Onix Rocket RSC200 (Bigfoot) Ninja Elite and NoRez Upgrade

[James1005]

First post is the how-to-remove the XO, the second post how to install, and the third post is about NoRez.

TOOLS REQUIRED:
1) Torx 1/8" screwdriver
2) Soldering Iron (I used a $15 Weller 25W iron from Home Depot)
3) Stubby Philip's screwdriver
4) Hot glue gun
5) Wire cutters or nail clipper
6) Tape (masking or blue painters)
7) Needlenose pliers
8) Adhesive remover

HERE'S WHAT'S INCLUDED IN THE DIY KIT
1) 5.6uF Sonicap (1)
2) 8.2uF Sonicap (1)
3) 10uF Sonicap (1)
4) 12uF Sonicap (1)
5) 0.1uF Sonicap (5)
6) 56uF Erse Pulse X (1)
7) 4.5-ohm Mill's resistor (1)
8) Silver Solder
9) Skiing Ninja sticker (1)

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Mark the top of the tweeter/driver with a piece of blue tape. Not really needed but I wanted the wires to be routed exactly like factory.

2) Remove 4 Torx screws holding each midrange and woofer. Note the wire colors and their positions before desoldering the terminals. After desoldering, tape the wires together and note what they lead to (for mine, all three used a blue/white wire combination).

3) Repeat step 2 for the tweeter, except there's 5 Torx screws to be removed and this time, the wires are red/black.

4) Peel back the felt (gently since you'll be reusing all of it, and even some of it if you're putting in No Rez) and then unscrew the 4 phillips screws that are holding down the stock XO (located behind the right woofer).

5) Before pulling out the XO board completely, you'll need to desolder the red/black wires on the board that lead from the binding posts. Here's what the XO looks like! The smallest yellow cap is a 0.1uF bypass cap for the larger 56uF cap.

6) If you're installing NoRez, now's the time to remove all the felt lining. Mine didn't have very much hot glue holding the felt down (thankfully). I've heard horror stories about scraping the cabinet clean, but I only needed 15 minutes. No hair dryer or heat gun needed. :woo: What made it easy in this case is that (a) there's plenty of room to get your hands into Bigfoot, (b) I didn't have much hot glue stuck on to begin with, and (c) use a good paint scraper - not the cheapy ones that flex, but the 5-in-1 tool one (scraper, roller cleaner, etc.) that doesn't flex. That will make sure that any pressure that you apply gets completely transferred to the point that you're trying to scrape off.

Here's a picture of the stock XO, as well as the schematic of the crossover in pdf format.

[James1005]

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1) Peel off the spongy material on the underside of the crossover, but just where you need to solder. The spongy material will help dampen the XO against the MDF, even though the XO has plastic standoffs. After removing the spongy material, use an adhesive remover to wipe off any remaining goo/bits of spongy material that are stuck on the soldered terminals of the caps & resistors that you'll be replacing. You don't need to clean all the terminals mind you. Just the ones you'll be working on. If you don't clean them, those stuff will "blend" into your solder joint while it's in a liquid state.

2) Now it's time to remove the 5 caps and 1 resistor. Every one of them is secured to the board using hot glue. The Ninja recommends using a hobby knife to slice the glue before trying to desolder each end from the board. I disagree, and use the following method:

- Use the wire cutters and cut (as close as possible to the cap/resistor) one wire.
- Now you can rock back & forth the cap/resistor until it is free from the glue.
- Now desolder the cap/resistor at one end, and use the needlenose pliers to desolder that remaining piece of wire that you cut.
- Do this for all the caps and resistors.

I don't like the Ninja's method because when you use a hobby knife to slice through the glue, you don't always slice through all of it. Likewise, if you're clumsy with the knife....

3) Now solder the new resistors and caps in place. Hot glue 4 of the 0.1 caps (one each) to the 5.6, 8.2, 10, and 12 caps and solder their leads to their respective caps first. It makes things a lot easier. Then I would install in the following inside-out order: (a) 0.1uF cap on the board, (b) 4.5 resistor, (c) 12 cap, (d) 56 cap, (e) 5.6 cap, (f) 10 cap, and (g) 8.2 cap. You want to install inside-out because if you do the outside caps first, it's very possible that you'll run out of room on the board for the others - especially since the new caps are much larger than the originals. Use the soldering iron to soften the solder before threading the caps/resistors through the hole. I also put a line of glue beneath each large cap for additional stability, instead of relying on just the soldered ends to keep the caps attached to the boards.

4) Now that nearly everything's soldered on, it's time to reassemble. Insert the XO halfway into the right driver hole, and then resolder the red/black wires from the binding posts. Then insert the XO board completely inside and use the 4 screws to resecure the crossover, and put back the felt on top of the XO board. Glue down the felt if it's loose. Resolder each wire back to the drivers, tweeter, and midrange and reinstall them.

5) Don't forget the Skiing Ninja sticker when you're done!

Here's a picture of the completed XO.

[James1005]

Some comments about the NoRez installation. The Ninja's instructions can be found here:

http://www.skiingninja.com/v/vspfiles/templates/titanium_v5/images/av123-rsc200-cabinetupgrade-guide.pdf

I thought the instructions were OK, with the diagrams being far more useful than the text. Note that there is an error in the quantities listed, because there should be three #5 pieces. The third #5 piece is for the back wall near the binding posts (see picture #1).

Next, the kit itself appears to be set up assuming that you did a Ninja Master upgrade, not an Elite, which I found odd since the NoRez kit and Elite parts were purchased at the same time. For example, the #5 bottom piece near the right woofer needs to be trimmed (shown in red) quite a bit if you're installing the stock XO, because it's larger than the Ninja Master that's broken into two boards. Also, with an Elite kit there's no board near the left woofer. So it makes sense to NoRez this area (shown in green), but none is provided with the kit. You'll have to re-use the stock felt (see picture #2).

Lastly, you will have to trim sections of the #3 pieces to account for the side curvature of Bigfoot's cabinet (see picture #3).

[Mike_TX]

Thorough write up.
I look forward to your impressions when you're done.

Mike

[James1005]

Thorough write up.
I look forward to your impressions when you're done.

Mike

Try a side-to-side comparison with a stock Bigfoot. :SSH:

[django1]

When I upgraded my x-ls I did the NoRez a week before the crossovers. The difference was evident: much tighter sound. The no rez in and of itself is a worthy upgrade.

Nice write up!

[paulmcjannet]

About a year ago I also did the Elite w/ NoRez upgrades to my Bigfoot and 850's. Pretty similar experience and agree with many of the recommendations.

Removing the spongy material was a general pain, but just rocking/removing the caps from the board was usually pretty easy.

Also agree that the provided cabinet upgrade is for the Ninja Master upgrade. I experienced the same as buying the Elite upgrade and finding myself short of NoRez for part of the cabinet as a result. Anyone ordering in the future should probably make note to Ninja about the distinction to save from the hassle. For both Bigfoot and 850's, I still found a fair amount of trimming that was needed for the NoRez pieces. Not a huge deal, as it was a pretty fun project by the time you are putting the NoRez in place.

Your writeup does point out one area where I probably made a mistake. Since Ninja includes all those jumper 0.1uF that are supposed to attach to the larger caps ... I just used all the 0.1uF up on all the larger caps (so if memory serves, I placed a 0.1uF on the 56uF cap as well, instead of replacing the 0.1 uF on the board).

Room on the board did become a struggle when fitting the larger caps. Also, as a result, I often found getting the board to fit back through the driver hole was another challenge. In the end, it was definitely a fun and worthwhile project. It was my first time laying a hand on a soldering iron, so a learning experience all around!

[James1005]

Your writeup does point out one area where I probably made a mistake. Since Ninja includes all those jumper 0.1uF that are supposed to attach to the larger caps ... I just used all the 0.1uF up on all the larger caps (so if memory serves, I placed a 0.1uF on the 56uF cap as well, instead of replacing the 0.1 uF on the board).

Check with the Ninja to make sure, but I am 99% certain that since you put the 0.1uF bypass cap on the 56uF cap directly, then you can just cut off the yellow 0.1uF cap on the board. Right now, your 56uF cap has two bypass caps.

And what were your listening impressions? I'm burning mine in right now (I have it playing 24/7 in the basement for 2 days now).

[paulmcjannet]

I was really pleased with the results. I did both NoRez and Elite at the same time, so obviously no way to know which brought more to the table. I also did the Bigfoot upgrade a couple months before the 850's. Maybe due to that, or maybe due to the fact that I am all HT and no 2 channel music - but the Bigfoot upgrade seemed to be a bigger and more noticeable change to me than the 850's. All in all, I have been quite pleased a year later. I can't claim to have the proper ear or vocabulary to describe the areas of improvement, but it is very much gooder.

[Mep]

I did this myself with my bigfeet, have 3 across the front as mains and center. I did side by side comparisons with an upgraded and unupgraded speaker, although not burned in. The location was not ideal and it was near field but there was a difference. I wouldn't call the difference dramatic but noticable. I was more concerned about the no rez as the speakers are inside a cabinet in an entertainment center. The have a very neutral, flat, and unintrusive sound for tv and movies. The speakers aren't really noticable and the sound feels like it comes from the tv, which is what I wanted. Music sounds wounderful through them.

I will say this, it took forever to do the upgrade on these.