3 1/2 Way with Sub...My Upgrades

Disabled Account
Joined 2019
OK, I am now TOTALLY convinced that the power amplifier control has much more to do with sound quality than I ever imagined! It is not about sheer power; it is about the ability to keep the drivers well damped and "under control". OK, what is this crazy old guy going off on another tangent about once again? Hear me out; in control systems; servo drivers; anything that is analog in nature that requires electronic assist and control what are the primary considerations (in general)? We want to accurately be able to influence the end system and remove as many undesirable variables and control unknowns. Big, strong amplifiers have the ability to much better control the load (not just speakers; analog systems in general). I told you I had a ton of experience spanning MANY decades. The bottom line is; consider electronic damping of sorts. A very well designed amplifier can influence the output "control signal" in such a way as to keep the undesirable parameters "in check"...this is a good experiment for me. I am only doing YouTube 70's classic rock right now via my PC laptop RealTek sound card to the NAD MP input to the Crown input...more later; knock at the door...
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
RealTek Headphone out set at 60 %; Crown power amp at max output via front level controls. I need to play with the input sensitivity switch...

Anyone new to my thread; I played the entire clarinet and saxophone family personally as well as electric and acoustic 6 and 12 six string guitars. I did speakers from age 12 and up. Uncles had Klipschorns; boss in High School had AR3a's, Dad had the smaller version of Klipsch. I have studied acoustics, electronics, speakers, music, etc. since I was 12 years old. I played the electric bass. In my immediate and slightly extended family we have bass and cello; piano, flute, clarinet (every size), saxophone (every size), french horn, trumpet, trombone and even a few female and male singers...FWIW...
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
You're having a lot of fun. If you haven't checked out Spotify.com yet do. Library of 30 million songs or something like that.

Some utube has decent sound. Some not. The video makes up for it some times though.


I haven't checked that out yet; thanks for the tip!

I have a few "audiophile" streaming radio stations; they are at 44 KHz, 320 Kbps. I have a very few FLAC files that are better than standard CD quality. I don't have tons of mass storage or I would download more.

What is the theoretical maximum limit on streaming audio? Is it 320 Kbps or higher??? I have Google fiber so incoming speed, bandwidth, downloads are not my limiting factor. Upload and download "speed" measurement is just under 200 Mbps usually.
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
I use the AIMP3 free music player for these streaming stations. YouTube doesn't give me the option to use this but the streaming stations sometimes do. It is handy because it shows frequency, speed, etc. and has a multi-band equalizer. When I use it for playing back FLAC files; it clearly shows better than standard CD frequency sampling, etc.
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
Evox Rifa PEH169 Electrolytic Capacitors | Hifi Collective

Years ago I designed an input DC power filter for a Telecom related piece of ancillary equipment. I chose the Evox-Rifa electrolytics because they were of very high quality; tight specs, low ESR, extra long life (MTBF 20 years; twice the norm. for an electrolytic), etc. I don't know if these exact ones are still available; They were bought out by Kemet so the design and quality may have changed; deep dive time again...I mention this because if I do need to put a very low frequency high pass on my Satori woofers; I most likely need electrolytics. I would by pass with a high quality Metalized poly' cap. still though.

Once you get to 100 uF and above; metalized poly' caps get REALLY expensive (for obvious reasons)
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
I didn't mention; with polarized electrolytics; you wire two of them in series "back to back" so they become non-polar. You tie the two negative terminals together; the two positive terminals then become connection point (+ to amplifier; - to -; + to speaker). All the more reason to have very low ESR, ESL, etc...
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
OK : Medium-woofer High-Pass when crossed in the snap <200hz area ?


Expensive, sure. But there is maybe a trade off ! many have testimonials on the good enough Jantzen Cross cap over the usual Solens. for that job !


You can see in the thread I need a lot uf for a bass to mid high pass. Sounds good with NPE smooth foils : no brainers really. But voila, as it's a your personal main system you can be atracted by the tweak better option fever ! 250 uF of MKP Jantzen Cross cap is a real pain vs NPE because both the price and the size of it. But why noy ? Just less bad steaks at the end of te month.


Don't get me wrong, I really think that future, well... nowadays, better active for the First XO then passive for the low pass mid and high pass tweeter - in order to enjoy some really good dacs that make all the difference today vs not sota middle priced full active solution (DBX, MiniDSP ; god enough for the bass only imho). You can really enjoy a very good sound from today dacs vs older cd players (I believe I tweaked between 30 to 50 units before going to dac and streamers), and I talk about Red-Book... so no nerd talking !


Edit, if you wisch, I can copy some Intertechnik about the difference between usual MKTs and NPE at different frequencies for your curiosity. Not want to pollute your thread.
 
Last edited:
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
You do it "back to back"...connect two in series so the two negative terminals are connected together. Then; the two positive terminals are connected between the amplifier and speaker. Doing this makes it a non-polarized capacitor. Say I needed 340 uF; I would use two 680 uF in series; this gives me 340 uF and doubles the voltage of just one capacitor. This is why I like the Evox-Rifa PEH 169 series in particular because of lower ESR and ESL, etc. Obviously; ESR is very important here since we are putting two capacitors in series.

I said earlier it probably wouldn't work very well to have two very different drivers wired in series with each other. Just as a quick experiment; I might try it anyway. The MW16P Satori dips almost as low as 3.5 Ohms and the SB29 looks like it dips as low as 5 Ohms. Of course; another problem is I don't know the true impedance that is influenced by being in the box verses free air so calculating capacitor and inductor value would mean I should learn how to do the impedance measurement in REW.

If I could successfully connect these two woofers in series; if the sound quality is OK; I could leave it this way since ultimately a new 10 inch woofer will replace the Satori MW16 and SB29 woofer both. It may be one or two months; then I could buy new woofers. Because of the COVID-19 here; both my Daughter and Girlfriend are out of work so of course; I help loan or give them money every month so I need to be on a tight budget...
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
yep, well now I have the two woofers in series; not great but maybe good enough for now!?? The bigger SB 29 seems to be the louder of the two even though it has a lower sensitivity than the Satori. It does have a higher impedance. So we have a very different mixed mis-match of sensitivities; impedances; VC inductance; etc. not to mention maximum power abilities; box styles; cone area, etc... I'd rather not spend over $100+++ for just a temporary crossover "fix"; maybe I will get use to the combined sound in series; just now starting; only heard one song so far this way...
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
But the list given, one that is well regarded is the SB 34 : bigger, perhaps a perfect mate for the the Satori 7 between 80/300 hz XO ? Measured by a fello here that measure a lot of speakers ! I will stay on the Faital 15PR400, though no one measured the distorsions but a million of god testimonials about it (some bass players use it FR :cool: vs te usual EV !)
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
Some people also said it is like the SB29; not as good in mid and upper bass. BUT, too big for my box anyway; I want to use my 33 liter boxes as is. The biggest reason is this room isn't large enough for a much bigger box and the placing is also very limited as well.

Two 6 or 7 inch, one 8 or 9 or 10 or maybe 11 inch is about the maximum limit here...

Thanks!
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2019
I had heard any of them the but this guy is inspiring : Zaph|Audio - SB12.3 3-Way Tower


Well, sealed ! Sure not 33 liters.


Edit : I had not noticed : so you made a 3.5 ways experiment finally ?

Work in progress; I have ALWAYS had the 2 mids and tweeter and sub; just adding a woofer. Zaph does know what he's talking about; I think the NE 265 will be my first choice because it fits my box well and has a better mid and upper bass than the SB29 and many others that I have discovered thus far anyway...