45, with the newer big 10s, stronger on the bottom, but also reserved, in what I remember as that East Coast sound. But they've been taking the 120 wpc from the Yamaha without a sweat ... and with the H100 subwoofer pushing to bottom end, whew!! Started with a Gov't Mule cd ... various in between, LZ IV, SRV, Roy Buchanan, others, and now Peter Frampton (met the guy, once, I knew his then-bassist, Stanley Sheldon, another KS kid). Gotta admit, I gave the tenners, and a couple pairs of 8's, 'cause I'm a commited 12-inch guy ... even though I have a pair of Mach 3, now, and a few spare 15 drivers and a pair of boxes waiting for the project to begin. Hey, I'm old, everyday's a Saturday.
happy tune,
Pete the Bully
) is 36 lbs., and that's a pip to the R-2000 I have, or even the CR-1040. I'd got away to using separates for a very long time, and have too damn many (joke, never have too many, and I'm a widower, now) amps and pres. Anyway. The 7B sounds very polite, the 45, with the newer big 10s, stronger on the bottom, but also reserved, in what I remember as that East Coast sound. But they've been taking the 120 wpc from the Yamaha without a sweat ... and with the H100 subwoofer pushing to bottom end, whew!! Started with a Gov't Mule cd ... various in between, LZ IV, SRV, Roy Buchanan, others, and now Peter Frampton (met the guy, once, I knew his then-bassist, Stanley Sheldon, another KS kid). Gotta admit, I gave the tenners, and a couple pairs of 8's, 'cause I'm a commited 12-inch guy ... even though I have a pair of Mach 3, now, and a few spare 15 drivers and a pair of boxes waiting for the project to begin. Hey, I'm old, everyday's a Saturday.
happy tune,
Pete the Bully
This is a reminder of an advantage 7B and contemporary members of its Nova/Optimus family enjoy -- their foam surrounds, magically impervious to rot. It's kept them fully functional to this day. Landfills have claimed many speakers for lack of this quality alone.
Optimus-45 seems to have filled a similar market niche in the 80's Tandy lineup as did Nova-7/7B in the 70's. 45 played little brother to Optimus-50 much like Nova-7(B) to 8(B), though the later Optimus siblings are configured closer to each other. It appears they use the same mid/tweeter module.
Must be fun finding some 45's (or 50's) in the wild to compare with their acoustic suspension cousins. They're kinda rare though. Both listed for only two years -- Optimus-50 in '84 / '85 and Optimus-45 in '85 / '86 -- which also suggests they weren't selling in large numbers.
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Funny, I just picked up my third pair of 7Bs yesterday for $40. The first two sets I loved but traded away for various services. I saw another set on Marketplace yesterday and could not help myself. They are in superb shape but I still will sand and oil them today. I was planning on recapping them since RS used cheap caps but they sound fine, not muffled at all so I may wait a while. This set I plan on keeping......
Gnesen
Super Member
I have a pair of the Optimus-45s that I picked up for free because they needed new surrounds on both the woofers and mids. They sound pretty good but I haven't A/Bed them with other speakers. I should pull them back out. I do like the bullnose styling on the grilles.
