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In Reply to: RE: tweeter felt kit? posted by Inmate51 on June 15, 2016 at 09:55:10
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
Follow Ups:
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
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