| General FAQ |
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| Do your prices include the speakers? |
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Unless otherwise stated, our prices are just for the upgrade listed and do not include the speakers. Careful what you choose, there are many options available for each upgrade.
If you need help finding the right product for you, email us! |
| How long until I receive my upgrade? |
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We stock a large number of parts however due to the customized nature of the products we build, we typically will need to order a part or two.
We place parts orders the beginning of every month. If you order between the 2nd and 31st of any month, your parts will be ordered on the 1st of the following month. You can expect to take delivery of your order by the end of that month.
Please be patient, they are well worth the wait! |
| I see different upgrade levels, Ninja, Ninja Master, etc. What's it all mean? |
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We have several upgrade levels available and these change depending on the speaker you are looking to upgrade.
Budô: [This item has been superceeded by Budô Plus]Budô Plus: A special designation for out-of-the-ordinary upgrades. Budo Plus networks are typically our least expensive crossover network upgrade and the changes that are made are speaker specific. If a Budo Plus upgrade is available for your speaker model and would like more information, please email us. Ninja Elite: A lot of performance for the money! With Elite, we utilize your existing PCB and inductors. We replace all the capacitors with Sonicap Capacitors and all the resistors with Mills non-inductive wire wound resistors. Ninja: The Ninja level option is available only for speakers that receive an all new network design by Skiing Ninja. It is a less expensive option versus the Ninja Master. You can think of it as a second generation version. The manufacturer did not create this version but it allows the greatest number of enthusiasts to experience the new design in a more cost-conscious form. The Ninja version still has point-to-point construction, optimized component layout and uses very good capacitors from Erse (far better than what most manufacturers offer even in updated versions), Lynk resistors and Erse XQ Perfect Lay Inductors. Ninja versions are also available as DIY kits. Note: Ninja-level networks are available on a limited number of products only.
Ninja Master: This is where it really gets fun. Ninja Master is our top of the line internal network. They are hand built by the Ninja Himself (except for DIY kits). They use only the best components, layout optimization techniques and point to point connections. Ninja Master also affords additional options not available at lower levels (varies by speaker).
Ninja Noble: The Ninja Master taken even further... Ninja Noble takes our exceptional Master level networks and goes external. With Ninja Noble, you receive bi and tri amp/wire capability (varies by speaker) and a gorgeous external enclosure for your networks. This provides many benefits including adjustability/sound tailoring and reducing vibrations that are normally transferred to the crossover and thus degrading sound quality. Reserved for best of breed loudspeakers only. If you have questions, please email us!
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| I'm looking for a special upgrade that I don't see on your site. |
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No problem! We can customize just about any of our upgrades. Simply email us and we’ll send back a quote. |
| Is AV123/Perpetual Technologies' SOCS compatible with Ninja Networks? |
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It depends. If the network (crossover) you purchase from us is an all-new design (never offered by the original manufacturer), you will need new SOCS.
If the network (crossover) you purchase from us is based on an existing design but with upgraded components and board layout, your current SOCS install will still work perfectly.
Not sure which yours is? Simply email us. |
| NoRez vs (other brand) material? |
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Other products like what you get at Parts Express is a different kind of product. It is designed to be used as a sound barrier for industrial applications. It is used to keep sound from passing from one side of the barrier to the other. It does this by suspending a barrier mass between layers of foam.
What it doesn't do is attenuate a panel resonance (and this is precisely what we need!). In other words when the woofer excites a panel on the enclosure, that panel will resonate independently from the sonic barrier and the sonic barrier does nothing for it. It has no damping layer. It's really useless for loudspeaker applications.
No Rez has a heavy damper that goes right onto the panel. It changes the resonance frequency of the panel and dampens it to minimize cabinet excited noise.
The folks from Soundcoat (makers of NoRez) performed copious testing on MDF panels and the end product of NoRez was determined to be most effective. |
| What is a modification or speaker upgrade? |
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A speaker modification (sometimes called mods for short) or upgrade can be many things, but it is always done with the goal of gaining more from your speakers, pushing the speaker farther and enhancing the listener’s enjoyment of them.
It may be the addition of dampening material, exchanging lower quality parts for higher quality ones, it could be replacing the crossover with a higher quality one that doesn’t use a PCB (printed circuit board) like the pre-built crossover Skiing Ninja offers, or it could be having a new designed crossover put in your speakers. All of these modify what the speaker originally was when you received them and all are designed to create a greater listening experience from your speakers. |
| When to use NoRez and Black Hole 5... |
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NoRez is the best choice for most loudspeakers.
Black Hole 5 (BH5) is ideally suited for cabinets that deal with very low frequencies such as subwoofers.
There are occasions where BH5 is well suited to loudspeakers (ie. full range loudspeakers).
Please note; there is something to be aware of regarding using Blackhole 5 in a small speaker.
If you lay in heavy coverage of BH5 into a speaker, you are creating a flexible interior wall for the woofer to play within. This flexible barrier layer can mass load the woofer to such a degree and can have adverse effects. It is like adding a passive radiator all around the woofer. I have noticed that this can have an adverse effect in the mid range area and muffle vocals. For smaller speakers, we recommend NoRez.
If you are not sure which to choose, have no worries. We have set the options for each speaker upgrade so only the correct material for that speaker is displayed. |
| Who should think about a DIY kit? |
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Anyone who:
..then you should do fine with a DIY kit. People have been upgrading their speaker components for a long time. Modding is not a new idea. We have simply made it easier for the average audio enthusiast to extract more performance out of the gear they already own. We love our Crossover Upgrade Kits because it assembles everything you need in one box and makes it a easier to do the job with a tip guide, everything precut and ready to assemble. |
| Why doesn’t the manufacturer just use the best parts to begin with? |
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If the original manufacturer used top quality parts, their speakers would cost much more than they do now - and that is no way to meet a price point!
Every manufacturer sets a target price they need to meet for each product. That means for them to make a product, they have to make so many dollars on that product. Each company has certain customers who are only willing to pay so much for their products so they must make the product available at the price the customers are wiling to pay.
Some customers (10-15%) are willing to pay more (and get more) but they must direct the product to largest group of people who want to buy. They then take how much they need to make on the product to cover office space, electricity, paying workers, marketing and all the stuff you need to run a business, and how much profit they want to make away from that consumer projected price and that is how much is left to buy pieces (components) for the product and build it. They would never be able to use the highest quality parts without having to raise the price too high for the majority of their customers.
This is where a third party company (Skiing Ninja!) can help both the company and well as the consumers. Those 10-15% who want to have the best experience and are willing to spend a little more money can have it. We work with the companies to provide a service and product they would not be able to and the customer is offered a product they could not get anywhere else (there are DIYers out there who have been doing this tweaking for as long as they have had something to tweak).
We are for everyone from the DIYer who wants to get his hands inside to the guy who just wants the best when it comes to him already installed on delivery. That is why we offer so many options for each of our speaker lines. We are the equivalent of the aftermarket accessory company for cars and trucks. We hot rod your speakers! |
| Why don't you provide step-by-step instructions for the DIY kits? |
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To put together a step-by-step guide would increase the cost of the DIY version of our upgrades past the price point we feel is reasonable for this type of upgrade.
We offer these upgrades for those who want to get their hands dirty, as well as a price break for our more expensive items. Putting together a crossover is not easy and the value we place on our hard work must reflect in our pricing. We would not offer any preassembled boards if anyone could do it :) |
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