[chupinsky27]

Hello everyone, first post here on audio circle.

I recently finished building a set of X-LS Encores and have put about 20 hours of listening into them yet I am disappointed in the bass/mid bass... it just seems lacking and almost non existent.  The lack of low end quickly causes listening fatigue.  Adding a sub to the pair helps yet the mid bass is still lacking... male vocals feel distant.  Unfortunately, I do not have a calibrated mic to verify these observations.

I am most certain this is not how the Encores are supposed to sound and I 100% believe I am doing something wrong.  I was a little confused with the wiring of the crossovers yet I followed other people’s wiring from a few photos of complete X-LS crossovers.  Can someone take a look at my crossover and see if I‘ve messed something up?





Other variables I haven’t ruled out yet:
-Source: currently just using an iPhone With the lighting to headphone adapter.
-Amp:  I also built an amp following Toid123’s ICE Power class D build to go along with the Encores.  I have not tested this amp on any of my other speakers yet.

Thanks,
-Craig

[corndog71]

The last time I did an X-LS crossover I assembled it this way.  And to make it more confusing in this pic, it appears I used red for negative and white for positive.

[Tyson]

Run pink noise through the system and measure the output.  This will tell you how much bass response you're getting from the speakers. 

[Captainhemo]

No,  the Encores  should not be lacking in the mid/uupper bass region.  Something  else is going on.  I'd check  that  amp    with some other speakers
There are a couple pics  here of some networks   we did  for a pair
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=144419.msg1543794#msg1543794

jay

[Texbychoice]

Did you make sure the inductor leads were completely clean down to bare metal before soldering?  Looks like your circuit is good. 

[opnly bafld]

Positive and negative switched on one speaker/woofer?

[cody69]

I agree with others, something is not right as I've built a number of X-LS and they have nice bass and mid-range.
Jay's suggestion is a good one... try to compare same setup with different pair of speakers to see if they experience same issue.

Long time ago I connected output of my iPhone to an integrated amp... it was amazingly unspectacular... this may be part of the issue you're encountering.

Good luck!

[chupinsky27]

Thank you, everyone, for the suggestions.  I'll have to try to eliminate some variables later tonight.

Did you make sure the inductor leads were completely clean down to bare metal before soldering?  Looks like your circuit is good. 

I did make sure all inductors were scrapped down to the bare copper and got good solder joint to them.

Things I'll test:
-Different amplifiers - I have a pair of Class A, Amp Camp Amps and a couple AV receivers I can test with.
-Different source - I know using an iphone as a DAC and pre-amp is far from ideal.
-Check driver polarity - pretty sure I double checked that before soldering yet I'll open them back up and make sure.

Thanks again,
-Craig

[HAL]

Check each speaker separately with a pink noise source driving the amp and see if there is bass.  If you them check both and the bass goes down, then one of the speakers is reversed polarity in wiring.   Just be careful with volume level in testing.

[WGH]

You can check woofer polarity with a small battery and watching which way the cone moves.

All the drivers in a speaker can be checked to see if they are in the proper phase using a smart phone and an Android or iPhone app
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=166023.msg1763920#msg1763920

[Danny Richie]

Sounds like you have a polarity flip on a woofer or with your speaker cables.