Nonoise - no embarrassment on this one. Before my Missions, I've owned speakers from Allison, Dahlquist, Acoustic Research, Wharfdale and a bunch of others and I never knew I should care about this. It was just a bit of luck that I happened to read the Mission owner's manual this past week. But, my guess is that most owners never realize they should consider this. Just a word of caution: Mission said never to tighten the tweeters' screws and according to Stringreen above, Vandersteen doesn't want you to touch their bolts because of the mastic applied at the factory. (Thanks Stridgreen). So maybe we all should be checking with the manufacturer's before trying this. The article referenced by Rodman indicates it's a good tweak if ok with the manufacturers. Many thanks Rodman.
Amazing "tightening" of bass on cone speakers
I own a pair of old Mission 773 speakers. My impression has been that these still sound "okay" but have seen better days. Today I was reading the owner's manual to check the stated specs. In the maintenance section, Mission suggested that the screws holding the bass drivers to the cabinets should periodically be tightened(they also warned never to touch the screws for the tweeter). I said to myself "What the heck" and grabbed an Allen wrench. To my surprise, all the screws seemed tight but were able to be tightened another turn or so without undue pressure.
I was surprised by the difference in the sound. Not only was the bass much better defined and could go much deeper without distortion, the total sound was transformed, leaving far more interesting timbres to be heard and even the imaging was sharpened.
Having been into audio since forever, this really shouldn't have surprised me. It makes sense that slightly loosened bass drivers would create bad sound. And over many years of constantly vibrating, some loosening could easily happen. However, checking this out had never even occurred to me and I'm wondering how many others have tried this "cure" and (other than over tightening) if you've experienced a downside?
I was surprised by the difference in the sound. Not only was the bass much better defined and could go much deeper without distortion, the total sound was transformed, leaving far more interesting timbres to be heard and even the imaging was sharpened.
Having been into audio since forever, this really shouldn't have surprised me. It makes sense that slightly loosened bass drivers would create bad sound. And over many years of constantly vibrating, some loosening could easily happen. However, checking this out had never even occurred to me and I'm wondering how many others have tried this "cure" and (other than over tightening) if you've experienced a downside?
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- 16 posts total
- 16 posts total