Southern

You have the upgrade addiction that most of us here have. I have upgraded my Forte' crossovers back in Dec. 1996. Here is a post of my initial impressions: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94027 I have since then installed Crites tweeter and midrange diaphrams and most recently spikes. The funny thing is that when I first purchased my Forte's (used) I thought that I would never need to perform any upgrades since they sounded so good. Now I listen to my Forte's bi-amped and still enjoy my Forte's more then ever.

When I modified my RC-7 x-over I mounted the HF section on the back of the enclosure next to the x-over cup. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/135665/1374176.aspx#1374176 Since I replaced the caps on the LF section there was no way I could stack both boards and have room for the horn tweeter.

I second the upgraded crossover and the comparison to having RF-83's warm highs with the bass of the 7's. I bought my RF-7's with the DeanG crossovers so I couldn't compare to stock 7's, I did listen to the RF-83's and noticed that they sounded very similar. I recently upgraded the crossover on my RC-7 and was impressed on how it blends in with my DeanG RF-7's. Here is a link to my RC-7 crossover upgrade which I have some pics of my DeanG RF-7 crossovers: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/135665.aspx I have an older Pioneer Elite receiver and have noticed running the MCACC calibration made a huge difference in the sound quality. When I run the calibration I make sure that there are no other noises in the room and place the mic at ear level sitting in the "sweet spot".

Try bi-amping (using the existing passive crossovers) with the Conrad Johnson powering the mids & tweeters and report back.

I stand corrected again. When I was pricing the Big Green Egg several years ago they were over $1000, The price must have come down within the last year or two. At $600 I consider that a bargin. Now you got me thinking about getting a Big Green Egg. My Weber smokey mountain is built with porcelin coated steel and as with other Weber products, the hardware is heavy duty.With 2 full chimany starters full of charcoal, I can get over a 6 hour burn without re-fueling. I usually smoke 6 full racks of ribs at a time. With dual 18 1/2" racks I have room left over. Due you have stacking grates to get that much food in your Big Green Egg?

The two downsides of the Big Green Egg are the price and limited space for food. Edit: I see that they have a new XL model with a 24" cooking grid, damn at over 200 lbs it won't walk away.

I love my Weber grills. I have a 25 year old 22 1/2" kettle that still looks like new (I keep a cover on it), a 22 1/2" performer with the propane start and a 18 1/2" Weber smoker. I find that it takes about 30 minutes from when you light the coals until they are ready (coals turn grey). I use my empty charcoal bag to dump the ashes into when the catcher gets full, make sure you empty the catcher before using the grill to ensure that there are not hot embers. I also make sure that the grill is cool to the touch before putting the cover back on. I use Kingsford charcoal because it has larger chunks and burns evenly. The best time to buy charcoal is Memorial day and Labor day weekend, it is discounted the most at these times. Good luck with your new Weber!

My favorite smoker for ribs is the Weber Smokey Mountain: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tour.html It is porcelain coated steel and is built very well. Without adding coals I can obtain over a 6 hour burn while maintaining a 250 deg temperature. I have the older 18 1/2" model and with the vents adjusted I can obtain a rock solid 250 Deg. for the entire 5 1/2 hour burn. For my ribs I use only a dry rub and Jack Daniels wood chips for the smoke.

Randall, I noticed your Brinkman electric smoker in your signature. May I suggest the Weber Smokey Mountain charcoal smoker. You get the charcoal taste and it holds the temperature like a rock. Electric smokers to charcoal smokers is like going from solid state amps to tube amps.

I remember those 2-piece receivers back in the day, they were beasts. Great score, that would make a great basement system. I have my Forte's bi-amped with my Pioneer SX-1980 driving the woofers and my Dynaco 70 driving the mids and tweeters. Best of both worlds, chest pounding bass and silky smooth mids & highs.

Too bad the pre-amp wasn't the C-19, that was one of the most desirable pre-amps Carver made. The Silver 7T and Silver 9T monoblock amps were designed to go with Carver's Amazing Loudspeakers which use ribbons. Due to the inefficiencies of ribbon speakers, the power of the Silver monoblocks mated very well with them. As stated by Roger, they are way overkill for Klipsch speakers.

If the matching pre-amp happens to be the C-19 and Roger doesn't want the Silver 9t's, I'll pay the $1200 for all three and you can keep the rest.

I have the DeanG upgraded crossovers. The short answer to your question is money well spent. I would suggest the DeanG upgrade for the center channel as well. Some photos of stock, DeanG crossovers & my upgraded center channel crossover: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/135665.aspx

If your RF-5 crossovers are set-up for bi-amping you can use a Y cable with the existing crossovers which is passive bi-amping. I do this with my Forte's and drive the woofers with a solid state amp and the mids/highs with a tube amp. I also connected my RF-7's with my 2 channel system and the tube amp makes the highs very smooth. If you are going to passive bi-amp I recommend a tube amp for the highs. If you are going to use the same type of amp for the lows and highs I would recommend saving your money and go with just one amp.

Your post inspired me to upgrade my RC-7 crossover to match my DeanG RF-7 crossovers. Money well spent. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/135665.aspx

You should buy what sounds best to you. It was suggested to me several years ago to audition the Def Tech speakers, I had my Forte speakers at the time. When I listened to the Def Tech's I thought that there was a blanket covering the speaker since I was use to the horn sound from my Klipsch. Since then I have bought the RF-7, RC-7 & RS-7 home theather speakers. The RF-7's had the DeanG crossovers and I recently upgraded my RC-7 crossover with the same components in the DeanG crossovers. This crossover mod has taken the edge off the horn and is very enjoyable to listen to. I don't know what type of home theater equipment you have or are auditoning but mine as a feature that you can connect a mic and run a calibration which will adjust the speaker to the room. You might consider setting the audio video receiver to "flat" so that there is no trebble/bass boost to allow you to compare the speakers more accurately.

Below is my DeanG RF-7 crossover:

The difference bewteen the RF 63 and RF 62 is like the difference between Jack Daniels Single Barrel and Black Lable. Both are good but the Single Barrel is smoother and more refined and also cost more. I also like to listen to music at live concert volume levels and the RF 63 or RF 83 will make you glad you spent the extra money.

Stock crossover photos: Original Stack-up (LF section is on the top) HF Section LF Section

Modded HF Section Modded LF Section

I finally upgraded my RC-7 crossover to match my DeanG RF-7's. I originally purchased my RF-7's/RC-7's used but the RC-7 had the stock crossover which was the weak link in comparison to the DeanG RF-7 crossovers. I had contacted DeanG about supplying the components for me to install myself, but he declined due to bad experience. I respect DeanGs' decision not to furnish components, he doesn't need to waste his time to troubleshoot other peoples mistakes. I also wanted to match the existing DeanG crossovers in my RF-7's which used Auricaps in the HF section and Solon caps in the LF section. Overall I spent more $ on the upgrade then what DeanG charges since I don't get OEM discount on the components. I find doing this type of work myself rewarding but wouldn't hesitate to recommend DeanG for others who wish to have their crossovers upgraded. Due to the stack-up of the modified crossovers, I found it impractable to stack them. I opted to mount the LF board on the back of the terminal cup and the HF board on the rear inside back of the enclosure just below the terminal cup. I used nylon stand-offs and screwed the board to the rear enclosure which allowed room for the mills resistors mounted on the back side of the board. After about 20 hours of "burn-in" on my 2 channel system, I installed the modded RC-7 in my HT system. After running the MCACC on my HT, I immediately noticed that the center speaker blends in with the RF-7's. The RC-7 sounds more detailed and articulate then the stock crossover, gone is the harshness. Several audiofile people had commented that my RF-7's were the best they heard. I explained that I had the DeanG crossover mods. I will attempt to add some photos: Installed Modded crossovers

Thanks for the post Jake. Did you do both speaker at the same time or did you do an A/B comparison with the stock/modified crossover? Did you glue the components to the wafer board? it's hard to tell from the photos. Did you use stand-offs when mounting your new crossover board so the foam doesn't get compressed? What type of audio gear are you using? Sorry I sound like a 3 year old with so many questions. When I modded my forte crossovers, I set them up for bi-amping so I can use a tube amp for the mids/highs and a SS amp for the lows. Nice work, hope you will get many hours of enjoyable listening.

I prefer to power the woofers with my SS Pioneer SX-1980 receiver and my mids and highs with my Dynaco ST-70 amp using my Dynaco PAS-2 tube pre-amp. I get the low end punch from the SS amp and the smooth mids & highs with the tube amp.

Check out this forum: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php Go to the Pioneer Audio section for more info. I also believe that the SX-5580 is the European version, make sure that it has the ability to run off of 120VAC.

Scott, I believe that is the sound difference between your old RF-7's with dual 10" woofers and your current KLF-30's with dual 12" woofers. Plus the fact that your feeding your woofers with 1000W of power would make them hard hitting.