Realistic Nova 5s - transplant?

[VintageFreq]

Okay, here's the story. I went to my local SA where I saw a pair of Realistic Nova 5 speakers - the same ones that have been there for the last month and a half.

For some reason I decided to get them, maybe the price had something to do with it, $3.99 for the pair. So, I get them home and start to clean them up.
Here's the fronts:

And the back:

Pretty standard Realistic, right? I took off the grills and this is what I see:

I assume that this is not standard equipment woofs for the Nova-5. The tweeters are also Pyramids and the holes for them look like they have been chewed out by a beaver (or a pocket knife). They do not fit flush with the cabinet wall and are mounted with a couple of wood screws. Here's a picture from the side, you can see the gap:

I assume that this was a woofer/tweeter transplant - obviously amateur, by the way they tried to radius the holes for the tweeters but, I have still have to wonder......why?

Anyway, I'm sanding and re-staining the cabs, guess I'll keep them as they don't sound bad at all. Guess it goes to show you, you can't judge a book (or speaker) by it's cover!

Mike

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Oh well. At least you got some nice looking cabs out of the deal. Oh, plug that RCA jack...it creates an air leak.

 

[VintageFreq]

....Oh, plug that RCA jack...it creates an air leak.

Okay, never thought about that.

Mike

 

[Detailman]

The tweeters in those were cone type cloth material.
The surrounds probably disintigrated for the previous owner and that's what he used as a replacement.
This is what I first thought but after looking at the pics again I think they were an attempt at a homemade speaker using that cabinet.
Check what the crossover looks like.
I've got some Nova 6's I picked up and used to have 8's but they were acoustic suspension not ported. Think the ports were installed as part of the redo.
Well built cabinets though and look to be in decent shape.
Good boxes to start with to design your own speaker!!!!!!!!

 

[VintageFreq]

The tweeters in those were cone type cloth material.
The surrounds probably disintigrated for the previous owner and that's what he used as a replacement.
This is what I first thought but after looking at the pics again I think they were an attempt at a homemade speaker using that cabinet.
Check what the crossover looks like.
I've got some Nova 6's I picked up and used to have 8's but they were acoustic suspension not ported. Think the ports were installed as part of the redo.
Well built cabinets though and look to be in decent shape.
Good boxes to start with to design your own speaker!!!!!!!!

Hey Detailman, thanks for the info! I will get some pics up of the crossover, I never even thought to see what was in there. What kind of soundproofing did they use in those Realistics? The insides of these cabs are covered in that kind of speckled felt like they used to use in car trunks and floorboards for sound deadening.

Also, do you think I should rout out the tweeter holes so they mount flush with the cab wall? I take it that these speakers were not ported originally?

Mike

 

[tgunner]

If the woofer is in fact a woofer, and not a sub, it's probably going to to be fine. The tweeter on the other hand needs to go IMHO. You could pick up a pair of good fabric dome tweeters at PE and some caps for the crossovers for under $25 total.

 

[VintageFreq]

If the woofer is in fact a woofer, and not a sub, it's probably going to to be fine. The tweeter on the other hand needs to go IMHO. You could pick up a pair of good fabric dome tweeters at PE and some caps for the crossovers for under $25 total.

Guess it's time to do some homework then! I need to checkout what I've got for a crossover and see if, in fact that Pyramid is a woofer and not a sub. Sorry guys, you're gonna have to put up with me, I'm a tryo when it comes to the inner workings of speakers! :yes:

Mike

 

[danj]

The Nova 5 is a bass-reflex design. The ports belong there.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Realistic often used a round or square frame "phenolic" paper cone tweeter in their speakers. Shouldn't be hard to locate a replacement.

 

[Detailman]

Hey Detailman, thanks for the info! I will get some pics up of the crossover, I never even thought to see what was in there. What kind of soundproofing did they use in those Realistics? The insides of these cabs are covered in that kind of speckled felt like they used to use in car trunks and floorboards for sound deadening.

Also, do you think I should rout out the tweeter holes so they mount flush with the cab wall? I take it that these speakers were not ported originally?

Mike

Agree that those tweeters should be replaced. Nice inexpensive dome should work well.
Thanks to the poster reference 5's being a ported design. I wasn't sure as the other two I owned were non-ported.
As far as damping material the ones I'm familiar with both used fiberglass.
Not sure if what you have is original or not.

 

[VintageFreq]

Here's what I found on the standard research tool....the Internet:

Realistic Nova-5 Speaker System
(400-4030) Features Faxback Doc. # 32505

This is a 2-way bass reflex speaker system with an 8" long-throw woofer
and a 2" wide dispersion tweeter. The long-throw woofer and tuned port
design produces a well-defined bass and the wide dispersion tweeter
produces clear crisp highs.

(IR-05/03/96)


I guess this backs up what danj posted! As per all of your suggestions, I will find a replacement for the tweeters. I'm waiting for the new stain to dry, so as soon as it does I'll get inside and find out what I've got for a crossover.

Mike

 

[VintageFreq]

I got inside today and took a picture of what I guess passes for a crossover. Here's what I got:

And here is the backside of the Pyramid Phase III. It is a W81 and so far, I have not been able to find out much about it. Don't know if it is a woofer or a sub:

Mike

 

[mashaffer]

Nova 6 was my very first speaker system. Pretty decent sounding speaker as I recall but not very efficient. I am pretty sure that unlike the "5" the "6" was acoustic suspension.

I loved the real wood veneer cabinets and treated them regularly with lemon oil. I rather like cone tweeters so I would be looking to convert that box to a sealed or aperiodic design using all new drivers and crossover.

mike

 

[Detailman]

I got inside today and took a picture of what I guess passes for a crossover. Here's what I got:

And here is the backside of the Pyramid Phase III. It is a W81 and so far, I have not been able to find out much about it. Don't know if it is a woofer or a sub:

Mike

I think that 4 ohm woofer is a car audio woofer.
Might not be kind to your amp.
Crossover is minimal and with those drivers replacing cap won't make much difference.
Check Parts Express or Madisound for driver and crossover ideas. Both have forums for speaker builders.
Measure the internal volume of those cabs and try to get an 8ohm woofer that will work well in that volume.
Just throwing out ideas here.

 

[RayW]

I think that 4 ohm woofer is a car audio woofer.

Yup, probably a pawn shop car sub.

Measure the internal volume of those cabs and try to get an 8ohm woofer that will work well in that volume.
Just throwing out ideas here.

Post the volume here and you'll probably get a few recommendations. I'd be happy to run sims.

Ray

 

[VintageFreq]

I think that 4 ohm woofer is a car audio woofer.
Might not be kind to your amp....

You might be right about that. I can't find anything specific to the W81, but it seems that Pyramid does a lot of car audio speakers. Geez, I never thought I'd I'd get into something like this over a pair of Realistic speakers!

Mike

 

[VintageFreq]

....Post the volume here and you'll probably get a few recommendations. I'd be happy to run sims.

Ray

Okay Ray, here's what I got: 18" x 9 3/4" x 5 1/4"
Seems like I've been getting a lot of favors from some of you guys lately....I'm gonna owe everyone BIG time if I keep this up!....

Mike

 

[RayW]

Looks like the Dayton RS225 would work fairly well in that box. I'm guessing from an eyeball that the port is 1.5" diameter. If so and you can get it around 5" long then you'll have an f3 of about 53 and an f6 of around 45Hz. That driver should have a pretty good midrange to reach the tweeter. You didn't mention a budget though. That driver is $55.

If you want to save some cash, the Audax AP210Z0 is on sale for $25. You'll give up a bit of bass with f3 at 62Hz and f6 at 53Hz.

You might also want to check out dimensions for some of the "classics" like AR and KLH speakers. You might be able to plug the port and use the woofer from one of those with good results. Sorry, I'm not in the know regarding those but plenty here are. And I'm sure Zilch can recommend a JBL.

Ray

 

[VintageFreq]

Looks like the Dayton RS225 would work fairly well in that box. I'm guessing from an eyeball that the port is 1.5" diameter. If so and you can get it around 5" long then you'll have an f3 of about 53 and an f6 of around 45Hz. That driver should have a pretty good midrange to reach the tweeter. You didn't mention a budget though. That driver is $55.

If you want to save some cash, the Audax AP210Z0 is on sale for $25. You'll give up a bit of bass with f3 at 62Hz and f6 at 53Hz.

You might also want to check out dimensions for some of the "classics" like AR and KLH speakers. You might be able to plug the port and use the woofer from one of those with good results. Sorry, I'm not in the know regarding those but plenty here are. And I'm sure Zilch can recommend a JBL.

Ray

Wow Ray, good info! Your eyeballs are pretty good - the port is 1.5" and it is about 4.5" long. You've given me plenty to think about. Thanks for taking the time to work up those figures.

Mike

 

[clydeselsor]

Wow Mike! I just picked up a pair of Nova 5s at the Sally this week too! I paid $8.00 for mine with the original drivers. The woofers are in desperate need of a re-foam. The cabinets are in decent shape. I just don't know what I am going to do with them once I get them fixed up! They seem like they might be nice little speakers. I listened to mine at low volume (due to the foam surrounds) and they sound pretty good. It will be a fun project! Good luck with yours!