Upgrade Advice from Norh's 6.9SM

Ekeman · « **on:** 20 Oct 2007, 05:56 pm »

Hey All,
New to this forum, I've owned my Norh's HT setup (6.9SM for L/R, 4.0 Drum for Center, 4.1 Prisms for surrounds) for over six years now, and I'm still very satsified with them for both HT and music. Sometimes the upgrade bug bites, but what keeps me from pursuing it is that if I spend the $$ I want to be sure I've upgraded and not made more or less a lateral move. Anyone ever perform any real comparisions of the Norh's to other ID brands (AV123, Swan, Ascend Acoustics, etc.) or B&M brands (Paradigm Studio, Revels, PSB, etc.). I'd be interested in opinions if I could upgrade for costs comparable to what the Norh's cost me (~$1500 for the set), or if I would have to spend significantly more for a real upgrade.
Thanks!

Ekeman · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Oct 2007, 01:48 am »

Thanks Marbles, appreciate the feedback. My thoughts also were that I would have to spend considerably more to upgrade and that most speakers in a similar price range would be more of a lateral move. I've seen the Dennis Murphy crossover for the 9.0's, anyone know if there is a similar upgrade path for the 6.9's, I wasn't able to find anything on the Dennis Murphy site.

MaxCast · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 Oct 2007, 02:25 am »

I asked Dennis this long ago for my sm's.
He said I would have to send in one speaker and he would whip up a xo.
If you are interested I would contact him and ask him.

Ekeman · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Oct 2007, 02:26 pm »

Thanks for the input guys, if I can convince myself to be w/o the 6.9's for a period of time I'll look into contacting Dennis to see if he would be interested in redesigning the crossover, I'll be sure to post the results here if I do it.

MaxCast · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Oct 2007, 04:45 pm »

Please do post your results...I'll then send in mine too

sas · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 10:14 am »

IIRC, the driver cut-outs in the SM6.9 would fit the ScanSpeak 8545 woofer and the 9300/9500/9700 tweeters.
So rip out the Vifa drivers and the crossover, install the ScanSpeaks, and biamp.
aa
Alternatively, just biamp with the Vifas.

Ekeman · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 Oct 2007, 03:17 pm »

Quote

IIRC, the driver cut-outs in the SM6.9 would fit the ScanSpeak 8545 woofer and the 9300/9500/9700 tweeters.
So rip out the Vifa drivers and the crossover, install the ScanSpeaks, and biamp.

Hmm, I'm using 5 channels of a 7 channel Denon (4306) receiver, so I do have two extra amp channels available. If I update the current drivers and tear out the xover, I'll need some means to adding the xover function to the connection between pre-amp-out and amp-in, right? If that's the case, any advice on what to use for the xover between the pre-amp and amp, and how best to adjust/calibrate it for the new drivers?

Alternately, I was also thinking of replacing the 6.9 drivers and xovers with the 9.0 drivers and the Dennis Murphy xover design. I thought I read somewhere that the 6.9 cabinet and the 9.0 cabinet had about the same volume, not sure if the driver cutouts are the same.

Thanks

sas · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Oct 2007, 07:58 am »

Quote from: Ekeman on 28 Oct 2007, 03:17 pm

If I update the current drivers and tear out the xover, I'll need some means to adding the xover function to the connection between pre-amp-out and amp-in, right? If that's the case, any advice on what to use for the xover between the pre-amp and amp, and how best to adjust/calibrate it for the new drivers?

You'd need an active crossover. Marchand (marchandelec.com) make some good ones, available in kits if you are handy with a soldering iron. The XM1 and XM9 models look good, with the crossover point easy to change.

You could even start with that and keep the existing drivers just to see how you like going active. I think with the 6.9 drivers a crossover point of 2700hz+ would be good, but with that Vifa tweeter you don't want to go any lower.

Quote from: Ekeman on 28 Oct 2007, 03:17 pm

Alternately, I was also thinking of replacing the 6.9 drivers and xovers with the 9.0 drivers and the Dennis Murphy xover design. I thought I read somewhere that the 6.9 cabinet and the 9.0 cabinet had about the same volume, not sure if the driver cutouts are the same.

The 9.0 uses the 9900 tweeter, which requires a bigger cut-out. The woofer used on the 9.0 requires a smaller cut-out -- this means you would have to rip out the front baffle, which may not be possible. If your front baffle is in MDF, it may be. If it is in stone, don't bother.