Freako
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A speaker tweak that matters
Freako
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Last seen: 2 years 11 months ago
Joined: Jan 17 2010 - 8:29am

Somehow the image I wanted to show, does not show up. I have tried linking to both a jpg and a png version, but none of them show up. So I better explain:

The "gutters" are all turned with the "outside" turning towards the back (and the port) of the speaker, and the "inside" of the gutter turning towards the front of the speaker. This also makes it evident, that the sucking air INTO the speaker is not limited, but the pushing air OUT of the speaker is actually limited a tiny bit.

The image can be seen here: https://picasaweb.google.com/117813841934492926200/HiFi#5879356211753938850

Freako
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I wonder why there's no response to this - if I might humbly say so - brilliant tweak. I suspect the reason to be one or all of the below:

  1. You cherish your speakers more than your wife and even your kids, and find them superior to any other speakers on the market.
  2. You are lame as far as tweaking goes, and truly believe that "...anything that can't be measured, can't be heard...". Wise up, stupid. Your ears are far better than science in this case. If you believe science are superior to your own ears, you're in for a surprise... sorry, I'd better take that back, because you probably ain't. Some people never change.
  3. You think the phrase "tweak" has something to do with superstition, witchcraft or mumbo-jumbo. On this one you're partly right. I just have to give you that. Strange wooden discs on the walls, cute little critters with their bellies full of pebbles, obscure stickers, absurd creams or notes with numbers written in red, well those are not tweaks, they are symptoms of a rare disease, that puzzles all not stricken by it. The cure is laughter.
  4. You haven't got the guts to perform tweaks. If that is the case, then don't perform any tweaks. They will likely cause faulty equipment anyway.
  5. I have failed to state my point clearly enough for anyone to comprehend it. Sorry about that, English is not my first lingo.
  6. You have a history of using glue in ways that could best be described as misuse/abuse. No comments.
  7. You believe THC is the one and only tweak that matters. So did I... once, but those days are over. I am back in reality since many years.
  8. You suspect that my setup is less than admirable in it's sound reproduction, so any tweak - whether it worked or not - only serves to mask the abundance of errors otherwise displayed by my lousy setup. 
  9. My eardrums were torn to shreds during the countless 1970's concerts with Frank Zappa, Johnny Winter, Big Brother & the Holding Company etc. That is probably correct, but anyone over 45, that didn't attend such happenings, grossly missed out on the times of their lives anyway.
  10. You think I'm a nutcase. You may be right about that, but does it really say anything about my credibility as a nutcase/hifi freak/tweaker?

Does any of the above trigger something in you?

If yes, I AM a nutcase, but a happy one. If no, I'm still a nutcase, and even happier. This whole ranting was nothing than waste of time, and as such only meant as a bad joke. Please forgive me ;)

- and please comment on my tweak, ask questions, criticize, praise... whatever!

Have a good one

Freako/Rubber Duck

Bill B
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[quote=Freako]

I wonder why there's no response to this - if I might humbly say so - brilliant tweak. I suspect the reason to be one or all of the below:

  1. You cherish your speakers more than your wife and even your kids, and find them superior to any other speakers on the market.
  2. You are lame as far as tweaking goes, and truly believe that "...anything that can't be measured, can't be heard...". Wise up, stupid. Your ears are far better than science in this case. If you believe science are superior to your own ears, you're in for a surprise... sorry, I'd better take that back, because you probably ain't. Some people never change.
  3. You think the phrase "tweak" has something to do with superstition, witchcraft or mumbo-jumbo. On this one you're partly right. I just have to give you that. Strange wooden discs on the walls, cute little critters with their bellies full of pebbles, obscure stickers, absurd creams or notes with numbers written in red, well those are not tweaks, they are symptoms of a rare disease, that puzzles all not stricken by it. The cure is laughter.
  4. You haven't got the guts to perform tweaks. If that is the case, then don't perform any tweaks. They will likely cause faulty equipment anyway.
  5. I have failed to state my point clearly enough for anyone to comprehend it. Sorry about that, English is not my first lingo.
  6. You have a history of using glue in ways that could best be described as misuse/abuse. No comments.
  7. You believe THC is the one and only tweak that matters. So did I... once, but those days are over. I am back in reality since many years.
  8. You suspect that my setup is less than admirable in it's sound reproduction, so any tweak - whether it worked or not - only serves to mask the abundance of errors otherwise displayed by my lousy setup. 
  9. My eardrums were torn to shreds during the countless 1970's concerts with Frank Zappa, Johnny Winter, Big Brother & the Holding Company etc. That is probably correct, but anyone over 45, that didn't attend such happenings, grossly missed out on the times of their lives anyway.
  10. You think I'm a nutcase. You may be right about that, but does it really say anything about my credibility as a nutcase/hifi freak/tweaker?

 

It could be that in praising yourself for your brililance, and talking to yourself, and pre-insulting any potential respondents as lame/stoned/stupid, you limit your audience.  And expecting an immediate response in this neglected and forgotten area of the forums is a recipe for being ignored.

jgossman
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Most of the speakers the average Stereophile reader uses are going to have significant internal braces not condusive to this tweak.  On my Matrix's for example, this tweak just looks absolutely ridiculous.  The speaker is filled with a tight, stiff, 3 diminsional grid.  And also, most speakers above a certain point, usually 500.00 bucks, are actually amazingly well engineered and built now days.  It's both a science and an art now.

Not to be dismissive, but it just seems a little silly.

ironsienna
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Freako wrote:

I wonder why there's no response to this - if I might humbly say so - brilliant tweak. I suspect the reason to be one or all of the below:

  1. You cherish your speakers more than your wife and even your kids, and find them superior to any other speakers on the market.
  2. You are lame as far as tweaking goes, and truly believe that "...anything that can't be measured, can't be heard...". Wise up, stupid. Your ears are far better than science in this case. If you believe science are superior to your own ears, you're in for a surprise... sorry, I'd better take that back, because you probably ain't. Some people never change.
  3. You think the phrase "tweak" has something to do with superstition, witchcraft or mumbo-jumbo. On this one you're partly right. I just have to give you that. Strange wooden discs on the walls, cute little critters with their bellies full of pebbles, obscure stickers, absurd creams or notes with numbers written in red, well those are not tweaks, they are symptoms of a rare disease, that puzzles all not stricken by it. The cure is laughter.
  4. You haven't got the guts to perform tweaks. If that is the case, then don't perform any tweaks. They will likely cause faulty equipment anyway.
  5. I have failed to state my point clearly enough for anyone to comprehend it. Sorry about that, English is not my first lingo.
  6. You have a history of using glue in ways that could best be described as misuse/abuse. No comments.
  7. You believe THC is the one and only tweak that matters. So did I... once, but those days are over. I am back in reality since many years.
  8. You suspect that my setup is less than admirable in it's sound reproduction, so any tweak - whether it worked or not - only serves to mask the abundance of errors otherwise displayed by my lousy setup. 
  9. My eardrums were torn to shreds during the countless 1970's concerts with Frank Zappa, Johnny Winter, Big Brother & the Holding Company etc. That is probably correct, but anyone over 45, that didn't attend such happenings, grossly missed out on the times of their lives anyway.
  10. You think I'm a nutcase. You may be right about that, but does it really say anything about my credibility as a nutcase/hifi freak/tweaker?

Does any of the above trigger something in you?

If yes, I AM a nutcase, but a happy one. If no, I'm still a nutcase, and even happier. This whole ranting was nothing than waste of time, and as such only meant as a bad joke. Please forgive me ;)

- and please comment on my tweak, ask questions, criticize, praise... whatever!

Have a good one

Freako/Rubber Duck

So you want to say that cherising a pair of speakers that costed me $22000 is bad... And that this mod will make them sound better when countless hours have been spend for their design... Furthermore their internals are not as empty as the ones in your speakers because they already use sophisticated sound damping control. Where is the wife and kids belong in this conversation by the way? This comment is so immature...

If you believe that it is scientific to claim that using a standard mod with any speaker design can cause always improvement, without taking in acount the internal stracture of the speaker, Im sorry but your science is dim.

I was about to continue responding on all your comments but after this I realized how full of yourself you are and how meaningless is to respond on your unintresting post... 

You deserve a ban for your insulting comments... Im off...

By the way that was a joke.. hahaha ... not

Freako
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I'm ok with the average SP reader having great speakers, to which my tweak does not apply well, or not at all. If, for example, they are fitted with a strengthening/stiffening contraption such as coneycomb braces or the like, the tweak can of course not be performed. Same if you own a better than modest set of speakers. I totally understand.

I cherish my cheap speakers, and I didn't intend to claim that cherishing ANY set of speakers was bad. If I have led you to believe that, I am truly sorry. The tweak was uploaded on this forum in case anyone with a modest set of speakers was interested in trying it out. Months have now passed since I performed it, and I still have no regrets whatsoever. However I have to admit, that the Danish audio freaks didn't respond well to the tweak either, which wasn't really that big a surprise. Not that many believe tweaks are worth neither the risk nor the effort, and I am ok with that. It's just that I wanted to share something, that worked great for me.

Regards

OPM
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Joined: Dec 28 2013 - 8:47am

Hey Freako,

I don't think you are full of yourself or out to lunch at all. I think you have a great way of expressing yourself and are confident enough to experiment (thank God our forfathers did). I've had more than 100 Stereofile magazines sent to my door and as many Absolute Sound Mags as well. Have had hundreds of different pieces of equipment and know quite a lot about the industry. Enough to know to listen when someone is excited about a finding. I think what is with the other gentlemen with the disrespectable comment is that they have no confidence in there own ability and not experianced enough in the High End world yet to know that DIY very often sounds better than the expensive. I wonder what B&W would have done if they thought about your idea. Matrixe or Baffle.

To me it's clear they owe you an appology.

OPM

tmsorosk
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Joined: Dec 5 2010 - 12:34pm

Interesting post. Many years ago when I had lesser speakers I did similar procedure's , but glued wood panels to the inside walls and wood cross braces and triangle corner gussets elsewhere. Also lined the inside walls with sound damping Dynamat. The improvement was noticeable . I would not try this with my current speakers as they are well braced , would likely do more harm than good .

 I sure miss Stereophiles Fine Tunes column , there were many articles like the above and many low cost tweaks that new comers to are hobby would love and benifit from .

 Doing some of these home made projects helps make audio more of a hobby . 

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