Onkyo F1, a tale of woe and then redemption.

[Ds2000]

I had put a little thread together earlier, from crap to glory is the gist, but this will be a little more comprehensive of the methods and work.
So these were originally purchased from an audio collector by my buddy, I had done many deals with this fellow and so I felt okay recommending. We saw them, poked at them and went with a good deal, untested. That was a mistake, the tweeters were toast. New and better Ti diaphragms and so we thought we had licked ‘em. Nope they sounded like poo, really bad. Resonant, imbalanced, unpleasant all around.
So they were mothballed. Here they are as they stood then

 

[Ds2000]

So once here I played them and yuk. Really awful and these were to sell for around $12k here in 2000. What the hell? Went up close because something was way off. Well a woofer was dead. Turns out the seller swilled beer and cranked these things. Blew the woofer out. I wanted to keep it and have it repaired. So that annoyance commences and finally I find a spot with the shop and inventory to try and try again. Eventually they find a near exact coil, also managed to save the dust cap and surround. Pics of before and after. An eagle eye will notice the cabinets are bare. That’s the next post.

 

[Ds2000]

So the fill was this open cell foam. It sufficed as bulk but did not for tune or sound quality. Horrible, in fact. So I came here to read many threads on what would be a better choice. There were many opinions, one stood out. Quality cotton batting, the natural loose 1” stuff. It was the same volume as the original. I’d studied the way the original stuff had been used and ultimately @drbiggles made the most sense for tunefulness and bass extension. Bass was a region where these excelled despite the sq. So I went with high end stuff from Rochford Supply. And some Poly Fil branded loose fill for voids. Measuring, cutting and fitting ensued along with 3M spread glue all over to ensure good bonding everywhere. That worked! Many hours and some cotton fingers later and they were ready.

 

[Ds2000]

 

[Ds2000]

The cabinets had some scuffs, the grilles were dirty, the t-bar base had a stripped screw and the jacks on the back were loose.
The jacks were easy, I used a socket and ratchet wrench and was able to torque them down enough to where I don’t think they’ll loosen again
The base screw was the wrong size by a bit, it got replaced and that was that.
Scuffs were handled with a Mohawk finish and stain combo felt tip.
The grilles, thankfully the frames are composite annd the fabric is stapled on and so some 409 soak and then the shower took care of the soiling. That water was gross! I have a blower, that removed most of the water. Then outside to the sunlight to finish the job.

 

[Ds2000]

They have been in rotation quite often, I must say that the end result exceeded my expectations.
All of the ugly disappeared, instead I have a really nice pair of slender towers with now very reasonable and good sounding mids and highs. The massive bass response was preserved and is even “better” now.

 

[Ds2000]

I’m going to move these to a center, long wall position and get the Pio TAD’s back up front to compare. I’ll put those where the Onk’s are now. Need proper slides for the Onk’s tho, don’t want to lug them.