stuffing the Sony SA-WM40!! JUST DO IT!

Todd, did you just fill the whole enclosure loosely or stapled/glued the polyfil onto the walls? If you stuffed it into the box how did you manage not to block the port?
I am waiting for my spikes to arrive and then I will do the mod and if putting the stuff inside is working instead of stapling or glueing it, I will do that way.

I would have used Cat Litter.... (Sorry, Old Forum Joke!)

Good Job

I wonder if something like this would help my 8" 100W sony sub that came with my HTIB kit. Has anybody tried doing this on a smaller sony sub?

Mark

More stuffing tips....

Make sure to leave cooling space around the amp. Not doing so can cause it to overheat. I had blown a transistor in my current sub due to overstuffing (PSB Subsonic 6). I diagnosed the problem to a small power supply card (no larger than 2" x 3" in size) that was mounted on the amp assembly. PSB wanted to charge me cdn$600 for the amp. They would not sell me the card alone. I ended up buying the 4 power transistors on the card and replacing all 4 myself as this was the most likely cause of such a problem (electronics in college payed off ) and it fixed it.

I'm assuming this would void the warranty, correct? If so, I'll probably just wait a year and deal with the boominess...

Hey todd, thanks for your tips, i've had this sub for a while now(mod free) and love it. I havnt found it too boomy at all, i just change settings from music to HT. What settings do you have for you cross-over and volume? I'll have to get some polyfill and give it a try i think! Can do no harm hey!

Coss-over way up? No wonder you thought it was boomy! I set mine to about 80 and the volume can sit just over half to be plenty loud. WHen i do the 20,000hz drop tone on the TXH optimizer it intergrates perfectly. I have the lfe set to sub on my amp which has it set to 80hz. I havnt put a disc in like Avia yet though and done a spl measurement so i'll fiddle more then. Be interesting to hear the difference with the filling..whether it decreases volume etc

I did this mod this weekend and I could instantly tell the difference. WOW! What a difference $3.50 and about 10 minutes can make. Was kinda nervous about opening up the sub at first, but this couldn't be easier. Since I have a small home theater this made a BIG difference. No more BOOM and alot more PUNCH! I also have a question about the levels on the sub. I have mine set to around 80hz since my receiver(kenwood 6070) has a 80hz cutoff when in THX mode. I'm guessing that this setup is correct.

It's my understanding that if you are using the receiver's crossover you want to set the sub's crossover as high as possible so there's no interference with the signal from the receiver---especially since the sub's crossover probably isn't as accurately calibrated as it should be.

Ok...i just got some polyfill..gonna wack it in now. I'll chime back soon and let ya know what i thought!

Just before i close it up..how much do you fill it up? Did you kind of pack it in tight or leave gaps. I've filled it up and left space at the bottom front for the port

Hmm..ok, i think i filled it too full. Just found this guys tute..http://www.nonsensicalgibberish.com/sony.html He's only got it to the sides,top and back and left a hole in the middle for the driver. I just filled it all up full not too tight but full. Didnt notice too much diff..a little less loud. Might try it without as much?

OH i filled like a turkey! I'll be digging my hands in tonight!

Good tip here.
You can make it even better by adding more internal bracing - a front to back as close to the driver as possible and also along the corner edges(front to back) if they don't have any wood there. A 3rd area is top to bottom. Use 1 inch or 1 1/4 strips of hardwood and just glue them in, but make sure they fit tight, and don't get in the way of the driver.
This will make the box very high pitched when you tap on it. The higher the pitch, the more rigid the enclosure. Now add that stuffing(fluffy-not stuffy!)
This should help the driver go a little lower in your now stiff box.

NOTE: this mod is for inexpensive boxes that have little or no bracing with 3/4inch walls, and a well known trick in shops that make sub enclosures.

Eric

Todd,
Yes, I've made the mod to a number of subs for myself and others. It works. Yellow glue is fine for wood - no need for anything exotic.
One such project was with an Audio Source 12. It made the 180.00 sub sound and perform more like a 600.00 sub.
You don't need great skills - just make sure everything's tight!

Eric

Re: stuffing the Sony SA-WM40!! JUST DO IT!

Well, here's a 5 1/2 year old thread rising to the surface...

I've owned a previously-used SA-WM40 for a couple of years now. It will be quite a long time, probably, before I get a chance to upgrade it.

I have read in many different places about the various modifications people have made to theirs over the years. Finding myself in a craft store over the weekend, I thought I might as well get the provisions and finally give 'em a try.

So I purchased the bag of poly-fil and the jar of Mod Podge.

Turned out the previous owner had already loaded up the compartment with Poly-Fil. But, it looked like it was over-filled (or had shifted a bit) since the enclosure was jam-packed--including the bottom-area where the port is located. So, I actually removed some of the pre-existing Poly-Fil from the bottom section of the sub.

I also applied a couple of light coats of the Mod Podge to the cone driver...being certain not to get any on the dust cap or the rubber surround. This is the sort of thing I would normally be hesitant to do...except that I have read so many different accounts of people having done it with varying degrees of success (and no horror stories).

Results? Hard to say for sure. I'd say the performance was improved. But I'd also wonder how much of that is wishful thinking on my part. My test was the first 12 minutes of the BD of Master & Commander (from the beginning through the first engagement with the Acheron). This is my all-time favorite audio track. It sounded very, very good. The big guns never sounded better.

The best indicator that there may be a little more "ooomph" in the bass department actually came later in the evening when my wife and I were watching an episode of CBS' The Amazing Race--not exactly a traditional LFE powerhouse. At one point, when the contestants were hanging in an overseas airport, my wife turned to me and said "what was that?" I had heard it as well and wasn't sure where the noise had come from. We both thought it was a car passing along the front of the house with one of those crazy bass modifications. But, I played back the scene from the show and it turned out to be some ambient airport noise that the SA WM40 had really brought to our attention!

I'd say I think that emptying out the enclosure of some of the Poly-Fil gave some more punch to the output of the sub. I'm hoping that the Mod Podge gives a bit more definition to the bass output. It will take a few more tests to hear, for certain.

In particular, I'm hoping to hear some of John Clayton's bass lines in some of my favorite Diana Krall tunes to make that determination! I always thought they were a bit boomy and overbearing before.