Best update for your old Speakers

In this video I replace the capacitors in the frequency crossover network on a set of Realistic Nova 8 speakers. I also replaced the wirewound resistors. I could tell that replacing these components made a different in the sound due to the increased volume in the high frequency output of the speakers.

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My name is Matt. I live in Washington State and create content around vintage stereos and other audio equipment. I approach the hobby from the standpoint of appreciating the aesthetic as well as having a system that is enjoyable to listen to my favorite music on. I'm not generally spending time worrying about having the right cables or how good the speakers sound beyond a certain point. So long as the music sounds good enough to dance to, I'm happy. If you have a receiver that you would like serviced, drop a comment and we could talk about service costs.

IG and Tik Tok are @TheDealyDeal

[glennmorgan]

Most of the repairs I have done is to replace rotted out surrounds, I never thought about the crossover components failing. Thanks for the info

[craighoffman]

This brings back memories. I had a set of these when I was a kid in high school back in the 70s. The walnut veneer cabinets on these were heavy and solid. Had no clue what I was doing, but "bigger is better" you know. I tossed the grilles, painted the front baffle flat black, replaced the woofer with a blue 12" McIntosh driver, replaced the mids with a pair of soft domes and dropped in a Peavey piezo horn tweeter. The goal was to create party speakers for college, and they served that purpose well.

Funny thing about the speakers, with the piezo horn tweeters they were bright AF in an empty room, but once a bunch of people filled the room, their bodies dampened the excess highs and they actually sounded really good. Powered them with a beefy 100 watt per channel Yamaha A700 amp, they definitely made some noise!

Not really sure what happened to those speakers, replaced them and they were lost to the mists of time after that. If anybody out there happens across some black faced Optimus speakers at a garage sale, those are mine 😆

[perge_music]

I rebuild a set of Pioneer CS99a, of a similar vintage. I did the same and recapped the crossover, however i also changed all the wiring, installed new foam and changed the old spring sockets for modern banana plugs. Ideally I wanted to change the drivers as they're not great but the owner wanted to keep the original appearance. Did make a massive difference to the performance and wasn't too much money.

[ScottGrammer]

Old caps in crossovers don't "block out higher frequencies" per se, but they can do two things that are bad. One, their ESR (equivalent series resistance) can rise, which will reduce the output of the midrange or tweeter if in series with those drivers, or else it can allow more midrange into the woofer if you're talking about the one in parallel with the woofer. A different kind of failure is that the caps can become electrically leaky, which can allow lower frequencies to reach the mids and tweeters, possibly endangering them. Changing from electrolytics to film caps is a good idea so long as you have level controls for the mids and tweeters, because good film caps have a lower ESR than even new electrolytics, and thus can make the mids and tweeters louder than they are supposed to be, which is the effect you heard.

[dab]

It would have been interesting to modify just one speaker, and make a listening comparison, in mono of course. Only then could you be sure of the benefit of the improvement ! 😉

[tatialo]

Yay!!! Thanks algorithm!!! Ive always have been a speaker geek and now that im retired i can tinker more! I miss the Shack😢😢😢

[henrychinaski]

I did this to a pair of Sansui SP-2500's and SP-3500's. The change was dramatic to say the least. Very good video and very good advice to upgrade the caps.

[georgeb]

Thanks for the Video!
Being somewhat of an old-time audiophile snob I used to bad-mouth Radio Shack products. Now I have become to realize some of their audio equipment was actually well made and has held up well over many years. Same with some other house brand speakers like RSL & Quadraflex. The best surprise from the 70's was the GTE Sylvania 12" 3-way (Sylvania - you have to be kidding!). High-end dealer Jonas Miller Sound of Beverly Hills (M&K) sold them and compared them to anything on the market at the time.

[irvingbilly]

Restored a pair of Sansui sp x 9000's refoamed 1 woofer, replaced both mids, replaced the cross-overs and replaced the 20 ga speaker wire on the midst and woofers with copper 12ga.
Also used sheet lead on the inside of the speaker boxes. Really impressed with the improved sound performance
The speakers are powered by a Sansui AU 8500 amp

[ludwigsamereier]

In 1971, when I was 19, I bought my daily speakers DYNACO M25x, made in Denmark . Some decades ago I suspected their treble level might have deteriorated. I checked the caps and their capacity was almost 1:1 their nominal value. So I got me a 12 channel equalizer and a pair of GRUNDIG cube tweeters to boost treble. Some months later my ear doctor told me I hear up to 7 kHz. That was 20 years ago... Nevertheless I still enjoy good hearing and good music from my DYNACOS that I bought for a lifetime. I wouldn´t trade them for anything.

[MisterDivineAdVenture]

Yeah - I saw a pair today marked $89. The front and surround was gorgeous - but the backs said I'm Really Old Crap. I was looking for something ready to go - but I can see preserving that old box. But why do you want to upgrade the grills? That's the nicest part.

[NackDSP]

Many classic speakers have overly simplistic cost reduced crossovers. By measuring the individual drivers and developing a new crossover you can often really improve classic speakers. When replacing the fiberglass, use the same weight of the new stuffing.

[BravoJuliet]

Glad I just discovered your channel. Is there a part 2 to this speaker upgrade yet?
I too have the vintage speaker upgrade bug.
I'm a xover designer so I not only get to improve their parts quality I also get to design whole new and MUCH better modern networks for them. It's a great hobby.

[garymucher]

When I first looked at the speaker, I initially thought it was an Acoustic Research AR-3, but obviously they are not. The AR3's are amazing to listen to with huge woofer magnets and they weigh a huge amount...not easy to lift!

[paulhare]

I just made a massive improvement to my Infinity SM150s for free. I stacked a pair of Polk 10s on top of them wired in series. The Polks were set out by a neighbor for trash pick-up. The theme from The Magnificent Seven sounds amazing now.

[bountyhunter]

I see a Nikko amplifier there. They were quite impressive, and had a nice kick to them. I have an NA - 690 stashed away somewhere. Not used it in over 20 years. I think I would definitely need to check the electrolytics and other components, and likely replace them before running it again. Thanks for the video on speaker upgrade. Found it very useful. ✌️

[mapdsp]

Keep everything original! That way you preserve the legacy of the speaker.

[fzulwld]

OMG, I have the exact same cabnets with my Sansui 1970s speakers. Except mine are as follows.
1. 12 inch woofer
2. 1 horn loaded, L-Pad controlled
Compression tweeter.
3. 2 2 inch dome tweeters
4. 1- 4 inch midrange driver.
5. Dual vented tubes on the bottom front facing ports.
I am here to tell you that even today it is very hard to beat the sound that these speakers produce.
And I have had many many speakers over the years.
The only configuration of speakers that come close is my current 2.1 setup. Two JBL Studio 530s with a parts express 15 inch subwoofer hooked up to my Yamaha amp
And SMSL / DAC.
BLURAY 4K CD PLAER. SACD.
It comes close but there is still a difference in the sound.
My answer to that is my 40 year old vintage ADC/ equalizer/ spectrum analyzer. With the soft blue display. Beautiful piece of equipment. Got it about 35 years ago in a pawn shop for 50 bucks.

[coolbluelights]

We had those exact speakers in my house in the 80s

[jerryking]

My Nova 7s had 3 ceramic resistors with a switch. When I first got them, they blew. Replaced and now all is almost good. Like you are doing, I have to replace the capacitors.. but won't film capacitors change the sound dynamics???