nickatnoon61
New Member
Re:the subs. tnx. My room is very small and I am limited to placement, but it sounds, and looks decent the way I have it.
Recap on Paradigm Micro Speakers
- Thread starter cary
- Start date
StimpyWan
Addicted Member
It was to me. But, different speakers, different results. You won't know until you try it.
Chiming in on this old thread: I have Paradigm micros, the first version, with the MDF back, screwed in. I have good polypropylene caps of the right value, and was going to make the switch, but, it looks more difficult than I expected. The crossover is in plastic harness, and I thought I could lift it out, but it's glued down, it appears. Was yours also? Did you break the glue joint, take it out? Or did you solder in place?
Thanks much.
N.
Thanks much.
N.
mccalljd
Well-Known Member
I have the same version, but I can't for the life of me get the backs off. It's like they are glued in as well as screwed (as am I if I can't figure out how to get the backs off). How did you do it?
mccalljd
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I'll try that.
Yes, same here. Mine were a little easier because I had a wall mount screwed to the back, but it's a very tight fit. They will come out, though, slowly. Not glued in.
By the way: I think I answered my own question, indirectly. The spring connectors on the back of mine broke over the weekend. I saw that Parts Express has an exact replacement (Part # 260-295) and also a better version with binding posts (Part # 260-282). However, could not see how to remove the old, without taking a hammer to them. After a little poking around on youtube, figured that it was probably hot-glue-gun glue, dissolvable by rubbing alcohol. A little rubbing alcohol around the diameter, from the inside with an eyedropper; set aside for twenty minutes, and they will come out, with some pressure. I'll try it on the crossovers, after removing the woofers, because I imagine the alcohol is not good for the foam surrounds.
They are good little speakers, I think. The woofer is a quality driver, and my surrounds, too are good, after perhaps 15 or more years.
One other thought on removing the backs: Could use a couple of those drywall anchors that spring open to a T after insertion, if they are made small enough.
By the way: I think I answered my own question, indirectly. The spring connectors on the back of mine broke over the weekend. I saw that Parts Express has an exact replacement (Part # 260-295) and also a better version with binding posts (Part # 260-282). However, could not see how to remove the old, without taking a hammer to them. After a little poking around on youtube, figured that it was probably hot-glue-gun glue, dissolvable by rubbing alcohol. A little rubbing alcohol around the diameter, from the inside with an eyedropper; set aside for twenty minutes, and they will come out, with some pressure. I'll try it on the crossovers, after removing the woofers, because I imagine the alcohol is not good for the foam surrounds.
They are good little speakers, I think. The woofer is a quality driver, and my surrounds, too are good, after perhaps 15 or more years.
One other thought on removing the backs: Could use a couple of those drywall anchors that spring open to a T after insertion, if they are made small enough.
mccalljd
Well-Known Member
I assume the woofers are back mounted since the grille doesn't come off?
mikeybc
Listener
Correct
Cary said: Crossover consisted of a resistor, "I" core inductor and a $.27 mini electrolytic cap. I replaced the cap with a Solen of the same value, and burned them in for seventy hours. The results were like night and day!!! (Sorry: not sure how to do the quote thing.)
Just a footnote: I've solved the connector problem, but I'm having second thoughts about the capacitor replacement, after reading in various places about the marked differences in equivalent series resistance (ESR) between electrolytic and polypropylene caps, and some techies'claims that the differences were accounted for in the crossover designs. I wonder if the more "open" sound Cary refers to might not result from moving the crossover point. I'm a little afraid of overdriving the tweeter; had a mixed experience lately recapping a vintage pair of KLH 17s. The caps in my Micros still look good (no bulging or anything). Would be interested in hearing from Cary if he's still satisfied with the change, after all this time, and whether there were any subsequent issues.
Thanks much,
N.
Just a footnote: I've solved the connector problem, but I'm having second thoughts about the capacitor replacement, after reading in various places about the marked differences in equivalent series resistance (ESR) between electrolytic and polypropylene caps, and some techies'claims that the differences were accounted for in the crossover designs. I wonder if the more "open" sound Cary refers to might not result from moving the crossover point. I'm a little afraid of overdriving the tweeter; had a mixed experience lately recapping a vintage pair of KLH 17s. The caps in my Micros still look good (no bulging or anything). Would be interested in hearing from Cary if he's still satisfied with the change, after all this time, and whether there were any subsequent issues.
Thanks much,
N.
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Yea, I know I'm bringing this back up from the dead, but thought this was worth posting. Being that working from home is now in my foreseeable future, I decided to put together a decent desktop speaker setup. I dug out my old Paradigm Micro V2s that have been collecting dust in the bottom of closet for the better part of 9 years.
I hooked them up to a Creative SoundBlaster X7 high resolution DAC and amplifier, fed by Amazon Music's lossless streaming service and was rather unimpressed. The vocals were extremely veiled, and the bass response was dead. Running a tone generator, I was not getting much output below 110Hz. While I thought about replacing the speakers altogether, I liked that these speakers are so short which made them ideal for a desktop. So I did a little searching and came upon this thread, and figured I had little to lose.
So I took the speakers apart and clipped the connections of the old 4.7uF Bennic electrolytic cap and spliced in a ClarityCap CSA Polypropylene capacitor from Parts Connexion for about $8 a pop. While I was in there, I also hot glued a little additional polyester batting I had laying around to the walls of the cabinet.
I am absolutely blown away by the improvement in the sound. It does not even remotely sound like the same speaker. The veil is completely removed from the vocals; they are just so silky and transparent. Also there seems to be a bit more "sparkle" at the high end of the frequency band.
Also, strangely enough, there is a noticeable bump in the lower frequency response. I ran the tone generator again, and now I actually have reasonable response down to about 80Hz. To be honest, I do not understand why this would be the case. All I can think of is that the old 25+ year old electrolytics were dying and were adversely affecting how the TI based Class D amplifier was being loaded.
Anyways, I just thought I'd share my experience. This was the most rewarding $16 I've ever spent.
I hooked them up to a Creative SoundBlaster X7 high resolution DAC and amplifier, fed by Amazon Music's lossless streaming service and was rather unimpressed. The vocals were extremely veiled, and the bass response was dead. Running a tone generator, I was not getting much output below 110Hz. While I thought about replacing the speakers altogether, I liked that these speakers are so short which made them ideal for a desktop. So I did a little searching and came upon this thread, and figured I had little to lose.
So I took the speakers apart and clipped the connections of the old 4.7uF Bennic electrolytic cap and spliced in a ClarityCap CSA Polypropylene capacitor from Parts Connexion for about $8 a pop. While I was in there, I also hot glued a little additional polyester batting I had laying around to the walls of the cabinet.
I am absolutely blown away by the improvement in the sound. It does not even remotely sound like the same speaker. The veil is completely removed from the vocals; they are just so silky and transparent. Also there seems to be a bit more "sparkle" at the high end of the frequency band.
Also, strangely enough, there is a noticeable bump in the lower frequency response. I ran the tone generator again, and now I actually have reasonable response down to about 80Hz. To be honest, I do not understand why this would be the case. All I can think of is that the old 25+ year old electrolytics were dying and were adversely affecting how the TI based Class D amplifier was being loaded.
Anyways, I just thought I'd share my experience. This was the most rewarding $16 I've ever spent.
Also resurrecting this thread (& my speakers!) from the dead... I just swapped in a set of new-to-me Paradigm Mini-Mk3s to my bedroom system, and freed some Micro v1s for my office. That said I've always hated the sound, but somewhat thought that was the CCA / Spotify source, but don't think that was it. But the size is perfect my office so would love to put them to use for near-field music listening when I get hit w/ headphone fatigue. I'd also love to do a fix-it hack and not buy new speakers (in addition to a new amp!).
A few questions... w/ the uber-one being would you give this a go? "most rewarding $16 I've ever spent" leans to use, but not sure if that's v1, v2, or both.
A few questions... w/ the uber-one being would you give this a go? "most rewarding $16 I've ever spent" leans to use, but not sure if that's v1, v2, or both.
- Question 1: How's the improvement with v1s similar to v2s?
- Question 2: Haven't used a soldering iron for ~30 years, how hard would this be? Only special tools needed are soldering iron, solder and the new caps?
- Question 3: Is there anything else to replace/buy at same time like foams? Links and pro/newbie tips very welcome.
- Bonus question (if giving it a go): looking for a _cheap_ (sub-$100) amp + DAC solution (together or separate) to pull sound from a PC - recs welcome (I know off-topic feel free to send a PM or parenthetical)
The one I did was the Micro V2. From what I can tell, they are very similar to the V1 with a slightly different box design. The V2 has a plastic back plate, while the V1 has some sort of composite wood plate. My understanding is that the V1 back plate can be a little trickier to remove, but I haven't worked with one. The internal components look very similar, if not identical, as my woofer has the same stamped basket as opposed to the cast basket on the V3. As such, I imagine the sonic improvement on the V1 and V2 are almost the same. They both use a crappy electrolytic capacitor.
For Q2, you will need a soldering iron and solder. The original crossover network (inductor, capacitor and resistor) were both zip-tied and hot-glued together. Rather than taking all that apart, I just clipped the leads on the original cap but left its body in place. I then attached the new cap to the bundle with 2 more zip ties and some more hot glue, and finally twisted the leads that I cut onto those of the new cap, then soldered them together. This was very easy to do, but try to be somewhat fast to limit the amount of heat transferred to the components. You will also want to add some more hot-glue to the crossover as you attach it back to the enclosure (it was held in with 1 screw and hot-glue originally).
For Q3, I did not touch my foams, as then appeared to be intact. In hindsight, I probably should have removed the woofers to inspect them more closely, but so far they sound fine. Definitely do check the woofer mounting screws though. On one speaker, 2 of the 4 screws that held the woofer in were lose, and it turned out that the particle board had stripped out, so it wouldn't hold. I ended up filling the hole with a chopped off toothpick and a dab of hot-glue. The screw bit into it very well after that, and are holding tightly now.
For your bonus Q, I ended up getting the Soundblaster X7, but it is a bit pricey. I just liked the simplicity of having a high res DAC, headphone amp, and speaker amp in one unit. I'm not a fan of the interface, as it's very software dependent, but once it's setup it does sounds very nice. I'm sure there are more cost effective options out there, buy you will probably have to piece together a USB DAC and solid state amplifier.
For Q2, you will need a soldering iron and solder. The original crossover network (inductor, capacitor and resistor) were both zip-tied and hot-glued together. Rather than taking all that apart, I just clipped the leads on the original cap but left its body in place. I then attached the new cap to the bundle with 2 more zip ties and some more hot glue, and finally twisted the leads that I cut onto those of the new cap, then soldered them together. This was very easy to do, but try to be somewhat fast to limit the amount of heat transferred to the components. You will also want to add some more hot-glue to the crossover as you attach it back to the enclosure (it was held in with 1 screw and hot-glue originally).
For Q3, I did not touch my foams, as then appeared to be intact. In hindsight, I probably should have removed the woofers to inspect them more closely, but so far they sound fine. Definitely do check the woofer mounting screws though. On one speaker, 2 of the 4 screws that held the woofer in were lose, and it turned out that the particle board had stripped out, so it wouldn't hold. I ended up filling the hole with a chopped off toothpick and a dab of hot-glue. The screw bit into it very well after that, and are holding tightly now.
For your bonus Q, I ended up getting the Soundblaster X7, but it is a bit pricey. I just liked the simplicity of having a high res DAC, headphone amp, and speaker amp in one unit. I'm not a fan of the interface, as it's very software dependent, but once it's setup it does sounds very nice. I'm sure there are more cost effective options out there, buy you will probably have to piece together a USB DAC and solid state amplifier.
Thanks for the complete reply @BalanBro!
My v1s do have a MDF backing; like a lot of others the label fell away. Haven't taken them apart yet, but that might be able to wait until I get an amp to get them placed, setup, etc. to improve from crappy speakers in my monitor (which scarily is better than crappy laptop native sound).
RE: Q2 This seems like a good excuse for me to buy a soldering iron, glue gun and some new toys Although definitely a bit longer lead time than just getting myself an amp. But as noted can delay that project a bit.
RE: Q3 The Soundblaster X7 is a bit richer than I was intending -- looks nice, though. I'm telling myself that by reusing the speakers I have on hand I'm saving money versus buying new powered speakers for my office Perhaps I should just start with the Apple USB-C headphone dongle I have lying around with some minijack to RCA. Ideally would like a RCA lineout (I think the Apple thing has some bit of amplification in it for the headphones), but it's probably good enough for now so I should listen to my cheap-o motto here and just pick up a sub-$100 class D desktop app to get started.
My v1s do have a MDF backing; like a lot of others the label fell away. Haven't taken them apart yet, but that might be able to wait until I get an amp to get them placed, setup, etc. to improve from crappy speakers in my monitor (which scarily is better than crappy laptop native sound).
RE: Q2 This seems like a good excuse for me to buy a soldering iron, glue gun and some new toys
Although definitely a bit longer lead time than just getting myself an amp. But as noted can delay that project a bit. RE: Q3 The Soundblaster X7 is a bit richer than I was intending -- looks nice, though. I'm telling myself that by reusing the speakers I have on hand I'm saving money versus buying new powered speakers for my office
Perhaps I should just start with the Apple USB-C headphone dongle I have lying around with some minijack to RCA. Ideally would like a RCA lineout (I think the Apple thing has some bit of amplification in it for the headphones), but it's probably good enough for now so I should listen to my cheap-o motto here and just pick up a sub-$100 class D desktop app to get started.Just picked up a pair of these Micros for $10.00. Upon opening, (which was easy... just put 2 screws partway back in the back panel on 2 sides and wiggle up & out) I noticed one was made in 1994 and one in 1996. One has a 4 uF 50V cap and one has a 4.7 uF 100V cap. I think I'll replace them both with Solens, or can I use a couple of Russian paper in oil caps I have in my tickle trunk?
