tiga
Super Member
So is this just a basic super glue you can buy anywhere? How much do you think would be needed for these woofers? Thanks!
Realistic Nova 8b Rebuild & Crossover Re-Design
- Thread starter videolady201
- Start date
So is this just a basic super glue you can buy anywhere? How much do you think would be needed for these woofers? Thanks!
videolady201
AK Member-Design Engineer
Glue Source
One bottle should do it!! Here is the link:
http://www.hobbytown.com/Shop/styrene-glue/supergold-odorless-thin-1-oz
One bottle should do it!! Here is the link:
http://www.hobbytown.com/Shop/styrene-glue/supergold-odorless-thin-1-oz
Can you recommend one of the loctite super glues, they are easily available, not so with the Bob Smith one.
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/super-glues.shtml
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/super-glues.shtml
videolady201
AK Member-Design Engineer
Loctite Glue
Just looking through and reading the specs it looks like this one, however, it seems it will be thicker than normal and I haven't used it. It's hard to tell how it will work::scratch2:
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/4/2/sg_x_cntrl/overview/Loctite-Super-Glue-Extra-Time-Control.htm
Just looking through and reading the specs it looks like this one, however, it seems it will be thicker than normal and I haven't used it. It's hard to tell how it will work::scratch2:
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/4/2/sg_x_cntrl/overview/Loctite-Super-Glue-Extra-Time-Control.htm
tiga
Super Member
Almost ready to go
This weekend I picked up a solid working pair of Nova 8's (not b). The finish is in rough shape with some fading, water spots, white rings, etc. The cabinets themselves are great with no heavy scratches or gouges and intact grills. There is one small section of laminate on the front, next to the grill, that has a small chip and is pulling up from the substrate.
By next week I should have a pair of working 8b tweeters. I'm planning on using the original woofers for now and can look to replace these down the road with 8b models as they come available. I'm planning to coat the woofers with glue as mentioned previously.
My experience is limited to just replacing existing crossovers with matching new ones, and from what I gather this is a bit more involved. So... who's prepared to hand hold me through the crossover assembly process?
This weekend I picked up a solid working pair of Nova 8's (not b). The finish is in rough shape with some fading, water spots, white rings, etc. The cabinets themselves are great with no heavy scratches or gouges and intact grills. There is one small section of laminate on the front, next to the grill, that has a small chip and is pulling up from the substrate.
By next week I should have a pair of working 8b tweeters. I'm planning on using the original woofers for now and can look to replace these down the road with 8b models as they come available. I'm planning to coat the woofers with glue as mentioned previously.
My experience is limited to just replacing existing crossovers with matching new ones, and from what I gather this is a bit more involved. So... who's prepared to hand hold me through the crossover assembly process?
heroesunplugged
Member
You might also look into Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue - Make sure to get the clear. I used it recently on a pair of Peavey HKS-8 powered monitors and it didn't add a lot of weight, but seems to have helped stiffen the cone. I simply applied it in a circular pattern (lines/swirl pattern). Dip a brush into a bowl of water to dampen the bristles and then use the brush to spread and thin the glue. I applied it to the cone and the surround since the surround was punctured and torn. The surround was also pulling away from the surround so I applied a more concentrated amount to those areas. So far this has been a cheap effective solution to replacing the drivers (although they don't sound that great).
Others may have reasons that this is not a good idea so you may want a second opinion before proceeding. I can only say that it seems to have been a great option for the HKS 8" paper cone woofers. It is available at any hobby store or Walmart in the arts & crafts section.
greenmark59
Can ya' hear that?
Got the crossover components from Parts Express during the work week and spent Saturday putting them together. Got them installed and WOW!!!! these are very, very good speakers. Very flat across the entire frequencies and very pleasant to listen to (just as the previous graphed showed).
Decided to do my crossovers on a 7" x 7" piece of 3/16" thick masonite board with the help of crimped rings and bolts at the intersections (see photo). I placed the crossover board on the bottom of the speaker and ran jumpers to the speaker's binding posts. I also screwed in the board to the bottom as well as hot gluing the inductors to the masonite board. I used the speaker's original crossover plate and disconnected all the components and then drilled out the holes where the terminal bolts were located and installed some new 3-way binding posts from PE.
I have played classic rock, 70's pop, classical guitar, smooth jazz and even some electronic chillout music on them and their is no coloration at all and the frequencies crossovers work very well and you can't "hear" any dropoffs or peaks. I gotta' say this makes the Nova 8B's one helluva' nice speaker. And for around $100 worth of parts (I bought my pair of Nova 8B's for $7) these are one of my BEST BUYS ever and right now I would say one of the best if not the best set of speakers I have ever had. :thmbsp:
Gotta' go, I want to listen to them some more
Decided to do my crossovers on a 7" x 7" piece of 3/16" thick masonite board with the help of crimped rings and bolts at the intersections (see photo). I placed the crossover board on the bottom of the speaker and ran jumpers to the speaker's binding posts. I also screwed in the board to the bottom as well as hot gluing the inductors to the masonite board. I used the speaker's original crossover plate and disconnected all the components and then drilled out the holes where the terminal bolts were located and installed some new 3-way binding posts from PE.
I have played classic rock, 70's pop, classical guitar, smooth jazz and even some electronic chillout music on them and their is no coloration at all and the frequencies crossovers work very well and you can't "hear" any dropoffs or peaks. I gotta' say this makes the Nova 8B's one helluva' nice speaker. And for around $100 worth of parts (I bought my pair of Nova 8B's for $7) these are one of my BEST BUYS ever and right now I would say one of the best if not the best set of speakers I have ever had. :thmbsp:
Gotta' go, I want to listen to them some more
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stereofanboy
Addicted Member
Hint, hint.
Does anyone know the Thiele-Small parameters of the Nova 8B woofers?
I have enough parts to make at least one pair, but I don't have original cabinets. I could the measurements of the originals to make cabinets, but I wondered if there would be any advantage to changing the size or shape of the cabinet, since I would be starting from scratch. My unused Barzilay cabinets are tugging at my conscience.
I have also considered multiples of these woofers for a subwoofer project. Maybe four each in dual towers similar to the big Infinity's separate woofer towers.
tmccullough
You are who, who you are
Got the crossover components from Parts Express during the work week and spent Saturday putting them together. Got them installed and WOW!!!! these are very, very good speakers. Very flat across the entire frequencies and very pleasant to listen to (just as the previous graphed showed).
Decided to do my crossovers on a 7" x 7" piece of 3/16" thick masonite board with the help of crimped rings and bolts at the intersections (see photo). I placed the crossover board on the bottom of the speaker and ran jumpers to the speaker's binding posts. I also screwed in the board to the bottom as well as hot gluing the inductors to the masonite board. I used the speaker's original crossover plate and disconnected all the components and then drilled out the holes where the terminal bolts were located and installed some new 3-way binding posts from PE.
I have played classic rock, 70's pop, classical guitar, smooth jazz and even some electronic chillout music on them and their is no coloration at all and the frequencies crossovers work very well and you can't "hear" any dropoffs or peaks. I gotta' say this makes the Nova 8B's one helluva' nice speaker. And for around $100 worth of parts (I bought my pair of Nova 8B's for $7) these are one of my BEST BUYS ever and right now I would say one of the best if not the best set of speakers I have ever had. :thmbsp:
Gotta' go, I want to listen to them some more
I'll second the post above. I cannot wait for the write up on the 7B/Optimus 1B. I picked up the Optimus 1B's a week ago, and in stock config, I thought they sounded pretty good. Sadly, the one cabinet has a bit of water damage. Nothing a new cabinet back won't fix. If I find another woofer, I can make two pair - one with lattice grill, the other with the chic grill cloth. I like em both!
The pics you posted make this project look very do-able for me. Electronics scare me, but seeing that crossover has me feeling bold! I'm looking forward to getting things underway.
greenmark59
Can ya' hear that?
Number #1 rule - ask lots of questions and don't feel bad about doing it because most AKers are very willing to help.
Number #2 rule - be patient and take it slow and make sure you can validate your work before going too far into the process. This one has worked wonders with me as I have gotten older. Better to do it right the FIRST time because it will take longer and more $$$ to do it a second and third time.
I know a guy who has some Optimus 1B speakers (in fact I gave them to him) and he may be very interested in a upgrade especially if I help him out. :scratch2:
I gotta' tell you guys these Nova 8B's are amazing now. I have just started playing around with different amps and so far my little HLLY T-20 amp sounds the best. Go figure. But I have another 4-5 amps to try out and especially my 10 watt 6BQ5/EL84 PP tube amp. I'll make sure I report back on my findings so you can get an idea the kind of amps these speakers sound good with overall.
Number #2 rule - be patient and take it slow and make sure you can validate your work before going too far into the process. This one has worked wonders with me as I have gotten older. Better to do it right the FIRST time because it will take longer and more $$$ to do it a second and third time.
I know a guy who has some Optimus 1B speakers (in fact I gave them to him) and he may be very interested in a upgrade especially if I help him out. :scratch2:
I gotta' tell you guys these Nova 8B's are amazing now. I have just started playing around with different amps and so far my little HLLY T-20 amp sounds the best. Go figure. But I have another 4-5 amps to try out and especially my 10 watt 6BQ5/EL84 PP tube amp.
I'll make sure I report back on my findings so you can get an idea the kind of amps these speakers sound good with overall.
AnalogDigit
Realistic fan.
Got the crossover components from Parts Express during the work week and spent Saturday putting them together. Got them installed and WOW!!!! these are very, very good speakers. Very flat across the entire frequencies and very pleasant to listen to (just as the previous graphed showed).
Decided to do my crossovers on a 7" x 7" piece of 3/16" thick masonite board with the help of crimped rings and bolts at the intersections (see photo). I placed the crossover board on the bottom of the speaker and ran jumpers to the speaker's binding posts. I also screwed in the board to the bottom as well as hot gluing the inductors to the masonite board. I used the speaker's original crossover plate and disconnected all the components and then drilled out the holes where the terminal bolts were located and installed some new 3-way binding posts from PE.
I have played classic rock, 70's pop, classical guitar, smooth jazz and even some electronic chillout music on them and their is no coloration at all and the frequencies crossovers work very well and you can't "hear" any dropoffs or peaks. I gotta' say this makes the Nova 8B's one helluva' nice speaker. And for around $100 worth of parts (I bought my pair of Nova 8B's for $7) these are one of my BEST BUYS ever and right now I would say one of the best if not the best set of speakers I have ever had. :thmbsp:
Gotta' go, I want to listen to them some more
That sure looks nice! I like the idea of placing the components on to a masonite board.
greenmark59
Can ya' hear that?
I also decided to NOT mount the crossover board vertically and I mounted it to the bottom panel of the cabinet. The finished crossover board is fairly heavy and my estimate would be 2-3 lbs. (I might be off :scratch2
. I just ran jumper wires from the board's + and - points to the binding posts. A 7x7 board is not too big and it's not too small. Took me a little bit of time to figure out how to layout the components on the board and once that was done I just copied it for the 2nd board.
heroesunplugged
Member
Got the crossover components from Parts Express during the work week and spent Saturday putting them together. Got them installed and WOW!!!! these are very, very good speakers. Very flat across the entire frequencies and very pleasant to listen to (just as the previous graphed showed).
Decided to do my crossovers on a 7" x 7" piece of 3/16" thick masonite board with the help of crimped rings and bolts at the intersections (see photo). I placed the crossover board on the bottom of the speaker and ran jumpers to the speaker's binding posts. I also screwed in the board to the bottom as well as hot gluing the inductors to the masonite board. I used the speaker's original crossover plate and disconnected all the components and then drilled out the holes where the terminal bolts were located and installed some new 3-way binding posts from PE.
I have played classic rock, 70's pop, classical guitar, smooth jazz and even some electronic chillout music on them and their is no coloration at all and the frequencies crossovers work very well and you can't "hear" any dropoffs or peaks. I gotta' say this makes the Nova 8B's one helluva' nice speaker. And for around $100 worth of parts (I bought my pair of Nova 8B's for $7) these are one of my BEST BUYS ever and right now I would say one of the best if not the best set of speakers I have ever had. :thmbsp:
Gotta' go, I want to listen to them some more
First off - I like the looks of what you have done with the mod. That looks very good and makes it easy to follow the connections. I have played around with the idea of the five-way binding posts and wonder if you can elaborate on the size hole you drilled and the what part# you used? I have a couple of inductors on back-order so I'm waiting to get those before I dive in.
Also, I have a small concern about your approach, and it may not apply to audio (or at least to cross-over design), but I have been told that the use of ring terminals, and "butt" connectors, can increase resistance between electrical connections. If there is anybody that can verify whether, or not, this can be an issue please chime in. Just curious, as to whether this is true as applied here and if ring terminals can change the electrical characteristics in a cross-over network. I'm use to seeing everything soldered. I like the simplicity of the rt's because I am not that great with a solder iron. It also makes for easy changes if necessary in the future.
greenmark59
Can ya' hear that?
I used these binding posts with I think a 1/4" drilled hole.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=091-1150
I would be very interested also and please support your feedback with some reliable external sources. I think I have saw others on AK use this approach for DIY crossovers.
tiga
Super Member
Agreed on both counts. Another question - is there any potential issue with the orientation of the inductors that close to each other? I know virtually nothing about crossover design but I thought I remember reading somewhere that one of them should be oriented 90 degrees from the nearby one. I could be way off here but that's why I'm asking. Thanks!
tiga
Super Member
Interesting- Perhaps Pioneer and RS outsourced their cabinets from the same builder?
I just acquired a set of CS-77a along with my Nova 8's and I think the 77a's are a little bigger but I'll verify. I think the 77a's are a different speaker altogether than the 77's.
I was listening to my 77a's the other night thinking how incredible well built these seem to be and how they seem to use very high quality components. The sound quality is very good however it seems as if they aren't quite living up to their pontential and thought maybe these could benefit from a VL mod!
VL - I figured as the success of your mods become more well known folks will be asking you to look at various speakers and to do your magic. Just thought I would get my hat into the ring first with a request to look at the Pioneer CS-77a's.
I just acquired a set of CS-77a along with my Nova 8's and I think the 77a's are a little bigger but I'll verify. I think the 77a's are a different speaker altogether than the 77's.
I was listening to my 77a's the other night thinking how incredible well built these seem to be and how they seem to use very high quality components. The sound quality is very good however it seems as if they aren't quite living up to their pontential and thought maybe these could benefit from a VL mod!
VL - I figured as the success of your mods become more well known folks will be asking you to look at various speakers and to do your magic. Just thought I would get my hat into the ring first with a request to look at the Pioneer CS-77a's.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
From stuff I've read they need to be positioned differently, i.e. maybe one flat on it's side, one with windings facing 45-90 degrees away from the third, etc. It's hard to put in words, more a visual thing. As I understand it the energy generated by the coils can disrupt/affect the performance of the nearby coils. VL will likely have a better or more accurate explanation. I have noticed on some higher end x-overs that coils aren't mounted in the same orientations.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
I'm pretty sure this mostly applies to "low-level" signals and not the high level signal used to drive speakers. Of course it's only as good as the crimp. I crimp mine more than once if there is enough there to crimp. Also, I'll fold my wires over at least once, first to make for a more snug (un-crimped) fit and also to leave a little loop on the opposite end of the crimp to reduce the risk of the wire pulling through if the crimp wasn't done exactly right. Just my random thoughts on the subject.