Wafflesomd said:
Well, I'm not so sure where I can test anything, since I literally had the hook up most of the speakers myself, to the receivers.
I'll keep searching.
Don't get discouraged, and also don't listen to the older guys here who don't know what it's like to have a $60 budget. While they do have great advice, they also forget what being young was like. I'm not trying to make any enemies here, so I don't mean to completely IGNORE them, just take thier opinion into consideration AFTER you find something temporary (take a look at how many things say "temp" next to them in my setup).
Here's what I have done to ALL my speakers since none of them are "good" to tide me over until I get my set of either 4 Primus 150s or BIC DV-62 and the matching centers (and when I get them I'll be doing all thier available mods).
If you still have your 3-ways or just buy another set of the BEST cheapo/hand me downs you can find and do the following...
Tips for the "18yo and under audiophile" to make shitty speakers perform better:
DO ALL THIS ONE SPEAKER AT A TIME AND HAVE PATIENCE! BE EXACT AND NEAT, THE MORE YOU INVEST QUALITY INTO YOUR WORK, THE BETTER THE END RESULT!
-disassemble the cabinets as much as possible and remove any foam or padding or polyfill although there won't be much if they are indeed cheapos (remove all things that can be taken out with a screwdriver including drivers xovers and input terminals if able)
-brace the inside of the cabinets with wood, side to side in a few well thought out areas (2 or 3 will do) make sure they fit tight as not to vibrate loose
-get some silicone sealer in a tube so you needn't buy a caulking gun
-use it to seal all the joints where the panels of the enclosure come together as well as a few other spots, put a bead around the part of input terminal cup that touches the enclosure as well as in the screw holes, and reinsert it, screw it back in, then put a bead of sealant around the portion of the terminal cup inside the box around its edges, and let it all set for the time the tube says. Be prepared to seal more stuff later... while you wait for the first round of sealer to set do this next step:
-look at the wiring of the crossover and all other internal wiring, is it or decent quality? Is it thin and puny looking? If it isn't up to par, consider buying a cheap soldering gun, some new wire, and a good roll of quality solder. pratice a few times before jumping on your actual components by soldering a few spare junk wires together. Solder new wires to all the crossover components, but be sure to mark the wires as to keep polarity correct.
-reassemble all inside components of the enclosure and make sure they are SECURE as to avoid resonances and vibrations that will color your music
-go to walmart/kmart/target/[insert department store here] and buy two cheapo bed pillows the light poofy kind.... rip 'em open use each pillows innards 1 full pillow per speaker(cheap polyfill. make sure if is not too densly packed) stuff it into the speaker and distribute evenly, if it seems too packed and full remove just enough that it feels full but not crammed. This will do wonders for midbass and killing standing waves!
-make SURE all connections are correct, tight, neat, and happy.... here's the no going back part!
- solder the wire leads of the crossover to the corresponding terminals of the drivers, then put a bead of sealant on the mounting surface of the speaker cutouts in the enclosure, insert speakers and push firmly to seal the speaker in, wipe up any overflow now before it dries, now put dabs of sealer into each screw hole, thread the screws, tighten each screw with a screwdriver (not a drill!) until it offer resistance, then like the lugnuts on a car go in a series... tighten each driver... top left then bottom right, then tighten top right & bottom left, if there are more than 4 screws per driver tighten them after the inital four in a circular pattern starting at the topmost one. Then allow the sealer to set as the first time.
Including another set of cheapos and all materials this should only run $40-$50.
NOW reaudition the speakers with all eq/tone controls set to zero and listen to some favorite songs and tweak the eq/tones control like this:
-on an EQ DON'T BOOST anything, instead slightly cut the frequencies around the one which is too low, never raise other levels to compensate for a peak in a certain frequency range.
-if all you have is tone controls... then be very careful with them and only boost very little amounts at a time until you can get the best result possible.
I hope this helps...
-Mike
