Its Been a productive day

thsmith

SOunds like something I will try during the holiday break.

Thanks !

bsoko2

thsmith wrote: »

Yep, I am running the mains large for movies and put the AVR in Pure mode for music without the PB13.

Don't miss the MBMs at this point.

I still need to run REW to see just how low the 1Cs are getting, they advertise 15hz and I believe it. Amazing speakers ! I think we really went backwards when we left wide baffle speakers behind for narrow and compact speakers.

Ed subs builds a speaker for Home Cinema. Check it out: http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2_131.

Bill

Ron Temple

bsoko2 wrote: »

Ed subs builds a speaker for Home Cinema. Check it out: http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2_131.

Bill

That looks interesting. I'll have to ask them about the design. I'm not convinced they really understand speaker and crossover design based on the Audioholics review of their towers. It wasn't negative, but certainly pointed to a couple of glaring problems. Nice group of guys making great bang for the buck products, but they are fairly new at this.

thsmith

Update: Here is a cut and paste from another post after installing RDO194 with just a few hours of burn in.

I have about 3 hours of burn in time. Seems to me the 194s are like the 198s in that the sound gets better after a couple of hours. I like the sound of the 198s better at this point. I think the 194s are very close to the SL2000 at this point, maybe a little crisper.

I was hoping for the warmer sound the 198s gave the M12s after replacing the SL2500s.

Anyway, I am happy with them but at this point I am not sure they were really an upgrade except looks. They make the 1Cs look more menacing being all black."

Fast forward to Saturday morning, The RDOs have about 15 hours now and they seem to be mellowing a bit. They sound clear enough that I turned up the volume enough for the polyswitches to trip.

I was listening to Alan Parsons and it sounded so sweet I got a little carried away.

Here is a graph measuring the 1C 0hz to 3Khz. RS SPL good up to 3Khz. Looks like there is some work to do but not to concerned, this is a case of where the sound trumps graph.

Ron Temple

Who needs 100hz . Is that Audessey flattening your response down to 20? I was looking for my old graph, but can't find it. IIRC, I started rolling off around 30hz and was down 8-10dbs at 20hz and 12dbs at 16hz @ 3 meters. However, I can't support proper placement at this time, so I get no reinforcement.

thsmith

Ron Temple wrote: »

Who needs 100hz . Is that Audessey flattening your response down to 20? I was looking for my old graph, but can't find it. IIRC, I started rolling off around 30hz and was down 8-10dbs at 20hz and 12dbs at 16hz @ 3 meters. However, I can't support proper placement at this time, so I get no reinforcement.

The only thing Audessy does for me sub 60hz is I have a 22hz dip it takes care. Don't ask me how it does it but it does. If I run a sweep without Aud it is sure enough there.

Had to do some room shuffling today, Christmas tree and all so I need to run Aud again. I will run a sweep with and without Aud to show you.

The RDO194s are starting to mellow nicely or my ears are getting use to them.

thsmith

Got chance to Mortite my 1Cs yesterday. Found the XO in the right speaker was being helt by 1 of the 3 pegs. Put those back in place.

Also found the PR on the right speaker the styrafoam has come unglued from the fabric support. I am going to try and glue it back.

Since getting the 1Cs it seemed the Left speaker had more output than the right even though SPL measurements did not support that.

Since adding Mortite the right now seems to match the left wrt output.

Have not had a chance to listen to much music but there does seem to be an improvement.

ben62670

What program are you using to get your room measurements?

thsmith

ben62670 wrote: »

What program are you using to get your room measurements?

Room EQ Wizard

thsmith

thsmith wrote: »

Also found the PR on the right speaker the styrafoam has come unglued from the fabric support. I am going to try and glue it back.

Since getting the 1Cs it seemed the Left speaker had more output than the right even though SPL measurements did not support that.

As you know I found the PR on the right speaker had the Styrofoam come loose from the fabric rear support (voice coil?).

It did not have that bounce when you thump the outer surface. That has to affect sound.

Anyway I got some stuff from a fabric shop called Styro Glue and it appears to be working. Says fast drying but I found it took about 3 hours. Anyway the PR has a nice bounce to it again.

I will check it in a week or 2 to see how it is holding up.

Not sure if anyone else has found this with their PR but in case you do I can preliminarly recommend Styro Glue.

thsmith

AFter a couple of hours of listening I feel I am now getting the full effect of the SDAs after applying Moretite and the PR fix.

WHat a dramatic change since I first brought them home.

SOmewhere I said the M12s almost sound as good as the SDAs, I have to retrack that now.

Amazing what a couple of cheap fixes will do.

The gaskets on the 1Cs were flat with no life left in them. When I pulled the PR off to glue it I noticed how well the Mortite made a seal.

Fixing the PR really made a difference too. The right speaker now matches the output of the left to my ears.

ben62670

Which particular Mic are you using for your tests, and do you need a Mic preamp for it?
Thanks
Ben

Ron Temple

thsmith wrote: »

AFter a couple of hours of listening I feel I am now getting the full effect of the SDAs after applying Moretite and the PR fix.

WHat a dramatic change since I first brought them home.

SOmewhere I said the M12s almost sound as good as the SDAs, I have to retrack that now.

Amazing what a couple of cheap fixes will do.

The gaskets on the 1Cs were flat with no life left in them. When I pulled the PR off to glue it I noticed how well the Mortite made a seal.

Fixing the PR really made a difference too. The right speaker now matches the output of the left to my ears.

I've historically posted about problems with one side being off which I attributed to my amp(s). I've had the amps done and while the right side sometimes measures equal, sometimes it's off. I'm thinking maybe you've found the problem. Time to go to Home Depot. I replaced a driver which brought it back, but this inconsistency makes me think I've got a leak. Thanks for posting.

Ron Temple

Pretty nice speakers, huh , huh?

thsmith

ben62670 wrote: »

Which particular Mic are you using for your tests, and do you need a Mic preamp for it?
Thanks
Ben

I have a Radio Shack SPL meter connected to external USB sound card using REW.

Since I am mainly concerned with lower freqs the RS meter is fine for me. I have Audyssey on my AVR and I let it manage the mid and top end stuff.

If you are interested in measuring 0hz -20khz you will need a better mic than the RS SPL meter (good up to 3khz).

The guys at the shack prefer the Beringer ECM 8000 (ithink that is the model) but it does require phantom power. There are other options for phanthom power besides the Behringer XENYX 802 Mixer but I do not know anything about them. Check at thehometheatershack under the REW section. Great bunch of guys willing to help.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-ECM8000-Microphone-100887330-i1126588.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-XENYX-802-Mixer-103845053-i1153499.gc

THS guys had ecm8000 professionally calibrated and provide the calc file for free.

thsmith

Ron Temple wrote: »

Pretty nice speakers, huh , huh?

Very pretty and nice .

Creamy, buttery, tight and smooth;)

Ron Temple

thsmith wrote: »

Very pretty and nice .

Creamy, buttery, tight and smooth;)

Back in the day that's the way I used to describe my wife :eek:

mmadden28

Ben, I bought one of these ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp for $30 and used the mic from my Velo SMS-1, but it looks just like the EXM8000-might very well be the same. Of course it not measuring the high freqs, you could just use the RS meter.
I also bought this for $30 to interface it to the computer (laptop with no line in) as opposed to an external sound card (no drivers to install for this). You won't need it if you have a line in (not mic in) or if you have your desktop nearby. Its got straight up RCAs on it so no need for the 1/8" mini to RCA adapters here

mmadden28

thsmith wrote: »

Very pretty and nice .

Creamy, buttery, tight and smooth;)

Ron Temple wrote: »

Back in the day that's the way I used to describe my wife :eek:

ooohh I'm keeping this tidbit of blackmail. :D

Ron Temple

mmadden28 wrote: »

ooohh I'm keeping this tidbit of blackmail. :D

Won't work, I was talking about my first wife

thsmith

Nice offensive move

mmadden28

Ron Temple wrote: »

Won't work, I was talking about my first wife

Dang, foiled again.

thsmith

Well, could not wait a week or two to see if the 1Cs PR repair I made with Styro Glue was still holding so I opened it up tonight with about 27 hours of soak time and they look great and still holding.

Confidence is building on this product.

Has anyone else had this problem or heard of it happening? The glue holding the rear styro foam connected to the round fabric web coming loose.

ben62670

I had that problem. I used Elmer's white glue with success. I just let it dry over night.

thsmith

Ben, Styro Glue reminds me of Elmers. Here I thought I was on to something and could contribute:o

ben62670

I tried super glue. That was a bad idea. It made the spider crack even more. I had some Elmer's I figured that it would stay soft and hold to fabric, and glue. I am not sure about Styrofoam though. Those Pr's can get jumpin.

thsmith

ben62670 wrote: »

I tried super glue. That was a bad idea. It made the spider crack even more. I had some Elmer's I figured that it would stay soft and hold to fabric, and glue. I am not sure about Styrofoam though. Those Pr's can get jumpin.

The problem was the styrofoam had dettached from the spider, the original glue had given up and let go.

I suspect Elmers and Styro Glue are nearly the same glue.

I will check it again in a couple of more days to see how its holding up, good excuse to crank up the system though no excuses are required;)

thsmith

Received Ben's IC today, initial thoughts are they make the 194s sound a bit brighter which is a good thing to me. Need to do some critical listening, just too many things getting in the way.

Thanks Ben !