Replacing my tweeters a good idea?

Opinions on speaker crossover theory are as varied as the colors of the world. Disagreements regarding how to design/modify/tweak a speaker are a dime a dozen(1000X more so than any other area of audio). The only thing that can be absolutely said is that you cannot follow all the rules. Everything that you do, breaks at least 25% of them(and wait till you compound them all together...). If anyone disagrees with that they have never done anything in the world of speakers. I believe in simple crossovers(I don't say that others don't work), and simple solutions(wiring a resistor in series to attenuate a driver). My current speakers(Coincident) have exactly TWO components in the crossover(a capacitor on the tweeter, and an inductor on the coil). Some may say that's ludicrous, "what about notch filters, Zobel networks, attenuation circuits, etc. - you NEED those". NO, you don't. My speakers sound fabulous. And Israel Blume is revered by an increasing amount of people every day. Bud Fried had his business(when it still was in business) 5 minutes from my home. Most of what he said directly contradicted what the "experts" said, and vice versa. He would(and still will) get into violent arguments(with ANYONE) regarding what he believed in(transmission line bass loading, series crossover networks, driver selection, how he didn't care about how rock sounded on his speakers - it was only the music of drug addicts, etc.). Despite this, Fried speakers are legendary(and even sound good with rock music despite Bud's discounting it), as are the products of many other companies(basically almost every other speaker company). My opinions are based on the personal experience of building and listening to many speakers. Along the way, I came across many a person who would use the suggested technique, foremost would be Joe D'Appolito. Obviously, others have differing views. If someone disagrees with this technique, fine. Try an alternate route. But I KNOW this works.

I didn't say that it WOULD NOT attenuate the high frequency response. It's pretty obvious that it would do that. I simply stated that it could also effect other parameters of the speakers design. Making a suggestion to one's own beliefs without noting the possibility for known side effects is both reckless and irresponsible. Experimenting with ones' own equipment and wallet is one thing, but making "generic" recommendations can lead inexperienced tinkerers into bad situations. Just because something "works" when you put it back together doesn't mean that it's working optimally or what you did was necessarily good for the unit as a whole. It might achieve what you were looking to do, but at what expense ??? Do you find out that "it wasn't such a good idea" when the unit fails or develops problems ??? Keep in mind my comments pertain to ALL electronics, not just the conversation ( speakers ) at hand. I am an electronics tech by trade and get to deal with "homebrew remedies" and "mods" on a daily basis. The "right" way to "mod" something is the way that gives you what you were looking for with the least amount of side effects and minimal potential for damage to the unit on a long term basis. If a speaker ( for example ) had a tweeter or mid that was running very close to its' resonance, altering its' crossover point by just a bit could alter performance and reliability by a drastic margin. Depending on how / what was done would determine whether or not it was a "good" or "bad" modification. People doing internal mods should NOT take advice for granted because "it worked on brand XYZ" unless they know the specifics of what they are dealing with. While i am no Bud Fried, Israel Blume or Joe D'Appolitto when it comes to audio, i am well respected in my specific field of electronics. I think that Bud, Israel and Joe would agree with the cautions that i made mention of and that altering the impedance that the crossover sees WILL affect it's hinge frequency. Whether or not it is detrimental would be up to the specific situation and speakers in question. Sean > PS.... This was not meant as a personal attack on Trelja and i hope it was not construed as such. It was simply meant to defend and explain my original statements and point of view.

Let's not overcomplicate this, guys....SPECIFICALLY: adding a small resistance in series with the tweeter will possibly slightly RAISE the system's crossover frequency, which would allow the tweeter to run even further away from its primary resonance. That fact, plus its lowered sensitivity via the added 1-2 ohms, should protect it rather than endanger it or the system, no? The effect upon system total impedence would likewise be sufficiently small enough to ignore. "Padding" the tweeter in this way is a whole lot more predictable than round after round of cable experiments, and a lot quicker. I don't mean to step on any toes, either, but padding a tweeter lightly IS a relatively easy, simple thing to try. Isn't this why some manufacturers provide switched tweeter levels via in-line resistors as part of their designs?...Let's let the thread-head have his fun, and get the benefits of a more pleasing spectral balance, eh? He's probably not gonna blow up his speaker, nor destroy its response. Cheers.

No one is suggesting going through one's electronics and replacing parts willy nilly. This is a specific fix, based on experience and SUCCESS. To lead people to believe that inserting a resistor in series with a tweeter will cauuse the walls to come tumbling down is irresponsible. To many, it shows a lack of REAL knowledge(not the kind that magazine readers espouse) and/or experience in working with loudspeakers. I do not doubt a person's expertise in electronics, skills which I readily admit I do not possess. However, in working with hundreds of loudspeakers over a 20 year period, I know what I am talking about. I do not pretend to be able to predict the opinions of anyone, but I do know how they feel when they explicitly say something. Joe D'Appolito's advice(in almost every instance of the many I have heard him)for the taming of a harsh tweeter is insertion of a series resistor, as a first step. It works, and I have NEVER seen or heard things go wrong. As stated before, there are alternate routes to solving this problem. Other speaker designers will take different roads. No problem. I would like to see more of them in this thread. But, I respect Joe more than anyone in this field. He does not BS people. Nor is he out for fame(although he cannot avoid it) or fortune. He offers free, PERSONAL advice on all areas of the speaker hobby. And while his tastes are not the same as everyone out there(how could they possibly be?), he is genuinely interested in providing people with the satisfaction and answers they ultimately seek. He is out there, on the front lines, freely sharing his knowledge for the betterment of the hobby.

"To many, it shows a lack of REAL knowledge(not the kind that magazine readers espouse) and/or experience in working with loudspeakers." I beg your pardon. I have designed / built / modified dozens upon dozens of speakers systems with references available to support this. This includes both consumer and professional models, as i used to do Pro Sound for a living. If you searched around a little bit on various audio related websites ( Audio Asylum, Audio Review, Klipsch's home page, etc..), you'd find references to "mods" that i've developed on various speaker models and other individuals that have followed them with great success. I currently have over a half dozen different speaker pairs in my basement brought over by local audiophiles for repairs and modifications. These range from La Scala's & Heresy's to Genesis and some custom built pieces by Kinetic Audio. I even have some sound reinforcement cabinets originally made by Peavey that i'm re-doing. Besides that, my brothers' speaker system, which we designed and are still working on, consists of 14 drivers in a total of 12 "cabinets" with active crossovers and is quad-amped (appr. 850 wpc). My main system is tri-amped using speakers that we designed and built with some outside help from Jon Risch on the subwoofer design. It will soon be totally revamped with a total of 6 amplifiers running multiple banks of electrostatic tweeters, multiple mid's and a quartet of woofers per channel. Power output will be somewhere in the range of 1800 wpc. The speaker system that is in my bedroom consists of some small two way stamd mounted satellites (picture Sequerra's MET 7's and you'd be pretty close) and two sealed downloaded subs. I built and designed these also. For my HT system, i'm currently building a center channel speaker. It will consist of a 3/4" dome, a 1 1/2" dome, two eights and a 12" woofer. I purchased identical drivers to what the manufacturer used for my mains and surrounds. By the way, i modified / upgraded those too. The speakers in my computer room system have also been modified ( rewired, re-tuned, braced, upgraded components, etc..). The speakers in my basement system have been completely redesigned and bare little resemblance to the factory produced models, both internally and externally. Needless to say, I think your barking up the wrong tree. I like my music and my electronics. I also have enough knowledge to design and repair most of the equipment if need be. As to inserting a series resistor with a tweeter to reduce its output, yes, it will work. This does not mean that it is the best method to use. It is a quick and dirty approach used or suggested when know-how, skill and money are all at a minimum. Someone that finds themselves in that position would be better off NOT going into ANY piece of audio gear and looking for alternative methods to deal with the problem. An inexpensive ( below $20) set of well chosen interconnects would probably take care of the problem in this specific situation. This would require a lot less effort, no soldering and even less thought as to how to do it. Then again, knowing which interconnects to use would require experimentation and experience. This is something that someone giving advice as a "magazine reader" would probably never know. Sean >