We Saved The Best For Last!

[wtrimble]

Attached are the upgrade instructions from standard Ribbon Towers to ELX Ribbon Towers

Note, upgrading from standard towers to V2 (crossover change only) is the exact same procedure but rather than installing new woofers, you simply reinstall the same ones you removed.

This upgrade does take time and patience, but it is really not too bad.

Dave if our woofer cut out is not 156.4 mm wide does that mean it is not possible to upgrade to the ELX Ribbon towers?

Are their certain years where the woofer cut out size was increased or decreased?

[davef]

Dave if our woofer cut out is not 156.4 mm wide does that mean it is not possible to upgrade to the ELX Ribbon towers?

Are their certain years where the woofer cut out size was increased or decreased?

With our domestic cabinet maker, while they were very good, they did have some problems keeping to precise tolerances. This always puzzled me, especially since I assisted them with the purchase of a highly advanced $100K + CNC many years ago. As I recall, they were a bit disorganized though and they had to reprogram the CNC several times and sometimes they would enter the wrong size cutouts. We are talking about differences of only 1-2 mm.

What do your woofer cutouts measure in mm? It can be as simple as taking some rough sandpaper and going around the inside of the outer perimiter many times to enlarger it a bit. Of course, you must be careful so as to not damage the finish (if you care about that).

Let me know what yours measure. Are you using calipers to get an exact measurement? Calipers are very helpful with regard to this.

https://www.amazon.com/MOOCK-Measuri...dp/B08X44ZX9J/

Worth the $22 to gain the precision.

[merrymaid520]

With our domestic cabinet maker, while they were very good, they did have some problems keeping to precise tolerances. This always puzzled me, especially since I assisted them with the purchase of a highly advanced $100K + CNC many years ago. As I recall, they were a bit disorganized though and they had to reprogram the CNC several times and sometimes they would enter the wrong size cutouts. We are talking about differences of only 1-2 mm.

What do your woofer cutouts measure in mm? It can be as simple as taking some rough sandpaper and going around the inside of the outer perimiter many times to enlarger it a bit. Of course, you must be careful so as to not damage the finish (if you care about that).

Let me know what yours measure. Are you using calipers to get an exact measurement? Calipers are very helpful with regard to this.

https://www.amazon.com/MOOCK-Measuri...dp/B08X44ZX9J/

Worth the $22 to gain the precision.

Dave, this is very relevant to my situation. I ordered the caliper to see how much I need to enlarge the openings. If sanding that inner diameter, if still done carefully, won’t some finish be removed overall after it’s done? I wasn’t sure if this would be visible after the fact or not?

[davef]

Dave, this is very relevant to my situation. I ordered the caliper to see how much I need to enlarge the openings. If sanding that inner diameter, if still done carefully, won’t some finish be removed overall after it’s done? I wasn’t sure if this would be visible after the fact or not?

I think it all depends how much material you have to remove. My woodworking skills are poor - so I really can't offer much advice on this. It might be worth consulting with a local furniture or cabinet repair company. A procedure like this might be quite inexpensive, simple and quick for them, using a router or other techniques. It would likely be best to have them come to your place when you receive the parts.

Years ago we had an employee (Sal) who was good at this. I recall he would use painter's tape on the cabinet around the perimeter of a cutout to protect the surface and I think he used a basic Dremel power tool with a plunge router attachment with a fine grit sanding bit.

[uniquepicture]

I will be following this thread with great interest over the next several days and months. I bought my RAAL Towers about a year ago. They’re the best audio purchase I’ve ever made (even better than my 2EXs and Sierra-1 NRTs!). The RAALs just sound great with everything I throw at them. Female vocals are a priority for me, and I’ve never heard speakers perform better with female vocals than these. I’m totally satisfied, but also obviously intrigued by ELX developments!

I will be watching from the sidelines as the first to upgrade report their various impressions and findings. I doubt I will dive into any upgrade straightaway — as I said above, I’ve only had the Towers for a year, and love the sound I’m getting in my relatively small space. I’m also not into a lot of bass and I don’t really desire concert-level volume out of my setup. So I need to see detailed reports from owners of the upgrades about the other sonic improvements before I go for it myself.

Looking forward to hearing more !!!

[jimlucci]

I recently upgraded my Sierra 1's to the LX versions and the procedure is almost identical to the Tower upgrade process (only there are 2 drivers to replace not three and there is no soldering requirement). I just read the instructions for the Tower upgrade and am curious as to why the new crossovers don't just include leads for the Tweeter and the Midwoofer instead of desoldering the existing leads from the old crossover and resoldering them to the new crossover? It is not that it is terribly difficult to do that, but it just seems less risky to have new leads already attached.

[racrawford65]

I was wondering the same thing as you, jimlucci

[jimlucci]

I suspect it may have something to do with the routing or securing of those leads within the cabinet. I guess we will have to wait till Dave weighs in on it.

[bkdc]

The wires pass through an area where they are hot-glued or epoxied in as cabinet compartments are separated from each other. It is easier to save and unsolder the wires than to attempt removal of this hardened material to replace the wires.

[Ascend0577]

Dave, are the EX and LX drivers in the ELX towers the same as those in the 2EX V2 and the LX two-way speakers? Or is it like the original towers where the cones appear similar,
but are otherwise optimized for the towers (different Fs/Thiele-Small parameters, magnetic structure, etc.)?

The work of all the NFS-optimized speakers looks to be absolutely amazing! Congratulations on such great achievements! I'm hoping a little bit of the goodness trickles down to the CBM-170SE.