Soliloquy 6.5 grill improvements?


Category: Speakers

Not to bag on Soliloquy,but they designed the grill system poorly.
You remove some screws which hold the"wave-launch" plates in place(6 on the lower,4 on the upper)and replace them with screws featuring a head which grills press over and hold via "rubber"grommets.
2 major issues here.First the replacement screws are a slightly smaller diameter wood type screw,so they love to strip when approaching the cabinets with the tools.
Second, you must leave the heads out several turns for the grills to remain fixed to loudspeaker.
So all the engineering of "wave launches" and drivers isolated from the cabinet seem contrary to secure fitting of all of the above.
Has anyone else noticed this flaw.I also think a better method would be using machine thread screws with embedded
"T" nuts or other strong choice in holding these plates and drivers to the cabinet rather then small wood type srews.
Wood srews can only be removed/replaced so many times.It all seems contrary to a $6k plus loudspeaker.
I contacted Dave Berman of Soliloquy via e-mail and recieved a very fast response and he sent me(very speedily
2 days and at no charge)a set of the same screws with what appear to be hard plastic spacers.Very kind indeed,but doesn't solve the smaller screw in a bigger hole problem.
I am getting by with broken off toothpicks in holes and using less "grill holder" screws overall 4 on each cabinet.
Also the grill is fashioned out of MDF with grill cloth
stretched over it and time tends to warp in reverse bow
which in turn makes them fall off.
By the way Soliloquy 6.5's can be used in a 12x19x8 room with great results.Just take the time in placing them.
clbeanzfb43
Yep, maybe they got so into the loudspeaker itself then
had to deal with "grilling" it in the midnight hour before
release.I agree, 6.5s float nice sonic pictures.
Started out about 7' apart,sidewall reflection dictated
creeping them closer together and additional toe-in.Reached
that "WOW" spot at 6'-10" apart and listen more to the nearfield.Heard them in a large room about 19x27x8 and they threw an image picture that really felt 19x8 with some decent depth for cd playback.
Nice to hear from some other 6.5 owners. It IS possible to get the grills to stay on. The main problem is the rubber grommets are initially too stiff and want to spit the screw head back out. You need to soften up the rubber somehow so it will grab the screw head and stay put. First, you have to install the plastic washers. This makes the new screws stick out far enough to grab the rubber grommet. Next, get a stiff piece of metal about 1/4" diameter (I used the blunt end of a 3" hex bit from a cordless drill), and loosen the hole of each grommet up by working the piece of metal in a circular motion. Be careful not to go so deep into the grommet such that you touch the grill cloth. Once you get all of the grommets well loosened, you can press the grill on and it will stay. Make sure to press it on evenly and keep pressing it until it stays in place. The lower grills do warp a bit. I've made sure the upper 4 screws are well fastened and live with the bottom sticking out a little.

I think the effort is worth it. I lived with the bare drivers staring me in the face for 1.5 years before putting the grills on. The speakers look a lot better with the grills on. They don't affect the sound much either, so I think it's a good compromise.

Incidentally, my room is 18'x19' with a peaked ceiling that is 10.5' high max. The room has several openings and a fireplace in one corner which makes for very few parallel surfaces. It is carpeted with drywall walls. The 6.5s are 5' from the front wall and spaced 8' apart on centers. I sit 12' away from each speaker. The ridge of the ceiling is parallel to a line extending from my chair to the center of the speakers. The speakers are not centered in the room (dictated by practical traffic pattern considerations). The center of the left one is about 4.5' from the wall. This produces a very nice wide and deep soundstage that extends past the speaker boundaries.
Try them out nearfield in a room you can close off,they can
throw an amazing holographic image.In the closed space they control the movement of the air so well that the low end takes on the three dimensional aspects of the top end.
I sit 7' away and can hear so much more micro-detailed
events in the mix,plus the drivers and amps aren't worked as hard.