Easy speaker tweaks..?

[Craig405]

Hi all,

I have a pretty cheap pair of speakers, the rest of my hifi is a little wasted going into them
Cambridge Azur 540c cd player, Aikido pre, fostex lab 600 amp...
They are the Wharfedale Valdus 500's. I brought them in high school because they were 'VERY' cheap, and i'd heard my mates ones and they were loud and bassy.

Anyway is there anything i could do to improve them a bit, i know nothing about speakers really but i read that padding the insides helps with bass control? Can i improve the crossover?

Or shall i just leave these speakers alone and use the vintage Wharfedale Dovedale 3's that are lying around (and sound nicer).

Regards
Craig

 

[richie00boy]

My opinion of that range of speakers is that they are also cheap and bassy. I would obtain some BAF wadding from your local Maplin or fabric shop and cut a piece the length of the vent and wide enough for you to roll it up just tight enough to slide it gently into the vent.

 

[Craig405]

richie00boy, do you mean the air vents at the top and bottom of the speaker?
The upper vent is for the mid driver + tweeter and the lower vent is for the 2 bass drivers.
Will padding both help, or just the bass vent?

Thanks
Craig

 

[richie00boy]

The bass one is the main one to do but do both if you can. The mid one does actually have some bass output I believe.

 

[Craig405]

Would putting some series resistance in with the tweeter be a good idea, i have just been listening to the speakers and the treble really does make your ears hurt sometimes.

 

[richie00boy]

A proper attenuator would be needed as simple series resistance would alter the crossover frequency. It might turn out OK though.

But it could be a cheap harsh tweeter or the level that is the problem. If the former, changing the level might not help much.

 

[Craig405]

Well then im guessing its probably a harsh tweeter, i have read that they are cheap ones.
Its a shame really because the rest of the speakers sound OK. Not hifi nor detailed but the bass is actually very punchy and deep, with a bit of EQ'ing the sound can be very balanced apart from this nasty treble.
My friend who initially had these speakers moved on to a pair of B&W's which instantly sounded far superior when i heard them a few months ago.

Regards
Craig

 

[richie00boy]

LOL, the Valdus are the speakers that caused me to get up and leave Richer Sounds with a vow never to return again. I went in after some Mordaunt-Short Pearls and the salesman said they had sold out and I should buy the Wharfedales as they were much better anyway. I was disgusted that they could be so wrong with their recommendation.

 

[Craig405]

Richer sounds salesmen often dont know a lot, they are pretty arrogant about their knowledge too i found.

Anyway!... are you dissing my speakers 😉

Craig

 

[prerunnerv6]

A proper attenuator would be needed as simple series resistance would alter the crossover frequency. It might turn out OK though.

But it could be a cheap harsh tweeter or the level that is the problem. If the former, changing the level might not help much.

How much does it alter the crossover frequency?

Example:

The tweeter crossover point is supposed to be 2,000hz. The tweeter is 8ohm. I add a 10ohm/10 watt resistor in series to the + side of the tweeter.

How does it shift the x-over point? Up or down?

Thanks

 

[richie00boy]

The frequency will go down, it depends on the order of the filter as to exactly what happens.

The -3dB frequency of a 1st-order filter can be found by

F = 1 / (2 * pi * R * C)

where F is in Hertz, R is in Ohms and C is in Farads