I own an old 2nd hand ProAc Speaker and I have replaced the failed drivers of both speakers with original drivers.
I wonder if it is worth to upgrade the inductors and the caps.
If I want to tweak the crossover:
1. Where can I get info of how to measure the impedence of the inductors? Does anyone know how to do it?
2. Is it worthwhile to upgrade the high and low pass capacitors?
Original caps are solens.
3. What about the crossover board? Is possible to find high quality pcb boards for crossover, maybe silver-plated, etc?
Will the mod alter the speaker's signiture sound? I like the original sound, except at high frequency- tinny little bit to edginess, esp trumpet sound.
Thanks
I wonder if it is worth to upgrade the inductors and the caps.
If I want to tweak the crossover:
1. Where can I get info of how to measure the impedence of the inductors? Does anyone know how to do it?
2. Is it worthwhile to upgrade the high and low pass capacitors?
Original caps are solens.
3. What about the crossover board? Is possible to find high quality pcb boards for crossover, maybe silver-plated, etc?
Will the mod alter the speaker's signiture sound? I like the original sound, except at high frequency- tinny little bit to edginess, esp trumpet sound.
Thanks
Nicolas, I have some information that may help you make a decision.
I want to preface my reply with the following caveat : everyone has their own preferences. I can't tell you what you are going to like 😛 . However, I can tell you what many people say on the Madisound forum.
Measuring the impedance of the inductors is difficult. I should say that impedance is the easy part - DC resistance is the hard one. Impedance is frequency dependant, and is easily calculated based on the coil value. Finding the DCR requires the use of a precision LCR meter. They come as handheld units or more complex benchtop instruments. The nice Agilent ones can cost upwards of $10k USD 😱 . These meters can tell you DCR as well as the value of the coil.
Cap upgrades are common in the DIY community. However, most people I see upgrade to Solens, because they are considered very good. It is possible to find better, but they will cost you $$$. Try searching for Black Gate, Hovland, Jensen, and Elna caps to see what I mean.
Generally, PCBs won't improve your crossover 'sound'. The traces are smaller than using wire, and have crosstalk, mutual inductance, and impedance challenges that point to point wiring usually doesn't suffer from. Most crossovers are simple enough that PCBs aren't necessary. If you have too many crossover components, pick better drivers 😀 .
As far as your last question goes, why are you talking about swapping out components if you like the sound the way it is 😛 ? However, most everyone who puts higher quality parts in have positive things to say about the improvement.
Hope this helps.
I want to preface my reply with the following caveat : everyone has their own preferences. I can't tell you what you are going to like 😛 . However, I can tell you what many people say on the Madisound forum.
Measuring the impedance of the inductors is difficult. I should say that impedance is the easy part - DC resistance is the hard one. Impedance is frequency dependant, and is easily calculated based on the coil value. Finding the DCR requires the use of a precision LCR meter. They come as handheld units or more complex benchtop instruments. The nice Agilent ones can cost upwards of $10k USD 😱 . These meters can tell you DCR as well as the value of the coil.
Cap upgrades are common in the DIY community. However, most people I see upgrade to Solens, because they are considered very good. It is possible to find better, but they will cost you $$$. Try searching for Black Gate, Hovland, Jensen, and Elna caps to see what I mean.
Generally, PCBs won't improve your crossover 'sound'. The traces are smaller than using wire, and have crosstalk, mutual inductance, and impedance challenges that point to point wiring usually doesn't suffer from. Most crossovers are simple enough that PCBs aren't necessary. If you have too many crossover components, pick better drivers 😀 .
As far as your last question goes, why are you talking about swapping out components if you like the sound the way it is 😛 ? However, most everyone who puts higher quality parts in have positive things to say about the improvement.
Hope this helps.
I guess you are right. I better no nothing to the speakers and use it the way as it is and concentrate on built my amp. This speaker is more suitable for tube amp, But I am building a Aleph4. I hope it is warm and musical enough on ProAc.
Thanks alot.
Thanks alot.
I can only agree with the idea to leave the R2 original!
Stewart Tyler's projects are very accurate in every detail, it makes no sense to change the components for a generic upgrade.
For instance, you may think that a coil with a DC resistance lower than the original is a better component, and generally you are right.
But in a carefully designed x-over (and x-over design is a big plus of ProAc) the DC resistance of the coils is not casual, is harmonized with the other components to obtain the desired behavior of the filter.
So you may improve the component and worsen the speaker!
PS: the Response 2 is a great speaker, very 'analytical' as every ProAc design. It will sound great with every good amp, just don't marry it with 'ear drills' (low-end amps with overboosted high freq, designed this way to be impressive in the typical one minute comparison in big retail shops)
sandro
Stewart Tyler's projects are very accurate in every detail, it makes no sense to change the components for a generic upgrade.
For instance, you may think that a coil with a DC resistance lower than the original is a better component, and generally you are right.
But in a carefully designed x-over (and x-over design is a big plus of ProAc) the DC resistance of the coils is not casual, is harmonized with the other components to obtain the desired behavior of the filter.
So you may improve the component and worsen the speaker!
PS: the Response 2 is a great speaker, very 'analytical' as every ProAc design. It will sound great with every good amp, just don't marry it with 'ear drills' (low-end amps with overboosted high freq, designed this way to be impressive in the typical one minute comparison in big retail shops)
sandro
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