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Bass Drivers - Quickest / Best Way to Break In?

As a proud owner of new EgglestonWorks Andra I speakers, I am completely impressed and satisfied with their sound, from 63 Hz and up. In my room, they are amazingly live, dynamic, detailed but natural, very well balanced (as the frequency response shows (Rives CD, RS analog meter)), and the sense of acoustic space is just unbelievable.

But then there's the bass...I know the Dynaudio bass drivers (two 12" in each cabinet) take some time to break in. I have bearly any audible response below 50Hz; the response drops 15 to 20dB from reference (80dB) very quickly after 63Hz. When I crank up the volume on the 20Hz tone, I get the woofers moving, but the equivalent volume level would be around 95db at 1Khz. That's loud folks!

I tried respositioning the speakers closer together, to simulate a friend's setup, also Andra Is, and he's only down 3dB at 31Hz. No such luck for me, so I don't think it's a room thing, not for the lowest octave and a half range like this, so it must be break in, right? My bass drivers just don't seem to want to move that much at 80dB.

What would be the safest way (for the drivers and the simple low pass bass crossover). I assume that playing the 20Hz tone repeatedly may cause overheating of either? I guess I am impatient! I have about 50 hours on the speakers thus far (yeah, I know, that's nothing!).

Thanks!
1markr

Showing 7 responses by tvad

tvad
9,467 posts
 
I have bearly any audible response below 50Hz; the response drops 15 to 20dB from reference (80dB) very quickly after 63Hz.
That sounds like a problem with the drivers, or the crossovers, or something else in your system rather than a break-in issue.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Yup. Sounds like you're not getting a signal somewhere around 63Hz or above...or there's a hole in the signal.

Have you tested just one speaker at a time? A crossover or driver problem would likely only occur in one speaker or the other. If they're both responding the same, then I believe you need to look upstream.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Mark, I can't tell from your response, "I did look at both speakers", whether they were both operating simultaneously when you looked at them, or if you looked at them with only one or the other operational at a time.

Have you listened and tested just one speaker at a time by using a balance control, or by disconnecting a left interconnect, and then a right interconnect (don't disconnect the speaker cabling to do this as you might risk damaging your amp without a load attached)?

Also, a stupid question, but something that's possible...did you connect the speakers in proper phase, or is perhaps one speaker lead reversed?
tvad
9,467 posts
 
I'd suggest checking them out individually. It doesn't make logical sense that both speakers would display the same anomaly if the problem was with a driver, drivers or crossover.

If they both respond the same during the individual troubleshooting, then my money is on a problem upstream.

Do you have another pair of full range speakers available, or even a pair of monitor speaker that go into to 50Hz range, to install to rule out an upstream problem?
tvad
9,467 posts
 
That just reminded me....I used to run off the 4ohm taps on the Dodds, now they are on the 8ohm...hmmmm, could that kill my lowest two octaves?
1markr (System | Threads | Answers)
No.

Mark, try the Andras one at a time before you do anything else. Be certain the problem presents itself in one, or the other, or both.

If it's in both, then connecting your CDP directly to the Dodds is a good troubleshooting test.

If the problem is on one or the other, then try swapping the L&R interconnects from your preamp to the Dodds to flip-flop the channels (in other words leave the ICs connected correctly at the preamp, but plug the left IC into the right Dodd and vice versa). If the problem switches from one speaker to the other, then you know the amp is the issue. If the problem does not flip-flop, then restore the ICs. Then, do the same flip-flopping of ICs from your source to the preamp. If the problem does not switch from one speaker to the other, then you know the problem is with the preamp and not with the source. If the problem does flip flop from one speaker to the other, then you know it's your source.

The VR-1 go into the 50s, maybe into the 40s if I'm not mistaken. Since you mentioned your problem starts at 63Hz, then these will work.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
I re-read my previous post and it requires some revision. Sorry, Mark.
...try swapping the L&R interconnects from your preamp to the Dodds to flip-flop the channels (in other words leave the ICs connected correctly at the preamp, but plug the left IC into the right Dodd and vice versa). If the problem switches from one speaker to the other, then you know the amp is the issue.
This should read, "then you know the amp is NOT the issue, and the problem is upstream."

If the problem does not flip-flop, then restore the ICs.
In this scenario, the amp IS the issue.

BTW, I know this is a frustrating problem and finding the answer is equally frustrating, but the problem and the solution will be found!
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Any update?
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