Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Tweeter Resistors..

If someone add's the Axiom available resistors to cut down some of the top end on the tweeters, do they do this to all the speakers ? The VP150, and QS8's all have the same 1" unit.. Or is this just a Stereo type only fix ?

Mikey, additional resistance added in series with any sort of speaker reduces its output level.

Correct.. What I meant to ask was, if someone adds the resistors to their mains, do they or should they also consider adding those same resistors to their VP and/or Q speakers.. To keep the overall sound the same.. I would have to guess this would be a 'for sure' thing to ones VP ?

Mikey,
I had the same question some time ago and i decided to try the resistors on the VP150 as well.
The centre channel takes up a huge amount of vocals in various DSP modes and during HT play so it made sense to add the units to the 2 tweeters on the VP150 as well.
I was less concerned that the upper frequencies from the QS8s were so prominent that they needed resistors.

We were pleased with the overall effect the resistors had, which was very subtle. I would describe it as being similar to having turned down a treble knob one notch (for lack of a better or easier description). I'm not sure what others have posted to describe how the 'after resistor' modification sounds to them.

Thanks Chess, that would seem to make sense..
I left a msg via phone, and later an email, but have not received the resistors as yet.. Meanwhile I got to thinking about it and figured I might as well order up 3 sets when I call back..

if you were to add the resistors,would that change the impedance ,freq response,and power requirements?....ron

Hi Ron,

No, adding the resistors wouldn't change the speaker's overall impedance significantly, since the impedance is largely determined by the resistance of the many windings of fine wire in the voice coil of each driver in the system.

Regards,

THANK YOU...RON

QUOTE: I would describe it as being similar to having turned down a treble knob one notch (for lack of a better or easier description).

Hmmm...interesting...well wouldn't it be easier to just turn down the treble knob one notch then:)--please note the sarcasm:)

Sarcasm noted.
This was actually discussed awhile back as to why using the treble knob is not a particularly great idea compared to resistors.
I cannot find the post right now. Maybe someone else can link to that.

I believe the distinction between turning down the treble and using the resistors was discussed in the following thread ("M60 Ear Fatigue" in the Stereo section--sorry, don't know how to post the link correctly):

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=ST&Number=8146&page=10&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=

Can't promise, but I think I remember that.

I think the treble dial is a "brute-force" method, whereas the tweeter resistor is more precise and selective. You're only changing what needs changing.

Whenever you add or cut via trebble or bass controls you are taking a chance of adding noise to the signal..
'Working' the sound with potentiometers has always been viewed as a last resort by all the sound engineers (studios and concert sound reinforcement) I have know.. I was always taught to do everything I could to avoid turning those knobs ! The more you crank'm over, the more dirt you are throwing into the mix..
Which brings up an interesting question, are the Trebble Mid Bass pots today digital ? Now that would be a horse of a different color..

If anything, I'd think that the added resistance in series with the tweeter should be considered more of a "brute-force" approach, since it uniformly decreases the entire tweeter output range(about 3,000-20,000hz). This might be helpful in very live listening rooms where a uniform decrease might not be too far off target. It doesn't address with any degree of precision or flexibility poorly recorded items(particularly common in pop recordings)which could use frequency adjustment on a selective basis. Tone controls are helpful and are meant to be used, but then they can be turned off when not needed. Better are the more flexible equalizers available on some receivers or as separate units.

An intermittant problem shouldn't be addressed with a permanent change.