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Just a few years ago someone offered tweeter felt kits already cut out and ready to apply. I'm sure that can be fabricated with a little DIY effort but wondered if anyone still offers them?
Seeing this at THE Show Newport reminded me.
"You can't know what the "best" is unless you have heard everything, and keep in mind that given individual tastes, there really isn't any such thing." HP
Follow Ups:
A guy named Jim Goulding used to manufacture and sell thick, custom-made, wool felt diffraction pads under the "Diffraction Be Gone" label. I don't know if he's still alive and/or still in business.
Edits: 06/21/16
As late as 2013 he was commenting on a forum, but the website does not seem to be working. Shame.. I wanted to try a pair on my KG-5.
I know that he was "getting on in years". It could be that he's retired now. Or even gone.
hi tim, i never put felt on my a25s but put a ring of 3/8" x 3/8" rubber insulation aroun the t27 in my Fried model RIIs with good success.
those $2 felt rings from madisound look ok but at $2 each, buy four and stack them if necessary and you can cut your own angles in if you feel that is better (looks like it would be).
adding the additional tweeter (the dyna dome is more like a midrange in size and sound) us highly recommended. and jim's suggested 14k xover point is good, i figured mine to be at 10k.
oh, the speaker opened up VERY nicely with the addition of the philips clear plastic dome i used (with a 0.5uF cap and potentiometer for level control).
after listening for a week or two, i remembered that the dyna tweeter might be wired out of phase to compensate for the mid suckout at their xover freq. so i tried reversing the absolute phase of just the supertweeter and WOW, it opened up again.
don't expect pinpoint imaging even though the a25s throw a decent soundstage. they never did nor never will. but on the harry james DTDs, you will get that soundstage and impact as well.
i stacked two pair as well with the supertweeter but had to use a graphic eq to bring down the bass level as they were fat there just as is the dyna a50 (two of those nice rigid paper woofers and one "tweeter".
have fun with the a25s and if you buy another pair, stack them horizontally on stands.
...regards...tr
It would be useful to know what problem you're trying to fix, and then see what solution might do that.Just a thought.
:)
Edits: 06/15/16
old school cabinet design induced diffraction
I took a similar approach with my New Advents. I can't speak for the A25, but removing the cage and using the wool mat improved clarity for me. I went to Lowe's and purchased some felt furniture pads for that use. :)
Fair question.
I'm restoring a pair of A-25s to install in a den/home office after I move. Their tweeters are off-center and not mirror imaged. Plus the baffle is not flush with the cabinet.
I'm not an imaging freak and this will not be my main listening system. But I thought if I could make a small improvement for just a few bucks, why not? I remember reading where this is recommended for the A-25s, and likely many other classic speakers made before diffraction became more of a concern in speaker design.
"You can't know what the "best" is unless you have heard everything, and keep in mind that given individual tastes, there really isn't any such thing." HP
I had the same thought a few years back, and while experimenting with my A-25s I just used some felt on hand before thinking about purchasing some custom stuff. In the end I preferred the tweeters with the mesh grill and without felt, but I tried every configuration I could think of and thoroughly enjoyed the process. Below is an image "with felt and supertweeter, without mesh grill."
The A25 pair I had was salvaged from the trash and the cabinets were thrashed, so I ended up making new cabinets for them. Eight years later I continue to enjoy them very much in a system with a restored Marantz 2230, an Onkyo CD player, and an almost stock Thorens TD 150.
Jim
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky
when i added the clear plastic tweets, i jut balanced them on the front edge of the cabinet somewhat like what you have done with the little blocks, mine had NOTHING but i had given thought to integrating the tweet into the cabinet front (cutting holes etc) but never had the guts.
i think the tweet sounds better up there sort of like the b&w approach. i miss the a25s but i miss my rogers LS3/5As more.
...regards...tr
My cabinets were too thrashed to repair so I made new ones (heretical, I know, but I reasoned this fate was better than the speakers living in a landfill, which is where they were headed before I found them).
The new cabinets are the same volume as the old. Making some minor adjustments to the baffle size and moving the aperiodic vent to the rear made room for the Vifa D25AG. I still prefer the sound with the grill cloths on, too :)
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky
Edits: 06/21/16
i am wondering where the aperiodic port resides on your cabinet. without it, its not the same bass loading.
...regards...tr
The aperiodic vent was moved to the back baffle. It has the same foam loading and surface area as the original one.
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky
Did I ask if there is a great difference in sound with the rear port?
...regards...tr
The in-room bass response is still good and sometimes surprising with a tube amp or the current capacitively-coupled SS receiver that it's paired with. The cabinets are internally braced much more than the originals, and I've often thought that the bass is noticably tighter now. But regarding the aperiodic vent location, I think there's not a difference at all that I noticed immediately or over time.
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky
Edits: 06/22/16
Jim, I made a few changes to the first pair of A-25s I owned many years ago. Of course the crossover cap was upgraded. And as already mentioned, I removed the tweeter screens which I felt was an improvement. Then I also added cabinet bracing. I glued in 3/4 x 3/4 solid wood braces inside the sidewalls, front to back just above the woofer.
Obviously it was not a quick A/B but I did feel the bass seemed a bit tighter. That pair sounded quite nice and I probably should not have sold them. Given the use and levels I anticipate with my current pair I don't have plans to add bracing.
"The piano ain't got no wrong notes." Thelonious Monk
Yes, that's probably the ideal location for braces in the original cabinets. The front baffle has precious little MDF between the woofer and tweeter!
Perhaps it was one of your posts that inspired me to make sure I braced these as well as I could!
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky
I remember seeing one in a post some time ago. Did you build them with mirror image?
"The piano ain't got no wrong notes." Thelonious Monk
Why thanks very much! Yes, I built them in mirror image and re-used the original stuffing although I changed out the binding posts and hard-wired the resistance I preferred for the tweeter (to replace the adjustable level control in the originals).
Jim
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky
Thanks Jim, I appreciate your input.
Years ago I had another pair of A-25s which I experimented with. I didn't include felt surrounds but did prefer them with the metal screens removed. I felt that "opened up" the tweeter just a bit. Now a little older, if not wiser, my high frequency hearing has certainly diminished, so I don't know if I might still hear a difference.
However reading more recently about others' upgrades to the A-25s, several mentioned replacing the tweeter. As I understand that it is to better extend down to the crossover frequency, while possibly adding to higher frequency output as well. So I bought a pair of Seas 27TDFC to try out. I have those now but no time yet to change them out.
I'll likely report on Vintage Asylum if that works out well.
"You can't know what the "best" is unless you have heard everything, and keep in mind that given individual tastes, there really isn't any such thing." HP
You're very welcome.
I had a similar reaction about the unprotected tweeters until I put the grill cloths back. I preferred them with the grill cloth and mesh when compared to the grill cloth and no mesh. However two factors in my situation that I think had an effect was replacement of the lone capacitor with a much better one, and better internal wire, before diving into the "felt and supertweeter experiments." I liked (and like) the tonal balance between the original drivers when listening to my preferred acoustic music, but I did end up adding the shown Vifa aluminum domes, above 14KHz or so, when I built the new cabinets. Have fun!
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky
A-25's are great,enjoy
ET
How's this ???
DanL
$2 at Madisound, I just Googled your subject line
ET
I only did a search on Speaker Asylum.
That one looks pretty thin so I'll need to check with them on the thickness.
"You can't know what the "best" is unless you have heard everything, and keep in mind that given individual tastes, there really isn't any such thing." HP
Your welcome. Gave me something to do.I like helping.
ET
The felt defraction ring from Madisound is plenty thick. The felt defraction ring shown in your posted image looks to be the same thickness.
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