Dilemma

I have both A-210 and P-1100. Very dynamic and musical.

Thanks for the info, I will try some of you tips

If you want to take your speakers to the next level, here are some basic tips that will have you shaking your head in disbelief. They aren't listed in any specific order and all work together to form a more complete package.

1) Bypass all of the factory attenuation switches in the crossover and delete the wiring that feeds them from the circuit. These speakers are somewhat "warm" sounding as it is and using any of the attenuators simply compounds the non-linearities. If you leave the switches in place for cosmetic reasons, make sure that they form a proper seal by using some type of puddy around them.

2) While you're doing this, replace the existing wiring with the wiring of your choice. I used Kimber 8TC and 4TC inside of my 9's as i thought it was the most complimentary. On top of that, i had dozens of feet of both on hand, so it worked out well for me : )

3) Add a few braces inside of the cabinet. The cabinet itself isn't quite as rigid as it should be. Due to the vertical length involved, the cabinet is quite subject to resonance. Just remember that the more internal volume that you eat up with bracing has to be accounted for in terms of additional damping material. The additional damping material makes the box appear larger than what it is, making up for the internal air volume that you displaced by adding the bracing.

4) Damp the baskets of the 12" woofers and especially the 8" mid-woofers. These ring like a bell when excited through vibration. If you doubt this, "flick" the basket of one of these drivers with your finger and listen to it ring like a bell. This ringing adds a harsh metallic sound to the speaker and tends to sound like the mids are breaking up when driven hard. Liquid nails or any other type of non-acetic type caulk or silicone can be used to great advantage here. Completely fill in the gap between the front plate of the magnet and the rear of the basket.

5) Re-orient the crossover parts. By doing so, you can not only shorten the signal path by reducing the length of interconnecting wires, you can also lower the amount of crosstalk from driver to driver. Coils shouldn't really be oriented in the same polarity when they are right next to each other. That means standing one on end when one is laying sideways, etc... If you use this approach, you can place coils right next to each other and still obtain at least -45 dB's of separation between them. The further that you can get them apart though, the better off you'll be. This reduces the coupling between the various parts of the circuits and drivers, increasing power handling, lowering the noise floor and increasing clarity all at the same time.

6) Whereas AR left the bottom of the cabinet open ( no poly fiberfil ), i recommend laying a solid blanket of fiberglass or poly over the tops of the crossover networks. Taking a sheet of R-13 insulation ( or poly if you don't like fiberglass ) and hanging it vertically from the front of the cabinet to the rear of the cabinet directly between the woofers also works well.

7) Seal the cabinet as best possible. The more air leaks that you have, the looser the bass will be.

8) Experiment with various types of footers. Depending on the flooring underneath the speakers, some types will work better than others.

Hope this helps... Sean
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All drivers refoamed and all caps change with poly ones inproved binding heavy duty gold binding posts Otherwise stock. But with a chnge of caps the mids are just super.

Now we are talking turkey. What parts were restored / upgraded on the 9's? I'm very familiar with the 9's and am interested to see what someone else did to theirs. Most folks that have them are afraid to really go to town on them, yet the speakers are capable of SOOOO much more with just some simple tweaks. They continue to improve as one gets more complex in the mods too : ) Sean
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Well what I finally did was sell both set's of speakers and bought a fully restored/upgraded pair of AR 9's . I also bought a pair of Meitner 101 Mono Blocks. Thank god I kept the HK Citation II. I tried the mono blocks that have such great reviews but they do not even come close to the HK. They a very tight low end but way to hard on the ears in the mids. So I tried Bi-amping the AR's, HK on top and the monos feeding the lows. WOW now that;s the ticket !
Just for record the AR's are quite easy to drive with the HK alone. Very suprising for a speaker of it size.

The problem with the HK is to many of them are too old and need to be restored to fully realize what the are. Also a lot like a SS amp without all the bad things. if you want that real tubie sound this is not the one.

I like it better than the scott and fisher stuff. Easier to work on and so easy to fine tune + more power

no i was not mocking the hk at all. just trying to be funny. i forgot how serious the audiogon can be sometimes. have not heard a citation before but im sure its a sweet unit. are hk's build quality as good as scott and fisher?

only reason i don't really care for hk stuff now is i read sydney harmons book last summer and sydney is dead set on digital and surround stuff. hates tube stuff. at least that is the impression i got from reading the book. can't remember what the book was called but it was pretty good.

SORRY ! If I took that the wrong way .

Maybe I just keep it all and get some more stuff, But you know the wife is right on the EDGE of killing me.

he wasnt knockin it, its a great sounding amp, i had 1 & it sounded fantastic.

mike.

Redbullet

I don't think he was knocking it the way I read it.

Dave

PS to Clevelandhifi, Never knock a Citation II untill you have heard one fully restored w/ upgraded power supply and all modern parts.
It will blow away most tube amps in the $3k to $5k zone.

I use a 12db rolloff @ 70Hz and have a HSU tube sub w/ 24db crossover with 150W amp also from HSU

Pick up a sub and cheap active x-over...this will take the load off the HK and should have plenty of power IMO at 60 watts per. Worth a try as you need a sub anyway with the small maggies.

Dave

yeah i definatly think you need to get rid of the hk. luckily for you you won't be at a total loss and you can use the crisp 20.00 i give you for the citation on other more suitable audio products.