Unshielded Speakers - Axiom Message Boards

No one wants to answer me!!!!!!! I am getting a 65 inch rear pro sony and the speakers I have now are unshielded.... I don't want to buy new speakers. Is there a way to shield them? If not, how far away should they be? And yes I eat glass....... HA HA HA

glasseater,

RPTVs quite aren't as susceptible to magnetic interference as direct-view CRT TVs because RPTV tubes are generally located at the bottom of the cabinet. But to answer your question more definitively I need to know what kind of speakers you have now and how you would like to (ideally) position them next to the TV.

If you have towers, then the woofers may indeed interfere with the picture tubes. If you have bookshelves, then you shouldn't have any problems.

I am using Klh 9915s for my mains. They are 4 way speakers with a 15 woof, about 5.5 mid with a tweed and a (super?) tweeder. I would like them as close to the tv as possible but I know the magnets on the 15s are pretty big....

A super tweeder? Is that like an ivy-league graduate in a jacket? LOL, couldn't resist.

You mean these puppies?

I have no idea whether or not they will interfere with the TV. What I can say, however, is that upgrading to Axioms -- when you can afford to -- will make a HUGE difference in your enjoyment of movies and music.

ROFL. Peter, fatherhood is making you funnier.

glasseater, are you in the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow or anything? My wife went to high school with Mr. Lifto, who stroke a strikingly tweedy pose as president of the young Republicans at the time. He went through a bit of a life change.

Okay, blatant thread hijack. Sorry.

On the shielding question, I'd get some Axioms and move the KLH's to Zone 2. The old "give it a try and see what happens" method could work too. Absent those options, you *might* be able to find some heavy flashing at HD and mount it inside the cabinet or something. I'm totally speculating and I am not a metallurgist.

Is it beer-thirty yet?

You eeevil tempter! And I've got some "It's a boy" cigars sitting right here just waiting to be smoked in the beer garden down the block!

My first question is, why does it seem people not at all affilated with axiom anything end up here all the time.

Why do people ask questions such as this when they can just try it and find out themselves?!

OK now to the topic...

The magnets in those KLH (havent said that name in ages) are soo small they probbly wont even interfere. My first speakers were a pair of KLH's and take it from me. it gets alot better then those. so send em to "zone 2" ie garage sale special and buy some Axiom's while your here.

GE, a precise answer to your question probably isn't possible, since it would vary with the strength of the magnets in the speakers and the position of the TV tube. It's been said that in general a 3 foot separation should be enough.

I don't think anyone can give you a definitive answer. It seems to me that it would depend on how big the magnets are in the speaker. I would bet that if they are at least 18" away you wouldn't have a problem. Check out this thread at agoraquest: http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4607&forum=49. You should aslo do a google search for "unshielded speakers".

What do you wash that glass down with

.

Alan answered a question like this many moons ago:

In reply to:

Hi Bill,
Your a/d/s center obviously isn't shielded. An extra magnet is usually added that counteracts the spurious force fields of the speaker's magnetic assembly. Ian might have some additional information on this matter.

Years ago, a special metal called mu-metal was used to shield magnetic phono cartridges from the radiated fields of the turntable motors. But it was much too expensive to use for speaker shielding.

II recall publishing an item in the very early days of Home Theater (early 1980s) about using a sheet of "cold, rolled steel" that you could place under a speaker to prevent interference with the picture tube. I'll look in my files and see if I can root out the gauge of steel you had to use. . .

Alan Lofft
Axiom Resident Expert

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=ST&Number=1851&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1

Ok OK OK... I realize this is a board for Axiom speakers.. They look awsome and I bet they sound great but what I want to know is.... My Klhs boast a range of 20- 20 freq response... They can handle 300 watts.. they sound clean and the bass is tight and low.... What makes a speaker like say... Axiom...so much better? I deal with music for a living, I have a recording studio in my house so I know what "good" speakers sound like. Given, the Axioms look a lot more impressive than my klhs and I am sure their construction and componets are a much higher grade, but what about the specs???? I realize that some speakers have a better tone or different characteristics but I think that a lot of that can be fixed with a good eq and room controll. I have the same problem with a new tv.... I have watched the "digital" sony projection vs. the non sony 65 inch and I can't tell a darn bit of difference.... Darn... maybe I'm getting old......

It wasnt I that mentioned to try Axioms. I was just quoting another thread that mentioned to use cold steel roll or this other product to get some shielding.

glasseater,

Believe it or not, power handling capability and frequency range of a speaker aren't nearly as important as how flat a speaker's response curve is across the rated frequency range. An ideal speaker would reproduce a 20 Hz tone at the exact same decibel level as a 20kHz tone -- and all possible tones in between, as well.

Of course, there isn't a speaker in existence that has a ruler-flat response like this. All of Axiom's speakers deviate noticeably from this ideal; however, they are much closer to this ideal than most other brands.

And why is a flat response curve important, you might be asking? The flatter the response curve, the more accurately the speaker will play back your music. Deviations from flatness on a response curve look like dips or spikes and indicate coloration of the source sound. Take a look at these two curves:

The first response curve is the Axiom M22ti. Notice how it hovers at or near 87dB from about 90Hz all the way to 20kHz. The second curve is the Silverline Audio Bolero. Notice how it's pretty flat except for the huge dip centered at 3kHz. That's bound to affect the sound of the speaker.

Granted, some people aren't looking for accuracy. They just want speakers to make their music sound better. I have a feeling, however, that if you listened to Axioms, you would think twice about keeping your KLH boxes.

Well said Peter. The M22ti is one of the most honest speakers I've ever heard at any price. That is exactly why I chose the M22ti over other bookshelf size speakers from brands such as: B&W, Polk, Linn, Proac, Sonus Fabre, M&K and Vienna Acoustics. It's amazing that Axiom can make such an accurate speaker and sell them for the prices they ask. Sure, the finishes aren't fine furniture quality but if you get past that the sound quality rivals and in many cases surpasses speakers many times the price.

It would be interesting to see the graph on the KLHs.

In reply to:
It would be interesting to see the graph on the KLHs

Believe me. I looked.

Response curves doesn't say everything about a speaker. If that is the case everyone should pick Axioms because most of their models have almost a totaly flat response curve.

Here are some other speakers that do not have as flat response curve as Axioms.

Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 7 $22,400

B&W Signature Nautilus 800 $20,000

Magnepan MG3.6/R $3750

We better tell Sushi that this Maggies that he was planning to purchase is not as accurate as the Axioms. And it has issues because its response curve is not flat.

Excellent, Sat! Your second sentence is entirely correct. See, Stereophile does tell all, once you wade past some of the subjective nonsense.

Saturn,

Thanks for the follow-up. I wish I'd had more time to thoroughly think out my post. With the new baby, my Axiom forum time has been cut short. Expect to see more of the same.

Are you sure thats a response curve for the MG3.6/R and not an outline of the Himylayas.

Speaking of Sushi, he hasn't posted in 7 days.

JohnK: lol! Axioms should hire you on staff ... at least for advertising/marketing manager.

So if money was not an object you would still pick the M80's over the lot above?

Mike: Its Christmas season so either the kids or family is taking his time. Or he is looking at that GR Research ALphas before he goes for the Maggies...or we should really not care because if we did we must have really boring or pathetic lives.

I tried some 2nd to the top Ultra XLO jumper wires in place of the silver surfers for the tweeter attunuator for a week and I still think my DIY(Do it Yourself) pure silver cables are cheaper and sound better. I'll let it go for another week or two and put back the silver wires. That XLO jumpers was a waste of $110 cdn.
Hey Mike this is for the MG1.6QR which resembles almost like the MG20 and most probably like our MG12

But we know what we would pick.

Peter: That Silverline even looks better than the Maggies. Thats scary.

In reply to:
So if money was not an object you would still pick the M80's over the lot above?

No way man. i heard the B&W sigature 800's and they blow the M80's clear outta the water. and thats coming from someone who loves him M80's but they are really no comparison for a speaker of that ... "amount" the B&W's are a whole different league.

I have listened to the Nautilus 800 and 801 and 802 myself. Simply outstanding. Yes it costs the same as a B&W or Mercedes.
Yes the Maggies charts like the Himalayas as Mike mentioned but you should hear those puppies....even vs the Sigs 800.

In reply to:
I still think my DIY(Do it Yourself) pure silver cables are cheaper and sound better

Just goes to show that more expensive doesn't always translate to better sound.

In reply to:
this is for the MG1.6QR which resembles almost like the MG20 and most probably like our MG12

I don't know about your 12s but mine are ruler flat(cough***bulls%!t***cough).

Because of my tinitis I am sensitive to certain frequencies. To my ears its flat. Did you hear that Mike? Mike!! Did you hear that? Hello? ... see yours is flat too.