| Customizations
We don't stop with crossover network upgrades. A speaker's final sound quality
is very much a sum of its parts. The crossover network design, the crossover
network parts quality, the cabinet, internal wiring, drive units, binding
posts and more. All of these items contribute to the end product - of which
the goal is to simulate a live event with as close to perfect accuracy as
possible.
Special Customizations
We offer an array of customization services from tweaking your outboard networks
to tailoring your new networks to fit you and your room. For example, if your
room has a lot of glass and is sparsely furnished, you may find your speakers
to be '
bright ' - we can alter the response to compensate for this. Any custom
sonic changes are easily removed or updated if your environment changes.
Simply
contact us for more information on any of our customization options.
Build Options
We offer kits that are professionally built by the Ninja and his minions. This
way you know every connection is correct and tested. These are our easiest to
install kits.
If you are adventurous, we offer DIY (Do It Yourself)
kits. These kits come with all of the parts of our professionally built units
but you assemble the network yourself. A diagram, photos and schematic are included
so you don't have to figure out the layout. The ability to read a basic electronic
circuit schematic is not required for a DIY build but it is very helpful!
A basic list of tools needed for DIY kits are: Soldering
iron (solder is included with your kit), heat gun, needle nose pliers, screw
driver, hot glue gun & glue or Liquid Nails™, and wire cutters.
If you are not sure, let us build it for you!
Upgrade your Cabinet
Your speaker cabinet should never 'talk' along with the music!
All speaker cabinets are transducers of minimal excursion. This means that the
walls of the cabinet flex (minimally) with the movement of the drive units. Unfortunately
this leads to a smearing of the sound you hear. This greatly reduces the accuracy
of the playback and consequently, the 'live' feel.
NoRez will quiet down your cabinet to wonderful effect. Tighter bass, cleaner
mid-bass and midrange.
NoRez is a product exclusive to Skiing Ninja and GR Research. Its proprietary
construction consists of a heavy damping layer and an open cell foam layer.
Installing our pre-cut kits are easy. Simply place each numbered piece into the
cabinet as per the included diagram and you are set. Price listed in the options
menu above is for one pair of speakers (unless it is a center channel speaker).
Read all about the benefits of upgrading your speaker cabinet with NoRez
as well as find out why your cabinet needs to shut its trap!
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Binding Posts
Ditch those brass binding posts!
Vampire
#BP-1.5 binding posts are made from one piece of hard brass, including the
top nut. They are then copper plated , silver plated , and finally gold plated
. This 1/4” post includes all mounting hardware and is priced per set. If you
want a bi-amp or tri-amp option, be sure to order 2 sets for bi-amp and 3 sets
for tri-amp.
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1 set = two posts per speaker / 4 posts
total
(most common)
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2 set = four posts per speaker / 8 posts
total
(for bi-amping)
Expect a cleaner overall sound with this upgrade.
Binding Post Plates
A Binding Post Plate adds some serious bling to your speakers as well as enabling
speakers with 'binding post cups' to accept the Vampire post upgrade.
Binding Post Plates are available in single (correct option for most speakers),
bi-amp and tri-amp configurations.
For bi and tri amp plates, we include custom jumpers so you can run single
connections if so desired .
A note regarding speakers with separate posts :
Not all speakers utilize the same hole spacing and thus some drilling or adjustment
by us may be required. If you are unsure about your own speakers, you can order
this item and we will contact you if any adjustment is needed. If so and you
do not wish to perform the adjustment, we will credit your card and cancel this
portion of your order. Alternatively, simply contact
us for more information.
All configurations are available in all colors shown...
Bypass Capacitors
Why use a 'by-pass cap'? Think of a capacitor as an energy storage device. Capacitors
will store and release energy and are often used for that very reason.
In loudspeaker applications we use them for the capacitive effects and not their
energy storage capabilities. The larger the cap the more energy it can store.
Also larger caps take longer to charge and to discharge this stored energy.
Different types of caps store and release energy at different rates too.
For a wealth of information on the usage of bypass capacitors in loudspeakers,
click
here.
Our networks typically come with the Sonicap
Gen II bypass as standard (check the options above to confirm as this is
on a per-network basis). We also offer additional types of bypass caps to suit
your taste and budget:
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Sonicap Gen II :
The Gen II has a nice midrange bloom that produces a wonderful combination
when bypassing larger values of Gen I with smaller values of Gen II.
This excellent capacitor is standard on most networks. |
Genuine Sprague VitaminQ P96:
Slightly more expensive than the Sonicap Gen II, the Vitamin Q's provide
a very lush sound, one that allows you to get lost in the music.
If you're looking for the last bits of detail, you're better off sticking
with the Sonicap Gen2 or looking at the Sonicap Platinum.
Pairs excellently when powered by mid-fi receivers. |
Sonicap
Platinum:
The Platinum posses the best combination of sonic characteristics
available in a capacitor today. It is very fast, but full and rich.
The presentation is ultra smooth without loss of detail, focus, or
dynamics.
The Platinum is the best bypass cap we offer and is ideal for high
resolution systems.
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Additional Thoughts on bypass capacitors...
If you are running your system with a mid-fi or lower receiver, you may want
to try the VitaminQ's as that can tame the sometimes strident sound some receivers
produce.
Sonicap Platinums are Teflon based whereas VitaminQ's are paper in oil. PIO
is considered less accurate but many people love the sound.
Diffraction Be Gone
Sound waveforms from your tweeters are shorter in length than the width of your
speaker cabinets. These waveforms are being randomly reflected by your speaker
baffles and edges to your listening position slightly out of time with the original
event. Not a good thing!
These waveforms carry the first arrival and higher harmonics of your midrange
along with all things high frequency.
Diffraction Be Gone removes this almost as if you had taken the boxes away.
We had custom cut high density real wool felt (accept no substitute) tweeter
surrounds or fascias made for these speakers that absorb and quiet this interaction.
What you will get when this is removed is a clearer view into your stage and
recordings. What the microphone captured is revealed in your room without the
distortion to time (body) and phase (space) caused by early reflection. Space
opens up, deepens. Vocals and instruments appear more truthfully in that space,
rounder and more physically right.
The tweeter surrounds attach with Velcro tabs (included) and also eliminate
the issues caused by grills - yes you can now run your grills installed!
Internal Wiring
We offer several options to fit your skill/comfort level.
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Highest performance: |
Mid-level performance: |
Solderless option: |
Solderless option: |
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Ninja SSC
Full internal wire replacement
The cabling is 15 guage high purity oxygen free solid core copper
with a polyethylene jacket. This polyethylene (PE) jacket is superior
to polyvinyl chloride (PVC - which is what you will find in 99% of
speakers sold) by way of its dialectric
constant (2.2-2.4 for PE versus 3.4 for PVC) and preserving qualities.
We include Cardas Quad Eutectic solder for all connections. |
Ninja SSC with pigtails, Cardas Solder and Heat Shrink
Your networks will be wired with 10" leads so you can tie into the
existing wires coming from the drivers and binding posts. Simply solder
the two wires together using the supplied silver solder and heat the
shrink tubing (included) for a professional finish. |
Ninja SSC with pigtails and
copper connectors
Your networks will be wired with 10" leads so you can tie into
the existing wires coming from the drivers and binding posts. Simply
crimp the copper connectors over the wires and heat the shrink tubing
(included) for a professional finish. |
Ninja SSC with pigtails and wire nuts
Our easiest solution - your networks will be wired with 10" leads
so you can tie into the existing wires coming from the drivers and
binding posts. Screw the wire nut over the connection and you are
done. |
Difference between Copper Connectors and Wire Nuts:
Is there a sonic difference between the two? Technically yes however is it audible?
Not likely. Our recommendations are listed left to right with full wire replacement
being our #1 recommendation. If you can't solder, our solderless options are
a very good alternative.
Fun Stuff
We've got a bunch of fun stuff for you to pimp out your music or theater room.
T-Shirts, Limited Edition Pint Glasses and Limited Edition Posters. Click to
go to our Skiing
Ninja Fun Stuff section for more information (link opens in a new window).
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