[HiFiSoundGuy]

Has anyone here had any mods done by this company? www.stereodaves.com  Here's a review... www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_14_2/hk-3480-receiver-daves-5-2007-part-1.html

[Mike B.]

I have no experience with their mods but can give a bit of history. The late Dave Herren was known for doing wonders with equipment mods and was very innovative. I knew Dave for many years and he was very honest and had great ears. His untimely death prompted some friends and family to carry on Dave's work. I would be willing to bet their work is first class, and the results very rewarding.

[RickSean]

My name is Sean. I do the modifications for Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative, LLC. A few years ago, I worked for Dave Herren at his store, the Audio Alternative, in Portland, Oregon, and I worked there until he unexpectedly passed away about three and a half years ago. Dave's philosophy was to make high-end sound affordable to as many people as possibly by making his own speakers, interconnects, speaker wire, and modifying mid-fi priced equipment to sound like much more expensive equipment. Since his passing, we have tried to continue this philosophy, and also in line with his philosophy, have continued to make a number of improvements to the modification process and in the sound performance of all of the equipment, including speakers. We would like to thank the gentleman for his kind words about Dave. He was not afraid to look at new ideas, even if he did not immediately understand why they improved the sound performance. His common slogan for many years was "Let your ears hear the difference." His store was a mecca for audio enthusiasts, both audiophiles and hobbyists alike. Dave was beloved by many people in the Portland area, and is still missed by many, for not only his innovative audio equipment and for who he was.

Rick and Sean
Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative

[JLM]

I like alot of what I read from Stereo Dave's website.  I very much appreciate value and simplicity.  I'm a single driver fan, wonder what the "magic" is inside the small/deep cabinets?  I say magic because of lack of cabinet size, explanation, and specifications. 

I also owned a HK receiver a few years back that I'd bought cheaply as factory reconditioned.  It sounded wonderful and had huge current capacity, but kept burning up diodes (according to the authorized repair shop).  HK did stand behind the 2-year warrantee, but as it was in a 2nd system it got little use, the warrantee expired, and finally so did the receiver.

[RickSean]

Thank you for visiting our site.


Well, in terms of the “magic” of single driver speakers, I can definitely say they do have a design advantage compared to other speakers mostly due to the lack of the inherently flawed crossover design, which can cause phase problems with the speaker, which is due to the fact that the speaker is not a multi-driver speaker.

That said, my speakers have other design characteristics that we have been working on the last 3 and half years. The cabinets are made up of either a layered stone-like composite or an organic composite. We are working on currently a different organic composite for our speakers (that should be out relatively soon) that will replace the layered stone-like composite. These cabinets are double thickness around the outside of the box. We have found that the composition of the box and the thickness make quite a difference to how the actual speaker sounds. The double thickness box lessens the resonance of the cabinet. Most manufacturers often use one ¾ inch particle board or metite /mdf for even their reference speakers. In our experience, we have found that every material has a certain resonance that either helps or hurts the sonic characteristics of a speaker. We try to choose materials that have more a “dead” quality for the cabinet, so as to minimize the resonance of the box, as you really want to hear the box the least amount possible. Also, involved in the shoebox design of the box, we have very little face area, which limits the reflection off the face of the box, thus, improving location of the speakers.

The inside of the box is acoustically treated. I use 10 gauge stranded ofc wire to solder directly onto the driver for maximum conductivity. The driver itself is a specially modified 6.5 inch cone that is very fast due to it’s cloth surround. Most speakers have rubber surrounds, which actually absorb sound and give resistance to the movement of the driver. Cloth surrounds have far less resistance and allows the cone to move faster and, thus, get much more of the high frequencies without the aid of a tweeter.

Our subwoofers are made in a similar manner, with emphasis on materials and thickness of the box, especially in the midprice and reference subs. The drivers on the subwoofers are modified to be faster, as many subwoofers have a problem with being too slow. Also, all our subwoofer models acoustically damped on the outside as well as on the inside to help minimize the resonance of the box.

The sound of single driver speakers is very unique compared to any other speaker. At the Rocky Mountain Audiofest, a number of critics were impressed with how clear, clean and defined they were. The speakers are very open, having a wide and deep sound stage. They are extremely transparent, the boxes completely disappearing into the music. The location is very pinpoint. There is no veiled sound in between you and the music. They have a very three-dimensional soundstage. They are exceptionally clear, clean, defined and have plenty of punch (being able to reproduce very faithfully shotgun shots in movies). While having this great amount of clarity, they are not edgy and have very soft “airy” highs. The speakers themselves are said to go down to 40hz. We will be getting more accurate measurements when we come out with our new speakers. We do recommend a subwoofer with them, depending on room acoustics. The ultra fast transparent subwoofers match very well with the extremely fast speakers, creating a full and seamless frequency range that has great detail from the very top to the bottom octaves. The midrange is full and rich. The bass is deep, powerful defined and fast.

As to your HK issues, I can say what has been my experience. The Harman Kardon units that I have owned and modified throughout the years have been pretty reliable. I do take the precautionary step of after modifying a piece of equipment “burning” them in and putting some hours on them to see if any issues pop up. I have had one that was dead on arrival and another that had protection mode issues that I caught during the “burn” in period. So far, though, I have only had those two issues. If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to email me or post again. Thank you for your post.


RickSean
Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative

[JLM]

Thanks for the reply Rick.

So are these sealed, ported, other cabinet designs?  Much of what you say makes sense to me, but I've been listening/owning single driver speakers for years.  I'm also a big fan of transmission line designs, so was particularly curious about how to eliminate back wave smearing the sound in those small cabinets.  TL's direct the midrange away so they don't come back out through the cone.

[RickSean]

Our boxes (speakers and subs) are sealed cabinets. Ports all resonate at a certain frequency, thus, causing a frequency hump at a particular frequency, resulting in unnatural sound at different frequencies. We have also found that subwoofers that have ports are slower because of the air escaping out the port, resulting in less air pressure in the cabinet, pushing against the driver.

In our experience, by using particular accoustic treatments inside the cabinet of the smaller boxes, you can totally eliminate backwave, as you call it. We had, at one time, made a pair of speakers without the accoustical treatments we are using now, and it did sound rather distorted with that midrange problem you have mentioned. Thank you for your interest and questions.

Rick and Sean
Stereo Dave's Audio Alternative