Updated 17th November 2000

The sound of Diva can benefit a great deal first of all from the removal of the 4 switches from the circuit. The bass probably benefits the most due to the high amount of current passing through it.

To remove the bass switch from the circuit means fixing the setting to either NORMAL or LO, if you suffer from slightly excess bass on the NORMAL setting, removing the switch is the perfect cure as it tightens up the bass considerably, plus makes it more defined. This mod is easy to undo following the Simple fix procedure below, although I VERY much doubt if you will..
If you are sure that you want to fix the setting on NORMAL or LO, then go to the Complete fix section straight away.

Bass section switch
removal & upgrade

The first step is to remove the bottom cover cover of the crossover, which is held on by 10 hex headed screws.
You need a fairly strong heat soldering iron (around 30-40W), some solder (silver-loaded not necessary but recommended), sharp knife, wire cutters and some heatshrink tubing, or electrical tape.

The left and right crossovers are made in mirror image pairs so I won't use any left or right positional wording as it will be confusing.
The two bass inductors are wound onto a large cardboard spool, both inductor wire go to the RED bass input terminal, chances are the connection will be covered by heatshrink tubing.
The other ends of the inductors are connected to two separate wires, in my crossovers these were covered by a slip-over plastic tube.
They run underneath the piece of wood which all the other components are connected to.
The wires are then soldered to the outside contacts of the 3 contact bass level switch.

The LO setting inductor connects to the BLUE wire
The NORMAL setting inductor connects to the WHITE wire

The RED middle contact wire connects straight to the Woofer RED terminal.

Simple fix

Simple fix to NORMAL setting:

1. De-solder the WHITE and RED wires from the bass level switch
2. If you are using heatshrink tubing slide a 2 inch piece over one of the wires
3. Solder the WHITE and RED wires together
4. Heat the heatshrink to fit over the joined bare wire ends
5. If you are not using heatshrink wrap electrical tape around the joined bare wire ends

Simple fix to LO setting:

1. De-solder the BLUE and RED wires from the bass level switch
2. If you are using heatshrink tubing slide a 2 inch piece over one of the wires
3. Solder the BLUE and RED wires together
4. Heat the heatshrink to fit over the joined bare wire ends
5. If you are not using heatshrink wrap electrical tape around the joined bare wire ends

To try this straight away fit  the bottom panel back onto the crossover and put it back into the system, chances are the change will be so dramatic you will hear a distinct difference between the modified and unmodified side straight away.

If you are happy to go a bit further with this you can reduce the amount of wire quite dramatically. As you can see the wiring goes from one side of the crossover to the other then back again, now quite unnecessary.

Complete fix

For both settings:
1. De-solder the WHITE, BLUE and RED wires from the bass level switch
2. Pull the WHITE and BLUE wires from the bass inductor from underneath the wood board. Slide the black tubing (if it is there) from over the wires
3. The connections of the solid core inductor wires to the BLUE and WHITE wires will be covered with heatshrink, remove this with a knife

For NORMAL setting:
4. Cut the solid core inductor wire where it meets the connection to the WHITE wire, DO NOT cut off the BLUE wire yet
Note: You can tell the inductor wires apart as the NORMAL inductor wire (12 gauge) will be thicker than the LO (18 gauge)
5. Use a knife to scrape off around ¼ to ½ an inch of the varnish from the inductor wire, and tin with solder 
6. Move the free RED wire so it goes under the wooden board and comes up by the inductor wire
7. Cut the RED wire to a length short enough that it can be soldered to the inductor wire leaving a little slack, then strip ¼ to ½ an inch of insulation off the wire and tin the end
8. If you are using heatshrink slide a 2 inch piece over the RED wire
9. Solder the inductor wire to the RED wire
10. Heat the heatshrink to fit or cover the connection with electrical tape
11. Cut off the BLUE wire where it meets the inductor wire and cover any bare metal/wire with heatshrink, or electrical tape

If you wish to completely isolate the now unused inductor:
1. Undo the nut on the RED woofer input so you can free the inductor wires from the terminal, they both go to the same crimp connection metal eyelet.
2. Strip off any heatshrink/insulation so you can see both the inductor wires.
3. Cut the thinner (18 gauge) wire as close as you can to the crimped eyelet connector, then fold 1-2 inches of the wire back on itself and cover with heatshrink or electrical tape.
4. Reconnect to the RED woofer input.

You will now only have the NORMAL (thicker 12 gauge) inductor in the bass circuit, and will have removed around 2 feet of wire from the crossover.


For LO setting:
4. Cut the solid core inductor wire where it meets the connection to the BLUE wire, DO NOT cut off the WHITE wire yet
Note: You can tell the inductor wires apart as the LO inductor wire (18 gauge) will be thinner than the NORMAL (12 gauge)
5. Use a knife to scrape off around ¼ to ½ an inch of the varnish from the inductor wire, and tin with solder 
6. Move the free RED wire so it goes under the wooden board and comes up by the inductor wire
7. Cut the RED wire to a length short enough that it can be soldered to the inductor wire leaving a little slack, then strip ¼ to ½ an inch of insulation off the wire and tin the end
8. If you are using heatshrink slide a 2 inch piece over the RED wire
9. Solder the inductor wire to the RED wire
10. Heat the heatshrink to fit or cover the connection with electrical tape
11. Cut off the WHITE wire where it meets the inductor wire and cover any bare metal/wire with heatshrink, or electrical tape

If you wish to completely isolate the now unused inductor:
1. Undo the nut on the RED woofer input so you can free the inductor wires from the terminal, they both go to the same crimp connection metal eyelet.
2. Strip off any heatshrink/insulation so you can see both the inductor wires.
3. Cut the thicker (12 gauge) wire as close as you can to the crimped eyelet connector, then fold 1-2 inches of the wire back on itself and cover with heatshrink or electrical tape.
4. Reconnect to the RED woofer input.

You will now only have the LO (thinner 18 gauge) inductor in the bass circuit, and will have removed around 2 feet of wire from the crossover.

Wiring

In both cases you can upgrade the wiring at the same time, the sort of wire you use is completely up to you.

If you are in the UK, Audio Direct sells a Nordost cable which is composed of four separate silver-plated 99.999999% pure copper wires, which sells for £17.50 per meter. John Barrie of Audio Direct tells me that this cable in his opinion is better than the Kimber 8TC, which seems quite a popular choice for speaker re-wiring.

Also Audiocom (UK) sell a Teflon insulated silver-plated oxygen free copper wire, go here, it's the second section down, and is the bigger (19 x 0.45mm conductors) wire.

If you are in the US Michael Percy Audio seems to be the place for a good selection on wires. Their web address is http://www.bainbridge.net/percyaudio/ from here you can download the catalogue in Adobe Acrobat format (there is a link to get the Acrobat reader if you need it) the wires are on page 1.

Midrange section switches
removal & upgrade

Full information to come

Tweeter section switch
removal & upgrade

Full information to come