Posted on Sunday, 30th September 2007 by Auw Jimmy

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Still remember my old speaker below? If don’t, please check it here. This weekend, I have some spare time. Hmm… a little tweak is no harm, right? ;)

Currently, my speakers are considered to have a lot of mid tone. The high is somehow shadowed by the mid and the low tones. To tell you the truth, I’m a mid lover. This time, my target is to get a better high frequency. So, I have to play a little bit with the XO.

I have prepared some new components. I have a set of old Siemens Paper-In-Oil (PIO) capacitor. Made around 70′s, old stock. I measure them with my Capacitance and AVO Meter. Hm.. It looks good. I also get a pair of SFernice resistor. I think it will be good as replacement for my old Eagle resistor in my High Pass Circuit.

I also change the F3 for my High Pass Filter. I raise the F3 from around 2900 Hz to around 3600 Hz. From my experience, although the Vifa XT25TG has a low FS (around 500 Hz), but it has a lot of harmonic distortion under 2000 Hz. So the higher you cut it, the cleaner she will be. So this time, I alter the F3 to around 3600 Hz and replace my old Auricap with a set of Siemens PIO.

From the picture above, you can see my Siemens PIO capacitor. I use 3 Siemens PIO (two box size and one cylinder size) configured in parallel to get the necessary capacitance. You also can see the red resistor. It’s the famous and expensive SFernice resistor.

Photo above shows the overall of my XO (crossover). I love the sound of foil inductor from Alpha Core ;)

The sound:
I’m impress with the Siemens PIO capacitor. It sounds good with my Vifa XT25TG. But somehow, I think the high is a little bit too front (I think have to play a little bit with my input/shunt resistor or simply because I’m using a “hi-fi” solid state amplifier). The detail, expression, and staging are excellent. It’s surely better than my old Auricap as High Pass Filter. The treble is so crisp and detail. The alteration of the F3 to above 3000 Hz surely bring the maximum potential of my Vifa XT25TG. The “Ingram Washington – What A Difference A Day Makes” sounds very good, airy, transparent, and “wet”. I have to pair it with my future EL34 SE tube (on progress) and I think I’m on the right track.

I will play a little bit with the input/shunt resistor and maybe a film bypassing at the Siemens PIO will bring good result. Who knows? But not now, man! :) That’s enough for today. It takes around 5 hours of soldering and testing, but I do enjoy it.




Posted in DIY Audio, Personal | Comments (15)

15 Responses to “My DIY Speaker XO Mod”

  1. fx 5021 lover Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 13:19

    bravo bro Jimmy bwt mod XO-nya.. salute.. mo nanya soal caps yg warna hitam silinder (kl gk salah ada tulisan france-nya.. capacitancenya brapa n bisa di pasang di cd player gk? (dgn asumsi volt n uF-nya sama)



  2. Jimmy Auw Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 21:48

    Itu merek Solen… Capacitance-nya ya tergantung kebutuhan…



  3. Robby Says:
    May 20th, 2008 at 20:13

    Pak Jimmy sfernice nya dpt darimana? trs hrgnya brp yah? thx



  4. Jimmy Auw Says:
    May 21st, 2008 at 12:11

    Waduh ini barang lama bro… lupa dapat dari mana…
    Yang jelas harganya agak mahal… 100 ribuan satunya kalo ga salah…
    Thanks.



  5. Andi Says:
    June 13th, 2008 at 11:23

    Salam Hormat pak Jimmy,
    speakernya mau dilepas berapa pak ?
    trims..



  6. Jimmy Auw Says:
    June 13th, 2008 at 14:49

    Belum ada rencana mau dijual Pak.
    Lagian suara dan bentuknya biasa2 aja koq…
    Malu ah kalo buat dijual hehehe…
    Thanks atas perhatiannya.



  7. Andi Says:
    June 13th, 2008 at 18:58

    Niy die ilmu padi..
    oke deh…tapi kira-kira abis modal berapa pak Jim buat speaker begitu ?

    Salam



  8. Jimmy Auw Says:
    June 13th, 2008 at 23:24

    Saya sih kebanyakan experimennya… jadi abisnya agak banyak deh… agak males ngitunginnya… drivernya aja sepasang tweeter ama woofer mungkin 4 jutaan (lupa juga pastinya)… box, xo, kabel, etc mungkin lebih 4 jutaan kali … saya bikin box 2x soalnya… dan sempet nyicip Auricap yang harganya mayan juga tapi akhirnya gak dipake… jadi mungkin banyak abis duit buat nyoba2nya sih…

    Thanks.



  9. fajar Says:
    December 26th, 2008 at 02:03

    Gile lu nih speaker yg kita utak utik bisa ada di internet????



  10. Jimmy Auw Says:
    December 26th, 2008 at 21:14

    Uda lama gak gue utak atik lagi… nanti deh kita tes bareng ama si Aikido…



  11. Jimmy’s Junkyard » Blog Archive » My DIY Speaker (Another) Crossover Tweak Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 15:12

    [...] If you don’t have any idea about my DIY speaker, feel free to visit here and here. [...]



  12. joaquim sousa Says:
    October 31st, 2009 at 23:47

    Olá Jimmy
    I am impressed whit your crossover.
    I have the same tweeter, for a long time ago, and I can`t do anything with it…
    Can`t you give me a hand?
    Thanks in advance
    Best regards



  13. Jimmy Auw Says:
    November 1st, 2009 at 00:44

    Hi,
    You can try to cut it with 12dB with at least 2800 Hz. Around 3500 is recommended for even more “open” in mid-hi region.
    Thanks.



  14. borgs Says:
    July 8th, 2010 at 22:59

    how’s the K40Y cap 0.47uf u added? does it have the thick midrange presence and more analog feel?
    thanks



  15. Jimmy Auw Says:
    July 12th, 2010 at 21:56

    Yes, similar like that.



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