RCA's with Linaeum tweeters??

Thespeakerdude8

Super Member
I scored a pair of these from goodwil today. I had ignored them for two weeks untill today I went to move them to look at an old AA5 radio and felt how heavy they were. I picked them up out of curiosity and pulled the grilles and hello-a planar ribbon tweeter! Hmm, I guess for $20 I should get them I thought.

They are 5" kevlar woofers with the Linaeum tweeters. RCA, but made for radio shack as indicated by the RS model number 40-5037.

What to do with these? Yes they have stunning imaging, but the rest of them don't sound much better than your average boombox speakers. I did stuff the ports with straws and threw a wash cloth in each for damping.

I have a few options here:
1) flip the speakers on ebay, they seem to fetch up to ~$100 a pair.
2) flip the tweeters alone, maybe they would go for more or less, but shipping would be cheaper.
3) add an external x-over and custom make some little cabinets and add them on top of my RS Nova 6's (which suffer from poor imaging due to the paper tweeters.)

Thoughts?
 
Are they the full-dipole Lineaums (top mounted)? These make nice supertweeters; ask Markus :)

EDIT:
attachment.php

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178818&highlight=lineaum
 
I am listening to the tweeters hooked up in place of the cone tweets in my nova 6's. The soundstage is too up front for me... can there be such a thing as TOO wide a soundstage? :screwy:

I do have them sitting in front of the speakers so this may be a problem.

EDIT: yes they are the top mounted full dipoles.
 
I use those as surround speakers

in my home theater. They are very good for that application - I have them mounted up on the wall behind the listening area, upside down so the tweeters aren't blocked by the rest of the speaker.
 
Are they the full-dipole Lineaums (top mounted)? These make nice supertweeters; ask Markus :)

EDIT:
attachment.php

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178818&highlight=lineaum

I really LOVE these particular tweeters (mhardy attached a pic of my open baffle 'evolving project' :D)

they might not be the ticket for a 'boxed' low-end speaker . . . not low end cheap, just low end frequency . . . I've never actually heard them in that arrangement . . .

they do IMO shine in an open baffle environment . . . I think they compliment the dipole radiation of a open baffle speaker nicely.

if it were me, I'd keep 'em, make some JE labs open baffles, bolt on your 'full range' woofer of choice, add the Lineaums for HF augmentation, and enjoy :yes:
 
I have a pair of RCA PRO-LX55 (40-5007) which are similar, but with non-Kevlar mid/bass cones. The tweeters sound like they have great potential. LF portion has issues that beg modification. To my taste, cabinet resonance alone is enough to prevent listening enjoyment.
Crossover mods are a hot topic with these speakers. And here are measurements showing a huge suck-out above 9 Khz from the tweeter directly on axis.
http://murphyblaster.com/content.php?f=rslx_m.html

It goes away off axis, which suggests you may want to avoid toe-in.

Mine are back in their boxes until I decide whether I want to try and mod them or just build all new speakers using the tweeters.
 
I have a pair of these as well, and love the sound of them.

They sound fantastic with low powered tube amps, and a turntable. They do an excellent job of covering up all the pops and hisses I tend to find in my collection with other speakers.

This is by far the best application I have found for them.

I don't have the Kevlar version, but the previous model. I found that the straws trick helps a little with the Huff, and Puffing.
 
One of the other housebrands that speaker was marketed under was Genexxa (Radio Shack?). I tore a set apart and it seems they used a real x-over and cast alloy enclosure. The tweeter designs are an interesting concept, but they aren't very efficient.
 
Just to put things into perspective, I'm wondering what sounds good to you?
I'm always looking to upgrade my own systems, and am always open to budget minded suggestions.

That's kind of a loaded question isn't it.

Overall, I've settled on four speakers out of many that I prefer. There are many things to consider and reasons I chose one over the other. And there are those I have yet to own but will. Easier to make a quick list of currents:

Carver Amazings, Yamaha NS-1000, NS-690, Polk S10s, and Dynaco A25s
The Polks off CL, Dynacos thrift. The NS-690s can be had for around $150.

Now in the size speakers discussed here.
Budget large bookshelf:
1) Dynaco A25
2) Tannoy just about any used ones at the pawn shops
3) Alesis Monitors

Budget small bookshelf:
1) Mirage FRX 1 (This is about the best $60 you can spend on ebay for a pair of small speakers.... period.) M190is next.
2) KEF C10
3) ESM 4
4) Energy Pro Series 1.5

Budget tiny bookshelf requiring subwoofer:
1) Mirage AVS 200
2) Visonik Davids.
 
I have a pair of the pre-kevlar version of these speakers. I use them as computer speakers in the near field, driven by a vintage Yamaha CR-420. They work quite well in the nearfield with imaging being exceptional. I'm not really sure that I would expect much of a 5" "woofer" for full range listening.
 
That's kind of a loaded question isn't it.

Sorry, I thought they sounded pretty good for the price, and was just wondering what you thought sounded better.

I've bought all my speakers used. Every time I buy a new pair for myself, I always ask what the seller has replaced them with. Because when you think about it, there must be a some reason there being replaced.
 
HEY HEY, ZOMBIE THREAD !!!!!

Took the short little mom to Goodwill today to get her out of the house. A very long drive for me, but seeing her happy made it worth it. Perusing the Andy Williams and Burl Ives Christmas offerings, I spied a pair of RCA 4-5037 with Linaeum tweets.

WHOOO HOOOO, only SIX BUCKS!

Hey, I'm easily amused. Anyway, these have the woven kevlar woofers, and appear to be well made. Of course needing a refoam, and I can get the kit for around 20 bucks. I've refoamed dozens, should not be a problem.

But....for 60 or so, I could get these, and reviews are great.

Opinions, experience, tips?

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/approx-5-woofers/hi-vi-l5-8r-5-woven-kevlar-cone-woofer/
 
I ruminated on it awhile....for 20 bucks, shipped to my door, I can get the refoam kit. Since these are kevlar woven, vented pole piece, I seriously doubt I would be moving up with those above linked drivers.

Should get the kit by Tuesday, will report back.

Heavy little suckers with really great binding posts. I plan on putting sheets of bitumen on the inside, as the cabs are noisy.
 
Hmm. Not getting much traction here. Has anyone revamped the crossover for these?? The link provided for Murphyblaster shows 2 different recommended redos of the crossover.

I cannot read this stuff, and wish someone could explain how to read these charts. I can build it, but only if I know what the hell this means -
upload_2020-9-1_17-3-36.png


I can order the parts, caps, inductors, etc, and read values. I don't know what the squiggly lines and the two parallel lines mean.
 
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