General Forum

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

cooldude — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:55:59 GMT

This link has more information and more pictures on how to change the ABR to passive radiators

http://www.speakerhobby.com/bangolufsen.html

I think I can speak for both me and Eugene here that it's a real worthwhile project to do.

Regards.

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

Eugene — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:32:42 GMT

Unfortunately when I received my RL60's not only were the ABR's rotted but the plates were missing altogether. So my solution was a complete passive radiator refit that I learned about reading back threads on this site.

I just finished the refit including rebuilt crossovers and installing new fabric to replace the old tattered and faded cloth.

It works the radiators unmuddied and cleared up the lower bass and toned down the higher pitch frequencies. The sound is really in good balance now. The new caps and resistors also clear out the speaker hiss and buzz.

I am happy with the result.

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

j0hnbarker — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:42:43 GMT

rgs218:

John - do you mean that the 5000 simply won't handle the power and give a good sound, or that by using 4 speakers I might wear the amp out?

The 5000 is a good amp, but the RL140s are big speakers. I'm sure at sensible listening levels it will sound good. What you've got to remember is that a 20 year old amp may well have electronics that have gone out of spec over the years, and leathering it will probably only bring any nascent problems to a head sooner or later. Many posters on here have raved about how re-capping an amp (or speakers) can quite dramatically improve the quality of the sound reproduction, so it's fair to assume that an older amp may not be giving 100% of its true potential.

Use it at moderate volumes and I'm sure you'll be fine. 4 speakers shouldn't present any specific problems over using 2. Watch for it getting hot though, as this might indicate a problem.

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

rgs218 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:34:44 GMT

Puncher:

Do you mean home cinema i.e. surround sound or just duplicating the RL140 channels in the RL60 rears?

The 5000 won't do surround.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting the full surround sound experience. All I mean is, I'm going to have the full 5000 system in the lounge anyway with the 4 speakers spread around the room to give a fuller sound, and I just thought that perhaps I could hook the TV up to the amp to give a better sound than the standard TV speakers.

John - do you mean that the 5000 simply won't handle the power and give a good sound, or that by using 4 speakers I might wear the amp out?

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

j0hnbarker — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:24:13 GMT

Does anyone remember the photos from one of the French members on the 'old' Beoworld where they used a Beomaster 6000 Quad as a surround amp in a contemporary set up? I certainly do - was very interesting, but lacked the centre channel I guess??

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

cooldude — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:21:35 GMT

Puncher:

Do you mean home cinema i.e. surround sound or just duplicating the RL140 channels in the RL60 rears?

The 5000 won't do surround.

Indeed the 5000 is a 2ch. amp. It would give you only the L+R front speakers.

I use an AV7000 but I guess you won't find any of those in the UK....

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

Puncher — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:09:58 GMT

Do you mean home cinema i.e. surround sound or just duplicating the RL140 channels in the RL60 rears?

The 5000 won't do surround.

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

j0hnbarker — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:45:25 GMT

*sticking my head above the parapet*

Just watch out if it's a large room or you're expecting to play for extended periods at high volumes. RL140s + RL60s both hooked up the 5000 will make it work relatively hard if you're pushing the volume. For TV work I'm sure it will be fine, but for parties or just loud listening you'll be working that 20+ year old amp quite hard running both those loads.

Ok - I'm off to stroke my Beomaster 8000 before anyone comes back and tells me how rocking the 5000 amp is (even though I have one myself).

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

Henri — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:12:29 GMT

rgs218:
On another note, would these speakers work well as part of a home cinema system? When we move into our new house next year I was thinking about connecting our TV to my Beomaster 5000, with the RL140s up front, and the RL60s at the back. Does anyone have any experience of using them for this purpose or have any views on how well it might work?

They work quite well, actually. All RL:s seem to have a fairly similar sound, from midrange on up, and back in early 90's I had a pair of RL60:s as main speakers and a split pair of RL45.2:s as center + surround - back in the days of single surround channel of then-new Dolby Surround Pro Logic, surround speaker aimed up to provide an even soundfield.

I can't see why they wouldn't work with current DTS / DD / Pro Logic II surround systems. A center speaker is highly recommended, so it's not a bad idea to keep an eye out for another, smaller pair of RL:s, and use one of them as center.

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

BeoMatt — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:26:58 GMT

No probs rgs218, BeoMatt

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

rgs218 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:00:12 GMT

Thanks for everyone's tips.

Martin I have sent you a PM with regard to the RL140 woofers and capacitor kits.

Beomatt, thanks for the offer but it's now clear the RL60s need more work than just refoaming.

I'm coming to the conclusion that it might be easier (and cheaper) to just replace the RL60s rather than try and get them repaired. That would solve the missing strap issue too! I know that RL60.2s don't have the ABR unit, but do they have any other age related problems to be wary of? I know a memer of this forum has a pair on Ebay currently.

On another note, would these speakers work well as part of a home cinema system? When we move into our new house next year I was thinking about connecting our TV to my Beomaster 5000, with the RL140s up front, and the RL60s at the back. Does anyone have any experience of using them for this purpose or have any views on how well it might work?

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

cooldude — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:49:13 GMT

Just to add one more note.

I used to have a pair of RL60's with failing drivers and ABR's that I completely renovated.

Refoaming the drivers is always best done in pairs (left and right) as slight variations in sound occur otherwise.

I also suggest changing the capacitors in the cross-overs like mentioned in this thread before... really livens up the speakers.

Though I did replaced my ABR's with generic passive radiators (2 per ABR) with very good results. This was several years ago and my search for a replacement foam/rubber to redo the ABR's mounted to nothing suitable at the time. It resulted in a very good, clear and detailed speaker with crisp highs and slightly less 'boomy' bass . That speaker is still being enjoyed by a friend of mine every day since they were upgraded.

(I think there was a link to a website where a similar makeover is documented somewhere on this site, maybe someone else has it bookmarked )

Regards,

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

Dillen — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:10:31 GMT

I can only agree to what Puncher already said.

Those woofers are in need of attention. The good thing is that
they are not too bad, meaning that they probably hasn't worn the
coil former. Owners not aware of the potential problems often just play
until something goes badly wrong and then it's most likely too late for repairs.

Your woofers can be repaired to look and work like new again.
The center dustcap will also need replacing, that's not a problem and will have
to be done anyways when reshim'ing the coil.

Sadly, I don't have a spare pair of ABR metal plates at present.
Maybe the best solution for the RL60's would be to check if B&O still supply
the conversion kit.

Capacitor kits are available for both sets.

Martin

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

Puncher — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:39:27 GMT

I would get them all done at the same time.

Not to dishearten you too much but while they're open it may well be worth replacing the electrolytic capacitors in the crossover networks, if they are still the original parts, as these can deteriorate with age too (there won't necessarily be any visible signs of deterioration for you to see).

Funnily enough Dillen can also supply capacitor kits to do this (I'm not on commission - honest)!

The good news is, once re-foamed and re-capped they'll be good for years to come.

Re: Technical help with RL speakers (North East UK)

rgs218 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:18:48 GMT

RL140 #1 Bottom Woofer. This one is much worse as you can see. Will it be worth getting both of these refoamed?

Is there anything else on the 140 I should look at while I've got it open?