[James Edward]

We have stamped metal baskets as opposed to newer models that appear to use cast baskets/frames on drivers. A thought occurred to me as I was poking (not literally) around the back of my M3 Turbo S. The wide, stamped metal may be- I don’t know- prone to ringing.
Since it is outside of a traditional box, it may be audible. I’m going to try some Mortite- similar to BlueTack, to dampen the frame. Has anyone else thought or acted upon this? Again, I’ll say, I have not heard ringing, and love the sound, but I imagine it can’t hurt. I originally thought of using Dynamat, but it’s rather expensive, and uses adhesive, making it difficult to remove if there’s an unforeseen deleterios effect.
Any thoughts?

[ric]

Yes, a number of months back, I was looking at Ric Schultz' site, perhaps this is what you're referring to: http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Modding_the_Emerald_Physics_spe.html
Anyway, I ended up using some FoQ product (TA32?) that was supposed to help with the vibration issues. I think it tightened up the sound a made it a little better, but not a huge difference if memory serves.
Certainly it would be better to apply a product that you can remove for A/B testing, maybe something cheap like rope caulk to see if you CAN hear a difference, then remove the rope caulk and apply a better product.
I just replaced the (internal) speaker wire (not the tweeter) with Anticable 3.1 and am hearing tightening up of the bass and more clarity--still breaking in. BUT, the anticable was a pain to work with because it's fairly stiff.
As always, I recommend upgrading crossover parts, if you haven't. Good luck!

[James Edward]

I’m happy to say I thought of it on my own- but he takes it to a whole other level. I had originally thought of Dynamat, and someone suggested rope caulk as you did- it will make it much easier to remove if necessary, not to mention cost. I want to at least get the dark Mortite so it blends better with the frame- the M3’s are in my living room.
Thanks ric- the link gives me more to go on...

[ric]

You're welcome! A few years back when I was talking to Herbie's Audio he had said that caulking/rope caulk was pretty bad as far as vibration control/sound quality and he suggested using Blue RTV (silicone) gasket maker. I ended up attaching some thin wood pieces to my flamenco guitar to separate body contact from the guitar since body parts dampen the sound. Surprisingly the RTV CAN be removed from the wood (much to my relief). I'm not sure how easy it would be to remove from metal and it is blue not black. BUT--a  lower cost alternative that may yield results. Not sure if they make a black RTV.
    I've been watching some AudioHolics YouTube videos on room acoustics and the expert says that room interaction is 50% of the sound! There again, it is a question of aesthetics vs sound quality, which means for a man cave it's fine, but a living room has a different function. My guess is that you'll have a slight improvement in sound quality, let us know!