Absolutely stunning, Gary. I remember you made more narrow 'fins' for a narrower room for someone (in Monaco?) How narrow can you get those panels...and are you 'ok' with someone wanting to place the sub towers behind the main panel or must they be only partly behind the panel?
Upgrading Genesis II's
- Thread starter garylkoh
- Start date
I can get those panels pretty narrow - but it comes to a point where the midrange no longer mates to the 12-inch woofers as well, and you do have to go to 8-inch woofers. I do have one customer placing the sub towers behind the main panel. But he has the woofers firing sideways instead of towards the ribbon. If they are too close, the bass wave from the woofers could blast through the ribbon midrange!!
Hi Gary. Thank you. Very, very good to know. One to bear in mind for the future, Gary. We have never forgotten hearing the Genesis 1s some years ago at Audiocrack's place. Of course, we are going to need a bigger room first!!!
For now, the XLFs are wonderful particularly with the Velodyne DD18+...and we are contemplating going much bigger with the deep bass to get serious 'cone surface area' to really create that sense of venue and space. I have thought about your own massive 6-cone sub even.
Interesting thought on rotating the woofers. Gary, do you know how much wire is available to pull the woofer out during rotation. I'd hate to remove the screws, pull the woofer out, and rip the wires off the connection for the accelerometer and driver. I'd also have a concern that there is wire to accommodate the rotation.
Thanks,
MAK
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Mak,
There should be ample wire to rotate the woofers since we need to put enough slack on the wires to solder the woofer on to the wires before pushing the woofer back into the hole.
Woofer cones are heavy, and move a lot. Rotating them 180 degrees counter the effect of 20 years of gravity.....
Thanks Gary,
I will pull the woofers onto the carpet and lay them on their back before removing the screws to rotate. Is there anything I should look for regarding the accelerometer? Any pictures of the woofer units to satisfy my curiosity?
Thanks,
MAK
I'm looking to purchase my final pair of speakers and will be purchasing used. Under consideration are Genesis II and Genesis G201. There have been plenty of caveats in these forums about these speakers due to age. A friend has the Genesis IIs so I'm very familiar with and like music results of the IIs. That said they are dated and are missing enhancements made in the G201 (bass cables, servo-bass interconnect, dipole woofer towers...)
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The G-II's are a great candidate for the final pair of speakers you would buy as a music lover. We have all available upgrades just because so many of the owners keep them for life. I am still very fond of the G-II as it sounds "richer" than the speakers with the narrow folded wings and 8-inch woofers.
Most of the time, there isn't much maintenance needed. But, that does not mean NO maintenance. The power supply caps in the Servo-Bass amps deteriorate due to heat and age. So, those need to be changed out before they fail and take your amp out.
Woofers, because they move a lot and are heavy, you need to change because the suspensions wear out. However, because of the servo-feedback, this is not as bad sonically as normal loudspeakers without servo. But if the suspension fails and the voice coils rub and short, it could take out your servo-amp. As I mentioned above, turn them 180 deg, and you should be good for a few more years.
Tweeters do not move much, so should last a century. One owner reported that his tweeters failed because of dust being deposited, and then he tried to suck the dust out with a vacuum cleaner. The new tweeters are a bit better though - so many folks have already upgraded.
The midrange also doesn't move much, and if the original Carver ribbons are still good, they should last a good long time. This is where parts deterioration helps preserve the speaker. There are non-polar electrolytic capacitors in the crossover. As these age, the capacitance goes down. When the capacitance goes down in a high-pass filter, the frequency goes up. So, when the ribbons age and cannot take the stresses of lower frequency, the aging of the crossover reduces the low frequencies!! If the previous owner put in B&G ribbons he bought off the internet in, the higher frequency in the high-pass filter is essential as those ribbons made for DIY are only good for 250Hz up to 18kHz.
When the crossover and the ribbon deteriorate to the point where there is a hole in the music between the woofers and the midrange, you will then have to upgrade the crossovers and midrange ribbon.
Most of the time, there isn't much maintenance needed. But, that does not mean NO maintenance. The power supply caps in the Servo-Bass amps deteriorate due to heat and age. So, those need to be changed out before they fail and take your amp out.
Woofers, because they move a lot and are heavy, you need to change because the suspensions wear out. However, because of the servo-feedback, this is not as bad sonically as normal loudspeakers without servo. But if the suspension fails and the voice coils rub and short, it could take out your servo-amp. As I mentioned above, turn them 180 deg, and you should be good for a few more years.
Tweeters do not move much, so should last a century. One owner reported that his tweeters failed because of dust being deposited, and then he tried to suck the dust out with a vacuum cleaner. The new tweeters are a bit better though - so many folks have already upgraded.
The midrange also doesn't move much, and if the original Carver ribbons are still good, they should last a good long time. This is where parts deterioration helps preserve the speaker. There are non-polar electrolytic capacitors in the crossover. As these age, the capacitance goes down. When the capacitance goes down in a high-pass filter, the frequency goes up. So, when the ribbons age and cannot take the stresses of lower frequency, the aging of the crossover reduces the low frequencies!! If the previous owner put in B&G ribbons he bought off the internet in, the higher frequency in the high-pass filter is essential as those ribbons made for DIY are only good for 250Hz up to 18kHz.
When the crossover and the ribbon deteriorate to the point where there is a hole in the music between the woofers and the midrange, you will then have to upgrade the crossovers and midrange ribbon.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your response; its looking more likely that I'll be getting the IIs so will be looking for some pointers.
Concerning upgrading the Caps in the amps, if these are the large main power supply caps then that is within my skillset to replace. If however this includes smaller caps on circuit boards then this is out of my skillset and I'll be looking for a professional to do that work. As to the large caps, advice will be sought to find the correct caps (or better).
As to the crossover, from what I've read and seen in these forums, they are simple enough that I can make those changes as needed with advice on proper component replacement parts.
The Gen IIs I'm considering may come with the newer woofers though they have not been installed and I'm aware of the woodworking needed to install these; that as well is in my woodworking skillset. It also appears these IIs have the newer bass cables though not sure about the servo-bass interconnect. If they don't have the server-bass interconnect then I'll be ordering that from Genesis.
Thanks again,
Mark H
Thanks for your response; its looking more likely that I'll be getting the IIs so will be looking for some pointers.
Concerning upgrading the Caps in the amps, if these are the large main power supply caps then that is within my skillset to replace. If however this includes smaller caps on circuit boards then this is out of my skillset and I'll be looking for a professional to do that work. As to the large caps, advice will be sought to find the correct caps (or better).
As to the crossover, from what I've read and seen in these forums, they are simple enough that I can make those changes as needed with advice on proper component replacement parts.
The Gen IIs I'm considering may come with the newer woofers though they have not been installed and I'm aware of the woodworking needed to install these; that as well is in my woodworking skillset. It also appears these IIs have the newer bass cables though not sure about the servo-bass interconnect. If they don't have the server-bass interconnect then I'll be ordering that from Genesis.
Thanks again,
Mark H
The caps to change are the large main power supply caps. However, there are also smaller caps that on the PCBs that might need work if they are bulging, and signal de-coupling that you could upgrade. There's plenty of information here, as well as in the Genesis owner's FB group.
I'm taking the plunge and am purchasing a set of Genesis II speakers. First up is to upgrade the power supply caps in the amplifier which I will undertake myself. I see a reference to them being 10K - 80v. Is this correct and if not, what is correct? And which brand offers the best quality, reliability and fit for the amp? And a good source for these caps. Thanks.
Caps for the power supply can be bought at Digi Key. They are Nichicon's if I am not mistaken. It is a simple swap.
Besides Digikey, the other good place for caps is Mouser.com.
Because of the age of the amp, you may have to pull a cap to find out the size and pin configurations. Some are 2-pin, others are 4-pin snap-in.
Because of the age of the amp, you may have to pull a cap to find out the size and pin configurations. Some are 2-pin, others are 4-pin snap-in.
This is my first post in this forum. I enjoy reading this tread very much.
I own a pair Genesis V which I like very much. I am offered a pair of Genesis II, and I will probably buy them.
Since I have to get them upstairs I am wondering if anyone knows the weight of the bass towers ?
If anybody have comments on the sound V versus II that would be fine.
Excuse my far from perfect english. I live in northern Europe and english is not my first language.
I own a pair Genesis V which I like very much. I am offered a pair of Genesis II, and I will probably buy them.
Since I have to get them upstairs I am wondering if anyone knows the weight of the bass towers ?
If anybody have comments on the sound V versus II that would be fine.
Excuse my far from perfect english. I live in northern Europe and english is not my first language.
Welcome. Going from genesis v to genesis ll would be an excellent upgrade in terms of scale dynamics bass extension and power, but what condition are they in?
There’s a pair for sale in Melbourne which I nearly bought myself.being for sale for about 2 years now on eBay.not the same pair?
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