B&W DM-12


Wanted to get an opinion on this early B&W monitor. I still think it is an excellent monitor with very low coloaration and excellent imaging if plac correctly. It has two drawbacks. First , it can be a bit bright on certain recordings and secondly it has those old guillitine spring loaded speaker terminals. I thought I might be able to solve both problems by changing the terminals to biwire terminals I previously bought from Parts Express so that not only would I have better and more secure terminals but I should be able to use better and perhaps a bit darker speaker wire like MIT Terminator 2 Bi-Wire which I previously bought. Is it worth the drilling and the pain to do this. Speakers are cosmetically and functionally near perfect. Any feedback appreciated. Audio44
audio44
Bypassing or replacing the spring terminals wouldn't hurt. I had DM14s (the
contemporaneous two-woofer model) and I did it on them. It helped--just
not a lot. On the DM14 there are other obstacles to music placed between the
input terminals and the drivers: cheap internal wiring, automobile-grade
connectors, average-quality crossover components (now aging) and the
overload protection which is part of the crossover circuitry.

The wires inside can be changed but there's a connector soldered onto the
PCB which is difficult to bypass.

Cutting the overload protection out of the crossover circuit--it does affect the
sound--would be a high-cost-and-effort job. I don't know anyone who has
done it. I don't want to discourage you from trying mods if you really want
to--you always learn something--but for myself I would enjoy the DM12s for
what they are and save upgrade money for new speakers.