[zybar]

Now that I have seen the inside of the 40's, I have to believe that there is potential for improvement.  Outside of the TRT caps, it looks like most of the parts are fairly inexpensive off the shelf products.

Has anybody "upgraded" the crossover components and tried "better" parts?

What about changing the insulation for other material?  Poly batting, lamb's wool, etc...

Does better parts equate to better sound?

I realize the 40's are very good speakers already, just wondering if there is a fairly inexpensive way to make them even better.

GW

[Marbles]

Ric Shcultz recommended to me to change to lambs wool insulation, so I'm having him do it on my 626's.

I will not have heard these before to know if it is an upgrade or not.

[zybar]

Rob,

I also had a very nice coversation with Ric the other day (I am very interested in his upcoming amps).

Besides going with the lamb's wool (he specifically mentioned using that behind the midrange panels), I am looking to see if anybody has tried different crossover parts.  

It would be pretty easy (well for somebody besides me) to change out these parts.

GW

[BrunoB]

Now that I have seen the inside of the 40's, I have to believe that there is potential for improvement.  Outside of the TRT caps, it looks like most of the parts are fairly inexpensive off the shelf products.

Has anybody "upgraded" the crossover components and tried "better" parts?

I built a pair of 626R from a kit.

To isolate the crossover parts from the  cabinet vibrations, I used a layer of durafoam (black closed cell rubber foam) sandwiched between the wood and the X over parts. I used also Dynamat Extreme on the crossover parts.
I don't know for sure how this tweak improves the sound because I built my speaker from a kit and used  the isolation foam from the start.


My caps are Sonicap, a $200 DIY upgrade.

Bruno

[Q]

Curious if there is Point to point solder joints, or what means is used to connect the components???  If you're going to put money into crossover parts, why not go with an active crossover and bypass most of the "inexpensive" parts?   Please tell me there is foil inductors in there!!

Now that I have seen the inside of the 40's, I have to believe that there is potential for improvement.  Outside of the TRT caps, it looks like most of the parts are fairly inexpensive off the shelf products.

Has anybody "upgraded" the crossover components and tried "better" parts?

What about changing the insulation for other material?  Poly batting, lamb's wool, etc...

Does better parts equate to better sound?

I realize the 40's are very good speakers already, just wondering if there is a fairly inexpensive way to make them even better.

GW

[zybar]

Just exchanged some e-mails with Brian and he said it would be fine to go ahead try lamb's wool behind the panels.  He did day that it wouldn't work for the bass b/c it doesn't do well below 100Hz.

I am going to order some wool from Madisound.com and see what happens.

GW

[warnerwh]

You guys should try extra bracing. Ever notice how some of the best speakers are heavily braced. How about the Celestion 600 with its aluminum honeycomb bracing or  B&W's  with their matrix bracing.  And don't forget the RM/X which is nothing short of truly massive.  This obviously costs alot of money for massive enclosures as the price of the RM/X cabinets prove. You don't want the cabinet to vibrate at all and can easily tame most of the vibration with some extra bracing.  Bass radiates 360 degrees from your speakers, mids and highs are about 180 degrees.  Bracing will also change the way your box resonates and help get the frequencies it's resonating at to get above the bass frequencies. Do a google search and read up on it. There's a number of methods and the best person to ask about the most effective bracing would be Brian.  I
suspect he knows his cabinets well. This costs little and I'm shocked at the improvement, especially for 20 bucks and a bunch of hot glue sticks.  Very worthwhile tweak on large box speakers with high powered bass drivers unless it's cabinet is massive from the factory.

Another stuffing which should be good for damping besides fiberglass is acousta-stuf from Parts Express. It should be good down to low bass frequencies too.  This stuff is about 10 bucks a pound and a pound is good for about 1 cubic foot. You'll have to do your own math.

Noticed on another post about someone saying it looks like a homemade speaker inside. The inside is MDF. You want MDF as it is quiet and consistent without voids.  Solid wood is actually awful unless it's several inches thick and should still be braced. It may also warp or crack with humidity changes. Plywood can be ok if it's thick enough and the kind without voids like marine plywood but MDF is just as good and is less expensive.  When I opened my speakers and saw something other than MDF then I'd be concerned.  Also the solder joints are good mechanically and the soldering is good also.  Personally I don't know what else it could look like inside there.

[zybar]

Brian, what are your thoughts?

GW

[audiochef]

Not to sound rude Zybar, But why are you exploring ways to improving your RM40s when you have'nt even heard them near its potential in your system yet?

It's like a sixteen year old wanting to beef up a Knew car that they cant handle .

My suggestion to you is find some non prissy amps and hear what these awsome speakers are capable of.

How did this mis hap happen with your caps anyway?

Just sit back, enjoy and you may discover the way tio improving the 40s is upstream.

Stan

[Brian Cheney]

The RM 40 has cost constraints in its design.  You could add bracing at will if you don't take up a lot of cabinet volume.  The Soundcoat does a better job damping panels than braces do.  You have topflight internal parts and wiring.  The system is tunable and that's where I'd concentrate my efforts, setting the level controls and tuning the PR.  These adjustments are extremely important, much more so than any tweaks.

[warnerwh]

Tweaking should be done after everything else is perfected, especially considering the tuning complexities of VMPS speakers. You'll find Zybar that the potential is far greater than any other speaker you've had as far as being able to make your speakers sound better from when you first install them. Many people say months, I agree.  
Tweaks though are also good. The extra bracing really helped my ST/R SE's, tighter bass and clearer mids, quite audibly so.  Wait til you get experienced with tuning those and know their capabilities and how the tuning affects the sound (it's not like you think) or you'll end up in nowhere land without a map.

[BrunoB]

Just exchanged some e-mails with Brian and he said it would be fine to go ahead try lamb's wool behind the panels.  He did day that it wouldn't work for the bass b/c it doesn't do well below 100Hz.

I am going to order some wool from Madisound.com and see what happens.

GW

I am very interested in your results. May I suggest you to try Poly-fill (From Wal Mart, Fairfield brand, 100% Premium Polyester Fiberfill", about $5-10 for a 1 LB bag) as well?

I found that PF makes the mid panel sound less bright. I compensate for the mid-panel decrease of brightness by increasing the level of the tweeter, which has a better treble.

The Polyfill fibers are thicker than fiberglass. The arrangement of the fibers looks more random (fiberglass fibers seem to be all running in the same direction). They feel more like a spring (that's probably why PF is good for pillows). I also used PF in the main enclosure (VMPS 626R). I removed the fiberglass and placed  about 200g (half a pound) of PF assymetrically distributed in the enclosure. I noticed a bass increase. However, filling the main enclosure almost completely  with PF did decrease the amount of bass. Note that you experience may vary - my 626R's  have extra bracing.

Dacron, which is also a polyester fiber, has been used  to fill the mid enclosure of a VMPS 626R. This was posted by jonbee in Audio Asylum. Here are the links: http://java.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=speakers&n=97943&highlight=fiberglass+stuffing+dacron+jonbee&r=&session= and http://java.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=speakers&n=114388&highlight=dacron+jonbee&r=&session=




Bruno