Krosya
Well-Known Member
As many here know, these are pretty popular speakers. Not everyone likes them or even considers as good ones, but on the other hand there is also some serious following when it comes to RS products and these speakers in particular.
I too like RS stuff and own a few receivers, speakers, turntables, etc. When it comes to speakers Nova 8b and Optimus 5 as well as little Minimus 7 are among my favorites.
I read a lot of information about these - here as well as other online places, before actually trying them out. Of course I did read through most of the still on-going thread about the crossover upgrade from VL. Lots of interesting info there.
Fast-forwarding to the present day - I own 2 sets - one Nova 8b and one Optimus 5. Optimus 5 I have was found in near "museum" condition - practically not a mark on them, even L-pads had original paper stickers on them, - previous owner never used them!:
My pair of the Nova 8b's were in much more used state - lots of marks on the cabinets - needed a lot of cleaning and wood treatment to bring them back to a reasonable condition. However - all the drivers worked fine. Here they are with the lattice grills. :
Anyway, after I acquired these speakers, I listened to them and to be honest, was not very impressed. Somewhat muddy, as people say - like a blanket was draped over them. While they seemed like well made speakers, sound just was not there. So, into storage they went. After all, I have enough of other speakers that are better. At least considered to be better.
I did for a while consider to spend time and money and do this famous VL crossover upgrade. After all - some people seem to be very happy with the results. But somehow I just couldnt see myself spending that much money on the speakers that I felt was pretty average. Not do I have enough trust in my own skills to properly make these crossovers anyway. I can do a recap, but this just seemed way out of my comfort level. So, I just let these sit until I decide what to do with them.
Well, finally, I found time and desire to get them out and do a recap - much simpler than a new crossover and cheaper too. I decided not to skimp on parts, yet not to spend too much and got nicer new caps - for one pair 5% Daytons and for another - Jantzens - mid grade (slightly more expensive than Daytons).
At first - I was somewhat disappointed, with both pairs. Sound didnt seem to change all that much. I mean, I could tell some difference for the better, but nothing dramatic. I did measure old caps and some were way out of spec, yet some were not really that bad.
I, at that time, was still somewhat on a fence about the whole "capacitor burn-in" story, even though, I feel like in some speakers I did recap in a past there was some burn-in time.
So, I thought, I would just wait and see. As my reference I had my DefTech's BP10 speakers as a reference to do AB comparison.
At first, DefTechs were a clear winner - well, no surprise there. But funny enough, after about a couple of days, I could tell that these RS speakers started to sound better and better.
It's a 3rd day now and while they dont match clarity of the DefTechs - they sound very very good - much clearer, greater soundstage and stereo separation, a huge improvement over the how they sounded with the old stock caps! I'm actually impressed! I realize now that these are very capable speakers, that are easy to enjoy, once they have quality caps put in them. Out of all my recapped speakers - these and Advents Legacy had the most dramatic improvement. So, a couple of lessons to learn - dont look down on these and use good quality parts - and they will sing! Dont know if VL crossover upgrade would have made them sound even better, (not really sure, as there are limitations to everything), but a good recap is a must for sure.
Have Novas hooked up to Pioneer SX-737 and have them playing as I type this - and they sound beautiful!
I too like RS stuff and own a few receivers, speakers, turntables, etc. When it comes to speakers Nova 8b and Optimus 5 as well as little Minimus 7 are among my favorites.
I read a lot of information about these - here as well as other online places, before actually trying them out. Of course I did read through most of the still on-going thread about the crossover upgrade from VL. Lots of interesting info there.
Fast-forwarding to the present day - I own 2 sets - one Nova 8b and one Optimus 5. Optimus 5 I have was found in near "museum" condition - practically not a mark on them, even L-pads had original paper stickers on them, - previous owner never used them!:
My pair of the Nova 8b's were in much more used state - lots of marks on the cabinets - needed a lot of cleaning and wood treatment to bring them back to a reasonable condition. However - all the drivers worked fine. Here they are with the lattice grills. :
Anyway, after I acquired these speakers, I listened to them and to be honest, was not very impressed. Somewhat muddy, as people say - like a blanket was draped over them. While they seemed like well made speakers, sound just was not there. So, into storage they went. After all, I have enough of other speakers that are better. At least considered to be better.
I did for a while consider to spend time and money and do this famous VL crossover upgrade. After all - some people seem to be very happy with the results. But somehow I just couldnt see myself spending that much money on the speakers that I felt was pretty average. Not do I have enough trust in my own skills to properly make these crossovers anyway. I can do a recap, but this just seemed way out of my comfort level. So, I just let these sit until I decide what to do with them.
Well, finally, I found time and desire to get them out and do a recap - much simpler than a new crossover and cheaper too. I decided not to skimp on parts, yet not to spend too much and got nicer new caps - for one pair 5% Daytons and for another - Jantzens - mid grade (slightly more expensive than Daytons).
At first - I was somewhat disappointed, with both pairs. Sound didnt seem to change all that much. I mean, I could tell some difference for the better, but nothing dramatic. I did measure old caps and some were way out of spec, yet some were not really that bad.
I, at that time, was still somewhat on a fence about the whole "capacitor burn-in" story, even though, I feel like in some speakers I did recap in a past there was some burn-in time.
So, I thought, I would just wait and see. As my reference I had my DefTech's BP10 speakers as a reference to do AB comparison.
At first, DefTechs were a clear winner - well, no surprise there. But funny enough, after about a couple of days, I could tell that these RS speakers started to sound better and better.
It's a 3rd day now and while they dont match clarity of the DefTechs - they sound very very good - much clearer, greater soundstage and stereo separation, a huge improvement over the how they sounded with the old stock caps! I'm actually impressed! I realize now that these are very capable speakers, that are easy to enjoy, once they have quality caps put in them. Out of all my recapped speakers - these and Advents Legacy had the most dramatic improvement. So, a couple of lessons to learn - dont look down on these and use good quality parts - and they will sing! Dont know if VL crossover upgrade would have made them sound even better, (not really sure, as there are limitations to everything), but a good recap is a must for sure.
Have Novas hooked up to Pioneer SX-737 and have them playing as I type this - and they sound beautiful!
