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Super Heresy 1 (Baby Cornwalls Mod.)


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1 hour ago, Treyphan said:

 

Well guys, seems I may have hit a snag. When I got these Heresies, I saw the back label that they were Heresy I. With a build date of April 85.(8516 are the first four in the serial number/sequential pair) so I assumed....yeah I know, that they would have the drivers a Series I has. Well they have the E2 network, which ok that’s fine. Then they have the K77 square magnet Tweeter, the k53k mid and k22-k woofers.

 

so these appear to be a Heresy 1.5 or something. 

 

Will the K53k work for this mod? I know cluadej1 has been very specific about obtaining different results with different configurations. Since these don’t have the K55 midrange, am I on my own with this?

or can I expect similar results? Not sure I remember seeing this question asked in the thread.

sorry if it was.

 

kinda bummed, was ready to pull the trigger on all the parts today.

Fear not, you can still make Super Heresy's out of them with slight modification of the mid attenuation.

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22 minutes ago, DizRotus said:

It’s my understanding that the woofers and the porting make the most difference.  Perhaps Claude, @ClaudeJ1, will chime in.

You are correct. It's all about BALANCE of the components to the woofer/port section for almost identical results. In fact, since the K-53 likely has a different driver/phase plug, it may be smoother than a K-55 when balanced right.

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1 hour ago, Treyphan said:

Also, do both 2uf caps get replaced with 4uf? Or just the Mid, and just 2uf  For the other? Thanks

Actually, the mod is potentially easier with what you have, since you may only need to do a woofer swap, a port drill, and "possibly" reducing the woofer choke value back down a a 2.5 MH, so less desoldering/soldering steps. At that point, you can use the same capacitor values since, effectively, you don't need to raise the midrange at all since it's already hotter according to other sources. Again, you may want to get the Crites Autoformer since you can adjust in 1 db steps for better refinement of balance to room and personal taste. PM me for phone number if you want more details. I'm a man of precision and repeatability. Since I have never actually built and measured Super Heresy's from 1.5 flavors, I can't publish a verified recipe and must rely on the relative success of others who have, with a caveat.

 

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Well, I now have a pair of Klipsch ‘Super Heresy 1.5’.....WOW! I finished them earlier this evening and plugged ‘em up to my 240, put Fleetwood Mac on my turntable, adjusted the volume and dropped the stylus. What happened next can be described as nothing less the miraculous! 

Cluadej1’s design/recipe/genius helped me to transform my Heresy’s from ‘good’ speakers, to TOP performing something to hold onto, don’t want to stop listening to speakers!

I spoke with Claude on the phone for a good while last weekend, and he couldn’t have been more helpful or friendly! What a great guy, this forum is lucky to have him and his knowledge, that he shares for FREE! 

I updated him earlier on the success, he was happy to hear it. He’s offered to take some measurements for me next week, as we live very close. I’ll most certainly be taking him up on that, I’m curious both about his opinion of these wonderful things, and what the numbers tell us.

Im sure we will share any info. Remember, my set of Heresy’s are 1.5’s...I guess. They were made in April of 85’. The rear looks like the first series.

I replaced all the caps with Dayton metal foil polypropylene audio grade caps(1% on the 2uf’s and 5% on the 33uf) 

I recapped and listened to them before doing any mods, in ‘stock’ format. The recap was a significant improvement on their own. Not in the bass, just overall ‘smoothness’. Most noticeable recap of a speaker I’ve done, now that I think about it.

I also lined the cabinet with egg crate acoustic foam. 

I used the eminence pro12a woofers, which were quite well made at their price point imo. I popped for some nice replacement binding posts as well, wanted some bling I guess.lol

I went with Claude’s recommendation of leaving the taps as is on the autoformer, for now, as the 1.5s squawker is 2-3dbs or so hotter than the original recipe for Super Heresy. We will see what happens when tested next week. Initial sound is great as is though.

Another thing I did, and come to think of it, I don’t think I mentioned it to Claude, was to make new rear panels. I used 3/4 in Baltic birch. Now on my speakers they used 5/8 ply for rears, I had some 3/4 birch ply laying around. So my rear panels stick out about 1/8 inch(the originals were ‘sunk’ in about an 1/8 or so). This was nbd to me, I painted them, and they look great. The extra thickness can’t hurt either.

I did this because the anal, historian in me wanted to be able to go back to ‘stock’ if I ever sold them and people weren’t crazy about mods. Well first off, I now know I’m not selling them anytime soon, and I’ll probably sell the k22s to recoup some of the cost. But I have some NICE rear KLipsch panels with the labels that I’m certain will not enjoy life in my storage area lol. But oh well, still glad I did it. 

As for sound,, the bass is MUCH IMPROVED and this speaker now sounds full, the mids just come oozing out with gorgeous detail and the highs remain smooth and lovely. There seems to be much better clarity and coherence of the music. Soundstage is more defined, probabaly from the caps, the detail and dynamics are elevated and cause the music to sound ‘realer’ more involving. I’m impressed!

Overall I can’t recommend this mod enough, it really takes the Heresy up to the next level. I’m hoping to compare to a set of Cornwall 1s I’m just finishing restoring for a friend.   

Now perhaps I need to let these settle in a bit, as well as my ears, and excitement! 

Ive actually snuck away from a family gathering to ‘quickly’ update those in Klipschland! 

Ill be posting a number of pics tmrw when I have more time. 

 

 

The worst part part of all this was installing the port. Fortunately I have a router, but it’s still no fun, lemme tell ya. The end product looks great though. But be forewarned, if you don’t have basic woodworking skills and a router. Find a friend to help with the ports. 

Edited by Treyphan
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1 hour ago, Treyphan said:

The worst part part of all this was installing the port. Fortunately I have a router, but it’s still no fun, lemme tell ya. The end product looks great though. But be forewarned, if you don’t have basic woodworking skills and a router. Find a friend to help with the ports. 

The worst part for me was the burning smell from my router in creating the porthole. But it's the only thing that stinks about this upgrade. Pun well intended!

 

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Thanks for the v1.5 specifics, I have a pair that I was thinking of updating to Claude’s configuration so now know it will be worthwhile!

 

re. Updating internal cables, there was a thread on that. I have been trying different cables from amp to speakers and when I make a new favourite, the second place gets altered to be the internal cables. Keeps me out of trouble and busy in the basement soldering etc. Not sure I hear a difference but it’s a hobby, no one’s paying me for this. 

 

Re. Caps, again many discussions on this. Budget and reasonable sense of what you can actually hear should prevail, but like speaker cables, I cycle my caps between 3 sets of crossovers, E, E2 and ALK Universal and two sets of  Heresy. 

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On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 8:43 PM, Treyphan said:

 

"The worst part of all this was installing the port. Fortunately I have a router, but it’s still no fun, lemme tell ya. The end product looks great though. But be forewarned, if you don’t have basic woodworking skills and a router. Find a friend to help with the ports".

 

This is how I did it with my four SH's that I have done. I used a 4-1/4" hole saw and small reamer to take it the rest of the way. Goes quickly using the reamer on an electric drill. Can employ just a slight interference fit so that the tube stays in place when inserted. No need for fasteners or silicone to hold in the tube. 

 

The SH's turned out very nice, although not quite through with the finish. Wife and I are getting the black lacquer finish method down pretty pat. Using black lacquer I can cover the old finish with only black tinted lacquer, spray on, and not have to do any staining. The black lacquer will cover any old stain or sealed pore surfaces and any Bondo wood repairs for dings, smashed-in places, etc, but its a world of using an orbital sander, 400, 1000 and 1200 hook and loop sanding discs, and 4 ought steel wool dampened with water, followed by paste wax to get a great finish. With black lacquer you can start out with some pretty banged up boxes. Two I have done with black lacquer and two with just the original stain covered with shellac. Shellac is so forgiving.

 

Three of the SH's were bona fide Claude upgrades and sound superb. The 4th pair is a hybrid...I used Eminence Delta 12LFA woofers and K53 mids with renewed diaphragms, and the usual Heresy tweeters. I can't tell the difference, although there is a little; the wife claimed they sound better. I judged the bass to be very close. Used Type B crossover with the same autotransformer taps as the bona fides. Yes, I know I can't call it a SH.

 

The Delta 12LFA woofers came in a pair of Heresy 1's that I found on which to do a SH mod, so I tried them just for the halibut. I still have the Delta Pro 12A's sitting in their unopened boxes, and a set of K55 mids sitting on my workbench as well. They will probably be used sometime near in the tail end of the next 50 years to replace ones gone bad. That's how long these speakers lasted thus far, so they should last that long again, right!

 

 

 20180616_122824.thumb.jpg.95f885b752da819e2bb0680e4f899db5.jpg

Edited by ishwash
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20 hours ago, ishwash said:

"The worst part of all this was installing the port. Fortunately I have a router, but it’s still no fun, lemme tell ya. The end product looks great though. But be forewarned, if you don’t have basic woodworking skills and a router. Find a friend to help with the ports".

 

This is how I did it with my four SH's that I have done. I used a 4-1/4" hole saw and small reamer to take it the rest of the way. Goes quickly using the reamer on an electric drill. Can employ just a slight interference fit so that the tube stays in place when inserted. No need for fasteners or silicone to hold in the tube. 

 

 

20180616_122824.thumb.jpg.95f885b752da819e2bb0680e4f899db5.jpg

 

 

Ya know, I actually thought of doing it that way, as I have a hole saw just like that....it was at my Dads though. 😕 I didn’t wanna wait til I was there again to get it, and the woodworker in me wanted to ‘challenge’ myself using the router. Why? Who knows...if/when I do another set. I’ll most likely utilize that approach. Great tip!

 

 

Now back to my SH’s. I’ve been really really busy, and apologize for not updating the thread sooner. I was fortunate enough to meet ClaudeJ1 yesterday. He offered his expertise and a slew of GREAT stories as well!

It was an excellent time! We measured my SHs and Claude’s got screenshots of the curve. Which in their current setup, are a bit bass heavy. Though sound great!!!

I left the crossovers as is(besides recapping with new 1% polyprolene caps of the same values) due to the hotter midrange in my 1.5 Heresy’s.

Im going to try what was originally recommended . Jumping the taps for the mid and tweeter up 3db on the Autformer. And doubling the first cap from 2-4uf. I ordered extra 2’s. 

We will see how that does, I’m debating the Crites Autoformers for their 1db taps. Which me prove fruitful for further ‘tweaking’.

at any rate, this mod has made these Heresies Super alright!

I’m sure Claude will be in to show the Frequency curves. He has copies.

 

Ill also be testing more as these changes are done. 

 

I was also fortunate enough to see and hear the Jubilees! Wow, my jaw is still on the floor at Claudes! Being a noob to this forum, the overwhelming support and friendlyness of everyone hear, especially Claude, has been refreshing for an Internet forum! As a younger guy, I feel lucky to be learning such great stuff from all the experiences people have shared!

 

Well it’s Fathers Day and I have to run. I’ll report back more later! Happy Father’s Day to all th father’s out there!

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4 hours ago, Treyphan said:

I’m sure Claude will be in to show the Frequency curves. He has copies.

 

Ill also be testing more as these changes are done.

Yes indeed, here we are. Miked from 1 meter away from the front panel, right between the mid horn and woofer. I used a 1/3 octave smoothing, because that is pretty much how we hear. Plus, it makes relevant analysis much easier, especially with 2 db. increments in the vertical direction. After some thought, and re-calibration of my hearing with my Jubes, I have the following observations and recommendations.

Working from left to right below: Radically moving Left test channel speaker's bass port approx. 16 inches from left wall and 1 foot forward of front wall gave us the big bass "hump" at 96 Hz (which was missing, along with the extended bass in the original position). This is Strictly from the rear bass port interacting with the corner of the room. I did this to extend the bass and also to show where the port output begins to take over from the front woofer output, which is about 140 Hz. The reason the bass is -3 db down at 50 Hz. is because the speakers are feeding into a TWO HUGE ROOMS as opposed to my relatively small bedroom with the original measurements over 4 years ago in Indy.  

 

Using the 100 decibel @ 1 Khz. crosshairs as a pivot point, we can further analyse what's going on. The big dip, centered at 700 Hz. may be caused by the 4 Mh. choke AND the 33 uF. capacitor on the woofer section (Second order), which, I believe causes the electrical roll off too soon, creating 1 octave acoustical chasm between  400-800 Hz.

 

After looking at the curve portion between 1-10 Khz., we can see that Matt's proposed changes to the network, (IOW, my original mod to the treble section) will bring up the level of the mid and tweeter horns and flatten the whole thing out very well. So at that point, IMHO, only 3 things will remain to make this speaker perform at its peak in that room: 1) I believe the 700 Hz. dip will still be there, so removing the 33 uF. cap entirely should clear that up, If not, we can try a 2.5 mH choke alone or as a 2n'd order with a 20 uF cap. 2) the excess bass at 96 Hz. can get knocked way down by simply moving the speaker forward about 6-10 from the front wall. 3) Since the efficiency with the new woofer and port sits at about 100 db/Watt, and only about 1 Watt is required for reasonably loud listening, a 6-8 db boost at 35 Hz. with active PEQ and 30 Hz. High Pass filter should be all that's required to negate ever needing a subwoofer for this 2 channel setup, or just use a sub with it's own amp below 50 Hz. and rock the foundation!!

 

The only other variable to measure and hear after removing the woofer capacitor is (audible or not/good or bad) and its effect on phase rather than just amplitude.

 

In the meantime, let's see what happens with Matt follow up steps with the existing parts. I'm thinking we might/could end up with a Cornwall B-2 network.

MattSuperHeresy.jpg

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10 hours ago, Treyphan said:

 

I was also fortunate enough to see and hear the Jubilees! Wow, my jaw is still on the floor at Claudes!

Well, if fellow Klipscheads like me couldn't hear the difference between a pair of $1,000 Super Heresy's and $11,000 Jubes with TADs, in a demo, I'd really be pissed!! LOL..........HINT: It's mostly lower distortion, more micro detail, and a bigger soundstage. But those little Heresy' are still amazing. I still own 2 pairs.

 

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On 6/8/2018 at 7:43 PM, Treyphan said:

The worst part part of all this was installing the port.

Perhaps worth mentioning: another method for cutting circular openings, (as long as they aren't too big)... It requires a drill press--and I realize not everybody has one--but for those who do, it might be an option to consider .

 

I've used jig saws, routers and this drill press cutter--and this is my preferred method; especially when I want a clean, sharp edge (in natural veneer, with minimal to no tear-out). Your results may vary, depending on what the wood grain is doing. I have found the chisel tip of the cutter to leave a very nice, finished edge, similar to a quality forstner bit. This particular model cuts as large as about 4 3/8" inches (have used it in the past for oddball sized driver openings). A nice advantage: the cutter slides in its mount for tweaking to any size circle (within range, of course). The holes I've made with this are clean, and don't require any clean-up or sanding.

 

I have been following this thread with an interest in modifying my own pair super heresy's. Many thanks to @ClaudeJ1 for sharing! ... I appreciate how much time and effort must have gone into figuring all of this out.

 

 

 

circle-cutter.jpg

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10 hours ago, Endo said:

Perhaps worth mentioning: another method for cutting circular openings, (as long as they aren't too big)... It requires a drill press--and I realize not everybody has one--but for those who do, it might be an option to consider .

 

I've used jig saws, routers and this drill press cutter--and this is my preferred method; especially when I want a clean, sharp edge (in natural veneer, with minimal to no tear-out). Your results may vary, depending on what the wood grain is doing. I have found the chisel tip of the cutter to leave a very nice, finished edge, similar to a quality forstner bit. This particular model cuts as large as about 4 3/8" inches (have used it in the past for oddball sized driver openings). A nice advantage: the cutter slides in its mount for tweaking to any size circle (within range, of course). The holes I've made with this are clean, and don't require any clean-up or sanding.

 

I have been following this thread with an interest in modifying my own pair super heresy's. Many thanks to @ClaudeJ1 for sharing! ... I appreciate how much time and effort must have gone into figuring all of this out.

 

 

 

circle-cutter.jpg

 

I like this idea, in fact....I think its an excuse to go buy more tools! Just shows theres more than one way to skin a Heresy port! lol 

I do feel however you do it, that its important to mention the need for a Router with a Round Over Bit, so you can get that nice flush fit for the port. SO it 'sits' in the opening, i suppose it isn't actually necessary,  as long as you get the Port securely installed. Whatever method. Either way, great tip @Endo

 

10 hours ago, PrestonTom said:

Endo, 

It is probably best to remind folks that a circle cutter like you have shown is intended to be used in a drill press. Using it with a hand held power drill is an invitation to a disaster.

Haha! Yes, good point! I remember as a young kid, maybe 13, thinking i could bore a nice straight circular hole with a forstner bit and my Dads hand drill, for some crazy contraption I was building. Boy was I wrong, the justification for a Drill press was instilled in me that very day, as I stared sadly at my 20 degree angled "hole". lol Point is, its easy to screw that up if you're not experienced with wood working techniques. 

 

 

 

Also. Id  like to point out, that I used Blutak to secure my port and seal it in. I LOVE the stuff for all sorts of  audio needs. The nice thing is its made to stick and last, but can be removed if ever needed, without leaving any trace, even on finished wood. (i mean dont go sticking the stuff on some 50 year old KHorn finish, but I've NEVER had an issue with it pealing anything off, even after years. its the stuff school teachers used to hang posters and whatnot)

It has a wonderful dampening ability as well. Im using about a 1.3 gram 'blob' on my Headshell for some added weight with a Denon DL103. Its damped the cartridge very nicely, and is tucked under and behind, so it doesnt look bad. Works great to damp speaker baskets, inside turntables, under turntable platters, etc And like I said, can be removed if ever needed with very little effort. Heat doesnt affect it to the point it would melt of get stringy like butyl or similar. Im not a big fan of Silicon Sealants, as they off gas acidic fumes that can and will corrode copper(voice coils anyone?)and some other metals. Ever seen a car thats paint looks real nice everywhere but around the windshield? Where its bubbled paint and rust all around it? Yeah, thats the guy that thought silicon would be a good "fix" for his leaky windshield. Really he helped that moisture rot the pinchweld frame out, with the aid of acidic Silicon sealant. I saw and fixed literally hundreds of these when I managed an Auto Glass Repair shop. There are non acidic versions, however they off gas alcohol fumes...which cant be good for the glues. Also, I could be way over thinking this and be to cautious. I also never have to worry about blutak drying out, cracking, or pulling away from the bond. Stuff works great between Risers or Speaker Stands to decouple the speaker. Also gives the speaker a nice sturdy hold to the shelf without drilling holes for hardware. 

 

The best part?? Its super cheap...like $2.99 a pack. Which in audiophile dollars is basically free. lol That is 'til i release my special cryogenically treated, gold plated audiophile recipe. Which will add just a small $500 fee. ;)

 

Ok, Im home today, and had a lot of coffee...so Ill end this post and update about the Real reason we are all here...Super Heresy's!

 

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On 6/17/2018 at 4:01 PM, ClaudeJ1 said:

Yes indeed, here we are. Miked from 1 meter away from the front panel, right between the mid horn and woofer. I used a 1/3 octave smoothing, because that is pretty much how we hear. Plus, it makes relevant analysis much easier, especially with 2 db. increments in the vertical direction. After some thought, and re-calibration of my hearing with my Jubes, I have the following observations and recommendations.

Working from left to right below: Radically moving Left test channel speaker's bass port approx. 16 inches from left wall and 1 foot forward of front wall gave us the big bass "hump" at 96 Hz (which was missing, along with the extended bass in the original position). This is Strictly from the rear bass port interacting with the corner of the room. I did this to extend the bass and also to show where the port output begins to take over from the front woofer output, which is about 140 Hz. The reason the bass is -3 db down at 50 Hz. is because the speakers are feeding into a TWO HUGE ROOMS as opposed to my relatively small bedroom with the original measurements over 4 years ago in Indy.  

 

Using the 100 decibel @ 1 Khz. crosshairs as a pivot point, we can further analyse what's going on. The big dip, centered at 700 Hz. may be caused by the 4 Mh. choke AND the 33 uF. capacitor on the woofer section (Second order), which, I believe causes the electrical roll off too soon, creating 1 octave acoustical chasm between  400-800 Hz.

 

After looking at the curve portion between 1-10 Khz., we can see that Matt's proposed changes to the network, (IOW, my original mod to the treble section) will bring up the level of the mid and tweeter horns and flatten the whole thing out very well. So at that point, IMHO, only 3 things will remain to make this speaker perform at its peak in that room: 1) I believe the 700 Hz. dip will still be there, so removing the 33 uF. cap entirely should clear that up, If not, we can try a 2.5 mH choke alone or as a 2n'd order with a 20 uF cap. 2) the excess bass at 96 Hz. can get knocked way down by simply moving the speaker forward about 6-10 from the front wall. 3) Since the efficiency with the new woofer and port sits at about 100 db/Watt, and only about 1 Watt is required for reasonably loud listening, a 6-8 db boost at 35 Hz. with active PEQ and 30 Hz. High Pass filter should be all that's required to negate ever needing a subwoofer for this 2 channel setup, or just use a sub with it's own amp below 50 Hz. and rock the foundation!!

 

The only other variable to measure and hear after removing the woofer capacitor is (audible or not/good or bad) and its effect on phase rather than just amplitude.

 

In the meantime, let's see what happens with Matt follow up steps with the existing parts. I'm thinking we might/could end up with a Cornwall B-2 network.

MattSuperHeresy.jpg

 

 

OK, so Sunday afternoon I ripped back into the SH's and did the initial changes I posted about. Claudes original crossover mods. Jumping the taps for the Squawker and Tweeter 1 spot for a 3db boost. I doubled the first Cap from 2uf to 4uf. I used 2 2uf caps. I had purched extra incase. Same Dayton 1% caps. 

Threw them all back together.....and was happy to hear they sounded much "smoother" and balanced. Still retained the excellent bass boost. However, something just seemed a bit 'off' still. Not that they sounded bad, which I want to stress....never at any point have they been unsatisfactory. I without a doubt love this mod and highly recommend it.

 

Still, I was ready to start plotting my next move. I then sat down to read this thread and saw Claudes rec to completely remove the 33uf cap on the woofer. Remember, my Heresy 1.5's and have the E2 network. So after reading, I jumped back in the SH's and took the 33uf cap out. Plugged em back in. This time, the 'off' sound was now ON. I believe Claude was spot on with his thoughts on the 33Uf cap and the inductor were choking the woofers output around the 400-800 hz region. 

 

They now sound Amazing imo, and about 6 other people who Ive showed. In fact my Buddy who I just restored a set of Cornwall 1's for was floored by the change. I took the Heresy off him as some trade toward the CW restoration. He couldnt believe the difference. He now is looking for another pair so I can do these same mods for him. He offered to buy mine on the spot. Though Im keeping them. Not ready to let them go. Not sure I ever will. These now have a secure spot in my 'Stash' of audio thats off limits. Ive really enjoyed this whole process. Ive repaired/restored/modded a lot of speakers in my day. But something about this mod was just really fun. Extracting sound like this from such a nice stout package is a real feat. Claude really nailed this mod, the fact he freely shared this info and R&D time shows what a great guy he is. 

 

I still plan on running measurement with Claude when he has some time. Id like to see where they are at now, as I'm sure he does as well. 

 

I tend to be someone who's never done tweaking a project. So I mays still get the Crites Autoformer, and knock the Inductor down to 2.5. Per Claudes advice. Again, this is only if the numbers show a glaring issue that could be corrected or improved. Perhaps even a move to another Tweeter, or maybe new Diaphragms...idk. Im really happy where they are at though. Im gonna give it a few days to really settle in. Im listening like crazy though, last night I just couldnt turn it off. The music sounded to good! That right there is one of the best tests around. If it makes me wanna listen to album after album....they sound good. 

 

So stay tuned....Ill keep updating any and all changes. Incase any other Heresy 1.5 owners are interested in this mod. 

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2 hours ago, Treyphan said:

I tend to be someone who's never done tweaking a project. So I mays still get the Crites Autoformer, and knock the Inductor down to 2.5. Per Claudes advice. Again, this is only if the numbers show a glaring issue that could be corrected or improved. Perhaps even a move to another Tweeter, or maybe new Diaphragms...idk. Im really happy where they are at though. Im gonna give it a few days to really settle in. Im listening like crazy though, last night I just couldnt turn it off. The music sounded to good! That right there is one of the best tests around. If it makes me wanna listen to album after album....they sound good. 

 

So stay tuned....Ill keep updating any and all changes. Incase any other Heresy 1.5 owners are interested in this mod. 

If I may throw in the term "diminishing returns" into the modification hat, I would wait until new measurements before spending more money, since your speaker PLACEMENT might have impact on the midrange and upper treble as well as the 96 Hz. bass hump. Below 50 Hz. the size of your ROOMS are the culprit, so your may be better off investing in tapped horn components for 100% return in the super low bass area rather than get new tweeters, Autoformers, and chokes to chase another 2-3% improvement, which certainly would NOT be as audible as the Sub. For $200-250 investment in a driver and  2 sheets of 3/4 Plywood (or MDF if your really want to cheap out), you can literally rock the house and maintain the lower distortion you are now enjoying in the Super Heresys. It's also an easy assembly of 11 pieces, most of which are rip cuts.

 

PS: The reason I initially said to leave the original Autoformer settings alone the first time is because another member had already modded some 1.5 Heresys (mine were Heresy 1's). His feedback from the mod was the mid was too hot, which, obviously didn't turn out to be the case for you and I. This is why we all must consider the variables of Rooms, PLACEMENT, and individual HEARING as part of the equation. In my case, it's "in Curves we trust" everything else is personal taste and opinions. I'm looking forward to the new curves also. I'll be able to do an overlay so we can PRECISELY see what your evolutionary mod has done.

 

OTOH, when the number of listeners with positive feedback gets up into the dozens and dozens, like has happened with this mod over 4 years, it does boost a potential new modder's confidence in the investment quite a bit. I believe in precision and repeatability as new, subtle variables come along.

 

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17 hours ago, PrestonTom said:

Endo, 

It is probably best to remind folks that a circle cutter like you have shown is intended to be used in a drill press. Using it with a hand held power drill is an invitation to a disaster.

@PrestonTom  Yep. I think you missed it--I mentioned it in the first line of OP.

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On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 10:48 AM, Treyphan said:

 

Ya know, I actually thought of doing it that way, as I have a hole saw just like that....it was at my Dads though. 😕 I didn’t wanna wait til I was there again to get it, and the woodworker in me wanted to ‘challenge’ myself using the router. Why? Who knows...if/when I do another set. I’ll most likely utilize that approach. Great tip!

 

Believe it or not, my reamer did not badly splinter the outer nor the inner ply of the Russian birch used for 2 of my Super Heresy projects, the other two were veneered ones and the veneer was not particularly harmed either, although the quality of the cut is not what would be desired for a speaker hole. A router is sort of difficult and even dangerous to use without a jig, even with a router table if you don't have a circle jig...make the plunge cut and then try to follow a marked line of a circle without it going south and jumping out of the hole or off the table and doing all sorts of bad things. One must use a circle cutting router jig, right? Course the problem there is unless you have a fully equipped shop and almost every imaginable tool for it, you will still probably have to cut your circle jig, using an inferior method,, that stupid jig saw.

 

Course this particular operation involves the back of the speaker, right, and it  doesn't have to look perfect, in fact the flare of the plastic tube will cover-up a shabby-looking hole, and there is silicone impregnated caulk also if the hole doesn't turn out well.

 

I'd be very interested in knowing how folks handle making their motor boards, cutting large speaker holes and having them turn out to be "aces"

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