my wife's idea of mass loading
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Have seen the telltale circular ring on tops of many speakers signifying this mass loading ritual of the female gender.
my wife's idea of mass loading
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You bet cha
Absolutely !!! Its a good idea to put weight on TOP of a speaker, but....mass load it incrementally, until there seems to be little gain per increment of mass added.
I developed the idea of using concrete - patio paving units, in 2015 and 2016. Each patio paver weighs about 16 pounds, and they sell at Home Depot for $1.70 and at Lowes for $1.87 each. Start with ten, methodically ( incrementally) loading just one speaker, and compare it to your "stock" second speaker.
Read this AA thread I have posted to:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=hug&m=177386
This , in many respects, besides being totally reversible, may be better than internally bracing the box, which is an amateur do-it-yourself botch job, in most cases I see.
Mass load the entire top of the enclosure.
You will hear better inner-detail, less distortion, less imtermodulation between drivers, and the box itself. You will obtain clearer diction, and typically more defined bass. Its the most needed, and cheapest improvement to a loudspeaker, I have ever experienced. Try it, initially under $20.00, and decide for yourself. It transformed my Fulton FMI 80s, and my ALTEC Voice of the Theatre speakers, as you will see in the above-referenced thread. I hope others will benefit from this..
Jeff Medwin
Travellersol,
I went from zero weight, to 112 pounds of weight added tonight, on a spare speaker system we have in my office, doing it in 16 pound increments, to each speaker, added, then subtracted. See the URL below, for a description, and what I hear.
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=hug&m=177452
Have FUN. I DO !!
Jeff Medwin
Absolutely !!! Its a good idea to put weight on TOP of a speaker, but....mass load it incrementally, until there seems to be little gain per increment of mass added.
The trick is to keep adding weight until just before it crushes the speaker or the floor beneath it collapses. Anything more and you need to start from scratch.![]()
Sort of like fugu. The best fugu, it is said, makes one's lips tingle a little bit when eaten, but doesn't contain enough tetrodotoxin to actually kill the diner.Yes, optimum SQ coincides with maximum mass placed just prior to crushing. It's a fine fine line. Kinda scary really......
I had 35lb Olympic weight plates in my D9's, I have since switched to 40lb sand filled bags. Since my speakers sit on tiles and though the D9s already weigh a lot, ever little bit helps to keep them in place when they are thundering. Right now they weigh about 130lbs each
D9's while heavy are not braced well, with only 1 puny brace in the entire cabinet, hot melt glued in place. They respond well to adding some if you choose to do it or maybe you did already?