That was a great explanation, thanks. When you say mod. what does that entail?
You can apply mods that range from about $20 a pair, to $70 a pair. Considering if you spend $70, your total investment including the speakers would be $210 a pair, I HIGHLY recommend the $70 modification, as it vastly improves the speaker, substantially reducing ALL cabinet born resonances. It will not give you audibly inert cabinets, but they will have a much lower acoustic output as compared to the vast majority of speakers. These resonances are one of the main factors reducing fidelity and obscuring mid-range resolution in most speaker systems; this is why I place such emphasis on improving this characteristic.
$20 mod:
-Remove front face plate cover and drivers.
-Add in 2" of high density rockwool or high density fiberglass insulation board such as Owens Corning 705. This will provide improved internal acoustic dampening; most speakers have insufficient material and this is no exception.
-Use liquid superglue and apply generously into the crack between the magnet shield can and motor on the woofer. This joint is only crimped and has some slack, causing possible resonance/vibration at certain frequencies. The super thin glue liquid will harden deep in the crack preventing this problem.
-Use rope caulk or preferably Parts Express gasket caulk / mastic and apply between where the tweeter connects to the front face of the speaker. Simply remove the screws, place the putty like material in very thin amount on all opposing surfaces, and re-install tweeter. Use your fingernal to scrap off excess that squeezes through on front side of face around the joint. This will fix an air breach.
-Apply more rope caulk or preferably Parts express gasket caulk around the back edge of tweeter motor and it's own face plate to prevent air leak. Do not remove screws from tweeters motor and it's own face plate. Only apply externally around the edge, including around the metal wire connection terminals.
$70 mod:
-Remove face plate, drivers, crossover, wire connection terminal and internal acoustic dampening.
-Scrape out any residual glue left on walls that was holding the acoustic dampening in place using a chisel or any other suitable flat edge sharp instrument as best as you can.
-Use Peel N' Seal (one roll of 6 inch wide by 25 foot and divide between a pair of speakers) or Dynamat(not more effective - just more expensive) and apply in layers to inside walls to get a 1/8" thick - 1/4" thick layer appliled to walls. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to apply the first layer to the MDF bare walls for maximum effectiveness of adhesion.
-Clean aluminum foil side of Peel N' Seal with brake parts cleaner spray on a rag to clean off residual tar. Score aluminum surface lightly with 60-80 grit sand paper.
-Use solvent based(not water based) contact cement and apply a few coats to the aluminum side of peel 'n seal.
-Apply contact cement to one side of metal window screening material.
-Apply/press window screening material to aluminum side of peel 'n seal.
-Cut out some small pieces of cardboard and use some duct tape to make a small protective dam inside around where the terminal mounts to back of cabinet. This is needed to keep epoxy from spilling/blocking the terminal from being re-installed as will be clear from the next steps.
-Purchase 1 gallon of garage/shop floor 2 part epoxy. Mix small amount at a time and pour into one side of the cabinet - enough to get about 1/2" deep on all sides except sides where flat slot ports sit. Apply more than 1/2" on slot port sides to make sure the gap between port and wall is completely filled. Allow each side to harden enough to not move/shift and then turn over cabinet to do next side. Repeat until all sides are done.
Ideally, you would also put some peel n' seal between the slot port and mdf wall - but this is a tight space and not easy. If you do it, the best way would be to apply thick paper to the sticky side of Peel N' Seal for this particular spot and first pour the epoxy and then shove the paper-backed peel n' seal into the space while the epoxy is still liquid so that the peel n' seal will be trapped securely in the epoxy. You will still need to apply the screening to the aluminum side of the peel n' seal.
-Go to $20 mod steps and now apply these to complete modification.
You may wonder why the seemingly complicated layered wall construction is needed. Well, this specific type
And, if you were going to recomend an inexpensive sub/pair of subs that would compliment the 2030's.
The 2030P is better than the price leads one to believe. There is no cheap subwoofer that matches the price of the 2030Ps and also matches the quality. To match quality, the least I would recommend is a pair of the entry level SVS subwoofers or equivalent. You can use the super low cost Dayton powered subs of course, but these will not match the quality of the 2030P speakers, especially when modified.
If you use a Behringer DCX2496 active crossover to integrate the 2030P with the subwoofers, you will have a system with SQ that is difficult to believe for the price. You do need a stereo receiver or integrated receiver with pre-outs and direct amp-in jack loops to use the DCX properly. Otherwise, you will need external amplifier for the 2030P speakers. Using the DCX as the xover and using it for critical tonal correction control to compensate for HF gradual curve and ideal baffle step compensation is critical to maximum SQ.
-Chris
