[mcgsxr]

My older daughter (now 3.25 years old) never messed with my speakers, other than pushing on a woofer cone once.

My younger daughter (now 1.3 years old) just recently pushed in the dustcap on my b200 Visaton...

They love the tunes, so I have to just suck it up!

[PLMONROE]

An electrified cattle fence. Works every time! And if it should ever fail to do the job -- switch to 220v.

[Yar762]

I would glue a piece of mosquito screen to cover the tweeter.

That isn't too far off - I actually place a piece of painter's tape over the good tweeter after I finish listening just in case.

I have been looking at the design now since the problem occurred.  I know that I will be giving up some extension with the CDWG in place, but I will probably "rehorn" the tweeters until a better solution is available.  Brian is going to send me a pair of removed horns. Thanks B.

I was thinking about making a circular mounting plate out of aluminum to replace the horn (use the horn as a template) and then placing a protective screen between the plate and the tweeter housing.  If I could keep the plate thin enough, I could prevent any horning effects that might be created by the opening for the ribbon.  IMHO, the factory mask really isn't too pretty and really contrasts the otherwise beautiful cabinets and assembly.  The question that I have is whether the mask provides any damping characteristics or if it is there simply to cover up the opening left by the removed horn?? 

I'll post PICs and provide feedback if I come up with something worthy of discussion.

[John Casler]

Ray,

I wonder if you simply taped a sheet of black thin cardboard on the inside (backside) of the CDWG to keep prying fingers out when the speakers are not in use, and you simply remove it, when listening.

Or if you can find a suitable metal mesh/screen that could be secured to the backside of the CDWG, so as to not affect the HFs you might be good.

You could paint it black and it sould look fine, and sound as good.

Just a couple quick ideas. while I had my thinking cap on.

I would glue a piece of mosquito screen to cover the tweeter.

That isn't too far off - I actually place a piece of painter's tape over the good tweeter after I finish listening just in case.

I have been looking at the design now since the problem occurred.  I know that I will be giving up some extension with the CDWG in place, but I will probably "rehorn" the tweeters until a better solution is available.  Brian is going to send me a pair of removed horns. Thanks B.

I was thinking about making a circular mounting plate out of aluminum to replace the horn (use the horn as a template) and then placing a protective screen between the plate and the tweeter housing.  If I could keep the plate thin enough, I could prevent any horning effects that might be created by the opening for the ribbon.  IMHO, the factory mask really isn't too pretty and really contrasts the otherwise beautiful cabinets and assembly.  The question that I have is whether the mask provides any damping characteristics or if it is there simply to cover up the opening left by the removed horn?? 

I'll post PICs and provide feedback if I come up with something worthy of discussion.

[Yar762]

Ray,

I wonder if you simply taped a sheet of black thin cardboard on the inside (backside) of the CDWG to keep prying fingers out when the speakers are not in use, and you simply remove it, when listening.

Or if you can find a suitable metal mesh/screen that could be secured to the backside of the CDWG, so as to not affect the HFs you might be good.

You could paint it black and it sould look fine, and sound as good.

Just a couple quick ideas. while I had my thinking cap on.

Thanks for the thoughts John.  I'll give the screen on the back of the CDWG a bit of consideration.  I really don't want to keep putting something temporary on and off again like the cardboard cover - I listen so much now that I have the RM40s that it will become a hinderance.  I actually started listening today and realized quickly that the tape was still on the tweeter!

Being an engineer (read as never satisfied, stubborn as hell, and smarter than everyone else... ), I would like to find a solution that would provide the same eye appeal with the CDWGs removed as installed.  I find that certain music styles sound better with them off and the masks just don't do it for me personally from an aesthetic vantage point.  Hope I don't insult anyone with my honest opinion. 

Do you know if the mask provides any damping?  If not, I will probably make the disc/screen assembly I discussed earlier and paint it flat black - I restore 60's muscle cars so I have a shop-full-o-tools and this should be pretty easy.   

Talk at ya later,
Ray 

[Yar762]

So i stopped at Home Depot tonight and looked around.  I found a round PVC Utility box cover that looked about right and bought it for $2.89+tax.  I brought it home, found it to be a perfect diameter, and proceeded to begin whittling, smoothing, sanding and then painting.  Here is a PIC of the result - I think it loks pretty good...    I made the rectangular cut out large enough that it fell outside of the dispersion path of the tweeter.  The next step will be to find a suitable screen, attach to the tweeter and install.  I'll show pics of that when I get that far.





I can't seem to make the pics work, so here is the link to my gallery.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=1033

Ray

[John Casler]

Hi Ray,

For some reason your pics didn't show on my computer so I posted them again.

Looks very professional.   Can you make 1000 of them

[JLM]

My kids have been no problem around my stuff, in fact now that they're older they show me how to work the HT!

My stepsons know better than to touch the audio (good) stuff and now that I have a man cave they rarely  set foot near it anyway.

However I watched the kids' little 4 pound cat take a running leap at an old/large standmounted speaker (stands were just 12 inches high) and somehow knocked it over resulting in a broken binding post.  It was an out of character thing for her to do and other than crawling around on top my amp/CDP never bothered again.

[ctviggen]

That does look nice.  What type of paint did you use?  Also, when you take off the wave guides, do you notice whether the speaker becomes boomier?  I would think that you'd have to modify the passive radiator or else you'd end up a bit boomy.

[Bob Wilcox]

If you have the original tweeter plates, you can peel off the rubber adhesive that holds the screens in place. Then you can use some 3M double-sided tape to attach the screens to the rear of your new plate.

Bob

[Yar762]

That does look nice.  What type of paint did you use?  Also, when you take off the wave guides, do you notice whether the speaker becomes boomier?  I would think that you'd have to modify the passive radiator or else you'd end up a bit boomy.

The paint was a quick dry Krylon semi-flat black in a rattle-rattle can.  I'll have to find a non-metallic (non-magnetic) screen to prevent any abnormal magnetic field effects that could adversely effect the performance of the ribbon. 

The removal of the wave guides does add some level of mid-bass bloom (I guess boominess is a good description), but I am rocking when they come off at pretty high volumes so I actually like the effect.  I also like the increase in (I'm searching for words here) attack in the upper mids and highs which is also great for rock.   However, when I am mellow (Dave Gruisin, Classical guitar, James Newton Howard, any contemporary jazz, ya-da-ya-da) I prefer the focused/pinpoint imaging that the CDWGs provide.  Definitely something magical about those front covers...   I can't even begin to imagine what the "next higher level" would be like with the V60s.

Ray

[ctviggen]

Thanks, Ray.  Those look nice enough that I might try to create them, too. 

[Yar762]

Thanks, Ray.  Those look nice enough that I might try to create them, too. 

Hi CT.  Here is the finished product.  I'll be replacing the ribbon in this one too!  I went to blow a piece of "post install" dust off of the screen and whoomp!  Stretched the ribbon!    No wonder these things are so fast.  That ribbon isn't much more than a puff of air!  I ordered 4 from Parts Express.  They are only $4.95 each.  I bet they sell oodles of em.

[BrunoB]

Thanks, Ray.  Those look nice enough that I might try to create them, too. 

Hi CT.  Here is the finished product.  I'll be replacing the ribbon in this one too!  I went to blow a piece of "post install" dust off of the screen and whoomp!  Stretched the ribbon!    No wonder these things are so fast.  That ribbon isn't much more than a puff of air!  I ordered 4 from Parts Express.  They are only $4.95 each.  I bet they sell oodles of em.

It is not easy to do (don't use metallic tool). Since you have to replace the ribbon, have a look at the cavity behind the ribbon. You will notice it is empty. I filled it with cotton pads (for make up removal) cutted into the right shape up to the bottom of the neodyme magnets. Cotton is a very good sound adsorbing material. The tweeter sounds much better, its frequency response is also flatter (dip around 9 -12 KHz is removed).  I will provide more details in my modded 626R page pretty soon. This is a super tweak for the tweeter (at least for those who can still hear above 10KHz)!

Bruno