SO then I tripped over my third EPI M180. This was found in a dump in a wealthy New England town. Evidently they have a drop off area where anyone can grab what they want. This one cost me $75. The fate of it's mate is unknown... (moment of silence....).
This became my prototype mule for the crossover rebuild. I kept the switch since my wife's hearing is sensitive to high frequencies. She likes the tweeter dialed back a tad. I als like to retain the original back plates to keep that vintage look. The input terminals are upgraded to newer gold plated 5-way units sold by Parts Express. (PN: 260-302).
I included the wiring schematic I did up... in case anyone is interested in the "nest mess" of my crossover.
Something new with this build is using the terminal splice blocks. I tested the help out of these and disected one to see how it works and subjected one to hammer blows and vibrations and the connections held. I tin the wires before inserting them as they seem to hold better that way. Time will tell...
So far two crossovers are done and one speaker is up and breaking in. The cap is a Solen 16uF 400V Polypropylene Capacitor (Parts Express PN: 027-578)
New Crossover design being tested
The teardown
Old Crossover - switch was tested and kept in design... It is a weak link, BUT
my wife likes a more muted tweeter than I do. (happy wife, happier life)
Old input block is cheap and problimatic... It's outahere!!
Crossover teardown
New prototype crossover is in and paint-trimmed woofers are ready for assembly
New Crossover is in with doublesided sticky tape for an airtight seal with 1/2" wood screws to keep the masonite board snug.
Breaking in the system and looking for issues. Those are EPI M150W on top, with a EPI M50 on the top shelf in the background. Highly recommend having the little guy up near the ceiling in the corners of the room. The wall and ceiling make for some audio magic along the room space.
New Crossover schematic I created with MS Visio if you want to wire up something similar. I included inside each of the three cabinets a folded up print out of this diagram just in case someone tries to restore it in some 30-40 years and goes "What the hell did this guy do??!??"
Please feel free to comment and point out any flaws or make suggestions...