Speaker re-wire and re-cap

[chartz]

Hi,
Not at all with you on the woofer mod You can’t do that: you can be certain that it won’t be long till the braids break.

[Opti-cal]

Hi,
Not at all with you on the woofer mod You can’t do that: you can be certain that it won’t be long till the braids break.

Not disagreeing but why, if they are under no stress?

[Opti-cal]

Also just gave em a ruddy good oiling!

I'd forgotten how lovely the finish is on them actually. In a lounge on matt black stands they score very highly on the WAF.....

[Opti-cal]

If what you say is the case then why bother rewiring using nice cable and running the signal through crappy tags? Makes less sense to me to do that to be honest.

I did consider if it would be alright that way or not and even at the drivers most extreme (which it never gets anywhere near) the braid hardly moves.

If the worst does happen I actually have a spare set of drivers and lesson learned but I genuinely don't think it will. These aren't part of a big system and are driven by a low power SET at very modest volumes.

[chartz]

The tags are not ‘crappy’ (who on earth told you that?) and I can assure you that they won’t affect the sound any more than a bit a fancy rewire or posh capacitor!
You probably will think they sound better this way – you did something and you did it!
Of course you are experimenting and that’s a good thing.

They do look nice though!

[Opti-cal]

The tags are not ‘crappy’ (who on earth told you that?) and I can assure you that they won’t affect the sound any more than a bit a fancy rewire or posh capacitor!
You probably will think they sound better this way – you did something and you did it!
Of course you are experimenting and that’s a good thing.

They do look nice though!

Well they didn't look great (thin flimsy) so I thought "get em outta there". A bit rash then it would seem.

That's exactly it, I am experimenting so I appreciate you understanding that as I'm sure from a novice to an expert, you've been there yourself.

The proof will be in the listening of course and as you elude to if I think it 'should' sound better, my brain will make it so. Can't really help that I'm afraid.

I do usually throw out questions to garner opinions on such mods from experienced builders like yourself but I just thought I'd crack on this time, especially as I do have a spare pair of drivers . . . .

Thanks for your answers anyway.

[chartz]

Oh yes I’ve been there!
Enjoy your work and do come back to us to share your findings!

[Opti-cal]

Having had a decent listening session last night I can at least say . . . . I haven't made them any worse (sounding) . . .

Honestly though they actually sound really 'nice'. By that I mean they aren't going to shake the walls, they aren't going to thump your chest or give you that lower or upper octave of any performance.

They are rolled off and a little coloured perhaps, but the full midrange is simply there, floating around the soundstage, sympathetic to any recording wherever you are in the room. The horn loading helps spread the soundstage around too, it adds some dramatic reverb where it is present on the recording and really gives texture to voices and instruments.

The reason I've been drawn to them for years though, is their ability to just make you listen. Jazz and vocals are particularly well portrayed, reed and wood instruments also sound honest and accurate.

The main accolade I can pay them is that even when going in the system after some much more expensive (and indeed physically intimidating) competition, they are never a let down and often actually serve to highlight what many speakers expensive, cheap, big, small, ported or whatever are missing. Sheer musical ability. For that these are a 10/10 . . . the rest, it doesn't really matter when you hear them!

[sailor]

Hi Chris, interesting connection to the woofer, not seen that done before. Perhaps consider returning the pig-tails to the terminals and solder to to them where they protrude through which is essentially what you have now but will be securely anchored. Peace of mind.

I understand you are in the experimental stage and urge you to try the new caps you have bought. The Solen caps are reliable and give no trouble but sound rather pedestrian by comparison. Some guys don't realise that caps definitely do all sound different and that is the reason for change, not only because the original is failing.

Once you have chosen your preferred cap I suggest supporting it to avoid vibration and metal fatigue of the leads. Mount it near the terminal block or near the tweeter. A glob of hot-melt glue or silicone adhesive to attach it to the back of the tweeter magnet works well.

What wire have you got there? I would also just use a single wire to the tweeter, easier to solder for one and I have found that a single solid strand OCC copper wire of about 24AWG sounds very clean and detailed.

The push-on brass terminals are crappy. They are the crappiest crap for a quality long term connection and are widely used. One of the reasons for the ubiquity of these abominations in the industry is mainly to speed up production and reduce costs. The harnesses are pre-made at a seperate station which saves the boxes from being cycled again for the job of hand soldering. It's time consuming and somebody has to get paid. They are fine however for use on cars etc. but not for audio. Some guys go to great lengths to improve all contacts by using contact cleaners and/or enhancers with people on this site claiming audible improvements. By soldering direct you have a long lasting consistently good copper to copper connection without a piece of brass in between.

https://www.bluesea.com/resources/10..._of_Materials/
The link shows brass to have an IACS of only 28% compared to copper which as the reference is 100%. Some brass terminals are first Nickel plated, rated at only 7% to 22% because it polishes up well and allows the gold plating to look nice and smooth and shiny.

This brings us to another important area, the speaker terminals, of which the vast majority are brass, nickel and gold sitting right in the signal path doing nasty things to your precious sound. My workaround is to bring the internal speaker wires to the outside of the box and terminate to FUREZ pure unplated copper spades. With the identical spades on the speaker wires they can be placed back to back and the existing speaker posts used merely as a clamp.

I do the same on my amps and use the cheapest 8mm speaker terminals available. I would prefer nylon nuts and bolts but not strong enough. Of course this surgery or butchery is not for most but for those who DIY why not enjoy the improvement?

I see you have boldly been assured that the removal of the brass lugs, new wire and new caps will do nothing. I disagree. Strongly.

[chartz]

I for one have never, ever been able to discern the sound of good caps. Unless you listen with a switch for instant comparison at the same level, any judgement has to be biased. And ask someone to do the switchover for you!

My big Cabasses’ crossovers make exclusive use of Solens and I can assure you that pedestrian is not a word I’d use about their sound – they’re fast and incredibly dynamic sounding things.

But then they have a good 95 dB/1W/1metre sensitivity.

As for binding posts, I like to use good soldered banana plugs, although leaving the copper bare is probably a good short-term method too (say for a few months).

Keep up the good work and go on experimenting!