Replacing sound proofing in cabniets

Sean, excellent job on those Legacys!!!

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you have taken them at least two levels forward. Your diligence in reducing the number of connections in the crossover would pay enormous dividends, at least to me. You obviously know much better than I how things improved, but if I would venture to guess, I would predict the dynamics and clarity improved audibly, while also realizing gains in liquidity and smoothness at the same time. The audio Holy Grail!

Did you go with the Solen caps in this project that we have talked about in the past? If so, I know you have great sound. I think these caps really get shortchanged when it comes to how good they sound. Full sounding and smooth, again, with great detail. The BEST everyday cap out there(well, actually the thicker film SCR/AXON made on the same line is a bit better, but they're both close). And, did you give those wirewound resistors a shot, Ohmite or otherwise?

I concur with your assessment of the bass alignment. You can only get so much from a box, and that makes me realize why I have been so underwhelmed by the Legacy bass in the past. When you see that kind of artillery, you expect to be blown back. When it doesn't happen, you are left with a lot of disappointment.

I will say that my last encounter with Legacy, at a demonstration they put on locally was by far my best time with them. Again, I found the Focus and the minimonitor to be the best in the line, and even quite good in some areas where a lot of (most) audiophile speakers fall down. My biggest complaint was that the metal dome tweeter was woefully out of date, and its piercing sonics bore this out. They have addressed this since, and I would like to give them another listen.

Their headquarters, in Allentown, are only about an hour from my home, or less.

I also agree with your statements to SteveAllen. While the books(and I have the utmost respect for Dickason's Cookbook) say what they say, I had to say what I have outlined previously goes against conventional wisdom. Like you, I have found that stuffing the ported box often has the opposite effect of producing a more boomy sound. As Fried and Von Schweikert show, it actually produces a less boxy sound. I know I am going to have a bunch of people jump on me here, but I consider the bass of my Fried A/6 Line Tunnel to be superior to my buddy's Von Schweikert VR2.

I agree that we live in a free society and that we have the right to experiment with modifying speakers as much as we want, but if making a change as large as stuffing a vent hole actually IMPROVES the speaker, I contend that it's time to sell the speakers and buy something from a company/designer that actually KNOWS what they are doing! If the woofer section had been (apparently) designed so poorly, how much more well designed could the mid/high section be?!

Barry Kohan

Barry: Neither Joe or myself are encouraging anyone to "stuff" their ports so much as we are encouraging additional damping material inside the cabinet.

Having said that, most vented boxes are pieces of junk and closing the ports completely could quite possibly produce better quality, albeit less quantity of sound. As such, yes, most people would be better off with different speakers than what they have, especially given the majority of under-designed, poorly executed, over-priced products that are currently available. Like most changes in society that have taken place over the years, the public seems to desire greater quantity, even if it is at the expense of quality. As such, the designers / engineers / manufacturers have responded to those desires and given the consumers higher sensitivity and greater extension at the expense of linearity and over-all quality. There are exceptions to this generalization, but that is why they ARE exceptions and are far and few between. Sean
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Hi Sean,

After re-reading these posts I see that you are right - stuffing the ports was not specifically mentioned. Although filling the interior with foam to replicate a transmission line does prettty much fall into the catagory that I'm describing - that by making a significant change to the speaker's basic design actually improves performance does call into question whether buying an intrinsically well designed speaker would be more appropriate.

Best,

Barry Kohan

You can't replicate the response of a transmission line with anything other than a transmission line and even then there are variables involved. Other than that, i try to avoid vents of any type as much as possible. If i had to choose out of what is commercially available, i typically prefer sealed low Q designs. Second would be an IB ( Infinite Baffle ) and third would be a stuffed or partially stuffed T-Line. Bringing up the rear in a very distant fourth place would be an aperiodic ( vario-vent ) design. Anything else would be WAY down the list. Sean
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