Does anybody have this model?
I got it for $7 at a thrift store, it was in like new condition.
It had one of the satellite speakers missing soI just operate it in 2.1 mode.
This is the best set I ever owned, and I love them.
Their construction is really good, sturdy reinforced plastic and metal grills. And a tasteful white color. The sound is nice, and the bass deep.The jacks are nice gold plated ones too. They are probably from 1999.
But they had one minor problem: when I turned up the bass to the very limit, the top and bottom of the sub-woofer would resonate loudly. Bzzzzzzzzzzz!
So I opened it up, and cut a fresh piece of wood and wedged it in there parallel with the sides to place the top and bottom under slight tension. I put it all back together, and it felt solid as a rock. I plugged it all in and loaded a "bass test" song, and cranked the knob on the sub-woofer to the top. No more resonating noise! The bass is DEEP and responsive now.
The cube satellites sat very low on my desk. I wanted them nearly ear level for better sound.
I found two small coffee cans. They are red plastic with black lids. About 6" by 3".
I filled each of them fill of (clean!) cat litter, and put the cubes onto of them on either side of my desk. They worked perfectly, don't rattle, the bases of the cube satellites fit on them perfectly, and look good.
Has anyone else done this?
I got it for $7 at a thrift store, it was in like new condition.
It had one of the satellite speakers missing soI just operate it in 2.1 mode.
This is the best set I ever owned, and I love them.
Their construction is really good, sturdy reinforced plastic and metal grills. And a tasteful white color. The sound is nice, and the bass deep.The jacks are nice gold plated ones too. They are probably from 1999.
But they had one minor problem: when I turned up the bass to the very limit, the top and bottom of the sub-woofer would resonate loudly. Bzzzzzzzzzzz!
So I opened it up, and cut a fresh piece of wood and wedged it in there parallel with the sides to place the top and bottom under slight tension. I put it all back together, and it felt solid as a rock. I plugged it all in and loaded a "bass test" song, and cranked the knob on the sub-woofer to the top. No more resonating noise! The bass is DEEP and responsive now.
The cube satellites sat very low on my desk. I wanted them nearly ear level for better sound.
I found two small coffee cans. They are red plastic with black lids. About 6" by 3".
I filled each of them fill of (clean!) cat litter, and put the cubes onto of them on either side of my desk. They worked perfectly, don't rattle, the bases of the cube satellites fit on them perfectly, and look good.
Has anyone else done this?
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I have 8 sets of the 2.1 model and one of the 4.1 model. I bought 2 new and acquired the rest at thrift shops and recycling centres. They work very well considering their (original) price. Like other units in their price range, the satellite units are too small / don't go low enough to properly match the sub, leading to thin sound. The bigger models in the SoundWorks range were better balanced.
Thanks for the suggestion to reduce resonances in the bass unit.
One day I must get around to producing a FR plot.
Thanks for the suggestion to reduce resonances in the bass unit.
One day I must get around to producing a FR plot.
No problem. What I did was I cut the piece of wood on an angle on both ends as the cabinet tapers slightly. Was careful not to make it too long and cause the cabinet to bulge too much. So I slightly undercut it. To compensate, I slid a piece of paper in first, then the wood. I positioned it resting against the aluminum heatsink next to the woofer "tunnel".
That was many months ago, and it is still functioning perfectly.
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I see this post is a few years old, but here goes.
I've had a set for several years now, but haven't used it recently. They do have a nice sound, and the bass is particularly fat. So fat in fact that the plastic container rattles. I got the idea to rip the speakers out, rewire it all with new wires, and put them in tight home built wooden cabinets. I'm pretty low on tools, but would I need a long necked Phillips head to get the covers off? What do think of my plan?
I've had a set for several years now, but haven't used it recently. They do have a nice sound, and the bass is particularly fat. So fat in fact that the plastic container rattles. I got the idea to rip the speakers out, rewire it all with new wires, and put them in tight home built wooden cabinets. I'm pretty low on tools, but would I need a long necked Phillips head to get the covers off? What do think of my plan?
I've been using the 2.1 version of these as my "nightstand speakers" for a while. I did two things to improve bass quality:
1. Stuffed old sock into bass port. Otherwise bass was boomy no matter what. Bass level control was turned up to compensate.
2. Placed "sub" near sats and thus away from the floor. This much reduces vertical room mode excitation, plus the fairly high crossover frequency doesn't allow for big distances anyway if you want the low frequencies to integrate well (you want half wavelength at most, which for 150 Hz is ~1 m).
By no means should the classic "satellites on desk, sub under desk" setup be chosen. Part of the low mids would get lost under the desk. BTDT.
With some careful adjustment of the bass control, the sonic result is quite pleasing - it's got a bit of a bathtub frequency response (the satellites are wideband jobs after all, with the respective increase in efficiency towards the high end), but overall very acceptable.
The volume pot got pretty scratchy and intermittent at some point. (The unit had spent a few years down in the cellar, too, which is one of the less friendly places when it comes to corrosion.) Took the volume control unit apart and applied some mild contact cleaner suitable for such applications (with sealing), Teslanol t6 to be precise - I supposed Kontakt 61 and Caig Faderlube (or the least aggressive type of DeOxIt) would also be suited. It hasn't acted up in the least since.
1. Stuffed old sock into bass port. Otherwise bass was boomy no matter what. Bass level control was turned up to compensate.
2. Placed "sub" near sats and thus away from the floor. This much reduces vertical room mode excitation, plus the fairly high crossover frequency doesn't allow for big distances anyway if you want the low frequencies to integrate well (you want half wavelength at most, which for 150 Hz is ~1 m).
By no means should the classic "satellites on desk, sub under desk" setup be chosen. Part of the low mids would get lost under the desk. BTDT.
With some careful adjustment of the bass control, the sonic result is quite pleasing - it's got a bit of a bathtub frequency response (the satellites are wideband jobs after all, with the respective increase in efficiency towards the high end), but overall very acceptable.
The volume pot got pretty scratchy and intermittent at some point. (The unit had spent a few years down in the cellar, too, which is one of the less friendly places when it comes to corrosion.) Took the volume control unit apart and applied some mild contact cleaner suitable for such applications (with sealing), Teslanol t6 to be precise - I supposed Kontakt 61 and Caig Faderlube (or the least aggressive type of DeOxIt) would also be suited. It hasn't acted up in the least since.
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