When I crank up the volume to about 95+db's, I start to get allot of clutter in the sound. It seems that it could be some distortion. But, I am wondering how much the sound waves inside the cabs are contributing towards this. I already did some test by moving the insullation in one cab from the top to the bottom, and also from the front to the back( Ileft the side alone). This seems to have helped to some degree. And I will likely leave it as is and change the other box as well. The boxes are made from 3/4" plywood(HD quality )

I seemed to have lost some bass by making this change. It is perceived to my ears that I also lost some SPL... but the meter says differently, no loss.
What little bass I did loose, I gained in midrange clarity... and I prefer it.

Wayne, what should I expect if I dampen all of the inside of the box walls with insulation ?

Do you have another solution for this problem ? How about dampening the baskets of the mid/wofers ?

• http://www.audioroundtable.com/PiSpeakers/messages/13006.html

Currently I have the speakers being pushed by an older Sherwood Reciever(mid eighties, 105wpc @8ohms). It is not the best SS amp... but not the worst either. It actually can push pretty decent. I have pushed my Magnepan MMG's with it and it can keep up with my 1975 Sansui 9090DB(wtihout distorting those speakers).
I will do some listening again with some other SS amps when I get the chance. I don't have a good tube amp right now, I am having some Heathkit W4-AM monoblocks rebuilt and modified right now and should have them back in about 6 weeks. That may be a good time to give a listen again to what I am hearing.

Tower two π speakers sound very nice with tube amps, but they also sound pretty good to me with inexpensive solid state gear, as long as it isn't overdriven and starts clipping. I rather like the system with a little $400.00 Harman Kardon HK3470 receiver - It sounds better than it has a right to.

Give this a try too. Take the tweeter apart and inspect it, removing any dust, lint or debris that you find inside. It's easy to disassemble these tweeters by removing the three screws from the back. It not uncommon to find sawdust accidentally dropped into the mouth during assembly, and then debris is trapped between the diaphragm and the phase plug. So you might check to make sure that your tweeters are clean.

I do not have the model HK reciever that that you mention... I have heard that those old models are good ones.

I do have a newer HK HT SS amp and I will give it a try... as well as my Sansui Reciever... and the Heathkits when they are returned to me.

Wayne... what can I expect if I dampen all sides of the Tower boxes ?

Will I loose the low bass response ? will I loose SPL ? Will I gain anything ? I know that you recomend to inuslate the front baffel and not the back of the speaker.. but, this seemes to sound better to me.

I know that I can just keep trying things. But, everytime I open these boxes I reseal them and it gets tedious.

Thanks

About damping all sides of a two π tower speaker, I'm afraid that you might make the speaker a bit boomy. If you add too much insulation material, it will increase the virtual size of the cabinet. So if you're using R13, I suggest you only line the front, top and one side.

Amyway... about the insulation. I am using R-13. What if I thin it down(the insulation) so as not to make the virtual size of the cabinet smaller ? Would that work ?

Sorry to bug ya Wayne... I am just trying to learn and find a solution.

Thanks again.