Quad 57 or 63 with Gradients

Duke,
Thanks for the tip and I will try this with my 57s. Just one question: Would you need a resistor in series with that capacitor and, if so, what value would you recommend? I'm thinking that the Quads are more than 8 ohms over some of their range. Thanks!

Cleo, I used a potentiometer in series until I had the sound just right, measured the resistance and then soldered in a resistor of the same value, if I remember right.

Detlof, very cool! It sounds like you probably came up with it before I did. I first tried the Quad tweeter tweek around 2000 or so, I think; it was after I got my first SoundLabs. I think Martin Logan later used a rear-firing tweeter on some of their smaller electrostats, like the Clarity.

Cleopatra52, you might need a resistor with some tweeters and not with others. I'd suggest getting a small assortment like maybe two each of 2, 4, and maybe 6 ohms. Sand-cast resistors are pretty cheap so that wouldn't push the price up by much.

Note that as you increase the impedance of the load that the capacitor sees by adding series resistance, the crossover point will move downward. So you might want to get an assortment of several smaller capacitors (which can be paralleled to give a larger value if called for). These won't be very expensive either as long as you go with something reasonable like Solens or Daytons.

Duke

Thanks Duke!!!

Hi Duke, an old thread, but I am about to try this tweak disadvantage by zero technical knowledge, but I do at least have a soldering iron!

I have stacked Quads, in parallel, connected to the one amp.

I have found a suitable, 8ohm one inch tweeter, and assume that the fact that it is rated at 91DB will probably make it about equivalent to the 88DB efficiency you had in mind for an average tweeter, given I have two pairs.

What I am wondering is what the different impedance of the tweeter circuit does to the way that the amplifier drives the different speakers, given that all speakers are connected in parallel, and driven by the same amp.

IE, why doesn't the power just go to whichever circuit (be that tweeter, or the two Quads) is easier to drive for the amp, at the particular point in time of the music?

I know this question betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of things electrical. I hope, however, that it is comprehensible as a question!

Happy to hear an answer from anyone who has one.