Reference 2 Ninja Master Upgrade

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Home > Crossover Upgrades > ONIX > Reference 2 >

Reference 2 Ninja Master

Reference 2 network

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All pricing assumes one pair. If upgrades for a single speaker are needed, please contact us.

Our Price: $439.00

Availability: Custom Build - ETA will be emailed to you

Build Options...

Cabinet Upgrade...

Binding Post Upgrade...

Binding Post Plate...

Bypass Capacitors...

Diffraction Removal...

Internal Wiring...

Fun Stuff...

Qty:

Description

Customizations

Specs/Guides/Etc

Customize! Use the options in the blue box above to fully customize your upgrade. Click the (?) next to each item for a short description. For detailed information on each item, click the 'Customizations' tab directly above.

Ninja Notes

The Reference 2 is an enjoyable speaker in its stock form however the tipped up response (i.e. Bright) makes them a bit fatiguing and occationally, annoying - depending on the recording of course.

The stock speakers are +/- 5dB from 200Hz to 20KHz. With the Ninja Master upgrade, you'll get an outstanding response of +/- 2dB from 200Hz to 20KHz.

There are several other areas we wanted to improve which you can read about below as well as see before and after measurements.

Upgrade Creation
The Reference 2 Ninja Master is an all new design that has allowed us to improve the vertical off-axis, horizontal off-axis and on-axis responses greatly. The original Reference 2 has a tipped up presentation (a little bright) as well as a big suckout (about -15db) between 1KHz and 5KHz when your ears are 15-20 degrees off axis (i.e. standing). This means your speakers with the Ninja Master upgrade installed will sound far more natural and still sound great when you are standing (meaning your ears are above the tweeter).

The horizontal off-axis is largely unchanged however the tipped up response has been eliminated for a more realistic presentation when not sitting in the 'sweet spot'.

The stock design had a minimum impedance of 3ohms. The new design has a minimum impedance of 4 ohms and is overall easier to drive due to a higher average impedance.

Gone are the days of crappy mass produced PCBs. Today is the day of a hand made engineering masterpiece of musicality. With a Skiing Ninja™ Ninja Master network, your speakers will be equipped with higher quality component parts, pure point to point internetwork connections, correct board layout (see: magnetic field orientation), and more.

...Elevating the Good to Exceptional...

When you have a circuit design and drive components of this caliber, the improvements you can expect shine through to their fullest. Additionally, your speakers will now track along with any upstream electronics upgrade you make to the system.

If it's so great, you may be asking yourself, why didn't the original manufacturer equip the speakers similarly? We thought you might ask that. Here is your answer.

Physical Changes
Superior substrate
Superior parts quality
Superior layout
Superior connections
Superior quality control
Superior durability

Before and After
For comparison, here we have the stock crossover network and the Ninja Master Network:

Stock	Skiing Ninja™

Now that you know what has physically changed, lets talk about what you will hear as a result...

Overall you will notice a higher level of detail, texture, focus, superior sound stage, dynamics, musicality, and transparency. What does that mean? We use as few components in our networks as possible. This allows the cleanest signal to be passed to your speakers. Rest assured this does not change the frequency response of the speaker or the overall character.

Texture – All of the ‘inner’ details of each instrument comes across clearly. The ‘live’ feel comes across so well because the subtleties that are normally lost are finally present. The more revealing the overall presentation is, the more convincing it is.

Focus – We tightly match our components. While most components are 5 or even 10% tolerance, we use only 5% or less tolerance components and then we hand match them so that each pair of networks is 500 to 1000% better than the stock crossover.

Sound stage – Moves the sound stage from being within the confines of the speaker and moves it out, up, and behind the speaker. This helps recreate the sense of space and volume of the original performance.

Dynamics – Our networks use high quality Mills resistors and copper foil inductors. This means no masking of top end detail, no muddled midrange and more convincing slam on the low end. There is a lot of techno mumbo jumbo about the why’s of this and it would be too much to detail here. Contact Us if you want more info.

Transparency – The ability for the speakers to remove themselves from the performance. Our networks enhance this ability due to their magnetically correct layout, point to point build and superior quality components. Sit down, close your eyes, and listen... the performance comes alive as your speakers sonically disappear.

Musicality – The best part and why we are all here. Everything your speakers used to do they will do better with Skiing Ninja™ networks and upgrades.

Features and Components
Ninja Master networks utilize the very best components available. If you want more in-depth information on these components, visit our components section.

	Fully custom build Each Ninja Master network is meticulously built by The Ninja's hands from the ground up. With a copious amount of aesthetic and acoustic customizability, the Reference 2 Ninja Master can be tailored to your wants, wishes, and desires...
	Pure point to point connections No PCB and no wiring between components. Whenever possible, we mechanically connect components to each other for superior connection and durability and then solder.
	Sonicap Capacitors These have become known as one of the best caps available with a sonic signature that you won't hear. Super clean and detailed. We match all our Sonicaps for superior focus.
	Layout The component layout of a Ninja Master network is carefully chosen to provide the shortest signal path possible while also ensuring magnetic field contamination is keep to a minimum or even completely non-existent. For more information on why this is important, visit our layout information section.
	Copper Foil Inductors No dynamic compression...no more will your inductors "hum along" with the music. When a bass note goes through a copper foil inductor, you get all the power and realism of the live performance.
	Mills Resistors Mills resistors offer superior sonic performance in all passive crossover circuits. Most resistors have a higher resistance to loud sounds than they do to quiet sounds. The result is an uneven mess. Bring the top to bottom presentation into sharp focus!
	Cardas Quad Eutectic Solder George Cardas created this ultra pure, quad eutectic solder for perfect joints; the best reliability with the lowest noise and contact resistance. Ultra pure, tin/lead/silver/copper.
	Ninja SSC Wiring Our wiring is made from high purity (99.98%) 15ga solid core copper with a 30 mil polyethylene insulator. It won't oxidize nor will the jacket degrade the wire over time.
	Substrate The Ninja Master network uses point-to-point construction techniques. No Printed Circuit Boards. No thin traces to contaminate the signal. Just pure, crystalline music...

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 and binding posts. 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.

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!

For DIY kits, you will need a soldering iron (solder is included with your kit), heat gun or hair dryer with high setting, needle nose pliers, hot glue gun & glue or Liquid Nails and wire cutters.

If you are not sure, let us build it for you!

DIY Kit	Ninja Built

Upgrade your Cabinet
Your speaker cabinet should never 'talk' along with the music. NoRez will quiet down your cabinet to wonderful effect. Tighter bass, cleaner mid-bass and midrange.

All of our cabinet upgrade kits come pre-cut with instructions. Simply place each numbered piece into the cabinet as per the diagram and you are set. Price listed 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!

NoRez	Black Hole 5

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 option, be sure to order 2 sets.

1 set = two posts per speaker / 4 posts total
(most common)
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) and bi-amp configurations.

For bi-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:


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.

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

$Reference 1 with Diffraction Be Gone$ 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.

Highest performance:	Mid-level performance:	Solderless option:	Solderless option:

OPTIONAL 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.	STANDARD 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.	OPTIONAL 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.	OPTIONAL 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).

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.

Performance Measurements

Our networks are tailored so you can adjust the amount of 'brightness' with a simple twist of your speaker.

The graphs below show what happens to the response if you point the speakers straight out as in the left diagram versus if you toe them into towards you as shown in the second diagram.

Frequency Response - 10dB Scale - 0°	Frequency Response - 10dB Scale - 0°

Stock	Skiing Ninja™

Frequency Response - 5dB Scale - 0°	Frequency Response - 5dB Scale - 0°

Stock The crossover point from woofer to tweeter is too high!	Skiing Ninja™ The crossover point was lowered, top end flattened and the XO point cancelation has been eliminated

Impedance	Impedance

Stock 3ohm minimum impedance	Skiing Ninja™ 4ohm minimum impedance

Cumulative Spectral Decay	Cumulative Spectral Decay

Stock	Skiing Ninja™ No huge changes here. The CSD is already good.

Frequency Response - Vertical Off-Axis	Frequency Response - Vertical Off-Axis

Stock Each different color represents another 5 degrees up	Skiing Ninja™ 15 and 20 degrees off-axis has been improved substantially.

Frequency Response - Horizontal Off-Axis	Frequency Response - Horizontal Off-Axis

Stock	Skiing Ninja™ With the flattened top end, sitting outside the sweet spot still gives you very good presentation.

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