For cabinet resonance damping I used some Dynamat Original that I had leftover to line the sides, together with newly purchased self-adhesive Monacor MDM-830 Bituminous felt sheets for top, bottom, front and rear of each internal cabinet section. The cabinet is separated by horizontal bracing:
The Monacor felt was easy to work with:
lower base (no cable cutout):
measurements:
base and roof with cable cut-outs:
Lower woofer chamber base (no cable cut-out) installed:
mid-range chamber base and rear damping:
tweeter chamber:
The Monacor felt was easy to work with:
lower base (no cable cutout):
measurements:
base and roof with cable cut-outs:
Lower woofer chamber base (no cable cut-out) installed:
mid-range chamber base and rear damping:
tweeter chamber:
the shrouds ring like a bell without damping:
e A A flexible contact adhesive was used to strengthen the bond.
Final touch will be to add small damping pieces to the basket spiders. The baskets are moulded from a styrene like plastic and resonate when tapped lightly.
The effect of adding the additional cabinet damping is to make the speakers completely 'disappear' as sound sources. The RS8's were always good at imaging and aren't known for colouration. However, for the modest outlay I'd highly recommend doing this.
Final touch will be to add small damping pieces to the basket spiders. The baskets are moulded from a styrene like plastic and resonate when tapped lightly.
The effect of adding the additional cabinet damping is to make the speakers completely 'disappear' as sound sources. The RS8's were always good at imaging and aren't known for colouration. However, for the modest outlay I'd highly recommend doing this.
C1 (mid-range notch filter for metal cone breakup) was replaced with a 3.9uF 800Vdc Mundorf Mcap Supreme EVO Silver Gold Oil 2% capacitor and C2 (tweeter first order high pass) with a 6.2uF 450V Mundorf Mcap EVO Silver Gold Oil part. Both are bypassed with 0.022uF 600V Miflex KPCU-01 Copper Foil Paper / Polypropylene in Oil capacitors:
Note the woofer second order filter (4R7 & 10uF suggested earlier in the thread) is shown in this image. This was removed after around six weeks of listening as it provided no benefit and possibly flattens dynamics. It is not recommended.
Opinions vary widely (perhaps an understatement) as to the benefit of 'boutique' parts. My experience is that for these speakers they are definitely worthwhile.
During complex passages (combination of mixed instruments and voices, or mixed dynamics), e.g. Us and Them, The Dark Side of the Moon, the chorus was originally very congested and smeared. The recording is recognised as being limited, perhaps due to mixing. However with the replacement components it is both much clearer and easier to discern details - more enjoyable!
Choose your parts accordingly, I'd expect you can likely achieve similar results with less expensive components.
The Miflex copper tweeter and mid-range bypass capacitors are also recommended. The mid-range in particular is noted as revealing more detail in my listening notes.
The 3.9uF Mundorf Mcap Supreme is a challenge due to it's physical size. I rear mounted it by extending the copper connections:
This presents its own complication - the foam insert in the woofer chamber needed to be shaped to accommodate the cap.
The Mundorf M-Resist Supreme resistor was chosen due to its low inductance and non-magnetic construction. Dimensions are also a good fit.
Note the woofer second order filter (4R7 & 10uF suggested earlier in the thread) is shown in this image. This was removed after around six weeks of listening as it provided no benefit and possibly flattens dynamics. It is not recommended.
Opinions vary widely (perhaps an understatement) as to the benefit of 'boutique' parts. My experience is that for these speakers they are definitely worthwhile.
During complex passages (combination of mixed instruments and voices, or mixed dynamics), e.g. Us and Them, The Dark Side of the Moon, the chorus was originally very congested and smeared. The recording is recognised as being limited, perhaps due to mixing. However with the replacement components it is both much clearer and easier to discern details - more enjoyable!
Choose your parts accordingly, I'd expect you can likely achieve similar results with less expensive components.
The Miflex copper tweeter and mid-range bypass capacitors are also recommended. The mid-range in particular is noted as revealing more detail in my listening notes.
The 3.9uF Mundorf Mcap Supreme is a challenge due to it's physical size. I rear mounted it by extending the copper connections:
This presents its own complication - the foam insert in the woofer chamber needed to be shaped to accommodate the cap.
The Mundorf M-Resist Supreme resistor was chosen due to its low inductance and non-magnetic construction. Dimensions are also a good fit.