speakers rewiring

Hi Guys and thanks for all the input,i just rewired them with dh-labs and boy what a nice improvement,i'm reaaly happy w/the way they sound now,again thanks so much and hey not rocket science right?.Al

Alfred,

I am in the camp of tweaking and upgrading componets to push them to the next level. Speakers are the easiest to do and if you don't like the change the tweaks wrought you can easily go back.

Just remember, you need to let caps, resistors and wire burn in before making any judgements.

While you're in the box, in addition to toying with other things that everyone has suggested, if you want some other improvement, the cabinets could maybe be deadened up a little. Just a sheet of the "dynamat" stuff the car buffs use to line their subwoofer boxes would help suppress cabinet resonances. It's only an 1/8"-1/16" thick so the internal volume lost is negligable, just cut to size with scissors, peel off the back and stick to the walls (use a hairdryer if you want the last nth of seal). Some speakers benefit more than others. Turn yours up and put your hand on the cabinet to see what more could be done. My old klipsch epic series II got a nice low end improvement (which is what you want) of course it was only 3/4" plywood on a 3'+ tall enclosure with only one cross brace in the middle! But it should only run you an extra $20-$40. Black Hole 5 works well too, but does more..I won't comment on working it into your system. But it seems an "uncontroversial" mod. Have fun. I've also heard of some "clay putty" that gets used too, it may be cheaper, but I know nothing of it. The wire currently in your speakers if probably 18g at the biggest. Regarding crossovers, its the heart of the speaker system and very important to the proper functioning. Be very careful if you elect to do something there. I've only read Vance Dickason's cookbook on speaker design, the two books by David Weems, Martin Colloms book "high performance loudspeakers" and Wm Leach's "electroacoustic and audio circuit design" is on the way and I don't feel comfortable with crossovers yet (that's just me though).

HFN/RR did an article on tweaking the crossovers on some Spendors several years ago and found that many preferred the original sound, even after a lengthy breakin period. Therefore, you may not want to make any changes you can't undo.

Alfred: (I assume you are a beginner as you are asking where to get wire)
A second thought on my above post. Maybe I was having a bad day. There are some pitfals, as noted, but as Celtic66 noted it is not rocket science and caps really do make a big!!! difference.

I think if more folks understood that they would save all their cable $$$ and start tweaking their speakers. You cannot believe the junk they put in even expensive stuff. Really I think that your instinct is right. Even if you muck it up its a great education.

Anyway-some good sites off top of my head to find needed info and buy parts. Zalytron.com, Speakerbuilding.com, Northcreek.com, Stryke.com. Also check out the Speaker building Network. Also the Decibel Dungeon has some great stuff, if its still there on real basics ..how are your soldering skills? I do not have DD's site anymore but do a search for it and read the whole site before you start surgery.

My suggestion is use Northcreek for parts and if you are going to the trouble get the very best. Stay away from mid priced metallized caps. I hate the typical metallized-film polypro caps like Salons. Use the best Northcreek or Hovland has to offer. Especially important for the tweeter.As Celtic said-keep the same rated caps!!!

I have never doctored a paradigm and it will be hard to know exactly what you are going to get in the end. If you want a real project and have any wood working skills remove the crossover from the box and mount it externally on the back. You can tweak and listen, tweak and listen w/o tearing everything apart.

I didn't mean to write a book here.

PS: Good luck: If you speaker stars smoking it is probably a sign you did someting wrong.

Sincerely, I remain

Alfred;
I agree with cfb. Be careful before you make the change. Read the post on "modified equipment" several above your post. If you change the "wiring" you will likely lose value on resale. Also it is a fairly complicated affair if you are not experienced. The paradigms have 3rd (1.5khz) and 2nd (440hz) order crossovers and you are likely as not to make it sound worse if you are not quite into xo design. It would likey be cheaper and safer to buy new. Maybe Go to a kit for your first foray into crossover work.

Its not just changing wire.
Just my opinion and good luck.

Alfred,

Not neurosurgery here. You can purchase some raw stock Kimber 8TC and start stripping. Here's what you will run into. The circuit boards most likely have small holes where the original wires went, so you will untangle the braid of the Kimber and use only 1 or 2 wires of the 8 wire strand.

You can also note the values of the electrolytic capacitors, purchase and install equal value prolypropylene or mylar caps which will really help out the imagine, attack and openess of the speaker. Not rocket science. Good luck

alfred: i think it's very dangerous to buy off-the-shelf wire from ANY source to rewire the innards of your speakers. you may end up with much worse sound than now emanates from your boxes. decently-designed speakers are voiced with internal wiring an important part of the mix. -cfb

Kimber DIY series has some nice wire available for speaker retro-upgrading; talk to their tech support guys for recommendations. Also try Michael Percy Audio.

A little more information please. Are you asking about speaker wire (amp to speaker)or, as i think, about modifying the crossover, if so, have you ever tweaked a crossover before?

Thanks,