Loudspeaker Performance and Care Tips

Hi all,
Sharing some of my 30 years experience.

Loudspeaker stands(for standmount speakers):
Correct height would be the tweeter is level with your ears relative to your listening position. Too often overlooked. Get the best. Speakers perform their best on solid foundations. Buy the most stable spiked stands and preferably stout welded construction with possibility of sand filled. You can have them custom made, steelwork cheap in Malaysia. The mounting base should be just slightly smaller than the footprint of your speaker so as not to interfere with the sound wave emitted. Use blu tack or thin tap washers(I use these) for stable interface. I've seen expensive speakers on wrong height stands and some on flimsy ones before. You're not getting the best out of them and then thinking speaker upgrade. If you've already got the right stands experiment cantilevering your speaker forward a wee bit between half to a full inch forward from the top support. The idea is to let your speaker 'breathe' better. It may work for you.

Cone rubber surround suspension:
Rubber and more so polyurethane foam(heaven forbid) surround can harden with age and eventually crack. With age they will be less pliable and restrict optimum cone movement. But with care they will last very long if not a lifetime. Use vinyl/rubber conditioner sold for use in car interiors. I use 'Son of a Gun' to slowly apply with a soft cloth and cotton buds to keep them supple every 2 months and even from the inside once a year. Do not over apply, and not for tweeters either. I've no doubt some of you'd be rushing to do it after reading this ha ha. Notice the ease in your midrange and bass once you've done after a few minutes.


Good luck. Cheers.

Hey Wan, where can I buy vinyl/rubber conditioner or Son of a Gun that you have mentioned?

Cheers.

blu tack is the best of what I've experienced but just a little dot smaller than a peanut would suffice...but again, one man's meat is another man's poison.

joydivision wrote:Hey Wan, where can I buy vinyl/rubber conditioner or Son of a Gun that you have mentioned?

Cheers.

car care centre..or Jusco

[/quote]

car care centre..or Jusco[/quote]

Aighttt thanks a bunch.

Son of a Gun been using them since England student days. Actually the tip was passed down by a bloke who used to work for Wharfedale in Surrey. You can get it here at any Brothers outlet.

Guys,
Hehe, some of you busy trying these out immediately I see. I just got a call too if a certain dashboard conditioner will work. Give me some feedback if my tips work for you. Appreciate.
Cheers.

Wan, actually I did the same but not since student day but about 15 years back and been using the same S.O.G dashboard/rubber conditioner. Once I've tried using a different brand and it work just the same, can't remember the name. I guess the spray type rubber treatment from soft99 just work as well, but spray onto the cloth first.

You mean to say Sun of a Gun could soften the harden rubber? Any rubber?

harden I don't think so, but to protect from becoming harden..it will helps.

Rubber and rubber derived compounds have been around before any of us were born. Rubber conditioners followed not long after presumably and therefore it's an established technology with a long history. Guess that's why there are so many brands around and because they work. I'm not a scientist and so cannot attest whether conditioners soften rubber. They shouldn't otherwise overuse will melt/distort it. But they will enhance pliability of older dry rubber and prolong it's life. Ozone being the major cause I believe. Try this on one of your speakers and compare with the one you haven't by playing in mono if you have the facility and rotate your balance left and right to compare if your treated speaker is rejuvenated.
Cheers.

Hi all,

On another note, anyone knows how to restore a scratched black piano gloss finish on speakers??

Wan Azami Hamzah wrote:Hi all,
Sharing some of my 30 years experience.

Loudspeaker stands(for standmount speakers):
Correct height would be the tweeter is level with your ears relative to your listening position. - snipped.

Wan Azami,

Thank you for the very informative post. Pertaining to the correct height of the tweeter at ear level, i'd like to add that there are some exceptions when it comes to Sonus Faber speakers. The Minima Amator for instance is best with the woofer at ear level. Not sure if it applies to other Sonus Faber speakers though.

Interesting...
What about Concertino Domus which are pointing upwards at 6degress when being placed on the original stands?

Ooooo! Concertino Domus, a masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship and high tech innovation. I don't care how you place these. I'll even take them lying down.

bimmerman wrote:Ooooo! Concertino Domus, a masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship and high tech innovation. I don't care how you place these. I'll even take them lying down.

Huh? So powerful meh?

No lah, not powerful but got SX18 appeal. I've got a bit of a thing for older Sonus Faber stuff.

Actually the lying down story reminds me of a border crossing incident some time back. A friend of mine bought a pair of floor standing Spandors from Singapore and wanted to evade tax. So he wired them to his car amp and placed them in the trunk of his Camry like subwoofers. He also had a golf bad in there. What a total wasted effort. The customs officer did not even ask him to open his trunk. Just waved him by.

Scratched piano lacquer aye? I don't play piano. Try guitar polish.

Just applied some lubricant on the cone rubber suspension. Not too sure if there is any sound improvement but them cones sure look shiny.

One of my speakers care tips is to jaga my nephew and dont let him touch them. hahahahahaha....

ya kid like poke the dome tweeter hAHA..
when i not in i will knock my room door...haha...

I got no choice, got to keep the covers on. Got a roving 2 year old running and poking stuff around the house.

bimmerman wrote:

Wan Azami Hamzah wrote:Hi all,
Sharing some of my 30 years experience.

Loudspeaker stands(for standmount speakers):
Correct height would be the tweeter is level with your ears relative to your listening position. - snipped.

Wan Azami,

Thank you for the very informative post. Pertaining to the correct height of the tweeter at ear level, i'd like to add that there are some exceptions when it comes to Sonus Faber speakers. The Minima Amator for instance is best with the woofer at ear level. Not sure if it applies to other Sonus Faber speakers though.

after so many years thinking that tweeters should be at ear level when listened to - I was told differently by a hifi shop owner....he said that tweeters should be above or below our ear level but I can't get the logic out of this.

my speakers dont have tweeters

I went to Seremban 2 Jusco today with full hope of buying S.O.G only to realize that they do not carry it here Perhaps I need to drive to KL's Jusco. Anyone care to share which Jusco that stores them? The nearest for me would be MV or Equine Park.

azri wrote:my speakers dont have tweeters

What speakers are those ?

Must be full range drivers. Or blown tweeters sent for repair.

Alex,
Try any Brothers outlet. I usually buy mine there, and other stuff too for car care.
Cheers.

Ooooooo right, thanks Mr Saver will get to it asap.

just read an audiogon thread that had someone saying KY jelly is best for rubber surrounds.
disclaimer: i have never tried it - not on rubber speaker surrounds and not for anything else....

K Y jelly and rubber, hmm.... sounds familiar.

I bought the S.O.G and applied onto the rubber surround but the paper cone also accidentally applied, is this ok? I done my best not to apply to the paper cone but it happened.

First impression was the rubber looks shiny and it has been 3 hours since I applied. It is late now & perhaps tomorrow I will give it a run.

Alex, some on the paper cone is ok. They're usually doped for damping anyway. Slowly wipe away excess. Rubber will shine with S.O.G., thats how it is and will dull slightly after a couple of weeks. You can use your speakers immediately after application, that's how I do it. Get the rubber to exercise with the conditioner still wet that's the idea. Cheers.

i keep both sets,
the conventional spk set for hardcore listening
& the fullrange is filed under easy listening

Cool tip this rubber surround conditioner thing. Will buy SOG 2moro. I changed my speaker surround once already, good idea to keep them healthy. Btw how about cone and tweeter maintenance, dust build up prevention that is?

Actually, to add to this, normally most people tend to overlook their speaker enclosure. Over the years, real wood veneers and wooden cabinets will dry and have minor cracks on their surfaces. The wood is actually still alive in some sense. A way to care for the enclosure is to use raw linseed oil and apply on the enclosure. Use just two or three drops applied on a tissue paper and wipe it over the enclosure. Leave it to dry for 3 - 5 hours before wiping off all the excess. If the wood is 'dry', normally there won't be any excess after 3 hours.

You can purchase raw/processed linseed oil from snooker centres that sell personal cues. It's used in snooker cue care as well as many wood furniture products to keep lustre and prevent damage on wood surfaces.

Hi All Sifus,

To higher up my front speakers, can I put the pair of front speakers on top of 2 identical sub woofer?

Thanks.

How you all take care of the external surface of speaker (the wood finish) from crack. What type of oil to apply, where to get it & will it make the sound quality different. Care to share!

Hi Eugene,

A quicky reply... IMHO the performance of the speakers will definitely be compromised somehow from the vibration from the subs enclosures. Higher end full-range have sub-enclosures but their designs with complex materials, bracing etc have been taken into account for their performance. My two sens..

Cheers,

zb

eugenecctan,

zeebee is right. placing speakers on top of sub-woofers will result in the speakers vibrating too much.

touch a sub-woofer when something's playing and feel the vibrations.

Thanks a lot. =)

Arte...

I wipe the speakers with damp cloth, dry it off. Apply something called " Old English Oil " for light wood. Have been using these for my Kitchen Cabinet and bamboo furniture.

You can get them from any major hardware store.

Here is the URL :

http://www.oldenglishpolish.com/your_furniture.shtml

cheers

Hi Eugenectan,


A logical way to control cabinet resonance of your twin sub(or stereo sub, if it's right and left) is to place stone slabs on top of the subs. And the air space between sub surface and slab surface, ie. the air gap between the 2 surface also determines the quality sound of the subs.

Do some experimentations for 1st hand experiences, it's invaluable to pick up this listening experience. It's part of the fine art of subwoofer tunings. Once u have learned it, it's yours to keep.

My speakers are placed on a "wooden chopping board" and not forgetting a miniature chopping board on the speakers with hard sponge in between the board and speaker.

Toyed, with plastic chopping boards but the output was not up to my ears expectations.

Next will experiment with a "glass chopping board" and stone slabs.

Thanks uncle Vic.

I used Magic 101 on my 3 months old Ushers and it works wonders. It sounded like a run in speakers. Also used it on my 3 years old Xavians and have to admit cant hear the diffrence but the mid woofers certainly looked like new. So happy ........ new speakers better performance...old speakers looked like new. Can also try Turtle or the Rolls Royce of all car cosmetic products....Merguires ( highly rated in US ). KY jelly also good....the leftover also can make you happy. This is what we say....Any which way but WIN. As a former owner of Sonus Faber, i used Lord Sheraton leather balsam every 3 months. Initially repeat 3 times then once every 3 months.It contains beeswax and no other artifical ingredients. A bit expensive thought....RM30 for 80g. Can purchase it in ACE hardware. Be quick as they have limited stocks. NO I DONT WORK AT ACE.

Hi Wingman, u may want to compare stone slabs and chopping boards. There is a difference in the sound, but again sound could be a preference or being subjective. It's a learning curve anyway.

Hi guys, just want to ask you guys, sorry its not about loudspeaker but about the amp.

You guys know the RCA jacks (right?), some amps, not all is gold plated, so they get tarnish... do you guys leave it be or can it be polish. My hifi seller told me better dun kacau it unless use good polisher like Van Den Hul stuff, other wise just clean with eyeglass cloth. But to me.. its not shiny and very eyesore ahaha...

Another question i want ask is tat does it affect the sound? Does signal travel thru it or just thru the middle part of RCA cable?

Thanks

sensitivity (2.83 v/1m), anyone willing to explain a bit more on this?
If the new speakers that I am going to invest, stated from 82 DB SPL to 84 DB SPL with 6 ohms. Is there anything I can knw from the specs? Thanks.

I think it's a difficult to drive sort of speakers. But then again there are many modern amps that are big in power that could handle the task. It comes down to how u have to spend.