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Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble Satellite Refoam

David_NC

David_NC

Super Member
I picked up a couple pair of CSW Ensembles a while back, and all four sats need foam on the woofers. I've got two more pair in a HT setup that also need foam replaced. I ordered enough new surrounds for all these, but they seem to be slightly too small. There is only about 1/8" overlap over the cone, and I don't see that as being enough to securely glue on new ones. The surrounds I bought were generic and cheap, so that's no big deal. I'm seeing these silly 'kits' with clue, nice fold-out glossy instructions, brushes for glue, etc for the low price of $25 a pair. For a 4" surround, this is crazy. I really don't need 4 brushes, 4 sets of instructions, etc. Hell, I just want the foam!
I'm curious as to vendors who have actual dimensions listed for the surrounds they sell and reasonable prices. I can easily measure the cones and baskets to figure out which ones to buy, but I need to find a good vendor first. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
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colohiker said:
I found a listing on Ebay from e_techparts that look to have the same dimensions as the $25 kit. Might be worth checking out. I have never used these surrounds and have no affiliation to e_techparts.
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Those did the trick! They were only slightly bigger than the first ones I ordered, but that was enough. I've got to say that 4" drivers are ridiculously easy to refoam. I used a small Lepay amp with a tone generator at 60Hz to help center the cones. A small plastic Folger's coffee container is the exact size of the outer portion of the foam, so I just sat each driver on those containers after gluing and centering. It held them in place while the glue dried. I reassembled a pair and hooked them up with their dedicated woofers, and they sound really good. They are not as full as my the much larger ADS L780/2's that I use on this system, but that's to be expected for a speaker close in size to a Minumus 7.
Next up is priming and sanding them. I've read that Rustoleum truck bed liner is a good finish for these, but I'll probably try some on a scrap of wood before spraying the cabinets. I may recap the crossovers, though I'm still deciding on that.
 
Have you checked the foam on the base units? If the satellites surrounds were shot, the surrounds on the base units may also be shot. Which version do you have, Ensemble or Ensemble II?
 
Guido57 said:
Have you checked the foam on the base units? If the satellites surrounds were shot, the surrounds on the base units may also be shot. Which version do you have, Ensemble or Ensemble II?
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I have a pair of each, actually. The original Ensemble with the separate bass units are fine; they appear to have rubber surrounds. The II's with the single bass enclosure need new surrounds.
 
Did you pull the grill off either of the original bass units? Mine were not rubber and had broken down into a tar like goo. They looked fine shining a flash light through the grill but like crap when I pull the grill off. They held their shape but did not provide a seal between the cone and the frame. It was a weird failure mode. Note that putting the grills back on the base units is a lot more of a pain than putting them back on the surrounds. If you have any experience with a soldering iron I would also suggest recapping the crossovers; its not particularly hard if you get the same size electrolytic capacitors with radial leads.
 
Guido57 said:
Did you pull the grill off either of the original bass units? Mine were not rubber and had broken down into a tar like goo. They looked fine shining a flash light through the grill but like crap when I pull the grill off. They held their shape but did not provide a seal between the cone and the frame. It was a weird failure mode. Note that putting the grills back on the base units is a lot more of a pain than putting them back on the surrounds. If you have any experience with a soldering iron I would also suggest recapping the crossovers; its not particularly hard if you get the same size electrolytic capacitors with radial leads.
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The woofers on my original Ensemble's woofers really do appear to be rubber. I've never seen foam this thin (look at the edge), and they are not sticky and appear to be in great condition. I poked at them with my finger, and they do not feel like foam.
Woofer.JPG Surround 1.JPG
You are correct about getting the grills back on! I ended up putting a 12"x12" piece of wood on them and pressing down so that they went back in the crevice pretty easily. Do you mean replace the caps in the satellites or the woofers?
 
Good info. I have my set of the original Ensembles I bought back in '89 that I need to take out of their box and give a good rebuild. I had read several times that the correct foams were a challenge to find, thanks for the link and confirmation. I've been thinking about painting the sats with a good Rustoleum color and clear coat. Will look at how yours turn out before making any decisions.
 
There was a change in the woofers used from early to late production. The early ones, I believe, had metal fins (heat sink?) where you see the dust cap on yours. Apparently a change was made in the surrounds also. If your surrounds are still supple you're golden. Rubber can stiffen with age depending on the formulation used and storage conditions. I've had to replace rubber surrounds on some speakers and not on others. I changed all the caps, both base unit and satellite. The base unit on mine had one 200 uF bypass cap. Cross over from bass unit to satellite is about 120 - 130 Hz.
 
Guido57 said:
There was a change in the woofers used from early to late production. The early ones, I believe, had metal fins (heat sink?) where you see the dust cap on yours. Apparently a change was made in the surrounds also. If your surrounds are still supple you're golden. Rubber can stiffen with age depending on the formulation used and storage conditions. I've had to replace rubber surrounds on some speakers and not on others. I changed all the caps, both base unit and satellite. The base unit on mine had one 200 uF bypass cap. Cross over from bass unit to satellite is about 120 - 130 Hz.
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Oddly enough, I have another pair of originals from '89. The surrounds on the woofers look good on those, too, although the satellites are just as bad as the ones I just refoamed. I don't recall the woofers looking any different, in terms of dust cap, so maybe late '89 was past 'early' production. The woofers on the Ensemble II woofer unit both need new foam, so those will be next. Next up on the satellites is getting them primed and painted. I'll probably do the caps on one pair of them to be able to do a direct before / after comparison.
 
FWIW, my surrounds were so ugly cosmetically that I ended up taping the front and back sections, using grocery store paper bags, cut to size. Then, without sanding and priming, being lazy and cheap, I bought two cans of flat spray paint at Lowes and gave them about five coats in the garage, using cardboard as a backdrop. Turned out rather nicely, and I look at them everyday as they are my cpu, nearfield speakers.
 
Simply Speakers also sells surround kits for the satellites. I did one set with surrounds from Simply Speakers and another with surrounds off ebay. I would say the ones from Simply Speakers were of better quality, IMHO, than the ones off ebay but it is not the same seller, they are also 5 times as expensive. To the question of early vs late production, I know I bought my first set in the 90's maybe the fins were added in later, not earlier, production.
 
Guido57 said:
Simply Speakers also sells surround kits for the satellites. I did one set with surrounds from Simply Speakers and another with surrounds off ebay. I would say the ones from Simply Speakers were of better quality, IMHO, than the ones off ebay but it is not the same seller, they are also 5 times as expensive. To the question of early vs late production, I know I bought my first set in the 90's maybe the fins were added in later, not earlier, production.
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The only reason I didn't go with the Simply Speakers ones is the price difference you mention. I have 4 pair / 8 drives to do, and it just wasn't worth it to me. I put one pair back together over the weekend to test, and they sound better than I recall... not better than the much bigger ADS L780/2's that I normally use in that system. I also had them connected to an old (restored) Sherwood tube amp, and it seems that everything connected to that sounds good. I'll try it on a more mainstream SS amp soon and see how that goes.
 
I was getting ready to pull a set of ADS out of the project pile, but might just dig out the Ensembles. Hmmmm.....
 
David_NC said:
The only reason I didn't go with the Simply Speakers ones is the price difference you mention. I have 4 pair / 8 drives to do, and it just wasn't worth it to me. I put one pair back together over the weekend to test, and they sound better than I recall... not better than the much bigger ADS L780/2's that I normally use in that system. I also had them connected to an old (restored) Sherwood tube amp, and it seems that everything connected to that sounds good. I'll try it on a more mainstream SS amp soon and see how that goes.
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Well, it is hard to compete against ADS speakers, but new caps really help the satellites and probably help the bass units too. And I though I was nuts for having 2 pairs. For the record, when I bought my first set I did a direct comparison with a pair of NLA's. Very similar sound.
 
When I bought my Ensembles in '89, I went down to the local hi-fi store and brought home a pair of JBL LT-20 (I think). Cambridge had a 30 day, no questions asked return policy, but the JBLs were only 48 hrs.. So, I A/B tested them all weekend. The JBLs gave me my first experience at ear fatigue and I returned them. I never had an issue with the Ensembles and everyone that heard them back then typically commented on how nice they sounded.
 
Audio Fan said:
I was getting ready to pull a set of ADS out of the project pile, but might just dig out the Ensembles. Hmmmm.....
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What model ADS do you have? ADS are my go-to for a very musical, non-fatiguing speaker. They are generally very reliable, in terms of surrounds and crossovers, but I know that some of the domes need rebuilding after many years. I'll be sending a pair of mids and tweeters from L1090's to Richard So at some point.

Guido57 said:
Well, it is hard to compete against ADS speakers, but new caps really help the satellites and probably help the bass units too. And I though I was nuts for having 2 pairs. For the record, when I bought my first set I did a direct comparison with a pair of NLA's. Very similar sound.
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I got one pair for Christmas '89 when I was in college. I bought another pair of satellites to use with my surround setup about 10 years ago. Last fall, I started thinking about them and look on CL - big mistake! LOL. I found a guy selling a pair of the originals and the II's with the single woofer unit for around $40 for the bunch, I believe. The Nextel finish was bad, and the surrounds needed replacing on the satellites. I figured they'd be good for a second 5.1 system I'm setting up due to sound quality, small size, and price.
I can't recall the last time I heard a pair of NLA's, but that's an impressive comparison and conclusion. The original Ensembles are really good, especially if the bass unit is kept somewhat near the satellites and they have enough power.
 
David_NC said:
What model ADS do you have? ADS are my go-to for a very musical, non-fatiguing speaker. They are generally very reliable, in terms of surrounds and crossovers, but I know that some of the domes need rebuilding after many years. I'll be sending a pair of mids and tweeters from L1090's to Richard So at some point.
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Well, I have a literal TON of speakers (60+ sets), some of which are very high end. I've had several ADS sets over the years, L710 (which I refoamed & refinished), L880 and a set of 1530. I sold the L880 (sadly) and the 1530 (needed restoration). A few years ago at an estate sale, I picked up a small hoard of ADS models, (2) L710, L810 and (2) L910. I have plans to keep Richard So fairly busy, but you got me thinking about the Ensembles, they would bring back a lot of memories. :-)
 
Audio Fan said:
Well, I have a literal TON of speakers (60+ sets), some of which are very high end. I've had several ADS sets over the years, L710 (which I refoamed & refinished), L880 and a set of 1530. I sold the L880 (sadly) and the 1530 (needed restoration). A few years ago at an estate sale, I picked up a small hoard of ADS models, (2) L710, L810 and (2) L910. I have plans to keep Richard So fairly busy, but you got me thinking about the Ensembles, they would bring back a lot of memories. :)
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Oh damn, I'd like to try 910's and 1530's and have heard good things about 880's. It's probably a good thing I haven't come into a similar bunch of them, as I'd have snapped them up! I currently have M12's, L780's, 520's, and 300c's all in daily use or rotation and the 1090/2's needing rebuilds. There's a couple pair of M15's available locally for good prices that I'd go for if I had the room! In the meantime, the Ensembles are easy and cheap to refurbish. I'll likely start on the exteriors of mine this week.
 
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