mrehorst
Super Member
New project!
ESL-63s are an awful mechanical design. I'm going to rebuild them into sturdy frames and add two bass panels per speaker along the way, turning them into ESL-989s.
One of the several PITAs about the ESL-63s was the difficulty in servicing them due to the less-than-ideal mechanical design. Getting to failed drivers required disassembling most of the speaker including removing the top plate, sock, metal grids, and dust covers and their flimsy frames (and probably requiring new dust covers before you got the speakers back together), unsoldering/unclipping a bunch of wires, etc. Then reversing all that to put them back together.
I'm trying to make them sturdier than the original speakers and at the same time, easier to service (which hopefully won't be needed while I'm still alive). To that end, I'm using 3060 t-slot for the main frames that hold the drivers, and using 2020 t-slot frames for the dust covers and protective mesh. I'm also looking at using Wago 221 lever nuts to make the electrical connections to each driver, eliminating the unsoldering and soldering in the event that repairs are needed. I want to be able to pull off the sock, remove the dust cover frames, disconnect the failed driver and remove it from the main frame without any of the complexity of the original speakers.
The dust cover frames will have 1/2" welded wire mesh screwed to one side and the plastic film dust covers taped on the opposite side. I'm going to mount the electronics on a plate screwed to the 3060 frame. It should be relatively easy to mount wrinkle-free dust covers, and it should be possible to take the covers off and put them back without having to replace them every time.
I have built the 3060 frames and they are quite rigid compared to the original design. I have also assembled the dust cover/mesh frames. Here's one of the new frames standing in front of an ESL-63 in its stand. The new speakers will be about 1.6m tall and the center of the speaker will be at seated ear level.
The driver panels will screw to aluminum L brackets in the 3060 frame. The drivers are 42mm thick, so they fit entirely within the 60mm wide frame.
The dust cover/mesh frames will attach using 3D printed brackets that will mount on the main frame using screws and t-nuts. I'm planning to use oversized brackets that will hold the decorative socks away from the mesh and frame.
The next step in the process is to mount the wire mesh on the dust cover frames, then build up four bass driver panels and start moving the stuff out of the ESL-63s into the new frames. It's probably going to take a month or so to finish the job.
ESL-63s are an awful mechanical design. I'm going to rebuild them into sturdy frames and add two bass panels per speaker along the way, turning them into ESL-989s.
One of the several PITAs about the ESL-63s was the difficulty in servicing them due to the less-than-ideal mechanical design. Getting to failed drivers required disassembling most of the speaker including removing the top plate, sock, metal grids, and dust covers and their flimsy frames (and probably requiring new dust covers before you got the speakers back together), unsoldering/unclipping a bunch of wires, etc. Then reversing all that to put them back together.
I'm trying to make them sturdier than the original speakers and at the same time, easier to service (which hopefully won't be needed while I'm still alive). To that end, I'm using 3060 t-slot for the main frames that hold the drivers, and using 2020 t-slot frames for the dust covers and protective mesh. I'm also looking at using Wago 221 lever nuts to make the electrical connections to each driver, eliminating the unsoldering and soldering in the event that repairs are needed. I want to be able to pull off the sock, remove the dust cover frames, disconnect the failed driver and remove it from the main frame without any of the complexity of the original speakers.
The dust cover frames will have 1/2" welded wire mesh screwed to one side and the plastic film dust covers taped on the opposite side. I'm going to mount the electronics on a plate screwed to the 3060 frame. It should be relatively easy to mount wrinkle-free dust covers, and it should be possible to take the covers off and put them back without having to replace them every time.
I have built the 3060 frames and they are quite rigid compared to the original design. I have also assembled the dust cover/mesh frames. Here's one of the new frames standing in front of an ESL-63 in its stand. The new speakers will be about 1.6m tall and the center of the speaker will be at seated ear level.
The driver panels will screw to aluminum L brackets in the 3060 frame. The drivers are 42mm thick, so they fit entirely within the 60mm wide frame.
The dust cover/mesh frames will attach using 3D printed brackets that will mount on the main frame using screws and t-nuts. I'm planning to use oversized brackets that will hold the decorative socks away from the mesh and frame.
The next step in the process is to mount the wire mesh on the dust cover frames, then build up four bass driver panels and start moving the stuff out of the ESL-63s into the new frames. It's probably going to take a month or so to finish the job.
