as these speakers break in, they are simply impossible to criticize for the price. to my ear, they offer a surprisingly clear, robust and balanced sound within their 65-20K range. there is of course a degree of opacity compared to my current speakers (vintage hartley monitors with crossoverless midbass driver and upgraded tweeters/tweeter crossovers), but i attribut this to several factors, not the least of which are they are 1) brand new and 2) most surely have bargain basement chinese crossover components (and i guess drivers, but they are not the weak link IMHO). to boot, my current (and incredibly modest) system is currently running a lower echelon (and unworthy of mention) vintage amp while my primary (also vintage but much higher quality) amp is being completely overhauled and updated by audiogon member ezekiel.
the midbass driver looks to be a simple paper-cone-yet-fairly-long-throw deal with treated cloth surround, and the tweeter is some type of polymer 0.5" dome. they are (contrary to the RS website) 10.5 by 7.4 by 6.6 inches and weigh a whopping 5.25 pounds each. 8 ohms impedance with 50 watts nominal and 100 watts maximum power handling. bass reflex design with a small rear port.
to look at them they make me think of something along the lines of a black vinyl clad, chinese linn kan. after a week or so of break-in, my tentative plans are (depending on the degree of improvement experienced) to consider upgrading the crossover components, internal wiring and binding posts, and maybe putting some dampening material on the (likely stamped) woofer basket. all told, still less than $100 per pair and a helluva lot of fun for my money, come what may. |
midrange clarity improving with break-in. it's faults continue to be eminently forgivable at this price! a fun little speaker, especially enjoyable with acoustic jazz, folk etc. |
depending on the brand of speaker, i guess the one cap crossover could either be considered "elegant" or "cheap." maybe a little bit of both in this case? |
when i found my vintage hartley monitors, the crossover was the same, a single cap to an older cone tweeter with the mid-woofer running "wide open." the response of my friend who dabbles in speaker design was "ugh." the new tweeters and crossovers from hartley have three components (now four, i added a bypass cap), and the sound is now very acceptable to my tin ears. a similar upgrade for these little puppies naturally springs to mind.
funny about the deCapos and the use of language. sign o' the times...... |
Nrenter's recommendation of side placement with inboard tweeters and toe-in was a good one IMHO. still wondering about upgrading the tweeters though, but need to start doing my homework first. |
since i'm temporarily bored at work i'll just add that i removed the original tweeters from their faceplate, snipped off the phase thingy, traced a circle from the template onto the faceplate with a pencil, and used a curved file to open the hole carefully until the new tweeters fit snugly into the opening. nice cosmetic result. takes a little while though. kind of like whittling. |
i'm also interested in the specifics of this inexpensive OB project (e.g., exactly where in the baffle is the driver mounted etc.). one wonders how to make such a thing more aesthetically acceptable--maybe triangular MDF braces along the sides for support/stability and the proper angle, sanded and painted an unobtrusive chick-friendly pastel, along with some type of removable (? magnetic) grill? certainly a challenge. |
for those of you who may have a pair of these gathering dust in a closet (as i did), and don't mind getting your hands dirty (as i love to do), i have discovered some worth-while upgrades and tweaks that really make a difference for the little presidian.
as some of you have discovered, the cheap "one cap" crossover yields a crossover frequency of about 9 kHz, making the little midwoofer work way too hard. i'm not sure if this has anything to do with wth the lively sound that has resulted in positive first impressions, but for me they got tiring real fast.
anyway, introducing new low and high frequency crossovers (mounted hard-wired on separate boards), along with a new (larger) tweeter make for a much more realistic design with a more detailed and even sound.
the kit i received consisted of the crossovers (four boards with hard-wired components and wiring), two tweeters, two faceplates for the tweeters (although i modified the faceplates from the stock tweeters to receive the new ones), and some unique adjustable internal braces (front to back) to be used between the drivers.
additional tweaks i added myself: i changed the wiring from the crossovers to some kimber tcss that i had lying around. i added dynamat to the inside of the cabinet and also to the stamped woofer basket. lastly i stuffed the cabinets with some lambswool that i also had in surplus. i suppose "acousta-stuf" would be the most logical choice here. i have a few other ideas for "finishing touches" that i haven't employed yet.
now granted, these are cheap speakers to begin with and the mods/tweaks don't make them into totem model one signatures, but they do improve upon them in a most obvious way (to my tin ears that is), and makes them even more of a value IMHO.
DISCLOSURE: i have NO vested interest in this product beyond my own use and enjoyment. i know my post reads like a shill but i suppose my only reply is "there's no greater zealot than a convert" :-) the origin of this kit is my soliciting the developer, who goes by the user id "litekeys" on ebay, after performing his mods on a pair of minimus 7s from the local habitat thrift store. this fellow has sold upgraded crossovers for the old radio shack minimus 7 and 77 for some time now (among other things), and was receptive to the idea of refining yet another budget speaker from the shack. he is a dedicated enthusiast and gentleman. his communications are prompt, polite and detailed.
the final price for the kit will be determined by him, but all of his offerings appear to be high-value. i suggest you contact him directly if interested. i'll likely be modding a second pair over the winter.
be well. |
i have received word that the initial price of the kit will be $19.50 plus shipping. lower than i thought it would be, so it leaves more pennies for dynamat and other tweaks. |
fwiw i wasn't informed of the subsequent price, but i do consider it to be more realistic.
nothing is going to transform these speakers into "world beaters," but they do become more neutral, detailed, and lively in the treble (without becoming harsh). they haven't seen the inside of the closet since being modded.
the cabinets do also need to be stuffed imho. |
sfar, as i stated above it was my own experience with the m-7 upgrade that led me to approach larry about the presidian. this speaker "bottom-feeder" upgrading/modding is just plain fun, especially while finances are temporarily lean.
QUESTION: could someone provide me a measurement (in millimeters) from the center of the stock presidian tweeter to the center of one of the fixing screws? i have already snipped off the phase plug thing to fit the new tweeters. thanks in advance. |
just now catching up with the thread. opalchip, your comments are very intersting and much appreciated.
i contacted litekeys and he said he intentionally left the tweeter a little "hot," and simply placing a 2 ohm resistor in series with the positive terminal should do the trick (he actually said 2-4 ohms depending on taste so opalchip certainly had the right idea). i couldn't imagine that litekeys didn't take the 6 ohm impedance of the new tweeter into consideration.
opalchip, regarding the midrange, are you stuffing the cabinets or ports? i'm referencing your comments from 1/22/06. i plan on addressing the treble issue first, then listening more intently for your perceptions of the mids. i'm wondering if a little experimentation with the type and amount of stuffing material may be a potential solution. |
i have since placed 2 ohm resistors on the positive tweeter terminals to very good effect.
chip, i also noticed the vibration at the rear of the cabinet, and took the following measures: aside from putting generic dynamat on the inside of the cabinet, i got some 2.5" by 0.5" oak from lowes and gorilla glued it to the back of the cabinet on either side (9 10/16" long). this just clears the port area, but not the terminal cup. so i removed the terminal cup (a major PITA, btw), and glued another smaller piece of oak with rat shack binding posts. just file an oval area from the oak on the sides and you could easily keep the spring-loaded terminal cup.
thinking of also gluing some oak to the bottom of the cabinet which would further add some stability/mass without affecting aesthetics. hey, it's cheap and easy.
regarding the braces: THEY DO FIT, but in the following way: i requested and placed TWO per speaker, on either side in between the drivers. all you do is discard the square wood piece that is supposed to go with the non-threaded end and snug up the round brace to the baffle in that area. i didn't put any dynamat on the inner back in the area where the square piece for the threaded end fits, and gorilla glued front and back. it was a bit of a hassle reaching in to turn the brace while keeping it straight, but hey, i'm satisfied.
even with all this, mine seem to sound a bit better/clearer stuffed.
hard to tell if the port was a random act or a design intention. it's too thick to be a discarded chinese toilet paper roll :-) :-)
hope this helps a bit.
happy holidays! |
a final post and FYI for all the bottom-feeding modkateers out there. these speakers are on final in-store closeout for $14.97 per pair. |
