[silverr1]

Need help setting my lpad's. instructions say to set the mid at 2 oclock and tweeter to 3ocloc.

Need to understand what this is relative to. My dial when turned all the way counter clock wise goes to about 1 oclock. While the opposite side is at 7 oclock

So when they say 2 oclock Do I just move it 1 hour or go by the other end and move it 7 hours?

Hope that makes sense what I'm asking.

[RSorak]

I'm thinking they were aiming for somewhere in the middle of the range. This is completely subjective, and up to your preferences. Make sure to work them back and forth a bunch of times to remove any possible corrosion.

[silverr1]

Here is whats on the back of my RM40's

[John Casler]

Sounds like there is a PROBLEM with the L-Pads

It could be:

1) The L-Pads were not installed correctly

2) Someone has replaced the L-Pads and did not re-orient them properly.

3) You have burned the L-Pads, which restricts their full ROM

When they are properly oriented 12:00 is straight up and your clock is based on 12:00 as a starting point.

[silverr1]

I never said there was a problem. Just trying to understand the dial position in relation to the instructions.

So on your last comment. 12:00 is fully counter clockwise starting point and I should turn the dial 2 hours for the mids and 3 hours for the treble. So relatively low in the overall range of the lpad.

[John Casler]

I never said there was a problem. Just trying to understand the dial position in relation to the instructions.

So on your last comment. 12:00 is fully counter clockwise starting point and I should turn the dial 2 hours for the mids and 3 hours for the treble. So relatively low in the overall range of the lpad.

Sorry I wasn't clear.

No, it was "I" who said there is a problem, and that problem is your L-Pads are not (according to your description) oriented properly, so it would be difficult to help you set them right.

12:00, when they are correct, is STRAIGHT UP, and half-way between fully counter-clockwise and fully clockwise.

Your description means your L-PAD clock is off.

If the L-pads are not damaged, then the ONLY way to hit 2:00 and or 3:00 is to move the L-Pad shaft fully one way and then the other and find the EXACT center between them. You may even want to take a magic marker and mark the 12:00 position.  That then would be 12:00 for that specific L-Pad, then set 2:00 and 3:00 based on that as 12:00.

[silverr1]

If i use the other side of the slot as the pointer then my starting point would be 7;00 and full clockwise stops at 5:00.

I think that's the correct way to look at it.

Where you have your lpads set at for tweeter and mids.

I'll play around with mine want to see if there is a consensus.

[Rocket]

Hi,

How about a photograph that might help a bit?

Cheers Rod

[silverr1]

Ok, now one of my L-pads is acting faulty. Its about 2-3 db lower than the other side. its just one of the mid-range ones. The others ones seem to be all relative equal in sound volume at similar positions. This one i have to turn all the way up and lower to the other 3 to get them to be relatively equal.

Anyone have this happen before?

I've ordered 4 new L-pads from Parts express.

[davidc1]

L-pads can go bad when they are old. As your's are.

Did you replace them?

'

[John Casler]

Ok, now one of my L-pads is acting faulty. Its about 2-3 db lower than the other side. its just one of the mid-range ones. The others ones seem to be all relative equal in sound volume at similar positions. This one i have to turn all the way up and lower to the other 3 to get them to be relatively equal.

Anyone have this happen before?

I've ordered 4 new L-pads from Parts express.

L-Pads corrode/oxidize over time.

As a regular "service" procedure you should "carefully" rotate the shaft of all L-Pads  ALL THE WAY clockwise and counter-clockwise at least 30 times.  This wears off the oxidation and keeps the contact points clear.

This is not guaranteed to fix your specific issue, but it is a good thing to perform this regularly.

CAUTION!!!  be VERY GENTLE with the shaft.  They can be damaged from heavy handedness.

[silverr1]

L-pads can go bad when they are old. As your's are.

Did you replace them?

'

I bought new L pads from Parts Express but a little hesitant to replace them right now. I pulled the subwoofer and found it a bit tight to just get to the Lpad and a lot of wires to desolder and resolder. My arms are a little big and tough to fit 2 at a time. I'm told I may need to get the passive radiator off also to get 2 hands in there.

[silverr1]

L-Pads corrode/oxidize over time.

As a regular "service" procedure you should "carefully" rotate the shaft of all L-Pads  ALL THE WAY clockwise and counter-clockwise at least 30 times.  This wears off the oxidation and keeps the contact points clear.

This is not guaranteed to fix your specific issue, but it is a good thing to perform this regularly.

CAUTION!!!  be VERY GENTLE with the shaft.  They can be damaged from heavy handedness.

I've done this a few times but this has not improved things. I think its time to replace them.

[silverr1]

Ok I finally got around to replacing the lpads and the issue has not changed. Playing around with balancing them out it appears the issue is the tweeter is higher level than the midrange. I have to keep the tweeter almost full counter clockwise while the midrange is at 2 oclock. I replaced all 4 lpads. Are the ones for the tweeter supposed to be different?

[GeorgeAb]

Congrats on getting your L pads replaced. The tweeter and midrange used in the RM series are both 8 ohms. The tweeter can be a smaller sized 50W and midrange 100W. That said no problem using 100W (the larger sized L pad) for both the tweeter and midrange as long as rated for 8 ohms (not 4 ohms).

The way the L pad functions (discussion here: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/8-ohm-l-pad-total-resistance.130760/#post-1623893 ) it is important that leg 1 (on left when you look from back of L pad) is connected to low side (blue for tweets and red with stripe for mids) and leg 3 (on right) to the high side (green for tweets and red for mids), with mid leg going to speaker driver. You may want to double check position, but likely you put them in like you took them out, but good to mention for reference. Couple pics showing what I mean.

On my RM-60's I have the tweeters pot all the way CW. When I check with Room EQ Wizard that position provides a response that is closest to the room curve (perceived flat at listening position). I do have quite a bit of room treatment which attenuates higher frequencies more than lower. 

[silverr1]

Here are the lpads I ordered. They look to be the right ones

https://www.parts-express.com/L-Pad-100W-Mono-1-Shaft-8-Ohm-260-265?quantity=1&custcol1=L-Pad%20100W%20Mono%201%22%20Shaft%208%20Ohm&custcol_ava_item=260-265&custcol_ava_incomeaccount=General&custcol_ava_upccode=844632017056&custcol_ava_pickup=F&custcol_disableshopping=F&undefined=21.99

And here are the pics of the origina lpads before I changed them out. They appear to be wired as you described.