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Post by eightdigitword on Jun 30, 2012 22:28:34 GMT
As Mentioned above my speakers are lowly old DM601 S2 that are well loved! no point in pictures i thought.
What i feel i should mention is the improvements to the speaker from its factory state.
I stripped down the speaker removing the drivers, xover, foam fill and binding posts leaving only the wooden cabinet. Then using a mix of 1 part PVA and 4 parts water i brushed the mix onto the inside of the cabinet on the exposed chipboard. weaker mixes can be used, the water is used to let it soak into the chipboard and joints better. This will create a seal on the chip board, strengthen the chipboard, soak into the joints and seal them. In all you will have a stiffer, stronger and better sealed cabinet. Density is what your after in a cabinet and this will help increase the properties of the existing chipboard. Obviously the cabinet has to be left open to dry completely or your much loved speaker will resemble that loaf you forgot to bin before you went on holiday!
staying with density, The face of my speakers is plastic so i coated the lot in blue tak. Leaving room for the driver fittings.
I also pressed blue tak onto all parts of the cast metal spider on the bass/mid driver and coated the entire rear of the tweeter.
I fitted new gaskets to the bass/mid driver.
I did fit fancy paper in oil caps in the xover but didnt notice any major improvement.
The binding posts were fitted to the xover with nuts and bolts! this was changed to a solid solder connection.
internal wiring was left alone
internal wire to bass/mid driver connections soldered instead of spades.
I did fit a cross beam brace using some pine wood to the center of the cabinet. I heard improvement at high volumes but worried about the change it brought to the volume (m3) of the cabinet for normal listening levels.
speaker to stand interface...lashings of blue tak!
I used a steel/elastomer/steel composite isolation platform to sit the stand spikes on top of. perk of my job, cant do any harm!
very impressed with the capabilities of theses budget speakers.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2012 0:58:50 GMT
speaker to stand interface...lashings of blue tak! Kevin, let me tell you about a nightmare I had with Blutak. The speakers before the 7NT's were 601 S3's that looked lovely in Sorrento finish with the grey front baffle. As you probably know they are stand-mounters, but big at nearly 50cm tall. I had the idea that to firmly attach/decouple them to some Atacama stands I had, I would use a complete slab of Blutak for each speaker. I bought the Blutak and simply placed the strip on the stand. I didn't roll it or knead it at all, just plonked a full strip on top of the top-plate and put the speaker on top of that. All went well till a few years ago when I got the 7NT's. When I came to remove the speaker from the stand they wouldn't budge! After much pushing, pulling, sliding and twisting, I managed to remove one speaker from its stand. The other one just wouldn't move. I was stood with my feet on the stand base-plate, my fingers around the bottom of the speaker and pulling for all I was worth, but no way would it release. In the end I resorted to using a wallpaper scraper (the only thing I could find that was thin enough) to methodically remove enough Blutak to eventually allow the speaker to release from the stand. Unfortunately the base of that speaker now has about twenty scratches from the bloody wallpaper scraper - aaaargh. The speakers are still in their box in the spare room, I must put them on ebay with the description "Mint condition - except for the underside of one which is scraped to f**k". ;D
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Post by eightdigitword on Jul 1, 2012 12:11:43 GMT
speaker to stand interface...lashings of blue tak! Kevin, let me tell you about a nightmare I had with Blutak. The speakers before the 7NT's were 601 S3's that looked lovely in Sorrento finish with the grey front baffle. As you probably know they are stand-mounters, but big at nearly 50cm tall. I had the idea that to firmly attach/decouple them to some Atacama stands I had, I would use a complete slab of Blutak for each speaker. I bought the Blutak and simply placed the strip on the stand. I didn't roll it or knead it at all, just plonked a full strip on top of the top-plate and put the speaker on top of that. All went well till a few years ago when I got the 7NT's. When I came to remove the speaker from the stand they wouldn't budge! After much pushing, pulling, sliding and twisting, I managed to remove one speaker from its stand. The other one just wouldn't move. I was stood with my feet on the stand base-plate, my fingers around the bottom of the speaker and pulling for all I was worth, but no way would it release. In the end I resorted to using a wallpaper scraper (the only thing I could find that was thin enough) to methodically remove enough Blutak to eventually allow the speaker to release from the stand. Unfortunately the base of that speaker now has about twenty scratches from the bloody wallpaper scraper - aaaargh. The speakers are still in their box in the spare room, I must put them on ebay with the description "Mint condition - except for the underside of one which is scraped to f**k". ;D A whole slab!! I think i might have a 1/3 of a slab divided into 4 for each speaker. It takes some pulling to detach. You wouldn't think Blue tak could make such a good bond. so having owned 601's and now 7NT's where did you notice the biggest improvements? are the 7NT's just better 6 series or do they have a different sound?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2012 12:33:02 GMT
The B&W range, despite regular rave reviews, are the subject of a lot of flack. (.Flac ? ) Having sold them over many years I'd say they produce the odd gem from time to time. IMHO the CDM-1, and it's evolutionary models over the years, is one of these. A very enjoyable speaker with an admirable array of good attributes, capable of withstanding many upstream upgrades. They have a good balance and are difficult to "mis-foot". Despite selling many of the 7 variant I never heard a pair Enjoy.
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XTRProf
Fully Modded
Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
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Post by XTRProf on Jul 1, 2012 13:52:28 GMT
Despite selling many of the 7 variant I never heard a pair Wow, so you were the Salesman of the year then?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2012 14:34:50 GMT
so having owned 601's and now 7NT's where did you notice the biggest improvements? are the 7NT's just better 6 series or do they have a different sound? Kevin, Yes, I felt the big difference was in overall sound. Certainly the 7NT has more and tighter bass, but it also has treble which is just as extended and clear as the 602 but was more refined and sweeter. Unsurprisingly, given that the 602 is a two-way and the 7NT is a three way, the music seemed 'more of a piece' and in general just more 'musical'. I also felt that, again obviously, the 7NT remains civilised and un-fussed right up into very high volumes. Fear of damaging my hearing and respect for my neighbours mean I give up long before they do. But they are also clear and articulate at low volumes, which is how I mainly listen to them tbh. Out of many, many speakers I have had over the years they remain my favourites, Jeff
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 10:16:24 GMT
These are my B & W CDM 7-NT's I did a similar thing but bought two wooden chopping boards here in the UK at 'The Range' at £9.99 each. Works well. Derek
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 11:10:08 GMT
Derek, they look superb. Never thought of chopping boards
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pagan
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Post by pagan on Jul 2, 2012 12:20:00 GMT
But arn't the spiks suppose to isolate the speakers from the carpet are provide a fixed point to the floor?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 13:03:22 GMT
Yes but i don't want spikes through my carpet, plus I move my speakers around a lot so I need to be able to slide them easily. Speakers and 'plinths' are quite a high mass - they don't move much when the (much lower mass) cones move.
I'm happy.
Derek
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 19:04:35 GMT
I did a similar thing but bought two wooden chopping boards here in the UK at 'The Range' at £9.99 each. Works well. Derek [/quote] These precisely engineered & acoustically optimised, mass loaded, micro-vibrationally internally damped, vertical grain oriented for rapid dissipation of standing waves... can be got here: www.therange.co.uk/rectangular-rubberwood-end-grain-board/chopping-boards/the-range/fcp-product/63034Derek :-) p.s. love the way it says "Assembly required.... none". They are probably darned good chopping boards too. Photo Nerdstats: 1.5 s at F8.0, 135mm lens, available light (mixed halogen / daylight) and speed setting ISO 200. Tripod-mounted.
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ronzo56
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Post by ronzo56 on Jul 5, 2012 3:05:36 GMT
I am currently running Dunlavy SC-IV/A speakers. They are a d'appolito type speaker. Tweeter in the middle and then matching pairs of mid's and woofers on either side of the tweeter in a vertical array. The sound is great, I understand that they are a favorite of mixing studios (at least in the U.S.) but placement is a pain when it comes to getting the low bass correct. Has anyone had a experience with these speakers? The companies founder and designer passed away a few years ago and the company longer exists. Any tips on placement would be appreciated.
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funk1969
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Post by funk1969 on Jul 5, 2012 8:43:08 GMT
For now a quick desktop set up is all I can manage thus: PC- Fiio E10 - M-Audio BX5 I do intend to find a more versatile sound card/usb sample rate converter. I replaced the E10 for the Pico DAC. Windows only allows 24/48 but for me it sounds better than the E10 on 24/96.
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pagan
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Post by pagan on Jul 5, 2012 11:48:54 GMT
ronzo56 Many many moons ago I did have some Duntech speakers (smaller one's thought) Duntech was a speaker company started by John Dunlavy, in Australia before he went back to the USA to start Dunlavy Audio. The Duntech Sovereign look like the earlier version to yours. Duntech are still running... www.duntech.com.au/images/all.htmlThey may have more insight as to setups of large speakers or at least what John views were... On a seach, I did find this-- "Setup It's common practice for audiophiles to set up speakers along the short wall of a rectangular room with the listening seat in the middle of the room, the included angle being about 45 degrees. (This is described in Jonathan Scull's "Fine Tunes" columns in the July and August 1998 issues, Vol.21 Nos.7 and 8.) Dunlavy's recommendation is quite different. He suggests setting up speakers along the long wall of the listening room, widely separated (in Dunlavy's factory listening room, the angle is greater than 120 degrees), with the listener close to the back wall." at this site-- www.stereophile.com/content/dunlavy-audio-labs-sc-iva-loudspeaker-page-2
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2012 12:40:45 GMT
I found this same advice, with diagrams, on some other site around the time I was deciding on my speaker replacement. I took a chance as the guy seemed knowledgeable and anyway I wanted to convince myself that my choice of fairly tall floorstanders would work OK in my less than suitable, by normal thinking, room. The dealer I was buying from, who has always given me good advice in the past has a very small shop, not a showroom, and his demo pair did the final convincing. I haven't regretted it. The bass is very controlled yet deep and detailed, I wouldn't dream of changing them, which is quite unusual for me Syd
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ronzo56
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Post by ronzo56 on Jul 5, 2012 22:15:16 GMT
Thanks to both of you. I will take a look at the link, and give Duntech a try. I have a rather large listening room so that may be part of the issue. I might try to move them into a smaller room and see what happens. I agree with you Syd, they are the best sounding speakers I have owned hands down.
Ron
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pagan
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Post by pagan on Jul 5, 2012 23:53:47 GMT
Ron Just another thought.. As room environment and positioning will have acoustic effects.
The speakers are 4ohm's, so they would need a bit of current to drive them. What amp are you using?
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ronzo56
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Post by ronzo56 on Jul 6, 2012 4:57:21 GMT
You may never have heard of it. It's a Luminance Audio KST-150. Small company only made a few. Was designed by Steve Keiser who developed the B&K ST-140 in the eighties. Sam Tellig gave it a great review in Stereophile, it's rated at 150 watts into 8 ohms, and I think about 250 into 4. It has a slew rate of 250 V/ms so I think it is providing plenty of power and current. My room is about 7.6 meters long 5 m wide and has a vaulted cleaning the starts at 2.4m high and then goes up to 4.2 meters high which opens up into a walkway upstairs. It's over 85 cubic meters in volume. Maybe I should have bought the SC-VI's ;D There are places in the room where the bass is great, but the balance is not. I've used a real time analyzer to find the flattest response but still not quite the bass I would like. I understand that John D. suggested starting out near the front wall. Might give that a try as well. Thanks for the suggestions, really appreciated.
Ron
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pagan
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Post by pagan on Jul 6, 2012 12:01:52 GMT
Ron That"s a large music room..... I suppose it's easier to get the forklift in to move the speakers around ;D
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ronzo56
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Post by ronzo56 on Jul 6, 2012 22:51:54 GMT
Your right about that, it's a big room. But hey, I'm an American, we do everything big. ;D We call our houses McMansions! I have a friend coming over to move them into the smaller room. Kind of my human forklift. Then there's' the granite slab I have the equipment on etc. And then I cross my fingers and hope they don't over pressurize the room. I'm going to go with John Dunlvay's idea. Placement on the long wall close to the front wall and sit near the back wall with some sound absorption behind my head. Will find out if it works or not. Hopefully my back will hold up. Ron
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2012 23:11:46 GMT
When I was much younger, they called the obligatory couple of cushions on the car's rear parcel shelf (inside the rear window) "Fork Lifts"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2012 23:20:12 GMT
Including claiming the rest of North and South America ? ;D Not all residents of the U.S.A. live in big McMansions.One of our most respected members who has had (still has?) large numbers of staff and essential resources under his control, lives in a modest apartment in Miami. P.S. All in good clean fun! )
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ronzo56
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Post by ronzo56 on Jul 7, 2012 0:00:39 GMT
Taken in good fun as well. Actually since the housing crash many Americans don't live in anything anymore! Or are back living with their parents; at the age of 40.
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mrarroyo
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Post by mrarroyo on Jul 7, 2012 0:59:37 GMT
Modest! that is not a word often used to describe yours truly. Thanks.
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Post by oohms on Oct 14, 2012 11:18:02 GMT
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