Can I make my speakers' bass better?

[river251]

Allen, thanks. I see I didn't make clear this started becasue they are on sale locally, and I've spent about 5 2-3 hour sessions listening to them. The bass problem is going to get worse in my small room and I think may be the only reason not to buy them. The soundstage is the best I've heard, detail seems very good, just need a well-controlled and defined bass.

So do you have thoughts on putting in different 6.5" woofers?

[riley.reynolds]

different woofers will have a different response curve and will need a different crossover to make them work correctly in the cabinet. It would be really a crapshoot unless you measured everything.

[AllenB]

If you've listened to them and are still interested then it seems reasonable to get them considering the circumstances. At least you'll have an idea of what you're getting. I'm not saying there's not a better option if you're prepared to do the research and take a chance.

I would not judge the speaker too heavily on the bass response. This should be seen as a room issue and should be worked out with subs.

On the other hand the bass that we hear depends on much higher frequencies as well. So aside from being light on the bass, does the speaker seem to have any tonal issues ie. is it well balanced through the lower midrange and upward?

[sreten]

Originally Posted by river251

So do you have thoughts on putting in different 6.5" woofers?

Hi,

You seem to be asking a question you think you already know the answer
to and have ignored my previous post. No you can't change the bass units
based on no useful information posted about them, different woofers can
work better, but not on the basis this woofer is better than that woofer.

rgds, sreten.

A further alternative to previously posted is stuff the ports with drinking straws.
If you block both ports and the bass is still poor give it up, they are not good.

[RockLeeEV]

Can I buy them and put in different bass 6.5" drivers to tighten the bass?

Absolutely not.

Or fill them with stuffing?

Wouldn't be much harm in that one. You can sometimes make internal box mods, but rarely does that mean you will get great results. Bad bass can be many, many things. The box is only one such factor. Better to start from excellent than to start from poor and try to make it excellent.

Or change the crossover (scary!)?

If it's scary, then NO! Not unless you've got somewhere nearby with both crossover design skills and measurement tools to help you out. To me that seems like a waste of money... why pay for a speaker if you're going to have to modify it!?

Or just hook my amp to the high end of the biwire terminals and leave the low end unconnected and get a sub?

I don't know the crossover frequency on them, but most 3-way speakers cross woofers around 300 to 500hz. Most subwoofers cover the 20hz to 100hz range.

Or put the speakers (already huge) up a foot or two on stands? Maybe glue little lead fishing weights to the woofer cones to knock them down a bit?

How would this affect bass?

So do you have thoughts on putting in different 6.5" woofers?[/QUOTE]

These are $750. There is nothing remotely close for twice, three times the price. so it's a valid question.

Well there's a confident statement that I'd be inclined to disagree with.

No, Chris, I haven't, and this is exactly, exactly what I'm wondering. I can never get much idea of how good DIYs come out.

How well DIYs come out depends on various factors - the drivers used, the crossover designer's skills, and don't underestimate the CAD software used either.

I never hear anybody say "I put my Response 2.5 clones next to the real ones and they were identical" or "my DIY speakers completely blew away the Focals/Dynaudios/Sonus Fabers/pick your brand...."

One of the reasons is that those companies aren't particularily the "Gold Standard". Saying a DIY speaker is better than a Sonus Faber is like "okay, whatever"

Can I fix the one problem with these otherwise great sounding speakers? Can it be done? How?

The problem is, until we can measure what the problem is, we can't empirically analyze it. How can we tell you "sure ya can fix it" if we don't know what "it" objectively is!? There's countless things we could suggest, but you can't correct a problem you can't diagnose!!!!!!

The soundstage is the best I've heard, detail seems very good, just need a well-controlled and defined bass.

Soundstage is a difficult term. You say it's the best you've ever heard, yet none of us have a clue what you mean by that. It's like saying your wife is the best woman in the world. "Umm... okay... care to elaborate"! Until you can describe what about the soundstage, with respect to the room, the source material that you prefer, I'm just... lost. Is it tall? Is it wide? Is it deep? Or are voices right up there next to your face? Is instrument placement concise and sharp? For all I know, the bad bass even contributes positively to what you subjectively consider a great soundstage. I just don't know because it's not a word I fully understand as its meaning varies by the person.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I'm being honest with you that i'm sure there are both better commercial speakers, and better DIY speakers, than the Sinclairs, at the price point...I can see a few issues just from looking at the picture of the sinclair that I did notice your other thread so I'll go elaborate there

[MCPete]

Originally Posted by sreten

Hi,

Line the ports with open cell foam, about 3/8" thick, cut into a rectangle
port diameter times its length, fold and insert into the ports. It will deepen
bass and make it tighter, as well making upper bass somewhat lighter.

rgds, sreten.

How does this work? From long ago, Thiele's exprerimentation showed that adding resistivity to a vent raises f3.

[lduarte1973]

i dont know if i would buy those speakers , but let´s say i would , why dont you go to the store and ask for a audition with a sub ? that should give a hint if the problem is in low bass or mid bass , if it´s low bass maybe a adding a (active) sub can help

[fakeout]

The thing that really sucks balls about reading on speakers is that often, you CAN'T hear them. I just watched (in horror, just kidding) a video on Youtube with a series of speakers including a subwoofer that was shaking like it was producing an earthquake. It sounded annoying, loud and distorted. Since I'm used to listening to a small pair of Creative T12 computer speakers I was thinking there's no way in the world I could even stand listening to earthquake-like music. So, I agree with the above poster that it might be worth a try to listen to the speakers. Besides, I've heard a B & W iPod dock and Bose computer speakers that sounded so neutral they sounded to me like watching a white wall with no color. I mean it had no taste or flavor. And from what I've read, some well-regarded, expensive systems sound exactly like that.

[tvrgeek]

DIY a sub array. Run a real crossover to the subs. ( yes I said subs, plural). It is quite surprising how much cleaner a so-so mid-base is when it is not having to be driven to an edge if it's life trying to get below 60 Hz.

[fakeout]

How involved is it to add a 2nd woofer to a 2-way? - Techtalk Speaker Building, Audio, Video, and Electronics Customer Discussion Forum From Parts-Express.com

I'm now starting to lurk other boards.