Upgrading Subwoofers

[Pogre]

Very cool...I'm chomping at the bit...HSU is running a spring promo, had me wanting to whipping out the plastic, but it's not really enough to make me take the plunge. I'm gonna wait, almost there.

Your set up looks really clean...I need to work on that...so this alignment you have is also getting the best bass response too!

Thank you! I think I am. In my room, it just works. Got lucky. Honestly I'm surprised. I thought if anything I might lose a little or at best it would stay the same. Subwoofer placement is quirky and very dependant on the individual room.

Kevin at Hsu called me back and the best advice he had, from the Dr himself, was maybe paint over the glue or something like that...

I'm gonna look for a similar piece of fabric and see if I can massage a small piece into the glue and try to blend it in.

 

[yippiechicken]

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I took the feet off, messed with positioning, got everything cleaned up and symmetrical, AND improved my bass response! I have the ports on the outside for both. The subs are symmetrical now, but the ports arent, and I think that's helping. It sounds awesome and Audyssey trimmed them back another couple db's. I really like it.

The last one is how I'll have them most of the time. I think the Ultras are sexy with the grilles off.

I really like the 1st pic with all grills off but having the grills on the subs is definitely a cleaner, more subtle look. Looks great!

 

[Pogre]

Okay! This is what I ended up doing. My wife found a black shirt she doesn't wear any more that has a similar pattern as the cloth on the grille. Even better when I stretched it a little.

You can see the color and pattern on the shirt compared to the grille really well here. You can also see the residue left on the grille cloth that tried a sharpie on.

I used just enough glue to adhere, I think, it didn't soak through the fabric shown in the next pic and it's still on there. Good ol' Elmer's glue.

When I cut the strips I tried to do it at an angle that would somewhat match the pattern.

Looks a little better from a distance. I took this standing up.

This is the culprit responsible for the hair you see in the pic above. That's Misty. I love that dog. She follows me everywhere.

This is from where I sit. Pretty much invisible until the blinds for the sliding glass door to the left are open and the sun's out. Then I can see it. Just on the left one. I suppose I can keep the blinds closed and live with it. *twitch*

I intentionally cut the strips a little on the big side so when the glue dries I can try to trim some more off and hopefully blend it a little better. I'm thinking rounding the edges off should help a little.

Right now though, I can't see those patches at all from where I'm sitting. I'm gonna put the logos back on in the right orientation on the new "bottom". Not bad for a newb, I think.

 

[lovinthehd]

What's the other side of the grill frame look like? I'm wondering how easily you could just replace the fabric altogether....but does remind me of some of the creative things I've done when making my diy sub grills to smooth over errors .

 

[Pogre]

Looks like it's glued to me. I think I feel a little groove at the edge of the fabric. I've never tackled a project like this, but it doesn't look like rocket science.

 

[DHicks]

Okay! This is what I ended up doing. My wife found a black shirt she doesn't wear any more that has a similar pattern as the cloth on the grille. Even better when I stretched it a little.

View attachment 20570

You can see the color and pattern on the shirt compared to the grille really well here. You can also see the residue left on the grille cloth that tried a sharpie on.

View attachment 20571

I used just enough glue to adhere, I think, it didn't soak through the fabric shown in the next pic and it's still on there. Good ol' Elmer's glue.

View attachment 20572

When I cut the strips I tried to do it at an angle that would somewhat match the pattern.

View attachment 20574

Looks a little better from a distance. I took this standing up.

View attachment 20575

This is the culprit responsible for the hair you see in the pic above. That's Misty. I love that dog. She follows me everywhere.

View attachment 20576

This is from where I sit. Pretty much invisible until the blinds for the sliding glass door to the left are open and the sun's out. Then I can see it. Just on the left one. I suppose I can keep the blinds closed and live with it. *twitch*

I intentionally cut the strips a little on the big side so when the glue dries I can try to trim some more off and hopefully blend it a little better. I'm thinking rounding the edges off should help a little.

View attachment 20577
Right now though, I can't see those patches at all from where I'm sitting. I'm gonna put the logos back on in the right orientation on the new "bottom". Not bad for a newb, I think.

Can't see any evidence of a patch from the pic. Nicely done. Of course, you'll always know it's there. I assume the "*twitch*" is indicative of a wee bit OCD?

Anyhow, the setup with the subs on their sides looks great; polished.

By the way, you inspired me with the dual Hsus. My second VTF2 will arrive Saturday. Can't wait!

 

[lovinthehd]

Can't see any evidence of a patch from the pic. Nicely done. Of course, you'll always know it's there. I assume the "*twitch*" is indicative of a wee bit OCD?

Anyhow, the setup with the subs on their sides looks great; polished.

By the way, you inspired me with the dual Hsus. My second VTF2 will arrive Saturday. Can't wait!

LOL even though you may be the only one who knows or cares, you know it's there....

 

[lovinthehd]

Looks like it's glued to me. I think I feel a little groove at the edge of the fabric. I've never tackled a project like this, but it doesn't look like rocket science.

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Taking that backing off/on would probably have me leaving it as you did with the patch.

 

[Klipschhead302]

I love how it looks and the amount of space you have to play with. Looks great.

 

[Pogre]

I love how it looks and the amount of space you have to play with. Looks great.

Thanks man. A lot of time and effort was put into both symmetry and function. I'm really happy with the look too. Nice and clean. Doesn't look odd. I'm happy.

 

[Klipschhead302]

Thanks man. A lot of time and effort was put into both symmetry and function. I'm really happy with the look too. Nice and clean. Doesn't look odd. I'm happy.

We had money down on a custom home 20 years ago that was 3,000sqft, it had a great room, monster basement and open floor plan. We went with an 1,800sqft small house, no great room, just living room and dining room and the living room is 14x15...

We didn't go with the custom house because the builder was too rigid with changes so I listened to the wife, who now admits to being wrong about the house choice.... oy vey.

 

[Pogre]

We had money down on a custom home 20 years ago that was 3,000sqft, it had a great room, monster basement and open floor plan. We went with an 1,800sqft small house, no great room, just living room and dining room and the living room is 14x15...

We didn't go with the custom house because the builder was too rigid with changes so I listened to the wife, who now admits to being wrong about the house choice.... oy vey.

If I were really into it, I could plaster speakers all over the place for 11.4 or whatever, but I'm happy with my little 5.2 setup. We don't watch TV and movies much so when we do, it's more than sufficient for our tastes. Ever since I joined here and started upgrading I've been listening to a lot more music. It just sounds so good now.

 

[Klipschhead302]

If I were really into it, I could plaster speakers all over the place for 11.4 or whatever, but I'm happy with my little 5.2 setup. We don't watch TV and movies much so when we do, it's more than sufficient for our tastes. Ever since I joined here and started upgrading I've been listening to a lot more music. It just sounds so good now.

I left my speaker configuration alone for a very long time, basically since 2009 and only replaced the AVR and Blu-Ray player and then the bug bit me to see if I could improve it since the new AVR has 9 amplifier channels (can process 11.2), why not see how they sound right?

This is what got me into trouble, as soon as I added 11 speakers and two other amplifiers to the mix Audyssey doesn't seem to get the room right. I could go back to 5.2 and probably be just fine but I have heard front wides and front heights in this mix and love it, the effect when things pan and the front wides and height speakers plus the added surround sides play, it's hard to go back, this is what happens when you mess with the mix.

So now once I get this dialed in, I'll likely leave it alone for another half decade.



.

 

[Klipschhead302]

Also, this is why I'm adding a third subwoofer.... it's down there begging me.... I can hear it here from work, "bring me upstairs, bring me upstairs" and I must do it, which messes with the mix even more but now hopefully helps. We'll see.

 

[Pogre]

I left my speaker configuration alone for a very long time, basically since 2009 and only replaced the AVR and Blu-Ray player and then the bug bit me to see if I could improve it since the new AVR has 9 amplifier channels (can process 11.2), why not see how they sound right?

This is what got me into trouble, as soon as I added 11 speakers and two other amplifiers to the mix Audyssey doesn't seem to get the room right. I could go back to 5.2 and probably be just fine but I have heard front wides and front heights in this mix and love it, the effect when things pan and the front wides and height speakers plus the added surround sides play, it's hard to go back, this is what happens when you mess with the mix.

So now once I get this dialed in, I'll likely leave it alone for another half decade.

I totally get it. I know me and if I heard it in my house I'd probably have to go full blown as well. I've no doubt when properly calibrated it sounds amazing.

 

[Pogre]

Got some neodymium magnets. Just a tiny bit on the big side (shoulda taken the logos with me to the store...), but they work and I didn't have to use any glue or otherwise mess anything up.

 

[lovinthehd]

Why/where did you need the magnets?

 

[shadyJ]

Elegant solution,

He is using the magnets to hold the Hsu logo on the bottom of the grille. That setup is looking killer.

 

[Pogre]

Elegant solution,

He is using the magnets to hold the Hsu logo on the bottom of the grille. That setup is looking killer.

Yup. I didn't even need to add any adhesive. There was enough on the backs of the logos still that I just pressed them on. No mess, no fuss.

I love the way you put it Shady. Thank you.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Yep. Looks great. Boom!!!