front front (no grill) back
In order to listen to the LX5s, I first had to modify my electronic crossover. I didn't even want to start listening without my subs hooked up (call me bass biased). Currently, I am using two Marchand XM9s which have a 24dB/oct slope. They use resistor packs to set the crossover point, so I had to solder new 1% film resistor packs to set the crossover at my desired 80Hz frequency. No, I don't have any scientific reason for the 80Hz point on these speakers. It's just a good place to start and should relieve the very small woofer/mid in the LX5 of low bass duties.
With crossover and subs in place, I setup the LX5s in my family room. My first listening tests were just to balance the subs to the LX5s. During this time, I was impressed. Much better sound than I expected from a cheap RS speaker system. But there is this boom in the upper bass region which is annoying and the speaker sounds harsh on tracks with lots of upper mids. [NOTE: After reading Larry Van Wormer's paper, the upper bass boom is probably caused by the 100Hz peak he measured.]
Next, I tried stuffing the ports with polyester fiber fill. This definitely helped make things a little cleaner sounding (but no major improvement). So, I began to move the speakers around the room. I started with them about one foot from the wall and finally moved them out to the middle of the room. Room placement made more difference with this speaker than others I have owned. I suspect this can be attributed to the dipole tweeter. I found the best sound (IMHO) at a placement of about two feet from the wall. When I moved the speakers out to the center of the room, they were very flat and boring.
I will ask your forgiveness right now. I don't have any measurement equipment, so I can only describe what I hear and I can't back it up with any data. I do plan on making some readings with my RS SPL meter and a warble tone CD after the modifications. But, it was pretty obvious during the listening tests, that this speaker needed a better crossover and something done about the upper bass peak. Currently, I am blaming the harsh sound on the first order crossover and the upper bass peak on too small an enclosure (with some bad porting thrown in to make it worse).
Here are some pictures of the speaker. Click on the picture to get a larger image.
Last revised: August 12, 1999
