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Wondering if Parts Express can recommend a cabinet replacement for a pair of water-damaged Sound Dynamics rts-3's. They sound great, but they sat in 1/4" of water that leaked in one rainy day, and the bottoms are swollen and splitting the seams. I will have to replace the cabinets, and the current ones are 14.5" H x 8.4" W x 8.4" D, with a 2" W x 3 1/8" L rear facing port tube behind the tweeter. The woofer is listed as a 6.5" polypropylene w/ rubber surround, but the frame face barely measures 6.25 across at narrowest points. Tweeter is a 1/2" dome in a 3 5/8" W x 2 3/8" H plastic frame, with a slightly flared, shallow setback, and a plastic plug molded to sit in front of the tweeter's dome. I guess that is to help dispersion. It's listed as an 8 ohm speaker w/ a 2,500 hz passive crossover, response from 47 to 20,000 hz. I am open to any size and shape that will retain their great sound, but not require much woodworking skill. Any ideas?
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Cut the wet bottom off and make new bottom? -
Find someone locally, cabinet maker, cabinet shop that can build you a new set of enclosures, following closely the original internal dimensions.Originally posted by Craig Oldschool View PostComment
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Cutting the bottom off would allow me to raise the speaker higher from the floor with something waterproof, but my skills are limited, and I don't want a Frankenspeaker. I can't seem to find enough driver info to plug into those sites that calculate dimensions for you to explore options. I was hoping someone would know of a similar sized cabinet kit to check out, as the drivers are still good.Comment
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Those cabinet dimensions would be about .44 cubic feet, but I'm just guessing they used 1/2" thick stock. Unfortunately, PE doesn't carry any cabinets in that size. The closest finished cabinet is .5 cu feet. But to make that work, you would need T/S parameters the woofers and run a quick sim to find the appropriate tuning. Those PE cabinets are nice - much better built than the original cabinets, but they go for $125 each. You're probably better off trying to find a used pair on eBay. As an alternative, you could build a pair of the C-Note ($100/pr) or Hit Maker ($240/pr) kits. You might be surprised how good these kits sound in comparison to your SD's.Co-conspirator in the development of the "CR Gnarly Fidelity Reduction Unit" - Registered Trademark, Patent Pending.Comment
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If you can't make new cabs, I would just move on. Strip the cabs in case you can use the components later in your speaker building career. Looking at ebay, Sound Dynamics doesn't look like anything special.Comment
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An alternative would be to shop for a good used pair of loudspeakers on Craigslist or maybe a yard sale, estate sale or Thrift Store. It's just a matter of timing.Comment
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I know the details for the rts-3's are nothing special, and they aren't anything special to look at, but they really do "punch above their weight". I guess the best course will be to try to save what I can and try to Frankenspeaker something that won't be embarrassing to let others see. Thanks, all, for the advice!Comment
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Use the PE .5 cabinet and reduce internal volume by screwing wood blocks to the inside.Comment
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You could do the same thing using the BR-1 cabs (which are your cheapest option). Still, you'd have to Fraunkenshteen up the baffles, somehow.Comment
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+1 as the quickest way to keep what you have with the least total effort in all aspects. Filling in the space until you reach your original tuning is about the easiest thing one can do in this case, short of doing nothing.Originally posted by marvin View Post
That does assume a close outer baffle size, shape, round overs (if present) etc.Feel free to rip my assumptions apart when wrong, or fix if close.
Passive Radiators:
All PR(s) Vd must at-least double all woofer(s) Vd. Calc = Sd x Xmax to get Vd for all PR(s) and all woofer(s). If all PR(s) Vd at-least double all woofer(s) Vd they'll work.
For woofer(s) with large Xmax vs Sd, all PR(s) with Xmax at-least double all woofer(s) Xmax will work.
A PR max weight is said to be its Mms x3
PR Systems - tight focus with key parameters.
PR Speaker Design - thorough coverage.Comment
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maybe a pic so we could see exactly what you're dealing with . there is a lot of good wood workers here that could give you some suggestions so " Frankie " isn't so ugly ...Comment
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The BR-1 cabs look somewhat similar to the rts-3's, except as Chris stated, the front baffle. The rts -3 tweeter is an "ovalized" rectangle, and it's woofer frame is a rounded square. BR-1 has round tweeter mount offset from round woofer midline. Rts drivers are inline, but I don't think the offset would audibly matter to me. Frankenshteening the baffle or making a new one might be options, and the BR-1 price is more doable.Comment
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Even though I assembled a BR-1 once, I don't THINK the baffles are meant to be removable like on the high end cabs (not sure though).
Maybe your drivers could just make use of a round through-hole (leaving them NOT recessed).
Care to remove a pair and show us what you've got?Comment
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There are some good images of the rts-3s online of the front and back that show the drivers and the rear port, till I can figure out how to upload my own. The bottoms of mine have absorbed some water and have a mild cellulite texture now, and the seams have started to split around the bottom, and up the sides about an inch to two inches. djg suggested stripping the cabs, and I will have to decide between that to use the BR-1s with a modified baffle, or come up with some way to re-do the old bottoms and save the tops in a way that doesn't make "Frankie" too ugly. These speakers were a Christmas gift from my wife some years ago, so I'm hoping not to screw them up. Cost, time, and rudimentary tools and skills come into play. I believe the BR-1s would be far more solid when built, but I would have to make something to raise them off the floor, but maybe I could build that into the Frankies.Comment
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