Home » Audio » Speaker » Minor MG3.6R Crossover Upgrade
Minor MG3.6R Crossover Upgrade [message #24629] Sat, 02 October 2004 17:48 Go to next message
FredT is currently offline  FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (1st Degree)
I bought the 3.6's from another member of my audio club Wednesday nite. Thursday I checked out the crossovers and identified the parts that could be enhanced quickly and with no surgery on the speakers themselves. So this first attack included only those parts I knew I could fit into the external crossover boxes. I ordered them from North Creek Thursday; they arrived this afternoon and I installed them. The changes include 1)bypassing the woofer shunt caps with 1uF Northcreek Harmony caps, and 2) removing one of the eight 25uF mylar mid/tweet caps and replacing it with a cascade consisting of 15 and 6uF Northcreek Zen caps and a single 1uF Harmony cap.


Re: Minor MG3.6R Crossover Upgrade [message #24630 is a reply to message #24629] Sun, 03 October 2004 03:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18726
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Hi Fred,

Good call on the crossovers. The coils look fine, but I can see why you'd want to swap or ay least bypass those electrolytics.

Stock MG3.6R Crossover


Modified MG3.6R Crossover

How does it sound after your upgrades?

Wayne

Re: Minor MG3.6R Crossover Upgrade [message #24631 is a reply to message #24630] Sun, 03 October 2004 04:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
FredT is currently offline  FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (1st Degree)
Thanks. I had upgraded the crossovers on my Maggie 1.6's with Northcreek 12 ga air core inductors and replaced all the Solen caps with Northcreek Zens topped off with 1mF and 0.1mF Crescendo film and foil caps. The results were spectacular - the bass tightened up and became stronger, and most importantly a slight but noticeable hash in the treble disappeared.

The 3.6 is a three way and the crossover is quite a bit more complicated. Replacing 5mF and 2.2mF iron core inductors with 10 or 12ga air cores would be expensive. Additionally, the 3.6 has capacitor values of 200 and 100, plus a couple of 50's. So I will just bypass these with higher quality caps instead of replacing them entirely. The value of the final cap in the tweeter signal path is only 17mF. This one is critical to the sound of the tweeter, which handles everything above 1,700hz, so I plan to replace this stack of Solens with a 10mF and a 6mF zen plus a 1mF and a 0.1mF Crescendo like I did with the 1.6.

The tweeter caps inside the speaker under the sock, so first I have to figure out how to get into Maggie's soft undergarments without being accused of harassment.


Re: Minor MG3.6R Crossover Upgrade [message #24632 is a reply to message #24631] Sun, 03 October 2004 05:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18726
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
"first I have to figure out how to get into Maggie's soft undergarments without being accused of harassment."



Re: Minor MG3.6R Crossover Upgrade [message #24638 is a reply to message #24631] Fri, 12 November 2004 10:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
footsurg is currently offline  footsurg
Messages: 21
Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
Fred,

Can you explain in a detailed manner what you did to upgrade your 1.6 QR's?

Mark

MG1.6QR Crossover Upgrade [message #24639 is a reply to message #24638] Fri, 12 November 2004 13:47 Go to previous messageGo to next message
FredT is currently offline  FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (1st Degree)
The 1.6 crossover is very simple compard to the 3.6. You can find a schematic at http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/tweaks/mag16.jpg

The tweeter section is a first order consisting only of a stack of Solen caps, which I replaced with a stack of Northcreeks. Total value is 22uF, which I achieved by combining the following: 15, 6, 1 (Crescendo film and foil cap) and 0.1 (also a crescendo). The woofer circuit is second order using a 3.5mH 19 ga iron core inductor and a 25uF shunt capacitor. I took the 22uF Solen stack from the tweeter circuit and added a 3uF multicap to make the required 25uF. I replaced the stock inductor with a Northcreek 12 ga 3.5mH air core inductor. The upgrade parts will not fit in the cutout where the stock crossover is installed, so I enclosed the parts in a 3X6X8" plastic box from Radio Shack which I attached to the back of the speaker where the original crossover was located.


Consider an active crossover [message #24658 is a reply to message #24629] Fri, 28 January 2005 17:58 Go to previous message
rnhood is currently offline  rnhood
Messages: 11
Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
it will take the Maggie to another level. Of course you will need 4 amps. But heck, you didn't expect the life of an audiophile to be easy did you?

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