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The Best 50 Dollar A Pair Speakers Ever ??

DougMac said:
I just brought home a pair. We have a "talents" night at church and I'm doing a demo on audio restoration at my booth.

Doug
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Would you elaborate? Sounds pretty cool, kind of like letting other folks your gifts & interests in person rather than in your obit?
 
ProAc_Fan said:
Well it figures they don't carry these speakers in Canada. They do have other Insignia brand speakers and TV's etc. but not these. :(

Mike
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Just take a trip over the border.
 
TrexT said:
Has anyone modded their cabinets yet? The resonance of the cabinet is the weakest link IMO. I plan on using a quick-dry joint compound to fill the many cuts they used to bend the sides. Might change to factory foam to a dense fiber from a pillow to see if that helps. Any other modification stories or comments?
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I did the wood putty thing....used 8 oz per speaker...shoulda used more...

It decreased the boom SUBSTANTIALLY and tightened everything up. I too would love to mod the crossovers, but not paying 90 bucks to do it. Any cheaper ideas??

In my humble opinion, these are just FUN! Like Vegaman9's Realistic T-100s....yeah, the magnets are puny, and can't get stupid loud, but T-100 Realistics are just FUN!

For more serious stuff, oh no. But 90% of my listening is while I'm putting around the house.

And the width of sound on the Insignias is retarded. Classical and Jazz really benefit. Track 2 on Tool's "undertow" sounds huge on these little speakers.
 
He gives you all the information to do the crossover one's self on the page, but it really seems like he's thought it through as best he could (he even has you unwind coils instead of replacing them). Short of getting cheaper parts for the ones replaced, I don't see how it could be any cheaper.
 
I'm a little late to this thread and have not read through the whole thing but saw a few things here in the last pages that I thought I'd reply to.

Here is some info regarding the effects of stacking speakers.

http://www.gr-research.com/responses.htm

There was another discussion about it here where I posted more measurements on this subject. See page two for my response.

http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15154&highlight=stacking

That Xover mod from GR looks first class. I wish GR would come out with a Xover mod with a better price point
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Sorry about that. I lowered the price of the foil inductors to meet the best priced wire wound type (so I am not making any money on the inductors). Then I re-used one inductor that is salvaged from the original. It just requires a little de-winding. I could drop out the Sonicap by-pass caps for you if you ask me to but you will loose some of the high detail and resolution. I think them to be well worth it myself. That's why I added them. Removing them will knock $16.20 off the total. Everything else has to be there.
 
I couldn't resist and just got a pair. After a whopping 2 minutes playing - these are a bit muddier than the Polk 15's. I guess the tweeter opens up after a day or two?

These are substantial, attractive, heavy suckers at first glance. Ten times better looking than the R 15.
 
Jesse Garron said:
I couldn't resist and just got a pair. After a whopping 2 minutes playing - these are a bit muddier than the Polk 15's. I guess the tweeter opens up after a day or two?
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Pretty much. Most members on this thread have said that it takes at least a few hours of LOUD listening to really brighten them up:yes:
 
I bought two pair ($39 a pair). Haven't tried them out yet because my Marantz 2270, that I bought on ebay, is putting out too much dc to the speakers! Fried my NHT Superzeroes!
I won't chance hooking up the new Insignias!
 
YamahaFreak said:
Most members on this thread have said that it takes at least a few hours of LOUD listening to really brighten them up:yes:
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It's true. One of the niftiest tricks I've ever read on the internet described how to break speakers in painlessly: Get a good track with lots of true bass and clean treble, set it to repeat endlessly, face the two speakers into one another, getting 'em as close as possible, put the preamp in MONO, add some bass and treble boost to taste, and wire the speakers out of phase. Now crank those babies. Twiddle the balance control for minimum sound. Voyla! The neighbors won't complain, you'll still be able to watch TV /sleep/ converse, and meanwhile the speakers are breaking in at maximum speed. A couple of days later, try 'em in a normal setup and be surprised.
 
wualta said:
It's true. One of the niftiest tricks I've ever read on the internet described how to break speakers in painlessly: Get a good track with lots of true bass and clean treble, set it to repeat endlessly, face the two speakers into one another, getting 'em as close as possible, put the preamp in MONO, add some bass and treble boost to taste, and wire the speakers out of phase. Now crank those babies. Twiddle the balance control for minimum sound. Voyla! The neighbors won't complain, you'll still be able to watch TV /sleep/ converse, and meanwhile the speakers are breaking in at maximum speed. A couple of days later, try 'em in a normal setup and be surprised.
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Wow, neat trick:thmbsp:
I LIKE to play mine loud, though:music:
I wish there was a smiley in front of speakers...
When you say out of phase, you mean just reverse red and black, right?
 
Actually, try it both ways -- I've had better luck with doing that in phase (quieter).

But yeah, that's what he meant.
 
I've been breaking mine in for a couple of days in a spare room. When I go out I shut the windows and throw a blanket over them and crank 'em up!
 

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Insignia receivers and amps are crap, you see more of them on E-Bay that don't work then do. Speakers, they might hold up, time will tell.
 
Just my two cents worth....

My best $20 audio spent...

About five years ago I saw BB advertising KLH bookshelf speakers for a mere $20/PAIR! Thought WTH go check it out....Bought a pair and took em home.

KLH L853B 8" three way...Actually was very impressed!!
DECENT cabinets (1/2" particle board with black veeer)
Decent components, REAL crossover and five way binding posts!!
AND 100% SHIELDED!!!

Well....Figured the new KLH name and all....figured they would be CRAP bu I am very impressed!

Certainly not top of the line but make decent speakers for my shop!

Best $20 I ever spent on audio equipment!! :smoke:
 
Read all this. Hopped in the car to my local BB. Web site said they had'em in stock. They found them after 10min waay up in the air.
Amazing for $50. May do some mods on these. Currently breaking in with MC-30's and CD. The bass is a bit peaky so I put a pair of socks in each port. Took care of that!
Dan
 
PioneerGuy75 said:
My best $20 audio spent...

About five years ago I saw BB advertising KLH bookshelf speakers for a mere $20/PAIR! Thought WTH go check it out....Bought a pair and took em home.

KLH L853B 8" three way...Actually was very impressed!!
DECENT cabinets (1/2" particle board with black veeer)
Decent components, REAL crossover and five way binding posts!!
AND 100% SHIELDED!!!

Well....Figured the new KLH name and all....figured they would be CRAP bu I am very impressed!

Certainly not top of the line but make decent speakers for my shop!

Best $20 I ever spent on audio equipment!! :smoke:
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I remember that deal! After rebates and a later, lower price match, mine ended up being $5 PER PAIR! I snagged 6 pair of them at the time. Have given most of them away over the last few years as gifts during Xmas, birthdays, etc.

Still, the KLH are crap in comparison to the Insignias.
 
Brudha said:
I remember that deal! After rebates and a later, lower price match, mine ended up being $5 PER PAIR! I snagged 6 pair of them at the time. Have given most of them away over the last few years as gifts during Xmas, birthdays, etc.

Still, the KLH are crap in comparison to the Insignias.
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wow! $5 a pair!!

they do make good cheap speakers for the workshop tho :yes:

Remember the flood of em on Ebay right after that sale!!!
 
mc dan said:
The bass is a bit peaky so I put a pair of socks in each port. Took care of that!
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Socks! Is there anything they can't do? Most of the world's problems could be solved, I'm convinced, if someone would just shove a sock in the port.

This is my favorite alltime speaker mod because it so often works so well. So many ported designs sound better sealed, it's not funny.

Call me... Doctor Sock. Or call MC Dan Doctor Sock. Either way.
 
wualta said:
Socks! Is there anything they can't do? Most of the world's problems could be solved, I'm convinced, if someone would just shove a sock in the port.

This is my favorite alltime speaker mod because it so often works so well. So many ported designs sound better sealed, it's not funny.

Call me... Doctor Sock. Or call MC Dan Doctor Sock. Either way.
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Speak of the devil:yikes: I picked up an Infinity BU-1 sub at the local GW and discovered that the port was chuffing too much for my taste. Shoved a sock in the port(actually, two) and voila! No more chuffing:huge:
 
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