... sound batting and/or weighting speakers ...


Hello to all... 

Need some thoughts and/or suggestions: I am using a pair of KEF Q1s - luv the sound, so much more full than I ever expected - and the driver has such cone extension that the speaker box really vibrates. Now - I am assuming that the vibration really = the possibility of distortion ( or a smearing at higher volumes, tonal deformity, if that is different) and I am wondering if this is more controllable by:
Adding more sound batting into the enclosure (thru the bass port)
Weighting the speakers with a bag of lead shot (?) over the top of the driver/cabinet box ( the cabinet is not flat on top, so I can't use a brick or solid weight; I'm guessing the weight should be something moldable, so the lead shot in a bag is possible if I can figure a way to affix it to the cabinet...)

Thoughts? Suggestions? Alternates?
insearchofprat

Showing 4 responses by douglas_schroeder

It's a 13 pound speaker including drivers! That's what is causing it! There is no recourse for a design like that being driven at higher levels! 
Predominantly driver distortion, and tweaking, treating the cabinet will do little to address it. Move on, go find much better, because imo this is a very compromised design and there are worlds of improvement available on used and new market. 

To the OP; I mean no disdain in my comments. Here's the deal; I spent a LOT of time in earlier years working with inexpensive gear, desperate to make it sound all that. Sure, little improvements (which always seem to be big improvements without the experience of decades of system building) can be significant, but the gear is self-limiting; it will never be better than its inherent design. 

Physical, operational limitations on designs cannot be escaped through tweaking, weights, etc. To get much better, save up, work toward much better. You are currently with this speaker on the low end of performance in HiFi. That is NOT a dismissive comment, just an analysis of performance. I was there, in that zone for several years. The spectrum of performance is HUGE. There are many, many big performance leaps to attain, and in reality the ladder of improvement is endless. 

So, reach far higher! Make a change! Go for not just a fix, but a far superior  sound.  :)
We don't know the motivation of the OP; whether to band-aid the speakers or dump them to move up. It would help if there was more direction given as to the ultimate goal. 

I found the Lenehan ML1 Bookshelf Speaker I reviewed for Dagogo.com to be a wonderful product, well built, with good sound. Read my review of it at Dagogo.com