Academy Center Channel

[Montigue231]

i noticed recently my center speaker i 've had for many years was full of pading..two foam inserts and stuffed to the tilt with cotton like material...is this normal?

[BE36]

I would call it more like an insulation to go on three of the four walls to minimize reflections.

Three out of four walls so that reflections are not symetrical.

If there is more material than an inch or so thick on the sides the volume of the box could be changed enough have a negative effect on Bass Quality - over damped.

[Montigue231]

Ty BE36...

So waht is the proper amount of insulation ? for factory specs..im thinking one foam pad ?

[BE36]

Going by memory from a couple years ago, I think there are two pads around 1 inch think.

Might want to try posting in Technical Questions or Updates and Modifications.

The real knowledgable ones on this Forum seem to monitor those more closely than home theater.

If you can wait I will be opening mine up in a week or so to rewire all the drivers and replace a tweeter or horn I will post some pictures.

Klipsch Parts may still have some the orginal stuff for purchase or know if it was in stock or not, I just bought a Tweeter and Horn for my Academy this week from them.

[Montigue231]

appreciate the feedback..

After you examine the inside of your academy, can you let me know if you find some cotton like material in there? im hard pressed to think this cotton was put inside by someone because the gaskets where like factory sealed when i took off the drivers..

my experience tells me the sound is better with the dampening..more solid bass... although im sure theres a proper measurment

[BE36]

May be some thought their Academy was ported. See Below:

A typical enclosure is shown in Figure 02. Generally, about 60% of the
cabinet volume should be filled with damping material, while being
careful to leave an open path from driver to the vent. For enclosure
volumes up to about 50L, one vent is generally sufficient. For cabinet
volumes of about 50 to 80L, two vents are needed, and for volumes of
more than 80L, three or more vents may be required.

FYI Direct radiating speakers should have some foam or other sticky material to seal them to the cabinet. So even if the Woofers where removed at one time if done right they should have factory type seal of some that needs to broken to remove them.

[BE36]

Another possibility is the pa/insulation like material in mine was to bring the volume of the box down and dampen wall reflections mentioned earlier.

May be they switched to cotton or vis versa.

[Riot260]

My Academy has foam on 3 sides but no other filler.

The Academy I previously purchased was insulated the same but the tweeter had an extra magnet and video shielding bell that my current one does not.

The shielding bell/extra magnet came unglued and was loose rattling around inside. I sent it back. Then the newer one I replaced it with didn't have it at all.