On The Road To Curing Sibilance
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As many of you know, I have been complaining about a sibilance problem with my system. After numerous upgrades I was still unhappy about this problem. I wasn't sure if it was the source, the power, the wires or the speakers. I ruled out the source pretty quickly as it doesn't get much better. I had received some info that it couldn't be the speakers and began focusing on the wires. After many discussions with MIT and some other wire makers, I decided they were not the problem either. I then became convinced that the power was the problem and began to consider upgrading that area, which I want to do anyway. However, in the meantime I got into a discussion with an audiophile in Florida who echoed the statements of the good folks at MIT that it was the metal dome tweeters in my 2.3TL's. This gentleman made the following suggestion. Take some dense gray foam, cut into 1"wx1"dx3"h strips and attach them to the left and right sides of the tweeters. The inside edge of the foam should be as close to the tweeter as possible without touching it. For this experiment I used scotch tape to attach the foam, double sticky would be a better choice for a permanent attachment. I placed the foam pieces on all three tweeters in each speaker. For a test cd I chose The Eurythmics "Revenge" as I knew this one had a lot of sibilance. I set the volume at 11 o'clock (very loud) for all tests and I took the grill covers off the speakers. Right away I noticed that the sibilance was gone, but so was some of the detail and it sounded fairly laid-back. I removed the foam from the two bottom tweeters in each speaker which resulted in the return of the detail, but not much in the way of sibilance was noted, I could live with this. I believe this is because at louder volumes the top tweeter is producing most of the sound and still had the foam on it. Next, I removed the foam from the top tweeters and sure as hell the sibilance returned. It this point I am satisfied that the tweeters are the cause of the sibilance, but I still need to do more experimenting. The foam is too thick to allow the grill covers to fit right. I am thinking that 1/2" to 3/4" thick foam may be the way to go and I would like to try some round pieces of foam over the tweeters. Doro had mentioned to me that Audio Advisor sold something like that, but I was unable to find them. If anybody knows were I can get some round dense foam with a inside diameter of 1 3/8". please let me know.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Post edited by F1nut on
Comments
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Interesting, F1. I can see the foam cutting dispersion, but not a clue as to why the sibilance would diminish.
Would be interesting to see if half-round treatment on the sides of the tweets away from your listening position would also strike a better balance.
Which tweets are you running? The 3000's?More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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Russman has the right link. I put those rings on all my tweeters, they work.Please feel free to visit my Home Theater Page at The Bailey's Home Theatre in our Living Room.
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Tour....yes the SL3000's.
Russ...thanks.
Lee....were you having a sibilance problem also?Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
