Crossover mods and speaker efficiancy?


I was just wondering if anyone can tell me if it makes sense that with complete crossover mods(caps, coils, resistors, and internal cabling)that the speakers would draw more current from my amp? My speakers are Hales T5's with totally upgraded crossovers. I am using Dynamicaps for the tweeter section, Dynamicap,Audiocap and auricaps for the midsection and Solen/Axon for the bass area. My coils were replaced with Solo foill coils(16guage for tweeter, 14 guage for mid and 12 guage for bass). Finally as well the internal cabling was replaced with cardas chasis wire of three guages for the three drivers.
My question is that should these changes make my speakers less efficient or draw more current from my amp. I have a Pass X250 which has a meter on it which indicates how much current is being drawn and when the amp is going out of A mode. When the needle moves at all it's out of A mode and into AB mode. What I have noticed with the crossover mod is that the meter is reading that the speakers are taking very much more current than before the mods. The needle bounces to around the 2 or 3 O'clock point on loud passages where as before the mods the needle rarely passed 12 or 1 O'clock. The sound is way bigger sounding and I suppose the bigger sound is due to the larger current draw but I'm not sure. Would this type of crossover mod make my speakers less efficient in that my amp is obviously working much harder than before but the sound is much bigger than before. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. I should note that I can listen to louder levels of volume of the music as the sound is clean and doesn't sound "loud" as the speakers now tend to have less distortion and I can play loud without being annoyed. The needle on the X250 meter now tends to bounce around alot where as before it just wiggled.
128x128mitchb

Showing 3 responses by mitchb

Thanks for your responses. This morning at 6 am I decided to listen to music but had to keep the volume down as my wife and daughter were still sleeping and I realised that in fact I am listening at louder volumes than I used to when it doesn't disturb anyone in the house. There is a lot less distortion and the sound in general is bigger. I have been playing my revised Hales now for 90 hours 24/7 and I'm blown away on just how good the system sounds. It truly was like investing in a brand new pair of speakers without taking the loss on my Hales if I sold them. I never thought my system could sound the way it does regardless of tweeks and mods. I am happy and would reccommend this type of mod to anyone but would beware that it could be a gamble and not everyone is happy with crossover mod results. I got lucky!
Jond, I did not do it myself. I have trouble installing light bulbs.I had a tech do it for me but I ended up waiting for 4 months till he finally did the work and that was only after I bought the parts privately and took them to the tech and said "here are the parts, I'll pay for the labour, please install them". 4 months later I have my speakers back. The moral of this story is find a tech who will do what you want when you want it done. If you buy the parts privately it can have it's advantages. I was fortunate to be introduced by phone to Jeff at Sonicraft, Andre at e-speakers and finally I bought the parts from Michael Percy who was extremely helpful and uncomplicated. I told him what I wanted and he had the parts. Everyone I mentioned above was extremely helpful and patient in helping me. I would reccommend any of the people I mentioned. FIND A TECH WHO HAS THE TIME TO HELP YOU. The advice of people on Audiogon was/is invaluable and I would ask questions on line. If it wasn't for the kind responses on Audiogon to my posts I would have exchanged Axon parts for Solen parts which is like "6 of 1 or half dozen of the other" Good luck!
My mods cost about $1200 but you surely can get alot done for less money. I went wild.
Herman, The speakers do sound better. I am listening quite a bit louder as it sounds good. It's as simple as that. My speakers sound good.
I in fact used higher guage coils(12guage woofer, 14guage midrange and 16 guage for the tweeters). I have my old crossovers in tact and they look quite alot different than my new crossovers. Hales appeared to use a small guage in their hand wound coils(not impressive looking) and they used Axon caps for the tweeter/midrange and electolytics in the bass area. Hales made an excellent speaker and I've enjoyed them stock for years but decided to take a chance. I gambled. I'm happy as the speakers sound like they are in a diifferent league than they used to be. I researched the crossover mods with several proffesionals and as well with the help of fellow Audiogoners. When Hales made the T5's ,they made it at a price point. They were not going to put $800 worth of parts in the crossovers. Not alot of speaker manufacturers do at that price point. That being said I could have been unlucky and gotten a sound I very much disliked as some people do with unsuccessful crossover mods. I was warned it could be great or it could be horrible.I just got lucky as I like the new sound. I am using Dynamicaps for tweeter and midrange with an auricap and audiocap in the midrange as well and I am using Solen for the Bass. I went with Solo and Alpha Core inductors of different guages and am using Mills resistors where the resistors are suopposed to be by Hales design.
Over all I am very excited with the results and realise I was over reacting when I saw the meter jump the way it did but had I (and I have)played the speakers before the mod at that volume the music would be loud to tolerate but the needle jumped as well. It's almost as if by playing louder and using more juice I am getting a bigger fuller and generally better sound. The speakers have only been playing for three days and I expect further changes which I could either like or dislike. Who knows, maybe I'll hate the sound when the speakers are burnt in but maybe I'll love them. Only time will tell.