I have really been enjoying my new immersion into building speakers as a way of entertaining myself during this period of Covid isolation. Since December I have built 3 pairs of speakers: the C-Note MT full kit from P.E., Paul's Overnight Sensations later modified to the Overnight Sensations TMM, and now Paul's Amiga. After owning over 3 dozen "high-end" brands including B&W, Dynaudio, ProAc, Avalon, Dunlavy and others, I have been extremely impressed with the sound quality of these diy designs.
After gaining experience in cabinet cutting and assembly, especially the results I achieved with the Overnight TMM, I felt confident to proceed with building the Amiga's. Once built, I played track 8 of the Sheffield XLO burn-in recording for over 100 hours to break the Amigas in. After several hours of listening with various placements of the speakers, I have been unable to arrive at a satisfying experience.
While the bass has been extremely impressive, the overall tonal balance I pick up is a sort of amber coloration and lack of openness. This is in contrast to the cleaner, clearer sound of the Overnight TMM, which also has great bass, but does not reach the lowest depths of the Amiga. With several recordings the amber coloration lended a nice touch to the music, especially with piano and symphonic pieces, but I prefer a more neutral sound.
So now I am wondering what my options are. Is there a way to modify the sound of the Amiga? The cabinets are completely and permanently sealed, but I screw mounted the xover board on the wall directly behind the woofer for easy removal. So I can modify the xover, and replace the drivers. I don't know if the coloration comes from the Dayton RS180 aluminum cone midbass or the Peerless DX25TG59-04 tweet. Personally, I have always preferred the sound of paper cones.
I am more than willing to replace the drivers with suitably sized replacements. I want to use the same 30 l cabinets of course. I found several 6 1/2" and 7 1/2" drivers that could fit, and I am willing and able to modify the cutout if needed. I have not yet researched a possible replacement for the tweeter.
I am wondering if the easiest thing I could try first is using an L-pad attenuator in place of the R2 resistor on the tweeter.
Unfortunately, I am not educated enough in xover mods nor to I have the test equipment to determine what changes I could make to the xover. I am willing to pay or trade for some xover expertise to someone who can offer help. Or, would I be better of trying to sell for parts or sell as-is.
Here are some photos:


I can't put a finish on the cabinets until I can get in the garage when it's warmer.
The speakers look distorted due to the camera lens

After gaining experience in cabinet cutting and assembly, especially the results I achieved with the Overnight TMM, I felt confident to proceed with building the Amiga's. Once built, I played track 8 of the Sheffield XLO burn-in recording for over 100 hours to break the Amigas in. After several hours of listening with various placements of the speakers, I have been unable to arrive at a satisfying experience.
While the bass has been extremely impressive, the overall tonal balance I pick up is a sort of amber coloration and lack of openness. This is in contrast to the cleaner, clearer sound of the Overnight TMM, which also has great bass, but does not reach the lowest depths of the Amiga. With several recordings the amber coloration lended a nice touch to the music, especially with piano and symphonic pieces, but I prefer a more neutral sound.
So now I am wondering what my options are. Is there a way to modify the sound of the Amiga? The cabinets are completely and permanently sealed, but I screw mounted the xover board on the wall directly behind the woofer for easy removal. So I can modify the xover, and replace the drivers. I don't know if the coloration comes from the Dayton RS180 aluminum cone midbass or the Peerless DX25TG59-04 tweet. Personally, I have always preferred the sound of paper cones.
I am more than willing to replace the drivers with suitably sized replacements. I want to use the same 30 l cabinets of course. I found several 6 1/2" and 7 1/2" drivers that could fit, and I am willing and able to modify the cutout if needed. I have not yet researched a possible replacement for the tweeter.
I am wondering if the easiest thing I could try first is using an L-pad attenuator in place of the R2 resistor on the tweeter.
Unfortunately, I am not educated enough in xover mods nor to I have the test equipment to determine what changes I could make to the xover. I am willing to pay or trade for some xover expertise to someone who can offer help. Or, would I be better of trying to sell for parts or sell as-is.
Here are some photos:
I can't put a finish on the cabinets until I can get in the garage when it's warmer.
The speakers look distorted due to the camera lens
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