Speakerlab S7s Rebuild and Modding (Ribbon Tweeter Model)
- Thread starter Bratwurst7s
- Start date
Doing the biamp with an amp for the highs and another on the lows allows you to choose amps for their specific characteristics, assuming you think one has a great treble and the other is good for the bass. I might be inclined to try a tube amp for the mids/highs and a big SS for the bass. That's what I do now for my satellites and subs. I love tubes for the upper bass/mids and highs.
markdi
Natural born thread killer
I think Bratwurst7s ia after a more adjustable system with more tuning ability than a vertical biamp would provide.
I am thinking about moving my crossover to the outside of the speaker cabinet.
maybe after i get my kyosho mp9 tik13 built
a amp per driver would be kool
I am thinking about moving my crossover to the outside of the speaker cabinet.
maybe after i get my kyosho mp9 tik13 built
a amp per driver would be kool
MY plans & thoughts for the future kinda go like this...
End of this year build external crossover enclosures and mount to back of the cabinets. Fill them with new crossovers that have all poly caps and air core coils with larger awg wire. I'll have to be careful here not to reduce the resistance of the hig/mid more than the woofer coil to avoid creating balance problems. I'll replace my current binding blocks with dual post blocks and separate the woofer section of the crossover at that time, just use binding straps on the posts. That way I have the option later to go to bi-amping.
Wife has approved a savings plan to buy an OPPO BDP-105 in the next year. I really want to improve my source but want to stick with an all-in-one for HT and the OPPO fits the plan.
I have a possible line on a M-50 and C-50 Yamaha combo. My brother-in-law has them and negotiations are proceeding slowly. No rush there. Then I will need to find an M-70 to match.
After ConradH suggested it I looked into a Marchand XM9 active crossover. I like it's use of complete discrete components and very clean stats. They are very pricey as a finished product but the kit form becomes much more affordable.
The plan is then the M-50 for the high/mid section of both speakers and the M-70 to drive the woofers. I'll need to preplan the new crossovers that I build to eventually jump over the entire woofer section, making that portion just there as a backup if I need to go temporarily back to single amp use. Having the crossover mounted externally on the back of the cab would make that relatively easy, as well as giving easy access for any small tweaking that might come up.
Realisticly this plan will take a couple of years for me to afford.
Cheers,
James
End of this year build external crossover enclosures and mount to back of the cabinets. Fill them with new crossovers that have all poly caps and air core coils with larger awg wire. I'll have to be careful here not to reduce the resistance of the hig/mid more than the woofer coil to avoid creating balance problems. I'll replace my current binding blocks with dual post blocks and separate the woofer section of the crossover at that time, just use binding straps on the posts. That way I have the option later to go to bi-amping.
Wife has approved a savings plan to buy an OPPO BDP-105 in the next year. I really want to improve my source but want to stick with an all-in-one for HT and the OPPO fits the plan.
I have a possible line on a M-50 and C-50 Yamaha combo. My brother-in-law has them and negotiations are proceeding slowly. No rush there. Then I will need to find an M-70 to match.
After ConradH suggested it I looked into a Marchand XM9 active crossover. I like it's use of complete discrete components and very clean stats. They are very pricey as a finished product but the kit form becomes much more affordable.
The plan is then the M-50 for the high/mid section of both speakers and the M-70 to drive the woofers. I'll need to preplan the new crossovers that I build to eventually jump over the entire woofer section, making that portion just there as a backup if I need to go temporarily back to single amp use. Having the crossover mounted externally on the back of the cab would make that relatively easy, as well as giving easy access for any small tweaking that might come up.
Realisticly this plan will take a couple of years for me to afford.
Cheers,
James
The big Yamaha M amps are good ones. I use an M-80 for my woofers. You will need to do a couple of preventive maintenance measures for the dreaded glue problem on some of the capacitors. I causes the leads to corrode and fail. It hits some of the surrounding resistors as well.
Friend of mine has the Oppo BDP-105D. It's a truly great sounding CD player. We did a comparison at the local audio club about a year ago between a stock 105 and one that some aftermarket modifier worked over to make a "super" 105. It wasn't always easy to hear the difference and many listeners preferred the stock unit. You'll like it, no worries.
John
Friend of mine has the Oppo BDP-105D. It's a truly great sounding CD player. We did a comparison at the local audio club about a year ago between a stock 105 and one that some aftermarket modifier worked over to make a "super" 105. It wasn't always easy to hear the difference and many listeners preferred the stock unit. You'll like it, no worries.
John
Thanks for the info/feedback John. MY bro-in-law has the BDP-103 and I've seen how good it is with blu-rays but he doesn't use it for 2-channel at all so I've had no chance to gain info there. I like the looks of the full discrete 2-channel output on the 105 but you are the first person to give me direct feedback about it. I've been accepting a lot of compromises in terms of source components for a number of years now and it's becoming the right time to stop that nonsense. After that I'll concentrate on amps.
Originally I bought a M-50 in '83 to power my 7s and used it till I bought the AX-1090 in '98, so I already have a love for them. I kinda want to keep amp voicing the same for high/mid and low, and have always wanted an M-70. That pair of amps don't seem to get a lot of love here at AK but the ones that I'm seeing in e-play are far more reasonably priced than the later M-stuff, and still sound pretty good to my ears.
I've been reading through the Yamaha threads to try to educate myself about what to expect in terms of renovation so whatever I get it won't even be powered up till I check for glue corrosion. But I expect that I'll be still using my AX for another year or so.
Cheers,
James
Originally I bought a M-50 in '83 to power my 7s and used it till I bought the AX-1090 in '98, so I already have a love for them. I kinda want to keep amp voicing the same for high/mid and low, and have always wanted an M-70. That pair of amps don't seem to get a lot of love here at AK but the ones that I'm seeing in e-play are far more reasonably priced than the later M-stuff, and still sound pretty good to my ears.
I've been reading through the Yamaha threads to try to educate myself about what to expect in terms of renovation so whatever I get it won't even be powered up till I check for glue corrosion. But I expect that I'll be still using my AX for another year or so.
Cheers,
James
Hi Mark,
That's certainly a possibility, but then I'd want 2 identical amps, whereas I figure that an M-50 will be plenty for the tweeters and mids, and an M-70 would provide a good bit more beef for the woofers, with the combo having plenty of headroom. Being the same generation of Yamaha separates and being similar inside I'm believing that they should voice similar also. That's the direction my thoughts are going at the moment.
Cheers,
James
Mark,
For the external enclosure I'm envisioning a box made from MDF, divided into a small fully sealed section and a larger partly vented section. The main MDF backboard will be screwed to the back of the speaker with a closed-cell foam sheet the full size of the board to seal and (hopefully) decouple it. The sealed section will fit directly over the cutout for the current binding block, with the wires passing through sealed wire nuts into the open section.
(Wire nuts? Not sure if that's the right word. LOL, I'm starting to do things here that I've never done while in the States and am stumbling over the words. My brain has become a mutant mix of English and German.)
The depth of the box will be determined by the depth of the woofer coils, and those can potentially be pretty fat at 3" to 4" deep, and more in dia. I plan to vent the unsealed section with holes to provide for convection airflow and to hopefully keep it from becoming some kind of horrible passive radiator.
My component list at the moment consists of a mix of Jantzen Cross-cap, Jantzen Standard, and Jantzen Superior, with the possability of some Mundorf poly caps instead. Price will play a role here. As if that wasn't obvious.
For coils I'm looking at Jantzen (1.4mm/15awg 0.16ohm) for the tweeters, Jantzen (1.8mm/13awg 0.37ohm) or Intertechnik (2mm/12awg 0.31ohm) for the mids, and Intertechnik (2mm/12awg 0.35ohm or 3mm/9awg 0.2ohm) or Mundorf (2.5mm or 3mm) for the woofers, I haven't fully decided which. I've been able to find values for all of the above that match or come very close to the originals that I measured last year.
Heh heh, Those new woofers sound wicked too! Everything that I had hoped for, and I really wasn't sure considering how different some of the specs are (such as Vas, etc).
Cheers,
James
For the external enclosure I'm envisioning a box made from MDF, divided into a small fully sealed section and a larger partly vented section. The main MDF backboard will be screwed to the back of the speaker with a closed-cell foam sheet the full size of the board to seal and (hopefully) decouple it. The sealed section will fit directly over the cutout for the current binding block, with the wires passing through sealed wire nuts into the open section.
(Wire nuts? Not sure if that's the right word. LOL, I'm starting to do things here that I've never done while in the States and am stumbling over the words. My brain has become a mutant mix of English and German.)
The depth of the box will be determined by the depth of the woofer coils, and those can potentially be pretty fat at 3" to 4" deep, and more in dia. I plan to vent the unsealed section with holes to provide for convection airflow and to hopefully keep it from becoming some kind of horrible passive radiator.
My component list at the moment consists of a mix of Jantzen Cross-cap, Jantzen Standard, and Jantzen Superior, with the possability of some Mundorf poly caps instead. Price will play a role here. As if that wasn't obvious.
For coils I'm looking at Jantzen (1.4mm/15awg 0.16ohm) for the tweeters, Jantzen (1.8mm/13awg 0.37ohm) or Intertechnik (2mm/12awg 0.31ohm) for the mids, and Intertechnik (2mm/12awg 0.35ohm or 3mm/9awg 0.2ohm) or Mundorf (2.5mm or 3mm) for the woofers, I haven't fully decided which. I've been able to find values for all of the above that match or come very close to the originals that I measured last year.
Heh heh, Those new woofers sound wicked too! Everything that I had hoped for, and I really wasn't sure considering how different some of the specs are (such as Vas, etc).
Cheers,
James
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Today I ordered an UMIK-1 usb mic to use with REW etc for testing. Delivery time 3-4 weeks. No sign of DATS-V2 being on the market yet.
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James
I've been revisiting my crossover schematic and photos in prep for making new crossovers and have realized that I made a huge blunder.
The midrange and tweeter sections are not in series as I had earlier stated. They are in parallel. I apologize to anyone that has used this misinformation and will be posting a corrected schematic in the next few days. I believe that the major effect will be that the tweeters are not being padded by the resistors in the crossover and also won't be seeing the accumulated resistance of the other components in the midrange section.
Again, a dumb mistake on my part and I will be posting a new schematic soon.
Cheers,
James
The midrange and tweeter sections are not in series as I had earlier stated. They are in parallel. I apologize to anyone that has used this misinformation and will be posting a corrected schematic in the next few days. I believe that the major effect will be that the tweeters are not being padded by the resistors in the crossover and also won't be seeing the accumulated resistance of the other components in the midrange section.
Again, a dumb mistake on my part and I will be posting a new schematic soon.
Cheers,
James
James,
Since you're considering the DATS-V2, you might also like to consider the woofer tester from Smith and Larson Audio. A friend has a previous version of the PE woofer tester and he thinks there are some things about the S&L woofer tester that he likes better. Can't exactly say what as I don't remember our conversation. It's a little more money, but not extreme.
http://www.woofertester.com/
John
Since you're considering the DATS-V2, you might also like to consider the woofer tester from Smith and Larson Audio. A friend has a previous version of the PE woofer tester and he thinks there are some things about the S&L woofer tester that he likes better. Can't exactly say what as I don't remember our conversation. It's a little more money, but not extreme.
http://www.woofertester.com/
John
Thanks very much John. A very interesting program, and if shipping isn't too much it would fit into my budget. I will look into it, at first glance it seems quite versatile, actually a lot more there than with DATS. The main thing I'll have to find out is if it will run under Wine in Linux.
Cheers,
James
I sent Smith and Larson Audio an email asking about linux compatibility and shipping. They answered right away about shipping, $35 to Munich. That would put me roughly around €150, I can live with that. Especially since they can actually deliver, which can't be said for DATS V2 at the moment. Still waiting to hear about running under Wine in Linux.
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James
OK. The more that I look at WT2 the more I like the looks of it. I've now had a series of emails with a nice fellow at S&L named Keith. It looks like WT2 has problems in openSUSE when the new PulseAudio sound sub-system is running but runs with the older ALSA sound subsystem. Not a problem for me as I use ALSA anyway because PulseAudio doesn't support my Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card.
Anyway it looks promising enough that I'll probably take a calculated risk and buy it next month or at the latest November. Thanks again to you John for the info.
Cheers,
James
Anyway it looks promising enough that I'll probably take a calculated risk and buy it next month or at the latest November. Thanks again to you John for the info.
Cheers,
James
In principle I don't have anything against doing this. However the only camera that I have that can record video only gives 320x240 res with a small mono mic. Color me strange but I'm skeptical that this will be much of a demo.
Next week? Great. I've been sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear news of your soon to be 7s. Very good.
Cheers,
James
Today I uploaded a new corrected crossover schematic to post #8 as promised, and deleted the original incorrect schematic.
I haven't seen anyone grabbing pitchforks and torches to skewer and burn Dr. Bratenstein yet so am guessing that nobody has gotten hurt by my mistake, but I'm angry at myself for posting misinformation and having it here for almost a year. My apologies again.
Cheers,
James
I haven't seen anyone grabbing pitchforks and torches to skewer and burn Dr. Bratenstein yet so am guessing that nobody has gotten hurt by my mistake, but I'm angry at myself for posting misinformation and having it here for almost a year. My apologies again.
Cheers,
James