Tweak on Supernova

Gaara

Dynamating my Earthquake Supernova MK-IV 12 subwoofer.

Pros:
Tightened bass response
Can't really hear the cabinet as much with deep notes
Cut down on transformer buzz.

Cons:
Was upsetting to open up, not much going on in there
Was upset to see much cheaper wiring in my sub then my speakers
Lots of exposed screws, got a little cut up

So I bought a bunch of Dynamat Extreme to dampen my speakers and sub, and most recently did the sub. I got out the powered screwdriver and started by unscrewing the driver of the sub. It was interesting to note that the piece that says EARTHQUAKE MADE IN THE USA is actually a part of the driver. I always thought that it was just there for looks, and it was attached to the cabinet, guess I was wrong. So driver out, the first thing that I notice is that there is really cheap thin speaker wire going to the driver, generic stuff, +/-attached, looked like 18 gauge or less. Next thing I noticed is that this speaker wire is attached to a very cheap binding post, and that there is copper speaker wire going from one binding post to another (dual voice coil), again very thin. This was more like 16 gauge, but the problem was that it was not tinned or anything, so of course it had oxidized, this had to go. There was nothing inside the cabinet in means of dampening or acoustic materials, just the power supply, circuit board, and the two drivers.

So the next step was to get the circuit board off, which required roughly 16 screws to be undone, but that thing was in tight. I wound up having to hammer it out, but in the end it gave in to the pressure. I unhooked the driver from the board, moved the board out of way, and started dampening the enclosure. I did the entire inside, so you could no longer see wood anywhere, and even tried to get some material in the same side that the driver was on.

From there I went along to dampening the basket of the driver, inside and out, and around the edges. This things is pretty heavy duty, lots of surface area to cover, this part took a lot of dynamat extreme.

After dampening was complete I took the cheap speaker wire that they originally used, and replaced it with some 14 gauge that I had lying around. I bypassed the binding posts and connected the wires directly to the exposed wires going to the voice coil.

I put some dynamat on the circuit board for the amp to, basically anywhere I could find a flat surface area. I then placed the plate back into place, screwed it in, then put the driver back into place. I then attached some dynamat to the top and bottom of the sub, before returning it to it's original location. Knocking on it, it resonated less, and felt heavier and sturdier overall. I hooked everything up, and did my usual demos.

Overall the difference was slight, but noticeable. It was not as drastic as I hoped, but things did tighten up a little bit, and the sub seems a little faster. One of the main things I am happy with is the fact that the transformer on the unit buzzed a little bit, which I can no longer hear. Overall the time and effort put into this tweak I think it was worth it, but it was just disappointing to see what was going on inside my sub. I was much happier to see the quality workmanship in my LSi speakers, which is sad considering I think a $1000 pair of speakers was much better built then a $2500 sub. Oh well thats for next time.

Jared

Early B.

Not surprised by the poorly built sub. I took an SVS apart and it was the same thing. Taking this sub apart convinced me to build my own. In fact, if you dismantle many of the "high end" speakers and subs, you'll find a plethora of cheap parts (or no parts at all where parts should be!). Lots of reasons for this, but now it's hard for me to justify spending lots of money (i.e., > $750) on speakers or a sub when I can make them (or have them made) for less money and at a much higher level of quality. I've also spent a lot more time educating myself on what constitutes quality in building speakers. Certainly helps to be an informed consumer.