The X-Statik's up and running again...

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Chops

The X-Statik's up and running again...
« on: 21 Sep 2015, 05:30 am »
After two years of trying other speakers, I finally got around to reinserting these back into the system. There's just something about them that keeps my coming back to them. The articulate bass, the natural vocals, the silky smooth treble, the deep and wide sound stage, these X-Statik's have it.

I bought these guys brand new almost 8 years ago and still love the sound of them. I'm still debating whether or not I should do the resistor and cap upgrade that Danny offers for the crossovers as my X-Statik's are still bone stock. I guess I'm afraid that the upgrades might make them too bright on the top end. Hmm...  :scratch:






Folsom

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #1 on: 21 Sep 2015, 06:02 am »
Is that the tweeter that's in the Encores? If so, I have the upgrades.

I don't detect anything too bright. They're very talented tweeters, but never bad on the ears. I have power conditioning too. It looks like you may, so you probably have minimal fatigue that could come from appropriate tweeter levels on systems that don't.

Keithh

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Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #2 on: 21 Sep 2015, 02:02 pm »
The Sonicap and Mills upgrade did not make mine brighter. It just took all the characteristics you mentioned to another level.
Well worth the money IMHO.

Captainhemo

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #3 on: 21 Sep 2015, 02:54 pm »
Is that the tweeter that's in the Encores? If so, I have the upgrades.


Same  as the X LS Encores (Peerless T2SG tweeter), different from the X LS Classics.

i don't  think you'l lfind the resistors/caps upgrade bright either. You'll find  you'll get more resolution in the mids and highs . Everything will be a bit cleaner,
I'd also  seriously consider the  no res,  wire, and tube connectors, they'll all  make improvements. I don't know what AV123 used for internal wire, but I've used the copper Danny sells in all my projects and it is  very good

-jay

mlundy57

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Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #4 on: 21 Sep 2015, 03:08 pm »
I have built 5 pairs of the Encores and have upgraded all the crossovers. What I find sounds the. Best is to upgrade the inductors as well as the caps and resistors, then point to point wire everything (don't even use the circuit board) and finally add bypass caps to both circuits.

corndog71

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Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #5 on: 21 Sep 2015, 04:42 pm »
The Encore tweeters are not bright and cannot be made so with the upgrades mentioned.

The upgraded crossovers just give you more clarity compared to the stock crossover which in my opinion have a little haze to the sound.








Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #6 on: 21 Sep 2015, 07:15 pm »
Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.

I think for now, I'll just do the recommended crossover upgrades (resistors and caps). That should make the biggest improvement over anything else, including wiring or no-res. The binding posts on mine look like WBT, but kind of doubt they are. The inductors on the stock crossover are rather chunky and of good quality to begin with. I don't know that there would be any improvements worth the cost by upgrading them.


Danny Richie

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #7 on: 21 Sep 2015, 07:29 pm »
I can also confirm what others have said about the cap and resistor upgrade. It will not change the frequency response or cause any added brightness at all. The effect is reduced smearing and more space between notes. This improves clarity and detail levels as well.

The wire and tube connectors are also a considerable upgrade with across the board improvements.

Your bass response my tighten up and your imaging may improve if you remove those hockey pucks from under them and let those floor spikes poke through to the solid floor below the carpet.

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #8 on: 22 Sep 2015, 02:34 am »
I can also confirm what others have said about the cap and resistor upgrade. It will not change the frequency response or cause any added brightness at all. The effect is reduced smearing and more space between notes. This improves clarity and detail levels as well.

The wire and tube connectors are also a considerable upgrade with across the board improvements.

Your bass response my tighten up and your imaging may improve if you remove those hockey pucks from under them and let those floor spikes poke through to the solid floor below the carpet.

Hello Danny!

For starters, the hockey pucks are long gone.  :thumb:  I originally had them there for the Monitor Audio BX6's because their spikes are so short, they didn't reach the solid floor. The speakers kind of just floated on the carpet. Honestly, I don't know why I put them under the X-Statik's.

I'll definitely do the resistor and cap upgrade soon. These speakers already sound much better now than they ever have with my past systems. I mean, they sound really good! It will be neat to hear the crossover improvements.

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #9 on: 23 Sep 2015, 11:06 pm »
Danny, I think I'm ready to put in the order for the x-over upgrades. I don't like procrastinating. LOL  I also don't see the upgrade as an individual purchase on your site.

Also, just curious if anyone has purchased a second set of T26SG tweeters, cross them over much higher and install them on the rear of the X-Statik's to make the top end truly dipolar. To me, it would make sense since the mids radiate front and rear.

Many thanks in advance!


BTW, nothing in my system is the same except for the Nak cassette deck and Technics TT since the last time I listened to these speakers. I have been listening to them almost all day today. With the "new" preamp, amp, digital front end, power, speaker and interconnect cables, these X-Statik's sound absolutely amazing! So big, so wide, so dynamic, so natural, so effortless. Only until now, I never really realized what these speakers were capable of over the past 8 years. And I thought they sounded good before! This is exactly why I have finally decided to take the plunge and do the x-over upgrades. It can only get better from here! Simply wow!

Danny Richie

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #10 on: 24 Sep 2015, 01:20 am »
Danny, I think I'm ready to put in the order for the x-over upgrades. I don't like procrastinating. LOL  I also don't see the upgrade as an individual purchase on your site.

I have you covered. Just give me a call or order everything. 940-592-3400

Quote
Also, just curious if anyone has purchased a second set of T26SG tweeters, cross them over much higher and install them on the rear of the X-Statik's to make the top end truly dipolar. To me, it would make sense since the mids radiate front and rear.

Many thanks in advance!

That would be tricky. If the time alignment isn't just right you still get some phase cancellation that can be worse than not having one at all. You'd also have to do that while not effecting the impedance and the crossover used on the front tweeter. Not so easy. It needs to be designed that way from the beginning and not added on later.

Quote
BTW, nothing in my system is the same except for the Nak cassette deck and Technics TT since the last time I listened to these speakers. I have been listening to them almost all day today. With the "new" preamp, amp, digital front end, power, speaker and interconnect cables, these X-Statik's sound absolutely amazing! So big, so wide, so dynamic, so natural, so effortless. Only until now, I never really realized what these speakers were capable of over the past 8 years. And I thought they sounded good before! This is exactly why I have finally decided to take the plunge and do the x-over upgrades. It can only get better from here! Simply wow!

You should hear them with some of the best electronics in the world hooked up to them. These speakers can really deliver.

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #11 on: 24 Sep 2015, 01:46 am »
I have you covered. Just give me a call or order everything. 940-592-3400

That would be tricky. If the time alignment isn't just right you still get some phase cancellation that can be worse than not having one at all. You'd also have to do that while not effecting the impedance and the crossover used on the front tweeter. Not so easy. It needs to be designed that way from the beginning and not added on later.

You should hear them with some of the best electronics in the world hooked up to them. These speakers can really deliver.

Thanks Danny! It was great finally getting to actually talk to you after all these years. I look forward to getting these speakers tweaked with those crossover upgrades!

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #12 on: 1 Oct 2015, 02:50 am »
Finally, after 7+ years of owning these speakers, I've just now got around to doing the crossover upgrades. They've been running for the past 3 hours now with the new caps and resistors. And let me tell ya, that first hour was rather lack-luster. Treble was a bit tizzy, fuzzy and a little bright, and the midrange was a bit cupped/hollow sounding. Some of that was probably also due to the amp and preamp warming back up. What I can say now though is that I have never heard these speakers sound this good.

You guys already know what these upgrades do for the sound, so I won't sit here and repeat what's already been said. However, I have noticed on three different, very well known albums of mine, I've been hearing new details in the music. Stuff that I never even knew was there before. This is amazing! I can only imagine that it'll possibly get better over the next few days/weeks.

Anyway, I'll post a few pics later tomorrow. The server my pics are on seem to be updating at the moment and won't let me in.  :duh:


Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #13 on: 1 Oct 2015, 07:11 pm »
The Zenfolio server is still acting up, so I can only get to a few pics. Here's a couple anyway...






Hey corndog71, I noticed you upgraded that big 56uF cap in the midrange as well. Seems like a good idea being it's in the midrange section. I also notice that the 12uF in that same section isn't.

Danny... Any particular reason why you don't offer an upgrade for the 56uF cap but you do for the 12uF?

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #14 on: 2 Oct 2015, 07:19 pm »



Hey corndog71, I noticed you upgraded that big 56uF cap in the midrange as well. Seems like a good idea being it's in the midrange section. I also notice that the 12uF in that same section isn't.

Danny... Any particular reason why you don't offer an upgrade for the 56uF cap but you do for the 12uF?

?...

corndog71

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Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #15 on: 2 Oct 2015, 08:10 pm »
I didn't replace that middle 12uF because it's not in series with the mids.  Going all sonicap on the big mid cap wasnt in my budget so I opted for a 20uf Sonicap with a pair of Erse 18uF caps as well as a 0.1uF Sonicap Platinum bypass. 

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #16 on: 2 Oct 2015, 08:27 pm »
I didn't replace that middle 12uF because it's not in series with the mids.  Going all sonicap on the big mid cap wasnt in my budget so I opted for a 20uf Sonicap with a pair of Erse 18uF caps as well as a 0.1uF Sonicap Platinum bypass.

Even if it isn't in series with the midrange, there must be a reason why Danny chose to upgrade that cap vs the 56uF cap. Unless it's just all down to price.

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #17 on: 4 Oct 2015, 10:06 pm »
Something else I noticed and forgot to mention, the original 22uF in the crossover is replaced with a 20.48uF cap. I wonder what the significance of that was, or it's just so minor that it doesn't really matter?

Danny Richie

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #18 on: 5 Oct 2015, 05:18 pm »
Quote
Danny... Any particular reason why you don't offer an upgrade for the 56uF cap but you do for the 12uF?

You can use a pair of 27uF Sonicaps to replace it. The cost of that is $80 per speaker. It will make a difference in the mids, but it will cost you $160 plus shipping.

Quote
Even if it isn't in series with the midrange, there must be a reason why Danny chose to upgrade that cap vs the 56uF cap. Unless it's just all down to price.

Yep, just trying to give you the most bang for the buck.

Quote
Something else I noticed and forgot to mention, the original 22uF in the crossover is replaced with a 20.48uF cap. I wonder what the significance of that was, or it's just so minor that it doesn't really matter?

It's the second cap inline with the tweeter. The difference is very fractional. It is more important that the left and right speakers caps match. Typical cap values can be +/-5%. The Sonicaps are matched to less than .5%.

Chops

Re: The X-Statik's up and running again...
« Reply #19 on: 5 Oct 2015, 07:04 pm »
You can use a pair of 27uF Sonicaps to replace it. The cost of that is $80 per speaker. It will make a difference in the mids, but it will cost you $160 plus shipping.

Yep, just trying to give you the most bang for the buck.

It's the second cap inline with the tweeter. The difference is very fractional. It is more important that the left and right speakers caps match. Typical cap values can be +/-5%. The Sonicaps are matched to less than .5%.

Thanks for all of the great answers, Danny.

I am very interested in upgrading that 56uF cap in the midrange. I suppose there would be (or should be) a another small bypass cap in there as well, correct? Also, what would be your take on the sonic improvements on that particular cap upgrade? Just more of the same from the other upgrades already performed?

Thanks again!