Mortite Speaker Seals For SDA's

zingo

Hawkeye wrote: »

So I guess it would be advisable to dyna-mat before the Mortite?

Gordon

Yes. If only for the reason that Mortite probably shouldn't be tighten down too many times.

cwilliams

Thanks for making my wallet lighter, guys. I just went and bought some at the local Home Depot. Total was $5.47 a box after taxes. My 2A's will be in surgery tonight to hopefully seal them up. I pulled the left drivers, tweeter, and PR out last night and the earliest date marked on them was early 1987. Have to love speakers that are 1 year older than you!

cwilliams

My 2A's are all set with Mortite now. I meant to say in the last post that the speakers are 2 years YOUNGER than me. I had a complete brain **** in the middle of the day.

mmadden28

Well I finally got around to 'mortiting' my SDA-2Bs last night.

Before I did it though I did the Passive-Leak test and man I heard (and felt) a lot of air coming out of the tweeter on the right speaker. When I removed it I found that the original foam seal was non-existent!!
Well now that could explain why I had the feeling that my speakers weren't quite balanced. It appears that the tweeter was replaced sometime in '92 so the previous owner apparently failed to put the foam seal back in.

While I was at it I also dynamatted the passives and driver baskets.

My first listening tests are definitely positive--Immediate difference noted esp in the bass dept. Sweet!!
After my initial listening I swapped out my SL2000's for some RD0194's--very nice so far-of course they are still just breaking in--ultimately I'm going to 'TL' mod these, but for now....

hearingimpared

mmadden28 wrote: »

Well I finally got around to 'mortiting' my SDA-2Bs last night.

Before I did it though I did the Passive-Leak test and man I heard (and felt) a lot of air coming out of the tweeter on the right speaker. When I removed it I found that the original foam seal was non-existent!!
Well now that could explain why I had the feeling that my speakers weren't quite balanced. It appears that the tweeter was replaced sometime in '92 so the previous owner apparently failed to put the foam seal back in.

While I was at it I also dynamatted the passives and driver baskets.

My first listening tests are definitely positive--Immediate difference noted esp in the bass dept. Sweet!!
After my initial listening I swapped out my SL2000's for some RD0194's--very nice so far-of course they are still just breaking in--ultimately I'm going to 'TL' mod these, but for now....

Since you did the Dynamat on the MW's did you notice more clarity in the midrange. When I Dynamtted my 1.2TL MWs, I noticed that a grungy sound was no longer there thus improving the clarity of the midrange.

Janne

hearingimpared wrote: »

Since you did the Dynamat on the MW's did you notice more clarity in the midrange. When I Dynamtted my 1.2TL MWs, I noticed that a grungy sound was no longer there thus improving the clarity of the midrange.

I have the same experience as hearingimpared. There is clearly some improved clarity in the midrange.

Two weeks ago I also added the MEN220 room correction to the system and the result is stunning. All the mods I have been doing so far has been steady improvements but with the room correction everything was brought up to a new level. I was never aware of that the room could have such an impact. :eek:

DarqueKnight

The room is another component of your audio system.

hearingimpared

Janne wrote: »

I have the same experience as hearingimpared. There is clearly some improved clarity in the midrange.

Two weeks ago I also added the MEN220 room correction to the system and the result is stunning. All the mods I have been doing so far has been steady improvements but with the room correction everything was brought up to a new level. I was never aware of that the room could have such an impact. :eek:

DarqueKnight wrote: »

The room is another component of your audio system.

You guys want to know how room correction REALLY is another component to your system, PM jm1 (John) he's been doing his room for a long time and has come up with some really good room treatments on his own. I wish I was going to be in Canada some time soon, I would definitely put a visit to John's on the travel agenda.

mmadden28

hearingimpared wrote: »

Since you did the Dynamat on the MW's did you notice more clarity in the midrange. When I Dynamtted my 1.2TL MWs, I noticed that a grungy sound was no longer there thus improving the clarity of the midrange.

It was my intention to listen to the improvements each tweak made but I've been putting off the tweaks so long that I just went ahead and did them all near the same time. Sure I could have waited to do the dynamat but with the risk of having trouble getting the drivers out easily down the road I just said 'ah what the hey'.

So while I've definitely noticed marked improvement with mids and bass, I couldn't tell you for sure whether it was the mortite (for better seal and coupling), the dynamat, or the fixing of my tweeter air leak--The way I'm looking at it is these tweaks are cheap and easy enough that they should probably be done together anyway since they involve the same components-and doing them won't cause any negative affects (assuming proper care is taken).

One thing I did note for certain was that tapping on the passive radiator basket rung like a bell before, but was a dead thud after dynamatting them.

geppy1

The Mortite seems to offer more clear sound. The bass is tighter and the stage seems wider and deeper and now seems to come forward of the grills. The leak down did not change so i wonder if we are now hearing just the drivers and not the cabinet??

hearingimpared

mmadden28 wrote: »

It was my intention to listen to the improvements each tweak made but I've been putting off the tweaks so long that I just went ahead and did them all near the same time. Sure I could have waited to do the dynamat but with the risk of having trouble getting the drivers out easily down the road I just said 'ah what the hey'.

So while I've definitely noticed marked improvement with mids and bass, I couldn't tell you for sure whether it was the mortite (for better seal and coupling), the dynamat, or the fixing of my tweeter air leak--The way I'm looking at it is these tweaks are cheap and easy enough that they should probably be done together anyway since they involve the same components-and doing them won't cause any negative affects (assuming proper care is taken).

One thing I did note for certain was that tapping on the passive radiator basket rung like a bell before, but was a dead thud after dynamatting them.

LOL! I did the same thing with my 1.2TLs; both tweaks at the same time. It doesn't matter though because tweaks are always cumulative.

When Jesse first told about the Dynamat tweak way, way back when, I took out and MW and a PR and flicked my finger on the spokes, WOW I couldn't believe how much they rang and resonated. That Dynamat just turned that all into a dullllllll thud. Great stuff.:)

Hawkeye

Janne wrote: »

I have the same experience as hearingimpared. There is clearly some improved clarity in the midrange.

Two weeks ago I also added the MEN220 room correction to the system and the result is stunning. All the mods I have been doing so far has been steady improvements but with the room correction everything was brought up to a new level. I was never aware of that the room could have such an impact. :eek:

Wow, you must have been on the early list to get a MEN220! I've been debating it with myself for six months now. I'm kinda old school and have reservations about putting an electronic gizmo in the chain. Everyone I've spoken to has had nothing but good to say about this piece.

Did you use it in a normal room or one with some effort of trapping? Did it get confused with the SDA effect?

For those who don't know about the MEN220, it is a room correction device that was licensed from Lyngdorf by McIntosh who dressed it up and made some other changes.

Gordon

Janne

Hawkeye wrote: »

Wow, you must have been on the early list to get a MEN220! I've been debating it with myself for six months now. I'm kinda old school and have reservations about putting an electronic gizmo in the chain. Everyone I've spoken to has had nothing but good to say about this piece.

Did you use it in a normal room or one with some effort of trapping? Did it get confused with the SDA effect?

For those who don't know about the MEN220, it is a room correction device that was licensed from Lyngdorf by McIntosh who dressed it up and made some other changes.

Gordon

I have also only read good reviews about it, so I called up the McIntosh dealer in Hong Kong and asked if they had any available. Surprise! They were getting the first unit the next day. So I booked it over the phone. Off to HK for some weekend fun and now it’s probably the first unit in Shanghai. The manual was stamped “Preliminary” so I guess it is one of the early units.

I don’t use any kind of traps as I want my living room to look normal. Well how normal you can make it with a pair of 1.2tl’s….

After doing the setup and reaching 99% room knowledge it applied 27% correction to my room. :eek: I guess that is a lot. The result was anyway astonishing. After all the tweaks I have done, I was in no way unhappy with the sound. However after applying the room correction it was like another blanket was lifted from the speakers. Just wondering how many more blankets there are left. I could not notice any negative changes in the SDA effect. I would more say it enhanced it. The vocals are clearer than ever before and bass tighter.

There are some additional filters built in but now I am just using the “Focus”. I have not been able to play around with them yet as my PC does not have any COM ports.

If you can get your hands on a unit, give it a try. You will be surprised.

mrpete64

Darquenight,

How do you use the mortite to make the rectangular gaskets. I can see where one just uses a roll to go around a round speaker. How do you flatten it out?

If you could e-mail me at: mrpete64@hotmail.com or send me your phone number to talk to you I would appreciate it.

Mr. Pete

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>
aging hippie

Toolfan66

Pete,

Just go buy a box. it's very cheap and you will understand as soon as you see it..

mrpete64 wrote: »

Darquenight,

How do you use the mortite to make the rectangular gaskets. I can see where one just uses a roll to go around a round speaker. How do you flatten it out?

If you could e-mail me at: mrpete64@hotmail.com or send me your phone number to talk to you I would appreciate it.

Mr. Pete

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>
aging hippie

DarqueKnight

mrpete64 wrote: »

How do you use the mortite to make the rectangular gaskets. I can see where one just uses a roll to go around a round speaker. How do you flatten it out?

The Mortite cord is placed along the inside edge of the faceplate rim, just like the stock foam gasket. The Mortite will flatten when you tighten the screws.

hearingimpared

anonymouse wrote: »

I can confirm that the PE Speaker Tape does not work well on my CRS+ speakers well at all. I had a very similar observation. I did one channel in Moretite equivalent and one channel with the PE tape. The one with the PE taps sounded like a veil was over it, slightly softer and the mids were compromised. I had to remove it from that speaker and redo it in the Moretite equivalent. All the dynamics are back. This is with the speaker rings. Good call DQ.

The Parts Express tape out and out sucks especially the thicker foamed tape. I tried using both thickness' and they were hard to apply and did not do a good job of coupling and sealing.

I do however like PE speaker sealer caulk as it's easy to apply, forms a great seal, will flatten out as thin as you like, and if need be comes off easily with having to scape it off with a knife. Plus you can remove the driver or PR with a little lever action with a screw drive and it will stay put on the cabinet until you desire to peel it off.

As far as the Mortite goes, I believe DarqueKnight's observations but I can't see using something made for house rain gutter or windows for my speakers. From what I understand, Matt Polk used it years and years ago before they could afford to have their own gaskets made and Mortite was a cheap way to couple & seal the driver and the box.

hearingimpared

anonymouse wrote: »

Actually I stand corrected. I did not use PE Sealing Tape then, I used their Sealing Caulk. The stuff that becomes putty like. Its black paste in a roll essentially: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=269-300

This was the stuff I had a poor experience with.

Yep that it, I'm surprised to hear that.

When I applied mine, I put two ropes of the PE sealer on each driver and PR cut outs and it did a great job. I also had a 2' split in the lower right corner seam of one of my 1.2TLs. I shoved lots of the PE sealer into split then leaned a few 25lb lead ingots against it. After awhile I removed the ingots and that split was sealed tight.

Arvid Audio

Greets, gents.

Just found this thread and even though it's kinda old, had to make some comments....

Owned Polks back around 1983, forget what model, it was a two-way with a passive radiator, stands that tilted them back about 15 degrees (filled the square center tube with sand and used mortite and screws to fasten the speakers to the stands). They were my first quality speaker. Per Frank Van Alstine's advice in Audio Basics, his newsletter, I mortited the speaker baskets to damp resonances and mortited the speakers to the cabinet to more fully couple them (don't remember seeing any mortite though, just rubber (?) gaskets). Fell in love with them after that, kept them until 1988 or so, when I upgraded to JSE Infinite Slopes (the BIG ones).

I often wish I'd gone to the Polk plant in Baltimore to see if I could get a tour, since I lived in the D.C. - Baltimore corridor all my life, until moving to the west coast in 2003. Too late now....

Arvid

rromeo923

Mortited my Right Speaker on my 1C's tonight. I can hear a punchier and tighter mid and bass. I like it. Will work on the left tomorrow.

$6 mod!!!!!

Love it!