Cicada Imbalance Troubleshooting

[Aura]

Some of you might recall me having some issues with my Cicadas just a short time ago; if not here was my comment from a week/few weeks back:

Bass is also seemingly more pronounced on the left side on nearly everything I listen to, as it was at home. This is pissing me off and I wonder if I've got a defect somewhere in the chain. At home I thought it was because of differences in corner loading and the wall material, but here at school the surroundings on either side are essentially the same. The left speaker's driver is far newer than the right one; could that be the cause?

I followed the suggestions that were given to me concerning placement (thanks again fellas), and it does seem to be a little better now, but the low-end in particular still is imbalanced with the left side playing more strongly.

Well, today I was messing around and happened to peer into the porthole on the right speaker with a flashlight, and this is what I found:

This is what the left side looks like:

And one more comparison to the bottom of the speaker:

^ Left ^

^ Right ^

~~~

As you can see, the right speaker either seems to be missing quite a bit of felt or it has shifted inside (speakers have been transported twice since I've owned them). At home, I do not recall seeing any exposed cables nor internals in the porthole on that right speaker. A few questions about this:

- Could the felt be the culprit in this bass imbalance? Logic tells me that more felt = less bass based on damping characteristics, but I have to ask.

- Do I need to get inside the speaker and cover up the internals/fix that hanging wire?

This actually could be a good excuse to put some work into the speakers, since Ryan (Recstar) has told me that there are some extra things that can be done to further improve them.

Edit - For specifics on placement, both speakers are currently sitting 26" from the rear wall, with 11-12" of space from the TV/Component stands in the middle.

Thanks for the help as always .

[Fitz]

Have you tried swapping the drivers between the enclosures?

[Aura]

i have a hard time believing that what you posted could cause that kind of imbalance, but why don't you contact craig?

I do too, but figured I might as well post it and see what others think. I'll keep in touch with Craig; just recently asked him about driver stuff for them.

Have you tried swapping the drivers between the enclosures?

I have flipped the speakers from left to right and left to right, but not the drivers. I didn't notice this until this morning. The imbalance did follow the flipping.

Should probably add that this is me just being very very picky, the sound has gotten a good deal better than it was last week after I made more placement adjustment. So worst-case, I just leave them as they are for now.

[Dusty Chalk]

- Could the felt be the culprit in this bass imbalance? Logic tells me that more felt = less bass based on damping characteristics, but I have to ask.

Not necessarily, less felt could equal more reflections causing cancellation == less bass, but I could see it going either way. I would definitely try swapping the drivers if you want a definitive answer. But that might entail cutting the wires, so filling in the gap might actually be easier. If you're talking about being really really picky, (a) well hell, you're in the right place now, then, aren't you? ( ...that would make a really really picky bit of difference, so the scale of problem to solution is right.