thanks to all very much for your info,it was really helpful,merry christmas and a happy new year to all.AL |
I wouldn't change the driver. The speakers are voiced with these tweeters for overall balance and realistic timbre, which you might distroy.
Careful selection of mods should not decrease the resale value of the speakers. I've gotten more for ones I've sold modified than I would if they weren't...and justifiably, as they sounded better!
I'd suggest some crossover mods and internal speaker rewiring, as did a couple of people here. Paradigm References with their hard domes tend to be a little intense with some systems. There's only cheap vinyl insulated zip-cord inside those speakers. I've redone a couple pairs of them with DH Labs wire internally, and feel it was a very nice complement, but you can also go with something a little mellower. The DH Labs wire made them much more open and transparent, though extended the highs significantly over the standard zip-cord. This made it a little brighter, as the zip cord was killing some response, but it's also nice and smooth. A little trim with resistors as mentioned below might do in balance, as the speakers were voiced and crossovers designed with the zip-cord in them. I found the Kimber stuff to be too zippy and tipped up, and aggrevated the balance.
Changing the caps can do wonders. The caps Audiopath mentioned are all good choices. You might also add a resistor or maybe a fixed L-Pad (a resistor configuration that keeps impedence constant), and with it you can trim a little volume off the tweeter. I'd probably take it down no more than about a db.
Good luck! |
I agree with several of the post regarding changing drivers and tweeters. That is usually a bad idea if you do not know what you are doing.
However, a great upgrade is to re-wire the internal wiring with the same or better quality wire you are using as speaker wire. While doing this you can also remove any brass or metal hardware used to connect the standard wire and make nice solder connections with Silver Solder (WBT or AQ Brand) This simple mod can take you to the next step in sound without spending much money at all. For example, I re-wired my Sonus Fabers with XLO Reference Type 5 as that is what I use for my speaker wire.
KiD
Chris |
I bought tweeter replacements from Madisound and had no problem... these were exact replacement tweeters. Changing tweeters to another model is NOT recommened.. will really screw alot of things up I'm told. |
Alfred,
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that nobody will want to buy your modified speakers in the future. Selecting drivers/crossovers is a very interactive process, and is tricky to maximize without a lot of experimentation & knowledge. If you decide to modify them you'll have even more money wrapped up in them while the resale is simultaneously dropping through the floor. A potential buyer is likely to view the whole process as a huge red flag. If you change them you better want to keep them. It's probably not the best investment.
I suggest you sell them and combine your resale proceeds with whatever you would have spent on upgrades to finance the new purchase. I'd suggest a used or kit pair. There are many great kits from the sources listed previously. I've owned Madisound MDY-4's (they won't have the bottom end you're looking for), but they offer several other great options (I was always partial to the Dynaudio kits). I went with North Creek Music Systems (Scanspeak drivers and NCMS crossovers are amongst the best of the best) for my current setup. You owe it to yourself to check out the kit option. The other best bang for buck is to pick up a pair of whatever you've heard and liked used. A suggestion for small speakers with suprisingly good sounding LF (so long as you don't play them too loud) and great midrange/HF is the Totem Model 1's.
Best of luck. |
Yo Alfred,
While I am not fond of aluminum dome tweeters, their sound can be improved on by several methods. Before you go buying new drivers, you might try upgrading your crossover capacitors. By replacing the caps with high quality MIT, Zen, Harmony, or Solen caps, the treble balanace will not be changed, but the sound will be smoother. Another trick it to bypass the existing caps with .01mfd ultra high quality caps. Simply solder them in parallel with the existing caps. For more info goto http://www.northcreekmusic.com/Bypassing.html. The best place to obtain these capacitors is Madisound, Michael Pearcy, North Creek Music Systems, Zalytron, and Welborne Labs.
My experience is that most of the time the speaker is not the culprit when someone complains of harsh treble. Your room might be the real problem. Room treatments might be all you need. A combination of absorbing and diffusion materials placed in the right locations can work wonders for those high frequencies. Take a look at this website: http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/echo.htm for info on Echo Busters.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards, |
Would tend to agree with Milo. Leave the drivers alone. Look inside the cabinet for opportunities to upgrade. If electrolytics are used, replace with polypropylenes of equal value, improve wire internally and stuff corners with cord weather stripping to reduce cabinet resonance. Total cost should be no more than $50 and if you still don't like the speakers sell them. |
Modifying speakers is really iffy. You really might want to think about just buying new speakers, especially since no one will ever buy modified speakers. Totem makes bookshelf and small floorstanding speakers with a lot of bass, and those can be found rather inexpensively used here on Audiogon. |
Why not try changing cables from a copper/silver hybrid (Q-10)to all copper? Since you have Synergistic Res. IC, try their speaker cables (I have the Signature 2 and find the highs to be smooth).
If that doesn't work, I would be inclined to replace the Paradigms rather replace drivers and crossovers.
Good Luck, Dave |
There is a member here with a set of Avalon Acoustic Eclipse who put a Eidolon midrange in place of the tweeter. I spoke to him one evening and he seemed truely happy with the mod, I would have tried it if I didn't have to cut larger holes in the cabinets. I am not sure if something like that would work for you, but there is a chance. That being said I am going to have to agree with the statements made above, I would not recomend upgrading those speakers in particular, money could be spent in other places having a better effect. Check out www.zalytron.com I know they can do everything you want to get done, they tend to help a lot of DIY'ers but I am sure they can upgrade anything, all it takes is $$$. Good luck
~Tim |
Just my .02 worth,I have dealt with madisound on a couple different occasions and they are good people to deal with in my experience.If you decide on a tweeter that will mount in your cabinet somewhat hassle free,you can send your drivers and crossover to madisound and they can modify your crossover to suit your tweeter and they can upgrade your crossover as well.Just for the record,one might be suprised what better parts in your crossover will do for your speakers. |
see
http://madisound.com/replace.html
This seems to imply that if you change the tweeter then you'll have to modify the crossover, but that this is a perfectly feasible thing to do with a given cabinet.
You might want to call Madisound and ask their advice. I haven't used them personally, but I see them referred to frequently on hifi boards. I think they'll supply the designs for the modified crossovers based on your information.
Good luck ... be careful ! |
There isn't such a thing as tweeter upgrade or any other driver. If you upgrade any driver you'll have to redesign cabinet and crossover together meaning make totally different speaker.
Crossover upgrade should be available only from the manufacturer. |
