[SlushPuppy]

Has anyone experimented with the resistors on their tweeters?

I thought the treble was just a shade bright on my 1.7's so I put the resistors on a few hours ago. Well, that's exactly what they needed. The little bit of glare they had is completely gone. I'm glad Magnepan provides them, because I normally don't try these kind of tweaks. Nice.

[thunderbrick]

Same here on my 1.6s, though after changing from a bright MC cart to a smoother one I may go back.

Very slight difference, but really did the job!  Hardly call it a tweak, since the resistors weren't made by an obscure group of deaf monks, there's no proof they were matched by highly-trained monkeys, and weren't cryo'd on sled in Antarctica. 

[SlushPuppy]

Same here on my 1.6s, though after changing from a bright MC cart to a smoother one I may go back.

Very slight difference, but really did the job!  Hardly call it a tweak, since the resistors weren't made by an obscure group of deaf monks, there's no proof they were matched by highly-trained monkeys, and weren't cryo'd on sled in Antarctica. 

 

[NIGHTFALL1970]

Slushpuppy,
Congrads on your new speakers.  I used the 1 ohm resistors that came with the mags to tame a slight "brightness" with the highs.  I used them for a couple of months, but while playing a CD of Rush-"Grace Under Pressure" I thought that Geddy's voice sounded muffled. I took the resistors off and added thick "energy" curtains behind them.  I think they sound better, but still a little bright.  I may get some Sonex for the corners of my room and see how that works.
Also, I placed the tweeters "outside" and found the soundstage is much wider.  You should try both ways and see what you like better.

[SlushPuppy]

Slushpuppy,
Congrads on your new speakers.  I used the 1 ohm resistors that came with the mags to tame a slight "brightness" with the highs.  I used them for a couple of months, but while playing a CD of Rush-"Grace Under Pressure" I thought that Geddy's voice sounded muffled. I took the resistors off and added thick "energy" curtains behind them.  I think they sound better, but still a little bright.  I may get some Sonex for the corners of my room and see how that works.
Also, I placed the tweeters "outside" and found the soundstage is much wider.  You should try both ways and see what you like better.

I'll most likely take the resistors out when I start adding room treatments in a couple of weeks. Right now I need them in because my room is pretty lively.

I need to try the tweeters on the outside again. I only had them there for a little while after I unpacked them. They're easy enough to move. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow.

[rw@cn]

I may sound redundant but I have had great success using the same wire as that of the main speaker wires. You may have to contact the manufacturer and have them make you a set of jumpers, but it is well worth it. I have done it with both DH Labs and Synergistic.

When I made the move to Synergistic, I didn't plan to replace the jumpers. But after listening for awhile I noticed that the highs didn't seem    to have the same timbre as the rest of the spectrum. So I bit the bullet and bugged Synergistic. Everything is right again.

Some folks recommend plain copper wire, others silver and I suppose if gold were inexpensive, some would opt for that. 

[Davey]

What about the wiring 'inside' the speakers?  All of that should be replaced as well, yes?

Regarding the 1.7 attenuation resistor:  It looks as if the resistor is only in line with the "super" tweeter circuit and not the "normal" tweeter?  (The schematic on the Magnestand website is the only one I've seen, and anything there I'm very skeptical about.)

Dave.

[josh358]

Regarding the 1.7 attenuation resistor:  It looks as if the resistor is only in line with the "super" tweeter circuit and not the "normal" tweeter?  (The schematic on the Magnestand website is the only one I've seen, and anything there I'm very skeptical about.)

Dave.

I hate that diagram, it's so hard to follow. But it looks like the resistor and fuse are series with both the supertweeter and tweeter segment.

[josh358]

I'll most likely take the resistors out when I start adding room treatments in a couple of weeks. Right now I need them in because my room is pretty lively.

I need to try the tweeters on the outside again. I only had them there for a little while after I unpacked them. They're easy enough to move. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Most dynamics have poor power response in the highs, so their in-room response slopes down. And when records are mixed to that as they typically are they sound too bright on ribbons, which have better HF dispersion. So I think room treatment is probably the best long-term solution. Drapes, carpets, etc. tend to selectively absorb high frequencies, so if you deaden the room a bit it should make the top octave power response of the ribbons closer to that of the typical dynamic without impairing on-axis flatness. Best way to do that is just to listen and gradually add stuff in until you have the room where you want it, neither too live nor too dead.

I've found that the records that don't need this are well-miked acoustical recordings, which also happen to be the best sounding, but are a distinct minority of commercial recordings, alas. So you have to compromise the performance of the speaker to accommodate what's out there.