I have a pair of Totem Model One which was made in the 90 as far as I can tell. The cabinet is in bad condition. I was trying to sell it through usaudiomart.com at https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650099021-totem-model-one-bookshelf-speaker/
However, when the buyer received it, he claimed that one of the woofer was making cracking sound. It was working perfectly fine before I shipped it. Anyway, I offered the buyer to ship it back to me for refund. Once I received the speaker, I found that when I shake both speaker, I can heard something inside is moving. I therefore concluded that the crossover was loose and not mount firmly onto the speaker cabinet. And during shipping, the connection got loose. When I tested the speaker, I found one woofer has cracking sound and then maybe half minutes later, it has completely no sound.
Anyway, since I am not able to sell it. I am thinking of fixing the cabinet. Is there any good options for fixing it? I have disassembled everything already.
If I remove the veneer and do wood paint and oil it like some other Totem speaker such as in Mahogany. How is that procedure work.
By the way, the internal wire are just so thin. My cheap RCA cable is even thicker. Also, this is the first time I see the so called specially modified SEAS tweeter.
Anyone know what is the small capacitors on top of the big capacitor for? They are only 0.1uf.
However, when the buyer received it, he claimed that one of the woofer was making cracking sound. It was working perfectly fine before I shipped it. Anyway, I offered the buyer to ship it back to me for refund. Once I received the speaker, I found that when I shake both speaker, I can heard something inside is moving. I therefore concluded that the crossover was loose and not mount firmly onto the speaker cabinet. And during shipping, the connection got loose. When I tested the speaker, I found one woofer has cracking sound and then maybe half minutes later, it has completely no sound.
Anyway, since I am not able to sell it. I am thinking of fixing the cabinet. Is there any good options for fixing it? I have disassembled everything already.
If I remove the veneer and do wood paint and oil it like some other Totem speaker such as in Mahogany. How is that procedure work.
By the way, the internal wire are just so thin. My cheap RCA cable is even thicker. Also, this is the first time I see the so called specially modified SEAS tweeter.
Anyone know what is the small capacitors on top of the big capacitor for? They are only 0.1uf.
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The extra capacitor (0.1uF) is probably an expensive type that can give a more airy reproduction in the higher frequency. A trick that the best use.
I don't have time to watch videos, but essentially you can use any finish you like; a speaker cabinet is little / no different to any other wooden or veneered structure in that sense. So really, that's one of those 'your choice' scenarios -just ensure whatever you do is within your skill-set, same as anything else! For the rest:
- Does the woofer in question produce sound when detached from the crossover (just a direct connection of amplifier to driver playing something [anything])? If it does, it was probably a dodgy connection. If not, check the flying leads between the connector tabs and the voice coil. If one is detached, it may (may) be possible to solder it back up again, being very careful not to over-heat the coil, or burn the spider, surround, cone etc. If the leads are intact, the coil itself is probably dead, although from what you say, that sounds unlikely, and the culprit more likely to be a dodgy connection / dry solder joint on the filter board, broken lead or similar.
- If you can remove the veneer, I'd probably try reveneering them (plenty of methods for that, but the old PVA iron-on is usually the most effective), or potentially using a nice laminate -again, apply with PVA, and if it has a nice coloured back, e.g. white, you could always chamfer the edges 45 degrees to expose it & leave a framing line about the periphery, e.g. the attached.
- Internal wire generally doesn't need to be heavy gauge due to the very short runs involved & limited resistance. The 0.1uF capacitors as was noted above will be 'bypass' types. They don't actually 'bypass' anything at all as such, but in certain specific cases some do feel they make a difference, usually on rise-time.
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@Scottmoose The woofer is fine. It was just dodgy connection when I was trying to sell it and ship it where the crossover mounting over the years has gone bad and therefore shaking during the shipping process and causing bad connection inside. The internal wire for the tweeter circuit is just so thin that it looks like the thickness of the turntable cartridge wire. I may consider upgrade it to something better. I will deal with the cabinet first for now.
I will try to remove the veneer some day with a heat gun. I have done wood work before when I was in high school. But I did not have a lot of experience with wood working. Especially the external wood finish.
Also, the cabinet internal almost has no damping material. Totem claims that they put a special white paint that can do the job. I am not sure this is true. Maybe I will put some damping on my own when I finish everything.
I will try to remove the veneer some day with a heat gun. I have done wood work before when I was in high school. But I did not have a lot of experience with wood working. Especially the external wood finish.
Also, the cabinet internal almost has no damping material. Totem claims that they put a special white paint that can do the job. I am not sure this is true. Maybe I will put some damping on my own when I finish everything.
They're likely using very thin wire to the HF partly because it carries almost no current so nothing else is necessary, and partly because it has reduced losses -assuming of course the resistance isn't excessive, which it won't be or they wouldn't have used it in the first place. Of course, the losses in question are irrelevant at audio frequencies anyway, and the reality is: it's cheaper. 😉
White paint might have some panel damping effect, especially if it's loaded up with minerals, but it will do nothing for acoustic damping purposes. If you think it would benefit from some, acoustically, then add away. If you don't -I'd save your money.
White paint might have some panel damping effect, especially if it's loaded up with minerals, but it will do nothing for acoustic damping purposes. If you think it would benefit from some, acoustically, then add away. If you don't -I'd save your money.
At least the plan for now is to remove the old veneer and use wood filler to fix the dents. Then may next I just use dark varnish and then lacquer. I like the beauty of nature wood rather than veneer. Plus I am not sure I have the skill set to do a good job for veneer myself.
Next thing is crossover cardboard need to be replaced.
Next thing is crossover cardboard need to be replaced.
If I recall correctly Totem used a coating that was borasilicate based (Acoustic Magic may have been the name). I haven't seen this for sale in many years, I used it on some cabinets while building some Dynaudio Mirage speakers based on a Madisound kit long ago. It was very effective.
This might be similar, but I have never tried it:
https://www.amazon.com/Acousti-Coat-Sound-Deadening-Gallon/dp/B01AB1S1QW?th=1