Wrong/different woofers in my monitors???

[Lowfreq]

Hey everyone.

Recently I've been doing a lot more mixing, and my monitors have bcome increasingly frustrating. You know the "checking it on heaps of other systems ans they all sound nothing like what I heard on my monitors...... :evil:

I've built some big ass corner broadband traps and am in the process of building more, so the room in not the culprit in this case.............me thinks..............

I kinda thought my monitors just suck as they're cheapies(Alesis m1's mkII passives), but since I blew a one of the woofers a couple of years ago and had it replaced, the bass response has been poo.
I kinda put up with it, coz I was enjoying spending my money on other diy toys..........

Anyway, recently I was doing some drum tracking with a friend, and he kept commenting on how different the overhead mics sounded.......... until I pointed out that it wasn't the mics but my speakers....

The speakers even look different, so last night I cracked em open.
The replacement speaker is 8ohm opposed to the othe speaker which has a 4ohm speaker (The m1's mkII) should be 4ohms from memory)

So I think they've put in this speaker http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=299-164 which is from the m1 mkII active series

Is 8 ohms and a corbon fibre type compared to the origional speaker which is at 4 ohms and is a polypropylene type.

Puting a kick drum loop in Pro Tools and panning from left to right shows differences in both low end and volume, with the replacment spekaer sounding weaker and not as full. Obviously the differnece in the ohms coming into play here. The tweeters are also 4ohms. Does that mean I'm getting a brighter mix out of my messed up speaker cab. More tweet less woof?

Parts express also have this which is form the origional m1's not the mkII version. Seems hard to find mkII passive speakers
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=299-162

Now I know nothing about speaker design, and I could spend some money on replacement speakers for BOTH my speakers like the Daytons, but am I wasting my time. Is the whole cabinet/speaker matching thing gonna come into play, or are the Alesis not that accuarte anyway. They seem to get bagged a lot.

Replacement speakers seem cheap enough, but the shipping for two works out around $100US :shock: , where as I can get a new pair of Alesis from music123.com for $199Us shipped to NZ for Free :shock:

It seems pointless to spend money on getting the same speakers when I could step up the qualtiy and accuracy. I just want to have some fullness back. I 'm sick of my mixes being all boomy on other systems

Maybe move onto some tannoys or Adams. (Now were starting to ask gearslutz type questions), or is it worth doing the diy thing and replacing with the better woofers, or even tweeters as well???? And keep the cabinet??? I want to stay passive, as I have an amp, and if I order actives from the US (coz they're cheaper), then I have to also get a stepdown voltage transformer.

What say you people???

p.s sorry about ant of my spelling......... in a rush and late for work :wink:

 

[Lowfreq]

Oh, and I could strech my budget for monitors to $1000NZ ($800US), if I'm tight with my money over the next month. :wink:

 

[Lowfreq]

Bumpidy bump bump :wink:

 

[ioaudio]

i bought some event tr6
http://www.zzounds.com/item--EVETR6 for my workshop (testing equip on the bench) and i was/am quite surprised about the balance/detail/resolution of these speakers.

 

[drpat]

Allright, you want some commentary? I'll bite...

In my opinion, studio monitors should be the 1st item on your budget, not the last. Everything in your studio that you adjust, will be based on what your monitors tell your ears... everything. I'm not saying that you should pay more for your monitors than any other piece of gear, however, you should rent or borrow or "work on" as many as you can before you commit to buying. This includes checking mixes on a lot of other systems to see how the monitors translate.

The nicest EQ in the world can be adjusted wrong, if you're not hearing it right to begin with. Compression artifacts, detail, effects, tonal balance and sibilance are all things that can be heard easier on a quality pair of monitors.

There is also the issue of hearing protection... Clean, low distortion monitor systems will help to protect your hearing. I'm a huge fan of grossly overpowered nearfields that are fused to protect the speaker. Might be a good option for you, if your careless (like me) or you allow Bevis to work in your room.

 

[Lowfreq]

Cool. I guess I'm more asking if it's worth to go the DIY route and mess with different components, or if I'm just wasting my time.

I know there was some threads on diy monitors, and maybe people had a better opinion on certain brands etc

I kinda get the feeling that I could be barking up the wrong tree, and new monitors are in order, but I guess I like the DIY attitude... :roll:

 

[SSLtech]

Two words:

Thiele-Small.

Keith

 

[usekgb]

You can definitely DIY a great pair of studio monitors, but how much is your time worth to you? It's not just some simple little process to design and built a great pair of monitors. You have diffraction effects, baffle step LF loss, crossover interaction, phase shift in ported systems, time alignment difficulties, etc, etc, etc... If this is you first DIY monitor attempt, and you want something accurate, you may want to go with a kit instead of designing from the ground up. I know there a couple of companies doing kits on your side of the world, but I just can't think of names right now.
If you just want something good out of the box, there are many great options out there and just as many different opinions on which one is best. The red Tannoy Reveals (the passive ones) do a pretty good job, as do the Tannoy Precisions. Many people really like the Event monitors, but I find them a bit boomy with a high Q near the port tuning frequency. If you can find them, good 'ol NS10's do the job. You may hate the tweeter, but at least they translate pretty well. If you can afford it, take a look at the ADAM ANF10's. Spendy little beasts, but talk about transparent highs!

Cheers,
Zach

 

[Lowfreq]

[quote author="SSLtech"]Two words:

Thiele-Small.[/quote]Oh Dear, now my brain hurts. Thats a lot of info.

[quote author="usekgb"]but how much is your time worth to you?[/quote]
Um... yes, you have a great point there. I do have other things I should be dedicating my time too, like finishing my next song and working on my EP. My girlfriend keeps reminding me about that. ha ha I have no idea with building speakers...........

I've been norrowing it down to pretty much the Tannoy Prescions or the ANF10. I thought the ANF10 were only $399 each?? Thats not too bad. And the precison 8 passives are between $759-$949 depending on if it's a blemished item............ Belmished in what way?? If it still works fine I wouldn't care.(as long it's not the speakers that are belmished). They retail for $2000NZ here($1600US). Thats a difference of $851US!!!! However, there's no-one in NZ who brings in the Adams, so it could be a good chance to grab some of those.

My only concern is everyone talks about the lack of low end on the cheaper Adams. I'm struggling with that at the moment, even with treatment in my room. Where as the Tannoy precisions are a bigger speaker which would be good for more bottom. I can't tell what I'm doing in the low end at all with my mismatched speakers.

If music123 come to the party and offer free international shipping like their site says it does, I think it's gonna be down to a deisicion between these two.

Oh dear this thread is becoming less and less DIY and more like gearslutz...........

Maybe I should start a new thread in the brewery........

 

[emrr]

I find it very difficult to track down every necessary parameter when contemplating an alternate DIY driver replacement for an existing system. I either can't find the parameters of the aftermarket speakers, or of the original part I'm attempting to substitute. Or of the tweeter and crossover mated to the driver I need. At some point it just becomes easier to ditch the old and go to something new, unless you just happen to get all the right info. As you said, the replacement cost may outweigh the restoration value too.