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Zenith "Circle of Sound" Speakers

Airjmax

Airjmax

Active Member
I recently acquired a Zenith "Circle of Sound" system. I have read several AK posts about replacing the drivers, but I'd like to connect the speakers to a low-watt receiver first. I have a feeling that a different unit would sound different/better than the Zenith all-in-one. How do I determine which is the + lead on the RCA plug wires? I'm looking to cut off the plugs and use the wire leads instead.
 
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It really doesn't matter unless you reverse the leads on one of the speakers. If they are both the same, left and right. Someone will be along shortly with the answer but another way to determine polarity along with actually seeing if the driver is even working is using a small battery like a "aa" 1.5v. Put one wire on the plus end of batter, the other end on the negative, if the cone move "out" you have the positive wire on the plus terminal. If it moves "in" than you have the reverse.
 
CopperWizard said:
It really doesn't matter unless you reverse the leads on one of the speakers. If they are both the same, left and right. Someone will be along shortly with the answer but another way to determine polarity along with actually seeing if the driver is even working is using a small battery like a "aa" 1.5v. Put one wire on the plus end of batter, the other end on the negative, if the cone move "out" you have the positive wire on the plus terminal. If it moves "in" than you have the reverse.
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Thanks for the reply. The problem is that you cannot see the drivers in this particular cabinet. I have tried to remove them, but I think the bottom access panel is glued in. In trying to remove it, I used quite a bit of force, but I was afraid I would damage the panel.
 
Cut the wires hook them up. Listen closely then reverse the leads on one speaker and see if you gain or loose bass. Also when hooked up if you change the balance from centered to all the way left or right and the bass gets louder then polarity isn't correct.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! I completely forgot I had a pair of RCA speaker leads I made for a set of KLH Model Twenty speakers. I connected the RCA plugs together with a coupler instead of cutting the wires. Problem solved!
 
CopperWizard said:
Cool. So how do you like the model 20? I'm considering a purchase...
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The only thing I didn’t care for about them were the RCA connectors. I added some three-way binding posts to mine. I’ve had Model Seventeens and Twenty Threes also, and the Twenties were my least favorite. Good speaker, but only 4 ohms. I’d hold out for a pair of 5’s, 6’s, or 23’s.
 
CopperWizard said:
The center pin is positive.
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Good old AK! I suspected this but wasn't sure. Someone locally is advertising KLH 20s for cheap. I want them for the tweeters(same as the sixes) so I figured I'd bring an amp and old rca cable as a speaker wire to test them but wasn't sure about the positive and ground so I logged on and immediately got the answer as well as talk about klh 20s in the same thread!
Hopefully the seller responds back soon, I'm ready to roll. Hate to cannibalize these old KLHs, but sometimes you've just got to do what you have to do.
 
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