horn damping (rope caulk)

[fitzwaddle]

Anyone tried damping their SHO / PRO horns with rope caulk?

[tesseract]

I'm surprised that nobody has, yet. You want to cover the rope caulk with duct tape so that it doesn't dry out and fall off. Dynamat Extreme works great for damping horns, too.

There is also a mod that can be done to the compression driver, I'll look it up if there is interest.

[HuskerOmaha]

A) How would I know I need to do this.

B) What are the benefits that a person could tell immediately.

[fitzwaddle]

I don't know a ton about it - but remember reading about it as a potential upgrade to reduce horn "honkiness". With my SHO center, on some movie scenes, the dialog seems to sound a bit more "boxed in" / midrangey - not huge, not really objectionable, and probably a terrible description - but I notice it, and wonder if it could be better / more "transparent" sounding. So it got me wondering if resonance of the plastic horn could be responsible, and that made me think of the rope caulk damping tweak idea.

On other scenes, the dialog sounds more transparent. So its possible its just the source, dunno. Need to find a few scenes where its more pronounced, and then listen to that same scene in other HTs for comparison.

[cdy2179]

I actually have a few DIY parts laying around and actually have the same horn and CD the pro/sho uses. It's a very thin horn (yet nice sounding) and damping with rope caulk (found it at ACe Hardware) has made an audible improvement to my ears, especially at louder volumes.

[fitzwaddle]

Thanks cdy - does the lame description I provided of what I was hearing sound at all like what you experienced (and improved via the damping)?

Just wondering if I'm barking up the right tree or not - although I guess its not a huge time or money investment to just try it, and its reversible if I don't like it.

Maybe I'll see if I can do a before and after with REW if I do it, to see if there's a measureable change.

[HuskerOmaha]

Following.

[emac]

I've used rope caulk extensively with my Mini's and feel that it helps to clean up the sound quite a bit. Cheap tweak and easily reversible (as long as you don't go overboard). So, definitely worth a shot w/ horns.

[cdy2179]

Thanks cdy - does the lame description I provided of what I was hearing sound at all like what you experienced (and improved via the damping)?

Just wondering if I'm barking up the right tree or not - although I guess its not a huge time or money investment to just try it, and its reversible if I don't like it.

Maybe I'll see if I can do a before and after with REW if I do it, to see if there's a measureable change.

Yea, pretty much. The horn is pretty thin and without the rope I could hear slight harshness at loud levels. The CD is know in the DIY world to be a fantastic driver "for what it cost" but has a little break up in the upper freq. I thought this is what I was hearing but after returning my Pro-10s and testing out later with same drivers I think it was the horn resonating.

I have really good hearing which can be a curse.:cool: but yea the rope caulk seems to help that horn. It's a cheap an easy mod so why not.

[HuskerOmaha]

Yea, pretty much. The horn is pretty thin and without the rope I could hear slight harshness at loud levels. The CD is know in the DIY world to be a fantastic driver "for what it cost" but has a little break up in the upper freq. I thought this is what I was hearing but after returning my Pro-10s and testing out later with same drivers I think it was the horn resonating.

I have really good hearing which can be a curse.:cool: but yea the rope caulk seems to help that horn. It's a cheap an easy mod so why not.

Is there a little DIY on the proper way or is this as easy as I'm thinking it is.

[cdy2179]

Is there a little DIY on the proper way or is this as easy as I'm thinking it is.

I use this

http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&m=13&itemNumber=54925

Open the package and start wrapping:). It sticks very well and it's about 1.5" wide so it wraps quick.

[cubalis]

I did the rope caulk wrap a few days after getting my sho-10's. Made a noticeable difference reducing some reverb/honkyness at higher volumes. Easy to do and took 5 minutes per speaker.

Now, what is this compression driver mod that was mentioned?

[tesseract]

I'll look it up, might take awhile, several huge threads to dig through. It's been a long time since I read it, but it involves taking the compression driver apart and damping the rear cap with wool felt.

There is another mod that suggests coating the tweeter. DON'T do this mod.

[tesseract]

Still looking for the tweeter mod, been busy. I haven't heard any reports of the PRO/SHO tweeter being harsh, so I don't know if it's worth the trouble.

Here are some measurements of horn damping.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1886228&postcount=374

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1886261&postcount=376

[cdy2179]

While Ur doing easy mods, i'd try upgrading the insulation to r13. This is what's used used in thr pi speakers and many DIY designs. I swapped out the insulation in my jbl 3677 (thin insulation like the pro/sho) and it made big difference smoothing out the woofer. Also the pro10s I had, had the insulation rolled up in a large hump under the woofer's vent. It was so compressed when I removed the screws the woofer popped up 2". Big no no as that vent is there for a reason.