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Should we put weights on speakers

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.
 
Gibsonian,

LOL, weights AND flowers are necessary!!!!!!

A pot of flowers is an ESSENTIAL thing to have, on top of a speaker, as is MUCH added weight, to mass load the top of the speaker !!


You position the flower pot by EAR, while playing complex music, and standing nearfield to the speaker !!!

Please LOOK at my ALTEC VOTT photos ( posted earlier in THIS thread, on Page 1, Post #6 ) , I now ALWAYS employ a well-positioned flower pot on top . It CERTAINLY sounds better !!!

I learned this from Dennis Fraker, last year, October 2016. Look at Stereophile's 2016 RMAF photo of Dennis. See the ALTEC / GPA 604 MLTL in the rear of the room? Dig that Flower Pot. I HEARD it , sitting far field, as Dennis Fraker set it up in 30 seconds, near field....blew me away !!

See, live and learn. EZ to try, just like ten or more Patio Pavers.


Jeff Medwin .
 
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I'm against automation taking away employment from speaker-holder-downers.

Holding down speakers feeds my family!
 
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

thank you for your sharing!

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

Thank you Jeff. I have just gotten a pair of stands for my JBL TLX14. I will find time to try out your method.
 
ok guys, i have just gotten a pair of good stands (used) and put the JBLs on them. Some further questions (not yet decided if I should mass load them):

a) should I use blu-tac?

b) should I center the speakers on the top plates, or should I place the front of the speakers nearer to the center of the the top plates since the drivers are heavier than the rare part of the speakers?
 
TravellerSol,

Except for perhaps one other person in this thread, seems like everyone is THEORIZING and " just guessing "..

I'm the one guy who has gone out and TRIED IT, and has LISTENED to it, on three different speaker systems, over the last 12 months .

See the gray colored patio stones / concrete bricks on my VOTT implementation, pictured on page one of this thread??

That may be a useful alternate size, instead of 11 7/8th by 11 7/8ths.

The gray ones only weigh about 11.5 pounds each, and are 7.5 by 15.5 inches as I recall. VERY inexpensive, Lowes lists them at ONLY $1.13 a unit , golly, ten cents a pound. Garden Supply section, usually out doors from the main store.

Books, bags or rice, I have tried. NOT enough weight per increment, fellas and gals. Multiple 55 pound record boxes were OKish.

Do INCREMENTAL CONCRETE BLOCKS, the 16 pounders are wonderful for HEARING differences !! I use solo piano, its easy to determine on such content, due to the percussion of struck piano notes. HAVE FUN, I do.
 
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. ;)
 
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
 
Yes, optimum SQ coincides with maximum mass placed just prior to crushing. It's a fine fine line. Kinda scary really......
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.

:)
 
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

Lead is king here, just don't munch on it or smoke it! Specific gravity of 11.3 vs 2.7 for sand. Would take up a lot less space (4x less) inside your D9's for same weight.
 
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?
 
Lead is running $1.08 a pound, been about a dollar a pound, last three months, plus the cost of shipping / acquisition . We are simply adding mass-loading to the OUTSIDE TOP of the speaker. The red square. or gray rectangular concrete patio stones are about ten CENTS a pound, and one can easily drive to Lowes, maybe Home Depot, and put them in your car.

Its worked GREAT in improving all three speaker pairs I've done it to, past year, ALTEC A7-800 VOTTs at 290 pounds a side, Fulton FMI-80 bookshelves at 48 pounds a side, and the Fulton Premiere P-12 at 112 pounds per side. NO WAY would I go back to stock after incrementally doing this on each of the speaker pairs !!

Wake up friends, smell 'de roses. OHHH, ......put the roses on TOP of the concrete, position it by ear, complex music, listening near- field. Before or after mass loading, THAT helps also.

Jeff Medwin
 
Weight on my speakers? Damn right...30lb concrete patio blocks cut to size (16x15x2) and painted black, in addition to spiking to the subflooring (I have carpet). Solidifies bass response.
 
SWL 3600,

Is it 30 pounds total weight?? How much total on top of each speaker?? If only 30, get some 11 7/8ts by 11 7/8ths by 1.7 inch concrete patio blocks, 16 pounds each, and INCREMENTALLY hear what ( one to four added ), more weight will do. I listen to / for midrange, piano and inner detailing improvements. Your ears will tell you when to stop, easily !!

Also, see my Flower Pot discussion, and set that precise position up while listening to complex music, standing beside the speaker, near field. The flower pot difference will BLOW your mind on those Klipschs. Very cool improvement to be had there. Water dem plants so they live long.

Have fun, I do ! BTW, I mostly run VOTTs ...A7-800s, .with 290 pounds added a side.

Jeff Medwin
 
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