Energy ESM-2 MKII Speaker Restore

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webfors

webfors

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I purchased a pair of vintage ESM-2 MKII cheap with blown tweeters. So I'm making a project of restoring them. I searched for two days and could not find much information on the MKII version of the ESM-2. There are quite a few differences that are worth mentioning. I had an original pair of ESM-2 way back, like 20+ years ago.

Looks like a completely original set, never cracked open. Even came with the original box with matching serials.

Worth mentioning, these cabinets are very well built. There are two layers of bracing inside, one right below the woofer and one right above. I am really looking forward to hearing these.

Woofer: Dark textured cone, rubber stitched surrounds.
Part #: PL8C3, 4DR51735

Tweeter: 1 inch soft dome
Part #: PL82C, 5DR51570, Vifa D25TG-55

Crossover: appears to be unique to the MKII. Three capacitors and resistors, nothing crazy. I'm going to replace the capacitors with new Solen brand poly caps.

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure and to help others that may run into the same version in the future.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ef5i29can4luoc/AACjkrdp-UHwDjt-yyTEYX_Aa?dl=0

I spoke with Jean @Solen.ca and he recommended the following drop in replacement:

https://solen.ca/products/speakers/home-speakers/tweeters/d27tg3506/

Perfect dimensions, specs match up nicely, and I've heard nothing but good things about this tweeter from reviews I've read.

Then as a project I'll tear down the old Vifa tweeters and see what can be done with them, if anything.

Thought I would post this for any other audio Bitoger
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Very cool man. I always wanted to build my own set of speakers, I was a big audiophile back in the mid 2000s.

Restoring an old set is cool as well. I wonder how the materials (I assume it is chip board) would stack up to modern MDF.
 
You can save money and just buy a good brand of Mylar caps instead of stolen. I've been a ee for 25+years and ha e done both listening and measurement tests and the Solens are nothing special except the package. Long ago there was a diy loudspeaker building show and one of the guys made two crossovers. One with good but low cost components and one with high cost components, Blind testing showed very close to a 50/50 split in sound quality preference over the weekend with a slight bias to the cheap one.

My results from upgrading crossovers to Solen caps showed the same.
 
You can suck out the dust cap with a vacuum house. Just be careful as the caps are not glued on well.
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Very cool man. I always wanted to build my own set of speakers, I was a big audiophile back in the mid 2000s.

Restoring an old set is cool as well. I wonder how the materials (I assume it is chip board) would stack up to modern MDF.

Much heavier and thicker than my more modern speakers, that's for sure. This ESM-2's are probably 50 pounds.. I'l have to weigh them. Cabinets are rock solid. Not much vibration gets through them. I put some HudsonHiFi pads on the stands to isolate the speakers. Probably overkill, but I've had just too much fine putting these together. Brings me back 30 years
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Speaking of the stands, I actually found a pair of original ESM-2 stands on Kijiji!! I couldn't believe it. $20 for the stands, $20 for the speakers, and about $100 in parts and a few hours and they are amazing! Sound so good. So smooth, loads of low end. I'm really pleased! I actually turned off my dual HSU subwoofers.. It'll take me time to tune them for these new/old speakers.

Here are some pics I took during the rebuild and the finished product. I couldn't be happier.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m6uxp95pt61e4x0/AAD7HpjhNtd9M-fj2wPNWC5fa?dl=0
 
Originally Posted by danez_yoda
You can save money and just buy a good brand of Mylar caps instead of stolen. I've been a ee for 25+years and ha e done both listening and measurement tests and the Solens are nothing special except the package. Long ago there was a diy loudspeaker building show and one of the guys made two crossovers. One with good but low cost components and one with high cost components, Blind testing showed very close to a 50/50 split in sound quality preference over the weekend with a slight bias to the cheap one.

My results from upgrading crossovers to Solen caps showed the same.


Would have cost me more to drive back across town to return them.
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Looking at the other options, I could have spent much more! This was kinda like putting synthetic in a car that doesn't need it... which we know Bitoger's do 9 times out of 10.
 
Originally Posted by danez_yoda
You can suck out the dust cap with a vacuum house. Just be careful as the caps are not glued on well.

The centre cap is actually highly perforated mesh.. vacuum didn't do the trick. I had to use a very find needle to pull it out. The dog you see in the pictures was the culprit of the original sin
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Follow up on this rebuild. These speakers continue to impress and are the mains in my music/listening room.

Just spotted a mint pair of Energy Reference 22's locally which were the higher end speakers of the series.

Might just have to buy them and do another rebuild
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Thanks!

I ended up buying the Reference 22's! They were mint, had the tweeters serviced, including ferrofluid replacement, in 2011. I found a guy in Halifax that actually still rebuilds the superdome tweeters should they fail. Apparently he bought up all of ABI's left over parts/hardware before the Klipsch buyout. I asked point blank, "How long do you think you'll be able to service/rebuild these?". He said, "no plans to stop servicing/rebuilding these".

These 22's go down to 28Hz and sound amazing! I remember lusting after the 22's when I was 13. 35 years later they are in my living room and sound incredible. No need to rebuild them, as they are mint.

Now I need to architect a better amp. These things like power
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