I want to improve the sound quality out of my speakers, yes - I know, a very generalized term, but then again I'm a complete beginner.
To start off, here's a picture of my speakers:
http://www.bilddump.se/bilder/20200213200134-46.195.138.78.jpg
Here's a drawing of the cabinet:
WeTransfer
The manufacturer will not help me in telling each drivers individual specifications, they're way too secretive, hence my doubt of the speaker not performing as per specifications.
Word has it this speaker performs very well in its price point, it's pretty much impossible to find speakers sounding this good for any lesser amount, and I can honestly agree, as long as you don't build the speakers from scratch yourself, nothing really beats it at this price level, which is $300.
Manufacturers and my take on the specifications:
Cabinet consists of 18mm MDF all around, and 15mm bracing internally.
MTM enclosure is 12,97 liters, woofer enclosure is 58,76 liters (with ports plugged from the inside)
4x 80mm 150mm long vented ports in the rear
1" Super Audio (lol) fabric tweeter, all plastic, neodymium magnet, 6 ohm
2 x 5.25" midrange, coated paper, shielded, steel basket, 80mm magnet, 4 ohm each
2 x 8" woofers, coated kevlar, full cast aluminium basket, 100mm magnet, 8 ohm each
Frequency Response 24-32000 Hz (- 3 dB)
Crossover Frequency 240/2500 Hz
Impedance 4-8 ohms
Sensitivity 94 db
RMS Power 190 W
Max Power 280 W
There is a terminal where you can change the midrange, -2 dB / 0 dB / +2 dB / +4 dB
Size (HxWxD) 1100 x 238 x 395mm
Weight 28 kg per tower
I don't know how to measure the drivers to calculate the RMS wattage of each individual driver, the impedance I could easily measure, but the sticker on each driver should do just fine.
There is no ampere figure on the drivers, the wattage is therefor completely unknown.
Word has it the tweeter easily blows if you turn the speaker up too loud, common issue.
To my plan:
I plan to focus on the weaknesses of these speakers, I find the cabinet to be of my taste, and it's decently sized for my room, fits perfectly with all of my other speakers too.
Obviously the tweeter needs to be changed, it's probably very weak, either that or the crossover is just poorly designed, I would guess a mixture of the too, but more the tweeter itself being the issue.
Also the midrange is made out of cheap coated paper, by the looks of it it's a very cheaply made driver, only 80mm magnet, and the overall quality inspection and feel of the driver is very cheap, there is no quality inspection during the fabrication process it feels like.
The woofers however, they're not that critical to replace, they're made of kevlar (supposedly) and it looks very much like it at the back of the cone, however the magnet is only 100mm, most midrange drivers have this size and that makes me question these woofers.
I also plan to seal these cabinets with foam plugs internally, so that I reduce the cabinet volume as much as possible (the new midrange speakers I found does require a bit less volume) so nothing wrong in that.
While doing these improvements to the speakers, I also cover all the inside walls with dampening material (Zachry Q12) since I seal the cabinets fully, I don't fill them fully. just cover up the walls.
Is there a better way to dampen the cabinets, again - please look at the cabinet drawing and suggest improvements.
First however, let's focus on tweeter and the midrange.
I know I will need to design a new crossover for these improvements and changes, I've fiddled around somewhat in XSim, planning on getting a UMIK-1 to measure the current speaker as a whole and each individual driver.
I found this tweeter to be a perfect match, physically, and it seems really nice by looking at the specifications as well, people have reported this driver to be perfect with a 2k crossover, and it's made out of fabric, which my atmos upfiring speakers are too, so that's good I guess.
SB Acoustics SB26STAC-C000-4 - 1.1" Dome Tweeter
As for midrange, it's quite tough finding speakers with the very strange frame/basket shape that these speakers have, it's a square shape with rounded corners.
Anyway, Aurum Cantus reportedly seems to offer pretty nice midrange speakers, I have no clue what my current midrange are rated at in terms of power, or pretty much any specification really, other than the magnet being 80mm, and the 4 ohm rating.
Aurum Cantus offer many variations, but I thought that the AC-130MK2 looked pretty nice, it's very even in the frequency response, and the 2k crossover fits perfectly with the SB26STAC-C000-4 from what I can tell as a beginner.
Aurum Cantus AC-130MK2 - 5.5" Woofer
Right, my questions:
1) Can I measure the RMS wattage closely to the manufacturer specifications (if I had them) by measuring with a True RMS volt/ampmeter?
2) If yes on the above, tell me step by step how to connect everything, because I'm unsure if the drivers can be connected directly to a PC for example, you would need some sort of amplifier I guess, but is a normal 2-channel amplifier (like a Yamaha) overkill, is it easier to have a USB soundcard at hand?
3) What kind of test tone would you output, is there a general rule of thumb, 1k? 2k? What kind of SPL, just about any would do? Speakers vary quite a bit in voltage and amps (hence also watts) that's why I ask.
4) Does my suggested tweeter/midrange combo look like they would match and yield great performance if the crossover is designed correctly?
5) How would I go about matching the tweeter/midrange to my already existing woofers, do I need to measure them and create/generate a FRD/ZMA file somehow, with the UMIK-1 maybe?
I've read some stuff on the forums, but I have a hard time connecting everything together, I appreciate all the help you can get me, we all start somewhere, this is where I start.
Explain to me in a greater noob fashion that you think you need to, because eventhough I might of touched on some delicate topics, I'm really just a beginner.
And oh yeah, I plan to measure the speakers assembled together (once upgraded) in the room where they'll be used, so that I can measure the room strength/weaknesses and implement and compensate for those in the crossover.
I have no issues at all having to re-design the crossover if moving the speakers to a different room.
Thanks again!
Vitus
Feel free to toss my thread around, anywhere it can go for the right answers and I'm more than glad.
Maybe some real gurus could hop in and have a go at it, I need all the help I can get.
I'm used to be an electrician as a profession, so I'm not too shabby with electrical terms and how all that plays out.
I would give you something if I could, thank you.
To start off, here's a picture of my speakers:
http://www.bilddump.se/bilder/20200213200134-46.195.138.78.jpg
Here's a drawing of the cabinet:
WeTransfer
The manufacturer will not help me in telling each drivers individual specifications, they're way too secretive, hence my doubt of the speaker not performing as per specifications.
Word has it this speaker performs very well in its price point, it's pretty much impossible to find speakers sounding this good for any lesser amount, and I can honestly agree, as long as you don't build the speakers from scratch yourself, nothing really beats it at this price level, which is $300.
Manufacturers and my take on the specifications:
Cabinet consists of 18mm MDF all around, and 15mm bracing internally.
MTM enclosure is 12,97 liters, woofer enclosure is 58,76 liters (with ports plugged from the inside)
4x 80mm 150mm long vented ports in the rear
1" Super Audio (lol) fabric tweeter, all plastic, neodymium magnet, 6 ohm
2 x 5.25" midrange, coated paper, shielded, steel basket, 80mm magnet, 4 ohm each
2 x 8" woofers, coated kevlar, full cast aluminium basket, 100mm magnet, 8 ohm each
Frequency Response 24-32000 Hz (- 3 dB)
Crossover Frequency 240/2500 Hz
Impedance 4-8 ohms
Sensitivity 94 db
RMS Power 190 W
Max Power 280 W
There is a terminal where you can change the midrange, -2 dB / 0 dB / +2 dB / +4 dB
Size (HxWxD) 1100 x 238 x 395mm
Weight 28 kg per tower
I don't know how to measure the drivers to calculate the RMS wattage of each individual driver, the impedance I could easily measure, but the sticker on each driver should do just fine.
There is no ampere figure on the drivers, the wattage is therefor completely unknown.
Word has it the tweeter easily blows if you turn the speaker up too loud, common issue.
To my plan:
I plan to focus on the weaknesses of these speakers, I find the cabinet to be of my taste, and it's decently sized for my room, fits perfectly with all of my other speakers too.
Obviously the tweeter needs to be changed, it's probably very weak, either that or the crossover is just poorly designed, I would guess a mixture of the too, but more the tweeter itself being the issue.
Also the midrange is made out of cheap coated paper, by the looks of it it's a very cheaply made driver, only 80mm magnet, and the overall quality inspection and feel of the driver is very cheap, there is no quality inspection during the fabrication process it feels like.
The woofers however, they're not that critical to replace, they're made of kevlar (supposedly) and it looks very much like it at the back of the cone, however the magnet is only 100mm, most midrange drivers have this size and that makes me question these woofers.
I also plan to seal these cabinets with foam plugs internally, so that I reduce the cabinet volume as much as possible (the new midrange speakers I found does require a bit less volume) so nothing wrong in that.
While doing these improvements to the speakers, I also cover all the inside walls with dampening material (Zachry Q12) since I seal the cabinets fully, I don't fill them fully. just cover up the walls.
Is there a better way to dampen the cabinets, again - please look at the cabinet drawing and suggest improvements.
First however, let's focus on tweeter and the midrange.
I know I will need to design a new crossover for these improvements and changes, I've fiddled around somewhat in XSim, planning on getting a UMIK-1 to measure the current speaker as a whole and each individual driver.
I found this tweeter to be a perfect match, physically, and it seems really nice by looking at the specifications as well, people have reported this driver to be perfect with a 2k crossover, and it's made out of fabric, which my atmos upfiring speakers are too, so that's good I guess.
SB Acoustics SB26STAC-C000-4 - 1.1" Dome Tweeter
As for midrange, it's quite tough finding speakers with the very strange frame/basket shape that these speakers have, it's a square shape with rounded corners.
Anyway, Aurum Cantus reportedly seems to offer pretty nice midrange speakers, I have no clue what my current midrange are rated at in terms of power, or pretty much any specification really, other than the magnet being 80mm, and the 4 ohm rating.
Aurum Cantus offer many variations, but I thought that the AC-130MK2 looked pretty nice, it's very even in the frequency response, and the 2k crossover fits perfectly with the SB26STAC-C000-4 from what I can tell as a beginner.
Aurum Cantus AC-130MK2 - 5.5" Woofer
Right, my questions:
1) Can I measure the RMS wattage closely to the manufacturer specifications (if I had them) by measuring with a True RMS volt/ampmeter?
2) If yes on the above, tell me step by step how to connect everything, because I'm unsure if the drivers can be connected directly to a PC for example, you would need some sort of amplifier I guess, but is a normal 2-channel amplifier (like a Yamaha) overkill, is it easier to have a USB soundcard at hand?
3) What kind of test tone would you output, is there a general rule of thumb, 1k? 2k? What kind of SPL, just about any would do? Speakers vary quite a bit in voltage and amps (hence also watts) that's why I ask.
4) Does my suggested tweeter/midrange combo look like they would match and yield great performance if the crossover is designed correctly?
5) How would I go about matching the tweeter/midrange to my already existing woofers, do I need to measure them and create/generate a FRD/ZMA file somehow, with the UMIK-1 maybe?
I've read some stuff on the forums, but I have a hard time connecting everything together, I appreciate all the help you can get me, we all start somewhere, this is where I start.
Explain to me in a greater noob fashion that you think you need to, because eventhough I might of touched on some delicate topics, I'm really just a beginner.
And oh yeah, I plan to measure the speakers assembled together (once upgraded) in the room where they'll be used, so that I can measure the room strength/weaknesses and implement and compensate for those in the crossover.
I have no issues at all having to re-design the crossover if moving the speakers to a different room.
Thanks again!
Vitus
Feel free to toss my thread around, anywhere it can go for the right answers and I'm more than glad.
Maybe some real gurus could hop in and have a go at it, I need all the help I can get.
I'm used to be an electrician as a profession, so I'm not too shabby with electrical terms and how all that plays out.
I would give you something if I could, thank you.
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