What can be done to improve the bass in these speakers?

dnpainting

dnpainting

Super Member
Hi all, and Happy Holidays.
A buddy of mine bought a pair of these speakers and isn't really happy with the bass performance. He states that he likes hard, tight but not over powering bass, something that will all around perform better. What he says he gets is kinda dull, no punch out of them.
Here are some specs for this speaker:
*WOOFER:
12" high compliance woofer
Polypropolene cone design
4 or 8 ohm impedance
Aluminum voice coil
Resonant frequency: 25Hz
Sensitivity: 90dB/w/m
Total flux: 56,100 MAXWELL
Flux density: 8,000 Gauss
*MIDRANGE:
5 high force seaked back midrange
4 or 8 ohm impendence
Crossover frequency: 3,000Hz
Sensitivity: 98 dB/w/m
*TWEETER:
3"x7" piezo horn
4 or 8 ohm impendance
Crossover frequency: 3,000Hz
Sensitivity: 98 dB/w/m
Response Range: 3,000 to 22,000Hz
Flux density: 8,300 Gauss
*TOTAL SOUND SYSTEM
Circuit protection
Maximum AMP power 300 watts PROGRAM
Sensitivity: 92 dB, 1 watt, 1 meter (3.3 ft.)
Crossover: 700 to 3,000 HZ
True-tuned port system
Nominal impedance: 4 or 8 ohm
Frequency response: 35 to 22,000Hz

The only thing I could think to tell him is to re-check his wiring to make sure connected properly, and they were, so I thought to have him put more insulation in them, but I told him I would check with you guys/gals and see what you thought.
Thank you!

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Unfortunately the main problem is that they're pretty awful speakers, made with the cheapest of cheap parts. They're the sort which are sold for a high price out of the back of a van, worth very little.

To improve the bass, you'd probably have to replace the woofers with something half decent and re-tune the cabinet.
 
To be honest they might be some white van models that have a small magnet woofer and to large of a port, could be a full range 12" speaker with maybe no cross over with in the cab? Next to chime in please.
 
I knew they were bad when he sent me the information and pix, I just didn't know how bad. He apparently bought them through Fleabay. I will have him look to see if there is even a XO in them.
 
MunkeyQ said:
Unfortunately the main problem is that they're pretty awful speakers, made with the cheapest of cheap parts. They're the sort which are sold for a high price out of the back of a van, worth very little.

'Nuff said. Those are cheap party noise-makers.
Click to expand...
 
There's probably only a capacitor in series with the midrange and nothing else - piezos aren't damaged by feeding them a full range signal as their impedance below their design frequency (about 2khz for most) is very, very high. However, that won't be responsible for the lack of bass...
 
I imagine that everything stated above is the case, port size, no XO, probably no insulation at all, Full range woofers. I will make a suggestion to him that he nurse his wounds and try to find something better. Thank you all for your help.
 
Sad, but true.......

Howdy, dnpainting.....I agree with all above comments......

These are not good speakers........the cabs may or may NOT be salvageable , the piezo tweets (and midrange)..... need some kinda crossover......much more info can be found here on AK.........and needs to be.....

Hope your buddy didn't take a too bad a bath on these......

I wish you (and your friend, luck).......willhowl:yes:
 
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Yeah, you can bet when they put wording like "The Professionals Choice" on the box it's...you know...the opposite.

EDIT: I also like the "4 or 8 ohm" nominal impedance. Yeah, that's genius.

\:^)

Doug
 
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dnpainting said:
I imagine that everything stated above is the case, port size, no XO, probably no insulation at all, Full range woofers. I will make a suggestion to him that he nurse his wounds and try to find something better. Thank you all for your help.
Click to expand...


Yeah, good speakers are out there for cheap. I just picked up a mint pair of JBL HLS-620's for $40 for the pair last Sunday on CL that I'm confident would out perform those white van specials in every category.

I'm also picking up a pair of mint Cerwin Vega RE25's for only $25 for the pair, and those too would be head and shoulders above those.
 
Doug G. said:
Yeah, you can bet when they put wording like "The Professionals Choice" on the box it's...you know...the opposite.

EDIT: I also like the "4 or 8 ohm" nominal impedance. Yeah, that's genius.

\:^)

Doug
Click to expand...

The 4 or 8 ohm is the first thing that caught my attention along with the carpeting. I feel bad for him for this purchase but what can you do. Unfortunately, he lives in Arizona so it's kinda hard to give an opinion to him on how bad they really are without actually hearing them. I wanted to take some quotes from you guys and post them in an email to him, and then tell him to look at CL for deals. Thank you all for your help on these POS's. Hopefully, he respects the opinions here and takes some of your advice.
 
I agree with most of the earlier posters.

They are crappy (sorry for being so harsh) speakers that are designed for non - critical automotive use, where the environmental noise is loud enough to mask most speaker deficiency.

One quick way to tell if they're "keepers" is, listen to the pair for an extended period of time, the determining factor will be, how long you can endure listening to them - most cheap and or badly designed speakers will tire you quickly enough that you'll want to go and do something else. BTW, fact they are bass shy is, a give-away as to their design quality

But then again if your friend is determined to keep them for whatever reason - one way to add bass is buy a stand alone sub-woofer. But matching one to (audio) blend with the system is another long, hit or miss episode.

Good luck with your choice.
 
Doug G. said:
Yeah, you can bet when they put wording like "The Professionals Choice" on the box it's...you know...the opposite.
Click to expand...
Or "Studio Standard"? :D *

I liked the "Compact DISC" logo on the box. Makes me wonder where the player is?

* just kidding, some of that stuff wasn't so bad
 
Looks like your friend has a nice set of garage / tester speakers. Stuff like that does have its uses, such as testing an unknown amp. If the smoke comes out of the speaker, you want it to happen to something you don't care about.
 
At the very minimum, he could try plugging the ports. Other than that, they are what they are...
 
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