Posted by MaggiesAndCats (A) on April 02, 2021 at 11:09:26

I had gotten upgraded crossovers from fellow Inmate Neolith around 5 years ago and finally got around to installing them. Yeah, I know, I'm not what you would call an early adopter :). These external crossovers replace the mid/high crossovers that are internal to the MGIII's. An active crossover is already used to separate the bass from the mid/high frequencies. I don't know much about crossovers and am somewhat squeamish about undressing the Maggies and messing around with the wiring. That said, the process was relatively straightforward and painless. Except for when I stabbed myself with a screwdriver when removing the staples...

As part of the surgery I got rid of the fuses and fuse holders and used upgraded binding posts that were part of the package from Neolith. New cables were added to connect the external boxes to the speakers. As Neolith advised, these crossovers were intended for the MG3A, which use a 2nd order design vs. the 1st order in the MGIII. To summarize, the changes are: upgraded crossover components, 2nd order vs. 1st order, removing the fuses and fuse holders, upgraded binding posts, and cables from the external crossover boxes to the speakers.

My immediate impressions were very positive, i.e. "wow, this is what I have been missing"! After several weeks and many hours of listening I would say that there may have been some burn in and the improvements have... improved. The instruments and vocals are more crisp and defined across the entire frequency range. Even the bass is improved, although I'm not sure why. It's as if the attack/sustain/decay of each note has been tightened and more realistic sounding. The placement of each instrument and vocals is more precise, with less blurring and improved fullness to the soundstage. The high end harshness is also gone, allowing me to listen longer at higher volumes (around 82 dB peak) without getting "listening fatigue". I'm not knowledgeable enough to determine the effect each modification had on the sound, but the overall effect is pretty impressive. All in all, for the cost and time spent this has been one of the most substantial and cost effective changes I have made to my system.

I've since been playing with streaming using Amazon Music HD. The Ultra HD music is quite impressive with the crossover changes that have been made. I bought these speaker new around 1984/1985, and had them rebuilt at the factory in 2008. It seems they still have some life in them!

Regards,

Steve