I've been fiddling with some Boston Acoustics Pro series componenets left over from a car audio application for a week or so now and decided to try something I've been meaning to do for a while. I removed the metal grills from the titanium tweeters to see what the effect would be. Amazing.
Previously the speakers only seemed to sound their best at ultra-low listening levels. At that they were very good about creating an accurate soundstage, imaging, correct timbre etc but were always a little too bright and forward (I had the same problems in my car). Any attempt at increasing the volume always seemed to raise tweeter volume exponentially and would cause a harsh metallic ringing effect. Reminds me of the sound a snow gun makes when spraying water out through it's tiny nozzle on the slopes.
So I just went through a bunch of reference material and am really pleased with the results. Gone is the coloration of highs that took place at increased volumes levels. Gone is the way too forward brightness that sometimes put instruments right in front of your nose instead of on the stage where they belong. Gone is the occasional localization of sound to the speaker on certain notes during sax and other horn solos. Added is depth of stage, and some holes are filled in that I didn't previously know were missing. Overall a much more laid back speaker than before, but without losing any of the good qualities it had before the change.
Just wanted to share.
Previously the speakers only seemed to sound their best at ultra-low listening levels. At that they were very good about creating an accurate soundstage, imaging, correct timbre etc but were always a little too bright and forward (I had the same problems in my car). Any attempt at increasing the volume always seemed to raise tweeter volume exponentially and would cause a harsh metallic ringing effect. Reminds me of the sound a snow gun makes when spraying water out through it's tiny nozzle on the slopes.
So I just went through a bunch of reference material and am really pleased with the results. Gone is the coloration of highs that took place at increased volumes levels. Gone is the way too forward brightness that sometimes put instruments right in front of your nose instead of on the stage where they belong. Gone is the occasional localization of sound to the speaker on certain notes during sax and other horn solos. Added is depth of stage, and some holes are filled in that I didn't previously know were missing. Overall a much more laid back speaker than before, but without losing any of the good qualities it had before the change.
Just wanted to share.
It sure is amazing how much better a speaker can sound when you change it's dispertion characteristics (spelling). Acoustics is a wonderful thing.
Rin
Rin
You now just have to watch out for little fingers pushing in those round attractive silver thingies. 🙄
Eric.
Eric.
I am a poor man and have something great for all you other super poor people, or know someone that has crappy speakers that you can't stand.
ELECTRICAL TAPE- Some radioshack (uck!) cone tweeters had that same problem, albiet MUCH worse. I put an X of electical tape over the front of them (not on them, just above them). And voila! it now sounds about like a mid priced tweet rather than complete crap.
- Tried the same thing on a friends pair of car 6x9's, again with quite impressive results. Both of the tweeters I've tried this on had no original grilles. There don't seem to be any problems with lost bands, but I don't have any test equipment... and niether do you if you need this trick lol.
ELECTRICAL TAPE- Some radioshack (uck!) cone tweeters had that same problem, albiet MUCH worse. I put an X of electical tape over the front of them (not on them, just above them). And voila! it now sounds about like a mid priced tweet rather than complete crap.
- Tried the same thing on a friends pair of car 6x9's, again with quite impressive results. Both of the tweeters I've tried this on had no original grilles. There don't seem to be any problems with lost bands, but I don't have any test equipment... and niether do you if you need this trick lol.
They are awfully shiny, but no little fingers in this household to worry about! My better half already knows better.
I also tried moving the tweeter around today. It's original location was in the same plane, 6" directly above the mid. I tried directly above the mid with no gap, directly below the mid with no gap, and straddling the mid driver similar to some car audio applications. The first two were a bit smoother than previously, the latter gave a nice improvement in some stage and imaging characteristics at the expense of increased volume and brightness/forwardness on some of the symbol work and other high frequencies. I didn't realize that by moving the tweeter 2" forward from the plane that the mid was mounted in it could get that much louder.
I also tried moving the tweeter around today. It's original location was in the same plane, 6" directly above the mid. I tried directly above the mid with no gap, directly below the mid with no gap, and straddling the mid driver similar to some car audio applications. The first two were a bit smoother than previously, the latter gave a nice improvement in some stage and imaging characteristics at the expense of increased volume and brightness/forwardness on some of the symbol work and other high frequencies. I didn't realize that by moving the tweeter 2" forward from the plane that the mid was mounted in it could get that much louder.
toenail said:
Wait. What? I'm not a car audio guy, but you've described perfectly what my 94 Chevy Cavalier with standard speakers sounds like. If you're familiar with the Cavalier, you know that it doesn't block out much road noise, so you have to turn it waaaay up to hear music. The louder I make it, the more tweeter I hear. At a comfortable listening level, all I can hear is the hi hat of the drum kit, and high harmonics of any other instrument.
I'm going to run out in a minute and see what kind of mod I can do with glue or tape or scissors...
Dave
It's not uncommon for highs to need attenuation at increased decible levels due to the reflections off the glass in an automotive environment. The brighter the tweeter, the worse it gets. For this reason the current version of the Boston Pro's that I'm using have a -3db AND now a -6db attenuation switch built into the passive x-over. At low listening levels it can sound a little muffled, but when you get on it there is less reflection/distortion. A poor compromise at best.
This is one of many reasons I am no longer a car-fi guy. The realization that no matter how much I spent the sound quality was compromised as soon as I hit the road was pretty sobering. Wish I'd figured that out BEFORE I spent all that money. Oh well, you're only young once.
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