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4 Pi Tweaks? [message #50940] Fri, 06 April 2007 08:20 Go to next message
jimbop is currently offline  jimbop
Messages: 60
Registered: May 2009
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Viscount
I recently acquired a pair of Theater 4's. According to the previous owner, they were built stock (to the plans). Are there any successful mods or tweaks that I should be aware of?

Jim D.

Re: 4 Pi Tweaks? [message #50942 is a reply to message #50940] Fri, 06 April 2007 12:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Matts is currently offline  Matts
Messages: 359
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
I rebuilt my xovers with all "boutique" parts, and they sound much better with SET amps. However, it's not an exercise in practical cost/benefit analysis, as Wayne already supplies good parts and the upgrades are expensive. One change I made first was upgrading the shunt cap on the woofer, and that was worthwhile in itself.

Re: 4 Pi Tweaks? [message #50944 is a reply to message #50942] Fri, 06 April 2007 15:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bill Epstein is currently offline  Bill Epstein
Messages: 1088
Registered: May 2009
Location: Smoky Mts. USA
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
Changing the Solen .47uF (?) attenuator cap for an Auricap was inexpensive and worthwhile.

Re: 4 Pi Tweaks? [message #50946 is a reply to message #50940] Sat, 07 April 2007 06:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
FredT is currently offline  FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (1st Degree)
The Theater series Pi speakers never sounded harsh or fatiguing to me, at least no more so than some highly regarded mainstream speakers like Magnepans, Vandersteens, etc. But I heard a big improvement, especially in the treble frequencies, when I upgraded all the caps in my Theater 3's.

I used all Northcreek caps, which are no longer available. I believe the most cost effective alternative using currently avaliable caps would be Sonicaps, but they are quite a bit more expensive than the Northcreeks that I used. The effect of this kind of upgrade will be an overall smoothing of the treble with reduced glare and a more audible and realistic decay of percussive sounds like cymbals.

A more cost effective option that would result in an audible improvement would be to use a "cascade" of Solens and Sonicaps to replace each individual cap. For example, you could replace a 22uF cap with 12uF and 8uF Solens plus a 2uF Sonicap, all wired in parallel. I prefer this to traditional "bypassing" where you might combine a 22uF Solen with a 0.1uF premium cap. I can't hear the difference with this kind of bypassing, but I can hear the difference with cascaded caps. You will want to use a single premium quality cap to replace any cap whose value is less than 1uF, like the 0.47uF tweeter L Pad bypass cap.

Re: 4 Pi Tweaks? [message #50948 is a reply to message #50944] Sat, 07 April 2007 13:09 Go to previous message
Matts is currently offline  Matts
Messages: 359
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
I did that, too, early on and it was a good 'un.

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