[the7comeback7kid]

Hello everyone. I have been enjoying a pair of n2x's for a few years and finally was given the go to move my x-statiks to my listening room. I am getting the crossovers upgraded with sonicaps and mills resistors on the tweeter circuit thanks to advice from Danny. My system is as follows -
macbook pro =>Firestone fubar w/ supplier (upgaded to Burr Brown OPA) => Virtue Audio one w/ 130w PSU => xstatics / Outlaw lfm1ex sub.

I was curious if anyone had any imput on the bottleneck here. I am assuming the x-statiks will beat out the N2x's but I may be mistaken given the rest of my components. I will be looking to upgrading another component in the next few weeks and was curious where my money is best spent. I also have an Emotiva xpa-5 sitting around collecting dust.

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

[SoCalWJS]

A couple of questions are probably in order.
What areas do you think are lacking? What kind of music do you listen to? What is the size of your room? What shape is it?  Does it have any treatments? etc. The more info you provide the better the chance of getting a helpful response.
I'm a big fan of room treatments, especially if you don't have any in place yet. I think a few hundred spent on treatments will make a bigger difference than spending the same amount a better DAC for example.

[the7comeback7kid]

Thanks for the quick reply. The room is approximately 13x17 with the speakers against the 16' wall. I do not have any treatments. I listen to mostly indie rock and pop music. See dashboard confessional, feist, Regina Spector, lily Allen, taking back Sunday, just to name a few. I do not have any treatments right now. Once I have the speakers back together I was planning on toeing them in about 2 feet in from the sides and 1.5 feet from the back.

[Cheeseboy]

Sounds all good to me.  Take some time to mess with the speaker placement when you are all done.  Open Baffle speakers react differently to the frontwalll.   Don't be locked into the same spot the last pair of speakers were in the room.  You'll find a magic spot for the X-statiks.   You could spend the same amount of time placing the sub as well..  Then you should use those two evaluation tools on either side of your melon to determine what else is needed.  You'll be closer to the truth of what is really needed.

I think the Cardas web site has some good thoughts about speaker placement as a general rule.  What do most people recommend on the distance from the front wall on the X-statiks?  SoCal is right.  The room can be the biggest improvement you make past getting a good pair of speakers. 

[pureiso]

Remember the 3' recommendation. 

[Cheeseboy]

I'm 55 so I can't remember the last thing I had for lunch.  3 feet sounds right.  If you can't get there try some thick absorbsion material behind the speakers.

[HAL]

If you like the N2X with NEO3 planar and M165X XBL^2 woofer, the OB series speaker kits that Danny sells might be a better consideration than upgrading the XO's in the X-Statiks. 

It would be hard for me to go from the planar tweeter back to a dome after the N2X.  I have X-LS with the Ninja Master XO's and the N2X with the equivalent XO components are a step up.

Just a thought.

[the7comeback7kid]

I will try pulling out 3 feet from either wall to see what improvements I can make. That sub is really large so I have it in the corner about a foot from each wall

[the7comeback7kid]

I was sort of thinking the same thing HAL. Unfortunately I have no woodworking skills so that would get pricey fast. I had to have my enclosures built for me on the n2x's.

[SoCalWJS]

I will try pulling out 3 feet from either wall to see what improvements I can make. That sub is really large so I have it in the corner about a foot from each wall

If you can, try moving the sub around a bit and seeing what, if any, improvements you can get. IF I am using a sub tied into the 2 channel, I find I get tighter/better defined bass when the sub is not symetrical to the corner - i.e 1 foot from one wall and 2 feet from the other. Up off the floor can help as well (subdude)

Corner bass traps will help as will absorbtion/diffusion in the right places.

[corndog71]

I too recommend room treatments since you have none. I have ATS Acoustics panels behind my Statiks as well as centered behind them.  Since I'm in a much smaller room I also have them at the first reflection points.  They really do make a significant difference.

For a while I had the Statiks fairly close to the front wall.  I pulled them out so that the front of the baffle was 36" from the windows behind them. (I know )    I then played with distance from the side walls until I got the imaging I wanted.  Finally I played with toe-in pivoting from the front inner corner.

I would also recommend upgrading the big cap in the midrange.  I replaced the big 56uF cap with a pair of Erse 18uF caps in parallel with a Sonicap 20uF as well as a Sonicap Gen 2 cap.  The mids blended much better with the tweeter afterwards. 

[the7comeback7kid]

Thank you everyone for the advice on placement. Once the speakers are back together I will move things around and report back.

My dac and amplification seems suitable for these guys though? I was considering upgrading to emotiva's dac which they have on clearance for $249.

[Cheeseboy]

If it were me I'd wait until you have the system back together before you make changes anywhere.  It's all about how things will sound together as a system.  Synergy!  How they will work together.  Set the room than ask yourself what is missing to you.  You know your music like the back of your hand.  What is good about the way it sounds and what is wrong to you.  Then you can ask how to improve something very specific. 

There will always be another sale at Emotiva. 

[the7comeback7kid]

Just got my crossovers back and boy do they look good. Hopefully I will have them back in this weekend with the new speaker wire. Thanks again to Danny for being so helpful. Great guy

[Cheeseboy]

Awesome.  Can't wait to get an update!

[MichaelHiFi]

What everyone else said, don't spend money unless it's a few bucks on room treatments. Especially considering you have a sub in the room.

Ist upgrade would be crossover parts, and you checked that box. 

And give some time for those caps to settle in!

[the7comeback7kid]

I will have to see how they sound after the xover upgrades, but I really feel like these speakers need a sub. I assume that doesnt help with the clarity of the speakers though without treatments? I have never really tried them before.

[the7comeback7kid]

Hmm...the piece of the speaker you solder to seperated the possitive mount from the speaker. Looks like the material burnt. Im screwed on this driver i think. Any idea if you can even buy these drivers still?

[S Clark]

Don't panic yet.  Is the wire still intact and just the plastic tab melted?  If so you can use epoxy to glue it back.  Even if the wire is broken, with a sure hand and a good iron, you might be able to reattach it. 
Next time use an alligator clip as a heat sink to pull heat away from the plastic. I cant find an exact picture , but this should give you the idea.

[the7comeback7kid]

Don't panic yet.  Is the wire still intact and just the plastic tab melted?  If so you can use epoxy to glue it back.  Even if the wire is broken, with a sure hand and a good iron, you might be able to reattach it. 
Next time use an alligator clip as a heat sink to pull heat away from the plastic. I cant find an exact picture , but this should give you the idea.

Good call the plastic is still in tact i will try the epoxy. I sure wish i was quicker with the iron so i didnt melt things