Computer Speaker System Tweak Advice

[sascha]

I acquired a Cambridge Soundworks (Creative) PC Works set and they sound, well, a little shouty on one end and muddy on the other. It is a 4 ohm setup with a total 17w. I think the XO is around 200mHz. Does it make any sense to get some inexpensive car audio (Goldwood #290-301; Pyle #267-716), or other 4 ohm drivers, to replace the existing drivers and keep the amp and XO parts? Is there a reason not to use car speakers in such a system? Or is that just a waste of time and $$? I realize that most of this is subjective, but that's why I'm asking you guys!

Thanks in advance.

[hulan]

> I acquired a Cambridge Soundworks (Creative)
> PC Works set and they sound, well, a little
> shouty on one end and muddy on the other. It
> is a 4 ohm setup with a total 17w. I think
> the XO is around 200mHz. Does it make any
> sense to get some inexpensive car audio
> (Goldwood #290-301; Pyle #267-716), or other
> 4 ohm drivers, to replace the existing
> drivers and keep the amp and XO parts? Is
> there a reason not to use car speakers in
> such a system? Or is that just a waste of
> time and $$? I realize that most of this is
> subjective, but that's why I'm asking you
> guys!

> Thanks in advance.

At first, I had a lot to say, but I just deleted it. You would probably be better off just leaving well enough alone as it would be very difficult to change out any drivers that would go well with their built in crossover and tiny boxes. About the best I could suggest would be a notch filter in series with the satellites, but you would need measurements to see what frequencies the drivers are "shouting" at you with. My best guess would be somewhere between 2-4 kHz.

[geoffswenson]

It is pretty easy to find out which frequency, if you have some modest ability to sing, just hum along with the music until you are matching the sound that is too loud. If you have access to keyboard that makes it even easier. But once you know which note is playing too loud, it is pretty easy to look up the frequency of the note.

The right notch filter could make a big difference, but on the other hand, you can get some much better sound from new Logitech speakers for around $60, so there is not a lot of reason to mess around with them. Now this won't be hifi but it will actually be tolerable to listen to compared to the cambridge speakers.

> At first, I had a lot to say, but I just
> deleted it. You would probably be better off
> just leaving well enough alone as it would
> be very difficult to change out any drivers
> that would go well with their built in
> crossover and tiny boxes. About the best I
> could suggest would be a notch filter in
> series with the satellites, but you would
> need measurements to see what frequencies
> the drivers are "shouting" at you
> with. My best guess would be somewhere
> between 2-4 kHz.

[sascha]

> It is pretty easy to find out which
> frequency, if you have some modest ability
> to sing, just hum along with the music until
> you are matching the sound that is too loud.
> If you have access to keyboard that makes it
> even easier. But once you know which note is
> playing too loud, it is pretty easy to look
> up the frequency of the note.

> The right notch filter could make a big
> difference, but on the other hand, you can
> get some much better sound from new Logitech
> speakers for around $60, so there is not a
> lot of reason to mess around with them. Now
> this won't be hifi but it will actually be
> tolerable to listen to compared to the
> cambridge speakers.

I thought much the same as both of you have sensibly commented (except the humming part-I don't want to scare the house pets!). My thinking was that for only $20 and building a modest pair of speaker boxes - pretty painless for me b/c I work in a wood shop - the sound might be much improved without having to build a system (full-range drivers, amps, XO, sub, volume control, etc.) from scratch or tinker with too much else.

On the other hand, it may be a good introduction to filters and speaker electronics for me to play with this system to see where I can get it. Maybe it is time to invest in a mic and some software. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[geoffswenson]

If you were going to invest in a mic and software, it might be a good idea to have a better starting place for the drivers as well.

If you are on a budget to fix these drivers, perhaps you can fix them using your ears some inexpensive parts and some modeling software. The UniBox and PassiveDesigner excel spreadsheets are free and do a pretty good job of modeling. I would really love to play around with Leap but it is about 20x as pricey as I think is reasonable for my hobby. Any other low cost software I have tried is worse by far than the free spreadsheets.

<A HREF="http://home20.inet.tele.dk/kou/ubmodel.html">http://home20.inet.tele.dk/kou/ubmodel.html</A>
<A HREF="http://www.pvconsultants.com/audio/crossover/pcd.htm">http://www.pvconsultants.com/audio/crossover/pcd.htm</A>

[denton]

If you are like many of us audio addicts you have some stereo stuff laying around. I wasn't pleased with the Logitech PC speakers I had so I hooked up an old receiver and a pair of Polk bookshelf speakers I had sitting around. MUCH better.

[kene]

...that wouldn't require building anything would be lining those cheap plastic speaker enclosures with dynamat. Then it could become worth your while to throw in some inexpensive HiVis or other wide-band drivers.