This is a not very comparable pair of scenarios perhaps:
My Kairos are still in a regular square .5 cuft box. I propped them up a little with some MDF. I'm working on the Kairos enclosure, but also going to school and working 6 days a week. I received my Emotiva Flex amp and Musical Fidelity V90 DAC. I plugged both the CM9s and Kairos into both. I Bi-amped the CM9 (I lost one of the 4 connectors to make them mono-amp) then wired the CM9 connectors in Parallel at the amp (which is stable at 4 ohms). So it can get a bit louder. Right now I can say both speakers benefit from a little extra room space to expand. Mine are both next to my big screen TV and huge stand. I did the best I could to place them. I was surprised that the CM9 sound a bit better with the Emotiva amp, dac, and better room placement vs. just the receiver. The mid-range i think is what is making the biggest difference right now. The CM9s mid-range is closer to the same volume as the bass and treble. I think right now the CM9 sound more balanced and fuller. I think the extra power, being a 3-way, and much better (60 lbs and very inert) enclosure is making a big difference. What is better about the Kairos? The treble IMO is a bit more clear, imo I can hear a bit more detail in the Kairos. I think right now the tweeter is a little louder than the rest of the system. Meniscus did send me an extra resistor to lower the tweeter volume if I see fit, I may try that soon. The tweeter is louder, not harsh or bright. the Mid-bass can is running with no low pass crossover and it can actually bottom out with 50 watts, or maybe that's the amp clipping? It happens on bass heavy (Hip-hop/R&B) music though.
The Kairos are now in my room, on the same stand used by my Beringher B2031A Truth, two feet from the back wall, about 3 from the side walls, but only 7.5 feet from the back wall! (my room is not very large) so listening position makes a huge difference. I live with my parents (the CM9 are actually my dads) so until I move out this is the Kairos home. I resisted buying the LS50 or Continuum, because in the not too distant future these will be my main speakers when I move to my own place. I think my Kairos will improve to be better on most levels than the CM9, with a better enclosure, placement, break-in time, and possibly using the extra resistor for the crossover. I do enjoy just as much as the CM9, but on different material. Vocals are better on the Kairos for example.
I'm working on the placement now. Working to make a triangle from my bed
to the kairos. The kairos are only 4.25 feet apart, I extended that to 5.25 and I am about 5.25 feet from them. I think that they already sound more balanced. Still this is my reality as a DIY audiophile!Please let me know what you guys think about all this.
Last edited:
Thank you, I'm going to go over this slowly and see if I can plan this project out. I already put the crossovers together with affordable solder, but I'll look into getting something better. Also I'm getting to better understand and use a router, so I wont cut 10+ boards to get the perfect size
The side pieces and interior braces are what I'm having trouble with now. Working to wrap my head around cutting the 14 degree angle for the 2 sides. I may need to get a better fence and measuring equipment. I have not used a miter saw, but I can borrow one, I was thinking that was a good way to cut the side pieces.
Also I used my soldering gun to heat up the glue and make it pliable. It worked to some degree but I don't want to damage the mdf too much. Its a lot more flat now though.
What kind of caulk should I u
You can use any kind of caulk that will block air leakage. Put it on the inside of the box in all the joints. It could be the cheapest DAP latex painters caulk from home depot. Just lay it on thick enough to ensure that when it dries and shrinks it will still cover all of the joint line. If you have straight cuts and clamped glue joints then caulk is not required, because the glue squeeze on clamping acts as caulk and you can see that the joint is sealed tight.
The kairos crossover design is not just the electronic parts, it also includes the baffle angle. The angle moves the tweeter farther away from the listener by about an inch, iirc. This aligns the phase of the woofer and the tweeter when they are playing at the crossover freq of 1900Hz. This is extremely important part of the crossover. I think I remember you mentioning that you tilt the square box backward to simulate the angled baffle. That will work fine.
Your .5cu ft box is cose enough to the Kairos' designed box volume of 17liters (minus reflex port, bracing and woofer volume). So you might have a slight bump in the bass from your 16% smaller box, but it won't have a negative or even barely noticeable effect. Sealed boxes are very forgiving, especially compared to ported designs. If you do make a ported box, stick closely to the Kairo plan. I use sealed myself.
Don't worry about the solder if it's already done. Check the label of the solder spool you used, if it is 63-37 (% tin/lead, "eutectic") then you can forget about it forever. If it is old fashioned 60-40 solder, then if you ever have crackle sound or a driver goes quiet, the solder joints would be the prime suspect. Just resolder them with some eutectic solder and that's it. 60-40 can crack over time with vibration, but no problem at the moment.
Rich
This is a not very comparable pair of scenarios perhaps:
My Kairos are still in a regular square .5 cuft box. I propped them up a little with some MDF. I'm working on the Kairos enclosure, but also going to school and working 6 days a week. I received my Emotiva Flex amp and Musical Fidelity V90 DAC. I plugged both the CM9s and Kairos into both. I Bi-amped the CM9 (I lost one of the 4 connectors to make them mono-amp) then wired the CM9 connectors in Parallel at the amp (which is stable at 4 ohms). So it can get a bit louder. Right now I can say both speakers benefit from a little extra room space to expand. Mine are both next to my big screen TV and huge stand. I did the best I could to place them. I was surprised that the CM9 sound a bit better with the Emotiva amp, dac, and better room placement vs. just the receiver. The mid-range i think is what is making the biggest difference right now. The CM9s mid-range is closer to the same volume as the bass and treble. I think right now the CM9 sound more balanced and fuller. I think the extra power, being a 3-way, and much better (60 lbs and very inert) enclosure is making a big difference. What is better about the Kairos? The treble IMO is a bit more clear, imo I can hear a bit more detail in the Kairos. I think right now the tweeter is a little louder than the rest of the system. Meniscus did send me an extra resistor to lower the tweeter volume if I see fit, I may try that soon. The tweeter is louder, not harsh or bright. the Mid-bass can is running with no low pass crossover and it can actually bottom out with 50 watts, or maybe that's the amp clipping? It happens on bass heavy (Hip-hop/R&B) music though.
The Kairos are now in my room, on the same stand used by my Beringher B2031A Truth, two feet from the back wall, about 3 from the side walls, but only 7.5 feet from the back wall! (my room is not very large) so listening position makes a huge difference. I live with my parents (the CM9 are actually my dads) so until I move out this is the Kairos home. I resisted buying the LS50 or Continuum, because in the not too distant future these will be my main speakers when I move to my own place. I think my Kairos will improve to be better on most levels than the CM9, with a better enclosure, placement, break-in time, and possibly using the extra resistor for the crossover. I do enjoy just as much as the CM9, but on different material. Vocals are better on the Kairos for example.
I'm working on the placement now. Working to make a triangle from my bed
Please let me know what you guys think about all this.
They started of pretty bright for me too, don't change the resistor yet, let them settle down. The midrange should open up. edit: and make sure they're at an angle!
Last edited:
Thanks, I'll leave it alone then and just enjoy them and see them get better! They are pretty good right now
An often missed point. Yes, off axis sound is often more representative of the nature of the speakers (their power response) and allows you to toe them in, if it helps.
A lot more. listening to Santana - Smooth, I hear a lot of little details and its not bright.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.