Erland

A friend of mine enjoyes a pair of RF5's the used to be mine. The other day we dicussed a crossover upgradad by building a entire new crossover instead of playing around with the existing one. My friend works in a company dealing highend audio components in Scandinavia, so access of good parts is easy. Is there anyone who have the schematics of the RF5 xo with component values? Thanks Erland

Thanks. I have also looked for mid driver for the horns for a while. As you say, not many options. It's the JBL, the TAD, Beyma and then GOTO (that I know off) I have heard a roumor that Fostex is working on a "big brother" for the T500AmkII tweeterhorn. Not confirmed, but if that's thrue, I will be first in line when it's released! That said, The K55V is a very good driver! It's just that thought....how much more is it possible to get out of this great speaker[]

I really like the idea of these simple filters. I am using ALK ES400/5800 and I like it, but I keep wandering how much I all the components affects the sonics. I am using Solen caps in the XO. With all the components, upgrading to highend caps will cost as much as a new car! I have had some communication with at dealer of some highend comression drivers, and his opinion confirms exactly what you are writing about detail in the music through a simple first order filter. Greg, I see the basics, but any chance you can print the schematics for your XO.

Thanks for your advice so far. The only difference between TAD 4001 and 4002 as far as I know, is that the 4001 has a bigger (twice the weight) magnet. I agree on the cheating option as long as the driver (with a correct horn) does not start to roll to much. I have not had the option to view the frequency curve on the TAD's. As the TAD are 2" throat, I would have to change the horn from Alkeng Trachorn to Greg's V-trac aswell?

Some of you may remember my DIY Khorn project a couple of years ago. I built a pair of Khorns with Trachorn mids, Crites tweeters and Akleng ES xo's. The tweeters was this summer upgraded to Fostex T500AmkII. Big improvement. I am using the K55V midband driver in the trachorn. I have for some time been exploring the market for another midband compression driver. Some people say that the insanely prized GOTO SG570 or the 505DX is the best there is. Later I have spoken to people who have sold them and changed to the TAD 4001 in other horn systems. They are not cheap either, but still $1200 less than the best GOTO option. I have heard of people who have used the TAD in Khorns, but I do not remember what they have changed except for the squaker horn and driver. The TAD ned to have a lower xo frequency @ 600hz. Can the Khorn bass play up to that frequency range? If not I am left with the GOTO option. They can do it - by a margin! Still I like to try something much simpler than the ES XO What I have in mind, is a "simple as possible" 1st order -6db sloped xo that keeps the midrange between (with GOTO 400hz and 6000hz) /(with TAD 600hz and 8000hz) and a similar filter that limits the tweeter accordingly. The Fostex can play to 45000hz and I see no reason to limit the frequency upwards. First: I have no idea about xo desing, so my questions may be stupid, but: Can it be done? What do I need to change? Anyone who knows enough about XO who is willing to help me with a simple schematic for such XO? Best regards Erland

Great initiative. On behalf of the local "Klipsch community in Norway, I would like to buy 10! 5 á XL and 5 á L size. preferably navy blue or black.

Thank you all for interesting and valid inputs. Yes, it was me who posted some details of installing the Fostex T500AmkII tweeters. They really made a difference by giving more "air" to the performance. I believe that I have found the compression driver that I am looking for: The GOTO SG-505DX http://www.dirac-france.com/page.asp?content=goto/drivermodel.asp&model=lowmid The only problem: I can not afford it.....yet. All data and spec says: "Match made in heaven", and they will work with the trachorn. Just need to save up some cash!

I used 5mm x 0.5 mm flat heat-threated 99.99% pure silver from the silversmith. Pulled som cotton cover on them. Most will probably say "overkill" or wase of money, but then - I will never have to think about upgrading the internal wiring again[]

Congratulations - Looks fantastic! Enjoy!

This may be a well covered subject, but I still allow myself to ask you guys; My speakers are DIY Khorns with Alkeng ES400/5800 xo's, trachorns and recently upgraded with the Fostex T500AmkII tweeters. They sound magnificent and I am very pleased with the way the system present any kind of music. So, why this question? The tweeter upgrade made a huge difference, and I can not help myself from asking; Is there a midband compression driver out there that will cover 400hz-5800khz better than the K55V? I have for a while considered the insanely prized GOTO drivers, but neither of them can cover this particular frequency range, so I would have to rebuild the entire system from the bass bins and up. And then it would not be a complete Khorn anymore. So - is there such driver with sensitivity >104 db and known to be significantly better than the K55V - I would like to know - cost no object!

I absolutely reccomend the Mundorf Silver in oil over the Hovlands.

Thank you for the nice comments. Coming from you guys, it means a lot. sunnysal: I have not changed the midband driver. Still using K55V in the trachorns. I find the K55V an extreemely good driver that will stand it's ground against most alternatives on the market. However, I am considering one of the GOTO midband compression drivers as the next upgrade. They are supposed to be the best there is? What's holding me back is the massive prizetag and the acces it so limited that I will not get the upertunity the try them out. Last time I checked, they asked $5900 a pair, and that was for the least expensive alternative!!! Daddy Dee: The frequency curve for the Fostex is almost flat down to 5000hz, and then starts to roll off slightly before it dives when it comes under 4000hz. Yes, the ES5800 cut the frequency at 5800 with a very steep sloop. Even though the Fostex plays down to 4000hz, It is reccomended from the manufactorer that the xo rolloff with a conventional curve, is around 7000hz. This is mainly to protect the driver. Lower frequency=higher potential for damage. I communicated with Fostex, and they confirmed that with a steep curve that cuts right below 5800, there is no problem. best Erland

That's what I thought to........until I heard the difference:)

Yes, they are not cheap. The prize at Madisoiund was the best I found. In my ears: worth it! A friend came by yesterday. He said: "These tweaters plays more like Klipsch than Klipsch does, just with more grace." And it struck me, he put words to what I also felt. My goal have never ben to brush away the Khorn caracteristics by replacing highend components. To me, it's about highlighting the them!

You are correct. The 50th anniversary model was the inspiration for the finnish. Here is a pic of the entire cabinet. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/103159/1041790.aspx#1041790 Maybe I am slow, but what do you mean by: "What is up top?"

Bypassing the caps is a great idea. I am not sure 0.47 uF is ideal? Ref "Caps guru" Tony Gee at Humble Homemade hifi, is it a must regardless what caps you are using in the xo. He reccomend Vishay Rodenstein 0.01uF/100VDC I followed that advise for all caps in Alkeng ES400/5800 for my Khorns. Great result! God luck.

Due to the rest of my systems capabillities, I felt that my existing tweeters was a limitation. Of that reason I purchased and installed a pair of the new Fostex T500AmkII today. The T500AmkII has 110db sensibillity, dual AlNiCo magnets and magnesium driver. I have Alkeng ES5800 tweeter xo, so adjusting to level is no problem. The sound? O'lala Previously I used the C125 tweeter from Bob Krites. It's a good tweeter for the money aswell as the K77, and it's not fair to campare it with a product more than 10 times the prize, but now I hear what I have been missing. If you have not heard it, you will not believe me! I do not know how to post a picture on this forum anymore, but the adress below will take you to one.. http://www.hifisentralen.no/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=21619.0;attach=95267;image

Hi, I built a pair of DIY-Khorns last year. I used Klipsch plands for the woofer unit. The only mod I did, was to use a router to slightly round of the edges of the wooferboard. This was reccomended by a man who had built a few pairs. I used the Trachorns from Alkeng, with K55V driver for the squeaker, and the C125 from Bob Crites for the tweeter. XO is Alkeng's ES 400/5800 I have not looked back since the day I hooked them up. These are highend sound with a dynamic headroom I have never heard elswhere.

Some pictures of the Khorns

Thank you very much for all your kind comments regarding the equipment that I have built. I will try to answer the questions that has been posted and post some more pictures as requested. - Cost of the amps: Total cost of the amplifiers is aproximately $12.000 in parts - Yes the nuber of zero's are correct. Tvelve tousand! I was hoping to get below 10, but there are always "bits and bobs" in the end that increases the total. -The reason for the wooden cabinets: The wooden cabinets are made of MDF that was glued together and spraypainted afterwards. The main reason for using wood was Gary, the designers recommendations. As some of you may know, Borderpatrol's commercial amps have wooden cabinets. I have been told that a amp with a wooden cabinet sounds better and are easier to get disturbance free. As I personnaly are not to fond of the wood-look in my hifi, I choose to paint them black. -Pictures of the DIY-Khorns The DIY-khorns was presented with several pages of pictures on this forum last year. I will post some of them again - no probs. -Rack I am not sure what to do really. I did not plan for the ASR Basis Exlusive RIAA to arrive at this point. I just got a chanse to buy it for a good prize, and there it was. The plan was to have both the bottom shelfes avaliable for the amps. I am considering to buy two more shelfes from VTI to enable the whole bottom section for the amps. Regarding temperature, it's no problem. The way these amps are designed, nothing except for the tubes get warm. -Starground This again is done by reccomendation from a friend that have built similar amps. A soldering point are screwed into the cabinet, and all wiring including the "iron frames" are connected to this point. I have a switch to "lift" the ground point from the "socket-earth". It's normally wired like that, but I have tried with the switch activated. I could not tell any difference. -If you could make something like that yourself with litle or no experience? With all the resoureses on this forum awaliable - Sure! Take the time to understand what you are doing - read books and ask questions. When you get to that stage of testing - make sure you disconnect the power before you touch anyting. Yes you are right - If you build something like this - the word "clumsy" are not the first she will reach for:) But remember, it will alo set a entire new standard of what she will require you to fix around the house.... -To compare this amps with any low cost amps, tubes or solid state, is just unfair. The reviewer Jason Kennedy has written a test of the commercial "litle brother" of these amps: 'Passion, grace and fire.' Jason Kennedy Hi-Fi Choice Jan 99 - EDITORS CHOICE 'Uncommonly capable single-ended design with less colouration and more grunt than any of the alternatives- resolution guaranteed.' Jason Kennedy Hi-Fi Choice Jan 99 - EDITORS CHOICE ' ....., I went back to my transistors. ....there was a congested quality, as though the system had picked up sinusitis.' Paul Messenger Hi-Fi Choice Jan 98 The full review here: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~valveamp/BorderPatrolAmp.htm - If this is a KIT? No I am sorry. As mentioned, Gary Dews designed the schematic for me. He also had the transformers and chokes built to fit the specs required accrding to this diagram. For the rest, I bought the parts I believed in from different suppliers around the globe. The transformer covers are from www.vt4c.com in Hong Kong. A lot of the internal parts like resistors, caps ea comes from www.partsconnexion.com

General description: Gary Dews (Borderpatrol) has designed the schematic. I also bought the "iron" from him, except the output transformers, that are torroids from Tommy Hørning in Denmark. The grid chokes fro the driver tubers are Magnequest HiNi Gr16. Valve configuration are 2 x EZ 80 rectifiers and one GZ37 rectifiers. I am using NOS Mullard Driver tube 6c45pi. (sovtek) Output one 300B All power are choke filtered in LC or LCLC configuration, incl BIAS. Capacitors are Jensen 4-pole. The amps are 100% disturbance free and sounds absolutely fantastic. If you have not heard SET 300B backed with REAL POWER like this, you do not know what 300B can be like. Now I am just waiting for my Western Electric 300B's

The new amps "racked and stacked"

First time the SET's and the Khorn met - "it was love at first sight"

All units in the basement for final current adjustments