The SVS Ultras are designed as dual purpose speakers and their sound profile is such that it works for both films and music. If you're using them like that, I would be cautious modifying because what sounds good for music might not necessarily sound good for movies.
I have the Ultra bookshelf... Had them for awhile, and something is missing... I have the center channel too, I will be ordering both kits next week when you folks get back from Christmas break. Thanks for offering this service.
Spoke with Danny the other day, what a nice guy picked up the phone himself, he did not rush me off the phone as a result i purchased the sony upgrade kit and a speaker kit, great customer service something that hard to find.
Danny you need an automated email response that sends answers to your top 10 questions and then people can reply if that doesn't answer their question. You also need a page on the site that lists the speakers you have already evaluated, don't worry about pricing on that list, just have a list that you can easily update.
Good measurements should improve the sound but, is that the case with all speakers? Not so sure. I would like to see these performance improvents include listening session so that owners know what to expect. Realize that this will take time and increase the cost. Just a thought.
As opposed to freezing rain, which truly can be absolutely the worst ... causing broken tree limbs, downed power lines, and oftentimes, it magically turns motorists into idiots.
would enjoy seeing you do more teardowns of the speakers you are upgrading, showing the viewers what's inside various models - like @RoseAnvil does with boots. Show us what's inside and give them a grade and ideas on how to upgrade each one and what performance can be achieved, with your graphs & charts
Another great video Danny TYTY! I am glad to hear you addresses the realities of vintage speakers. Many of the 'classic' JBL speakers would be a no go for me due the particular front baffle and driver layout, as you politely state... the acoustic nature of the designs with "funky (my words) driver placement", sadly... there is no getting around it. GR Research designed speakers are in my future. I am thinking / really liking the open baffle designs...
Danny, you couldn’t make it any more clear or plain. It’s not hard. People make it hard by not listening and following clear and plain language. Keep up the good work Danny! Your solutions make smiles and make music sound better! Stay safe mates!😊👍🏻😷
Hello Danny, your videos are quite addicting. I am wondering if you got the chance to see the inside of the B&W CM 10 s2 and if by any chance you have a kit for that. Thanks a lot.
I agree with some others, a page on your site with a list of speakers you have already done the design work for would be great. They could click on it, see the list of parts or "the upgrade kit" (part number of said kit), then place in a kart for checkout to see the price. Or maybe a FAQ page would help. Whenever you receive emails asking questions, you refer them to the sites FAQ page and list of speakers page.
Another fun video. Thanks so much for your work Danny. I've enjoyed learning how to read the graphs with your clear and easy to understand explanations. Gotta quick question for you Danny. When you've designed and built a crossover, tested, tweaked, tested, changed out a component, tested, changed another, tested. looked at the response and all the curves etc. and are finally 'graph happy' What tunes do you like to play that you know well that you can just sit back and let that smile creep across your face as you realise the improvements you've made, casting all the technicalities aside and doing the 'pleasure test'? Distance is a problem for me to send you speakers so I'm considering one of your kits. Looking forward to that journey. Thanks again from NZ. P.S hairs looking good. You'd fit in well down here, especially if you're into a bit of rock.
Comparative listening has been done on each type of part, component, wire, etc. So I already know what to expect or what the result will be. And then the crossover is designed to achieve an accurate response free of errors. And I am still old school. I do like to rock.
What is your opinion on the Infinity range of speakers? I have 2 pairs of Infinity R125s and I personally love the sound of them. Just interested if you have seen or heard these and your thoughts about them
You know? It would be very enlightening if you could have the person most responsible for a speaker's design with you while you are doing one of these things. They could explain what they were thinking and what constraints they were working under. And we could learn what measurements they had at their disposal when they designed the crossover. They could tell us what options were available to them in terms of component selection as well as their understanding of the effects such choices would have on the final sound of their design. It just a thought. Love these videos btw. They are each and every one a "Master Class" in speaker design I could only have dreamed of back in 1986 when I was first bitten by the high fidelity bug and I appreciate them very much.
Recently discovered your channel and it's very informative and entertaining and interesting. Do you have videos on speakers you like straight from the manufacturer without the need to upgrade ? If you don't have such videos can you do one where you recommend different tower and shelf speakers at different price points and maybe do a video for HI FI and one for watching TV and movies but not necessarily a home theatre. Look forward to watching more of your videos .
Can one of you guys send Yamaha NS-F700 speaker to Danny please? Recently opened my to see what's inside and I was shocked. Really love the speakers tho.
I was also. I upgraded some Carnegie CST-1's. I'm impressed ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YeuULgzIUC4.html This video barely captures the notable improvement.
Another great talk Danny. i'm trying to wrap my head around how much you can do to the inside of the "box" when upgrading. I mean I have a set of speakers I want to upgrade the crossover parts to (better parts, same specs), and I was wondering if adding stuff to deadning the box resonances would require any changes in the crossover? It's a ported box, and hardly any dampening materlial inside (that is visual). Is there any thing to watch out for in this regards?
Hi Danny, just love your channel and attitude. Might be my path getting into kits one day, though might miss some skills. Question for now: Buchardt S400 - ever offered a parts upgrade for the crossover network? Guess overall quality is ok but there was a limited edition with Jantzen stuff. Any plans?
I have a few vintage speakers with ferrofluid tweeters.. Could you talk a little on FF tweeters in the future?? do they dry out and lose their sound quality? TY
Love these vids . Danny could make a list of all speakers he already went thru with upgrades and has all upgrade details in archives. Point is, these speakers may not have to be shipped to Danny and he may have a DIY kit just for you all ready with out shipping speakers back and forth...
I am so very much looking forward to being able to purchase an upgrade kit for these SVS Ultra bookshelves. I am very impressed with the upgraded Carnegie CST-1's that I purchased from you.
You know the SVS ultras sound really good for their price . They have a special sound stamp. Also the good performance of a speaker comes from good amplifier matching. What if this upgrade will change the machine with my amplifier since It was upgrades using Danny’s amp. Last one , good quality speaker sound is decided by our ears and not measurements which are only baseline information. Thanks
@@dannyrichie9743 you should definitely check out some of these comments about having a database for all of the speakers you've already upgraded in the past and maybe a bit of what you did to each. I'm on the fence of buying either a full set of Ohm Walsh 3000 speakers or Monitor Audio Silvers including the 500 and would love to know if you've previously worked on them
Have you ever worked on the B&W 705 S2 ??? I’m curious what you would think / feel needs upgrading. Knowing B&W I would assume the crossover is prob in needing of upgrading the most.
Thanks for this video Danny! Is there a web page/list where can we find out what speakers you've already looked at? I'm interested in mods/upgrades for the ELAC uni-fi UB5.
@@dannyrichie9743 Thanks Danny. I imagine I'll be building some X-LS Encores somewhere down the road...unless you've got any new stand mount designs/kits in the works?
Do you have a data base of speakers that you have previously „upgraded“, for example I have a pair of Tannoy DTM 10‘s that could very well do with some upgrade to cabinet damping/crossover/binding posts/wiring, unfortunately sending them to you from Germany would make no economic sense, I am a professional sound engineer and System engineer, I use AMFG SysTune for System analysis but I am not trained in traditional crossover design, only dsp based design, could I send you measurements and you then design a crossover?
Danny sometimes in the near future you may like to talk about VOICING the speakers, e.g. what is your opinion about BBC dip, or a gradual sloping down above 5khz to 20Khz by about 1-2dB, a general comment about voicing a pair of spkrs like a fashion for that era?
I have often wondered it was a (long term listening) tonal preference, simply the nature of cone materials used... to reduce "driver anomalies" in the crossover region or even possibly the crossover itself... A great question, I would love to hear Danny's perspective and possible solution for the phenomenon. I am thinking the 'classic' B&W 801 and or the LS5/9, I spent a lot of time with both (in the day) I am not sure if I could live with them today.
hi , there just curious, you make a case against the wide baffle of vintage speakers, i don't have but Harbeth has a model 40.2 ................ 3 way with 12 inch woofer very wide baffle/ any comments on that , please
I don't charge anything to test, measure and evaluate it. If it is big and requires a lot of un-packing and repacking then there will have to be a handling fee.
Hi Danny, I bought Super V's from you and love them. How does the Encore compare to the Tyler Acoustic speaker you designed? I want to buy a good pair of bookshelves for my son. Thanks in advance.
Hi Danny, love your channel so thanks for the great service you provide. I’m from Australia so naturally it’d be economically prohibitive to send you my heavy JBL4312 monitors. Being a fairly common speaker system, do you have an off the shelf upgrade for these? I understand that you don’t do that but I thought you may have done some in the past and might have a design that you know works. Alternatively do you know someone down here that you could recommend? Cheers.
@Da LimOh, for sure a chunk of brass with a steel nut does a better job at ensuring the path of least resistance, as long as it's gold plated and connects directly to a PCB with electrolytics and dental floss inductors.
@Da Lim They are called that because they have a baseless belief and refuse to hear anything to the contrary. And they stand firm on a position of ignorance.
Danny, I've got a question about many of the vintage JBLs, like Kenrick sound work with. People are crazy about them and Kenrick do top quality restorations and modifications, the drive units are obviously great quality, but the cabinets break every rule in your design book...is it just that people who like the JBLs aren't concerned with imaging and colouration?
Those Kenrick JBLs represent both a collector's item, and a high performance loudspeaker. Individuals purchasing those loudspeakers want the classic visual aesthetic that comes with those big front baffles. Keep in mind most all of those were designed to be flush mounted in a soffit. The large baffles mate well with flush mounting. Big soffited studio monitors don't resolve the perceived soundstage depth that home enthusiasts can generate with careful setup/placement well away from boundaries. In the studio soundstage depth details are forsaken to eliminate SBIR via a coherent hemispheric wavelaunch into the room. Without the FR ripple of SBIR, a smooth frequency response results. Also higher output, lower distortion, linear/low compression dynamics even at realistically high playback levels. Of all those gorgeous Kenrick offerings, I dig the big JBL cabinets, ... the blue baffled studio monitors, as well as the various iterations of the Everest line. However, my all time fave is likely the various TAD equipped Kinoshita two ways from Rey ... those beautiful solid wood HF horns. Still to this day, the great George Augsburger monitors (that are installed everywhere) mimics that same classic mtm approach to a simple, 15" two-way, high-output/low distortion studio monitors.
@@FOH3663 Thanks for the explanation. I too love the look of those JBLs, although I've never listened for real. I have to say though, many of the homes Kenrick install in hardly achieve "...setup/placement well away from boundaries." Some barely fit in the room! I guess in the end it's all a matter of personal priorities....
I'd wager you could come up with a better crossover for the thousands of Advents available to play with. Especially the Smaller Advents which have the smaller baffle that you prefer.
Great video! I noticed that you said the Ultra Bookshelf speaker was 4 ohm. But, SVS lists this one and all its Ultra speakers at 8 ohm. Is SVS misleading us with their official specs?
@@dannyrichie9743 thanks for your response and all the videos. Really wish these companies would simply be truthful in their specs. It’s like they’re afraid to put anything but 8 ohm on the speaker.
I certainly understand we some people would like to "upgrade" their vintage speakers, but is it really worth it? For the amount of money you're going to put into them, the better option would be to buy new speakers. There are some really nice speakers out there that won't break the bank and will blow those old puppies out of the water! Leave the old ones alone, and enjoy them for what they were.
We had a speaker building contest at work where I used my SVS Ultra Bookshelves as a reference. A coworker built the Danny's base X-LS kit which we listened to first. We then hooked up and listened to My SVS Ultra's . We didn't even finish the first song before EVERYONE in the room wanted to switch back to the GR X-LS speakers. The difference was that apparent. To all SVS Ultra owners, save you money on upgrading them but instead sell them and buy Danny's X-LS or another GR speaker kit. This is what I did, I sold the Ultras as well as all my other commercially made speakers now own a pair of X-LS, X-Omnis, NX-Studios, and Insignias (Best Buy) with the GR crossover upgrade in custom cabinets.
Omnis use the same drivers as the X-LS except the woofer faces straight up which makes it "OMNI"- directional. See the "AV-O" which is on the website, same setup with X-LS drivers. Contact Danny for pricing, will be higher than X-LS at least in part because there are some bigger capacitors in the crossover. Crossover is significantly different the X-LS so you can't just buy the X-LS kit and switch driver placement. Interesting speaker, if you have rooms in back of the speaker like I do sound quality does not change in the lower frequencies in back of the speaker because of the woofer placement.
@@kenzilla8096, it's the bane of audio... High end quality sucks ben-franklins like a vacuum. Thankfully, these days, it's possible to do much research before making mistaken purchases. Be perceptive, Daniel Ritchie shoots it straight, listen carefully and deeply, be thoughtful of what you wish to accomplish for your goal, .... and then... you will be happy with your decisions. Danny Ritchie is bigger than the Audio-Jesus, anything that he says that you don't understand,... It's is because of your lack of development at that point of your life :-) Perform work in your development of what you wish to accomplish. Danny Ritchie will tell you how to arrive to your desired destination.
Check out the other gentleman's comment in this video's comments list. Comparing the SVS to one of Danny's kits. It seemed to be no contest. I purchased and upgraded some Carnegie CST-1's from Danny. I was hoping the carnegies would be nearly as good as the SVS Ultra bookshelf, and I was quite surprised that they are significantly better, especially after-upgrade. If I was not stuck with the "wife-aesthetic-decor look" of the SVS Ultras, I would probably not purchase them first, to then upgrade them.
i would like to upgrade my small spendor standmount speakers with gr-research diy ones. but i can not seem to find a option i would like. a sealed box narrow speaker would be to my liking. if i lived in the same continent i would get some drivers and send them over and pay for crossover done right, i do speaker design and play around with visuals, but stuck at crossover design.
@@dannyrichie9743 that would be a good choice, but i rather have a m130 version and maybe a MTM configuration. i was hoping there was a NX-Studio with 5" woofer.
@@dannyrichie9743 i totally missed that option, guess i did not look at all the options, but i also have questions about using center channel as main speakers, is there any tuning to make the center version work near boundaries or otherwise home theatre oriented?
yes for the subwoofers when people have 1000+watts to the speaker. Typical home audio will have 100watts or less and normally you may he surprised to know that even with a regular 100watt per channel amp, it is only putting out a few watts normally.
Ha! I would say always! My ears always get the final say. I don't care what the measurement is, if it don't sound right to my ears, I won't be happy with it. After all, I'm not trying to make the computer happy, it's my ears that need to be happy!
yes they are but not the dodgy Chinese kits. gives you better excursion on the lower frequencies and placement against the wall prevents booming from the rear Port
@@dannyrichie9743 After building an early kit version of that design with the cheaper drivers and crossovers, and comparing them to the higher end factory built in the retailer’s show room, I’d be inclined to agree with you. Frankly, I’d probably take a pair of mid 80’s Boston A150’s over the AN-Es.
@@dannyrichie9743 Hi Danny, There are 18 variations of the AN-E, from affordable to the price of a house. Almost all models have the exact same cabinet, tweeter and driver, except for the few very expensive models that have an Alnico driver magnets. The price difference is in the crossover, internal cabling and silver voice coils. I really like that small baffle speakers have the 'perfect' shape and have less surface reflections, because of WAF and not having a huge speaker in de living room .. But I would really like to understand why the AN-E sounds so incredibly to lots of people. I dont mean mainstream guys who like b & w crap, but really music lovers. I even believe that they make the cabinet resonate correctly and this has a positive effect on certain overtones perhaps. Are you sure they were listening to Audio Note speakers and not cheaper Peter Snell speakers, they look quite the same?
I've noticed that you said this speaker is 4 Ohms and you've said some other SVS speakers are 4ohms as well in different videos that I've watched. Why is it that SVS labels them as 8 ohm speakers?
I got a wife that was manufactured in 1988 and here recently the high and midrange started sounding off at random , could something be wrong in her crossover and is there a fix? 😆 just kidding awesome video brother!
Nice! Yes, there is a fix ... but this one is a DIY project for sure. You're right, get in there and fiddle with that crossover, sometimes it just takes a little bit of work to achievethe response you want. Please, don't try to upgrade, ... you never know what you'll get or what it'll cost you! Also, don't worry about the enclosure, it's what's inside that counts. I know, and she's right, Meghan Trainor says, it's "All About That Bass". Please be mindful, everyone enjoys a couple details in the middle, but one needs to address both the 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘥;) Coming up on four decades with my beautiful vintage piece. And although Meghan Trainor is right, ... I'm also down with Harry Styles' "Watermelon Sugar"... yep, indeed. All the best brother
@@FOH3663 thanks brother for the prompt reply and yes sir you were right just a little jiggling on the wires worked wonders! P.S your response made our day as we love to joke and pick with each other because we're facing dark days atm and going through her battle with cancer has taken it's toll on her and just to see her smile makes all the difference in the world to us.
Why to knock the box with hand and use ears to determine if the box is resonating? Why not measure it with sensors and compare before - after results? This is only way to validate the solution.
Danny - I know I must be getting old when I spend more time watching your videos than listening to music - Joke for Danny = "If the earth is flat, why are most speaker drivers round?" - Could not resist the pun - Thanks for your vids
Better crossover components equals better sound, but as far as "very smeared sound" on those SVS's Bullshit. Maybe in comparison to another very specific speaker they may sound more smeared than the other..There are definitely improvements to be made but "appreciable" improvements needs to be kept in mind instead of just throwing money at it past the line of diminishing returns. Especially when attempting to surpass the limits and capabilities of the original design (drivers and cabinet). Not every little dip and hump in the response HAS to be tinkered with. Good sound can exist without the perfect flat line response. those dips and humps are sometimes the character of the speaker that you like and changing to far may lose that character. That said, Danny does definitely know what he's doing. Just keep your own goals in mind for your speaker. As far as replacing drivers then you're basically talking about a different speaker. Companies like Polk have new drivers that are specifically compatible with old designs. Throwing any old driver (even a "better" one) in an old box is creating a completely different speaker altogether. That's when it's worth learning how to do some measurements and designing yourself. On old $100 speakers you're better off having fun with them while learning to do it yourself than sending it out and spending $500 on the "perfect" crossovers. Kabuki's are just meant to be loud, high sensitivity fun. They are what they are. There are huge built in flaws with those designs and as Danny said, not worth attempting to upgrade.
Compared to any of our products that we have in house or compared to anything I am used to listening to, the SVS and most all other speakers in its class that use budget level parts have a smeared sound. That's just a given when using a bunch of electrolytic caps. And if I have to design a whole new crossover to fix obvious issues then I'll address all the issues and make them more accurate across the board. And a hump in the response, or some woofer cone break up is never an appreciable character. And the cost of the upgrade will come in well below $500. It will be about half of that. So fixing them will be quite the bargain.
@@dannyrichie9743 I understand. I was hyperbolic in some statements but was mainly trying to make 2 points the point of picking and choosing what one decided to upgrade. And that you can upgrade your speakers right out of the character that you may have liked to begin with, as I have found out first hand after spending $200 on upgrades to Polk monitor 7's and though ending up with much more clarity and resolution, not being exactly happy with the drastically different result because it changed the fundamental sound of the speaker that I liked to begin with . That's why I mentioned keeping in mind your own goals for the speaker. This does speak to the fact that these upgrades definitely can make a huge difference though.
@@joanfrederick9176 am not buying into any crap, I have been into audio for 35 years and I have not owned a set of speakers that could not be improved, I know that because I have upgraded crossovers myself and I have listened to the difference with my own ears (and I don't buy into the placebo effect with upgrades) but there are things that I do not have the experience or knowledge to change myself, that is why I know someone like Danny could do what I am not able to do. Don't be a shit disturber, what difference does it make to you if someone wants to upgrade their speakers? it is not your money we are spending.
"Sign me up" for when an upgrade kit is available for SVS-ultra. Maybe I can get my SVS Ultras, to catch up, somewhat, with the GR-upgraded Carnegie CST-1's.
