Speakerlab Insulation?

[bitterpirate]

I have recently refurbished a pair of Speakerlab 2.5' and they sound great. Thanks to all the help on the site. So.... I decided to have a look inside a pair of 1's. I was surprised to find so little baffling inside. Just a thin sheet glued to the box and separating the tweeter from the woofer. The 2'5' were full of insulation. Anyone know if there is a best practice for the inner insulation based on design? Just throwing it out there before I do something!

 

[Drugolf]

Here is the page directly out of the instruction manual for the Speakerlab 1 and 2 concerning damping material. If any other pages would be helpful, let me know.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

My 1983 7's came with some dacron fill, less than enough for a 50% fill. I left that stuff in them for 33 years but last year finally decided to try something different. Pulled the dacron and filled the cabs with good old fibreglass to over 75%. I like the sound a lot better. Nicer tighter bass, less boomy.

So my best advice is... experiment. It won't cost much and just let your own ears decide what they like. For myself, it only took a short time to decide to toss the dacron in the trash as I will never go back now.

Cheers,
James

 

[bitterpirate]

Thanks guys. I like the experiment idea! From the looks of the page Drugolf posted the original intent of the S-lab 1 was to have a large portion of the enclosure filled with baffle material. I will give that a shot and have a listen.

 

[bitterpirate]

My 1983 7's came with some dacron fill, less than enough for a 50% fill. I left that stuff in them for 33 years but last year finally decided to try something different. Pulled the dacron and filled the cabs with good old fibreglass to over 75%. I like the sound a lot better. Nicer tighter bass, less boomy.

So my best advice is... experiment. It won't cost much and just let your own ears decide what they like. For myself, it only took a short time to decide to toss the dacron in the trash as I will never go back now.

Cheers,
James

Thanks James... Any recommendation on type of fiberglass or just your everyday batt insulation?

 

[bitterpirate]

Here is the page directly out of the instruction manual for the Speakerlab 1 and 2 concerning damping material. If any other pages would be helpful, let me know.
View attachment 884646

Thanks for the pic of the SL1 instruction. Might you be able to share the entire instruction manual? A friend at work turned me on to the Speakerlab line. He grew up here in Seattle putting the kits together. I am from the east coast and never heard of the brand. I picked up a set of 1's and I am recapping and cleaning them up. Just finished a set of 2.5's for upstairs (re-foamed and capped). What a difference! The 2.5's seem somewhat more rare. Not a lot of those out there and no real documentation. It's been a lot of fun.
Glenn

 

[Bratwurst7s]

Thanks James... Any recommendation on type of fiberglass or just your everyday batt insulation?

I bought a bale of 40mm batts/panels of the type used for filling drywall walls. It made it easy to cut sections and insert them into the cabs.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/in...rlab-s7s-rebuild.545406/page-17#post-10171045

But in reality I believe that just about any fibreglass insulation will work.

Please let us know how it turns out if you try it.

Cheers,
James