Nevermind my question, I see you had mentioned a replacement story of its foam suspensions/surrounds/edges.
Back in 1990 we still had the Dutch 'guilder' as currency. I must have paid around 1200,- for the set. Not sure what it translates to but it should be something close to € 800,- for a set nowadays. Years later, because of the way they were built, they were actually concidered a bargain and one of the better produced Philips speakers...but I didn't know that back then...just been a bit lucky. Yes, they are pretty sturdy built, with the cabinet getting extra interior supports and the front baffle being constructed of hard-pressed MDF, 3 cm thick. And yes, you are right, the crossover is pretty large in size. It all looks pretty solid built for a 1990 speaker. Anyway, always been very happy with this 'standard consumer' speaker-set. Cheers.
Results of my Philips FB-820 'upgrade' (recap, PTC bypass and new damping material).
Was it worth it? Yes, absolutely! When I first could really enjoy the set again in stereo, it was a good, noticable difference. Of course I cannot tell what is responsible for this as I did the recap, PTC bypass and damping all at once so I can only conclude that the 'upgrade' as a whole has taken a very positive route.
I'm especially happy with the new hi/mid balance being more 'present' and the stereo imaging is also better...a bit more detailed and 'deeper' in image.
The woofers sound much more 'sturdy' on high volume, showing no signs at all of 'having a difficult time'. I think here the newly added damping material really does a good job; the speakers sound 'bigger' yet 'sturdier'....as if the woofers react 'faster'. I think my enthousiastic nature for my vintage hi-fi set makes me biased but ruling this out, I truly notice this difference. I know these speakers well (32 years owned) so it's fair to say I can hear the difference.
Also nice to now know the caps are all new (Jantzen capacitors) and all are the same in each speaker now (they actually were different in each speaker before).
The set now rests on my vintage spikes my late grandpa made for me. Added softpads to them and now the 'upgrade' is complete. Pictures are of the speaker without the decorative rings (just to make sure everything was right before adding them with a glueing process) and the speaker 'finished', with the decorative rings.
In my case; I dare to recommend recap and upgrading. It was worth it for me, no high costs, my vintage speakers sound like new and 'fresh' again and the whole process wasn't really that hard, although I made a silly cable swap mistake (the only mistake I made in the whole process). Thanks Galu and others for your input and comments; it helped a lot!
Was it worth it? Yes, absolutely! When I first could really enjoy the set again in stereo, it was a good, noticable difference. Of course I cannot tell what is responsible for this as I did the recap, PTC bypass and damping all at once so I can only conclude that the 'upgrade' as a whole has taken a very positive route.
I'm especially happy with the new hi/mid balance being more 'present' and the stereo imaging is also better...a bit more detailed and 'deeper' in image.
The woofers sound much more 'sturdy' on high volume, showing no signs at all of 'having a difficult time'. I think here the newly added damping material really does a good job; the speakers sound 'bigger' yet 'sturdier'....as if the woofers react 'faster'. I think my enthousiastic nature for my vintage hi-fi set makes me biased but ruling this out, I truly notice this difference. I know these speakers well (32 years owned) so it's fair to say I can hear the difference.
Also nice to now know the caps are all new (Jantzen capacitors) and all are the same in each speaker now (they actually were different in each speaker before).
The set now rests on my vintage spikes my late grandpa made for me. Added softpads to them and now the 'upgrade' is complete. Pictures are of the speaker without the decorative rings (just to make sure everything was right before adding them with a glueing process) and the speaker 'finished', with the decorative rings.
In my case; I dare to recommend recap and upgrading. It was worth it for me, no high costs, my vintage speakers sound like new and 'fresh' again and the whole process wasn't really that hard, although I made a silly cable swap mistake (the only mistake I made in the whole process). Thanks Galu and others for your input and comments; it helped a lot!
Attachments
By the way; speakers driven by a Technics SU-V670 amplifier. Music source is a Technics SL-PS900 cd-player.
Well done! 👍
The increase in sense of ownership that results from such a loudspeaker updating is immeasurable.
You can rest assured that your speakers are primed and ready for another 30 years of service.
P.S. I can't resist attaching images of your Technics twosome. If they ain't broke, don't fix them!
The increase in sense of ownership that results from such a loudspeaker updating is immeasurable.
You can rest assured that your speakers are primed and ready for another 30 years of service.
P.S. I can't resist attaching images of your Technics twosome. If they ain't broke, don't fix them!
Attachments
Thanks Galu. They are a nice vintage couple. I do own a complete hi-fi set, everything bought when much younger. Models are:
Technics SU-V670 amplifier
Technics SL-PS900 cd-player
Technics RS-B965 cassettedeck (this one is really nice)
Technics SH-GE70 equalizer
Technics ST-G570L tuner
Technics SL-QD33 turntable
The whole set is in near-mint condition with only the original package boxes missing but otherwise, no dents, scratches or other damage. All manuals present as well and over the last years I could find and download all scematics. Nice to have it all in archive...just in case 🙂
I think for now I will leave the set alone. In time the RS-B965 needs servicing (calibration of tape mechanism) but so far, no problems present. About two years back I did an internal cleanup of all the gear, which was nice to do. It really made the displays shine again; some potentiometers had some 'crackling' and I got that fixed and in general, just removed all dust. I remember I also replaced the two driving belts of the RS-B965...they had become weak and dried out.
I also did all the micro-switches; opened them up, cleaned them carefully, and was able to re-seal them. After this operation, some of the push buttons no longer behaved erractic (like selecting dolby B which triggered a double push not activating dolby B).
Anyway, just a nice hobby with nostalgic value....and like you say, the joy with keeping it in shape gives an almost unmeasurable value...I do tend to walk by the set and always give it a peek 🙂 Thanks again!
Technics RS-B965 restoring, about two years ago:
Attachments
I remember now the first picture shows both displays showing the display on the right already cleaned. The difference is clearly visible.
Lovely classic Technics separates! 😎
I see the cassette deck was available between 1990 and 1993: https://www.cassettedeck.org/technics/rs-b965
Thankfully, you're no stranger to stripping those separates down.
Thanks for sharing.
I see the cassette deck was available between 1990 and 1993: https://www.cassettedeck.org/technics/rs-b965
Thankfully, you're no stranger to stripping those separates down.
Thanks for sharing.
When the time comes you'll find members here with knowledge of tape systems. kevinkr for example.
