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Hi all, Finally got the Trachorns up & running, so here are a few action shots. I was originally going to stain the horns to match the cabinets but that was a disaster! The paint shop I went to mixed the cans of stain up & they ended up a horrible orange colour. After many hours I finally ended up with them as you see them now. They have 2 coats of grey undercoat, 3 coats of satin black enamel & 2 coats of satin clear lacquer. I jigsawed the original motor board to accept the larger horn which meant removing the grill cloth, making the cut out & re installing the grill cloth...turned out better than I thought it would. All that,s left to do now is veneer the bass reflex cabinets. And how do they sound? I originally built these cabinets for my wife to use as a second set of speakers. My reference has always been my Altec Model 19's that I have had for about 15 years. Whenever I would listen to another system or another pair of speakers I would come home, put the Altecs on & always think that they were the better sound. When I got the LS home in standard form (Crites stamped woofer, K400/K55, CT125's & A 4500's) I found that I couldn't listen to them as they had no bottom end, were glary & generally not very pleasant, but that was OK as they were only my second pair of speakers & the Altecs were still my favourites....then I met you guys!! First was the bass reflex cabinets, plus cast frame woofers....now I had some sort of botom end. Then was the crossovers (change to ALK Universals), much more refined & detailed (the Altecs still beter overall) & now the Trachorns. Well, I'm afraid the Altecs now take a back seat & I don't say that lightly, as I really wanted the Altecs to still be better. The Trachorns have changed the whole character of the sound. No more constriction, edginess, harshness. The sound is now completely natural & a lot more open. I hooked the Altecs up again for a comparison & they now sound strained in comparison. These horns open the sound up completely & produce an effortless quality that is hard to beat. As you can see, I'm extremely happy with my final result....thanks for all your help. John

I would disagree about using a sub, as to my ears it muddys the sound & doesn't give a true bass definition....on top of that it's very hard to integrate with your main speakers. I used the ported box underneath the LS & now have good output down to 30Hz which is plenty low enough for all types of music. If you want to shake the walls with subsonics then maybe you will need a sub. You definitely need to brace those side walls to tighten things up. An upgrade to the Crites cast woofer will give you a little more output at the extreme lows (more than you might think) & the ALK Universals or the Extreme slope if you can afford them are the way to go. Having the ability to cut back the mids is a real bonus. When you've done that you should think about getting rid of the K400 & using the Trachorn....it makes a huge difference. Good luck.

Bill,Thanks for the advice.....since I put the bass reflex cabinet underneath my LS the problem has gone. Bass is now fully extended & sounds awesome from the listening position...can't quite figure that one out. Have also added the ALK crossovers, which made a huge difference over the Crites A4500's. Still to add the ALK Trachorns.

From what I've read here I think you'll find that that will do exactly the same thing.I reead here that Klipsch went to the 1 inch side panels to eliminate the resonance in the LS2 because to go the way of the wedgies would involve having to make them individually for each cabinet due to the variations in dimensions for each box.

I also used Greg's ideas...here's a photo of the construction showing the braces....IMO I think 1 brace is more than enough.

Well done...that looks great. I too found a huge difference with the ALK's, appreciate your comments on the Trachorns....that's the difference I am looking for, so can't wait to fire them up. Love the look of your music room....what a great place to sit down, relax & enjoy.

Curious for your opinion on the ALK Trachorn fitted with the stock driver. Do you like the change? I too have the ALK Universals & the Crites tweeters. The ALK's made a huge difference to the sound IMO...much better. I think my pair are coming along with yours....although I ordered them way back in July...I'm beginning to wonder if they'll ever turn up.

Rudy, Those measurements look interesting & confirm what I hear on my set up. Bass is much stronger from 60Hz down. I found I had to attenuate the mids on my ALK though as I lost a bit of efficiency in the bottom end with the bass reflex set up. Just went back 2 more notches.....perfect balance now. By the way....what bass driver are you running in your cab?

Just a thought.... I know you like the look of the slot better, but one of the main reasons I used the round ports was it was much simpler to build. I used 4 inch plastic downpipe which is available from any hardware store & then simply cut it to length & glued & siliconed it into holes cut in the baffle. Good luck, John

"When you say a 13" x 2" port, what are those dimensions referring to?" If this is what the spec calls for, it would mean that the port is 13 inches wide & 2 inches high. And from what Dennis says if you make it 8 7/8 inch deep it will tune the system to 35HZ

Rudy, "Does that box need fiberglass or anything in it? I notice you said ...light stuffing. Could you be more specific for us novices? " I used polyester wadding...about 50mm thick...to line the box. I just used a single layer & stapled it to all surfaces slightly loosely...it should just remove any standing waves. I haven't lined the dog house as yet, but am going to do that with the same material & try that. If you used polyester house insulation that would be OK. "I saw pictures of this mod with Cornwall 'like' rectangular ports. Any advantages or disadvantages of this type of port?" The type of port won't affect the sound....it is simply loading the driver & enclosure to a particular frequency. I came across the design with the round ports & went with that...when you paint the insides black they are less obtrusive. but yes, the rectangular ports look cool...don't know what the dimensions of that would be to achieve low 30Hz. Hope this helps, John

From what I've picked up on this forum the stock K33 will work just fine, Having said that, I've got the Crites cast frame woofers (as do many others here) & found it to be vastly superior.

And the cabinet plans LaScala11.pdf

I built mine from 3/4 inch plywwod (just like they used to build the poriginal factory models before MDF was available). I think it's easier to work with, has greater physical strength, is lighter, doesn't deteriorate as much from either getting wet or absorbing moisture from the atmosphere & any little bumps that it may receive are less likely to damage the timber. I don't think there's any other choice. Attached is a build guide which may help. Build%20Plans.txt

Or you could build it into the horn cabinet & port from the rear.

Here's a photo courtesy of Marvel that I used to do mine. The box is 10 inches high & the ports are 4 inches in diameter & 7 inches long.

I have a set that I'd like to sell...email me if you're interested. Or if you still need photos I can do that for you also.

Here's the link to the mod I did to mine...you'll never go back to standard after you've heard these! http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/123298.aspx?PageIndex=1

"I immediatly noticed improved bass response." Yes, the mid horn will be giving you some advantage there, but I think you'll find that the additional bass is primarily from the cast frame woofers. "Any good suggestions on the best method of breaking them in?" Set your CD player on repeat & enjoy. "Any suggestions/comments on crossover points or upgrades that would work with this setup?" I agree that the ALK universal crossover will be one of the most significant improvements you could make. This also gives you the flexibility to attenuate the mid range should you wish to. Good job & enjoy!

....and you should hear them!The theory is all wrong...1200HZ crossover...2 way...but they just motor along & are not at all put out by my custom LS's. That old mid 70's technology still cuts it with the best of them.

Here's a data sheet for the 416's as new replacements from Great Plains Audio (no affiliation). I've got the data sheet of the genuine 416, but the file is too large to upload here. Hope this is of help, John 416_8C.pdf

And these had Altec 421 8LF's in them. I noticed a huge difference in quality when I swapped to 416's.

Carl,The E140 is a musical instrument bass speaker & as such I would consider it a little too, shall I say, agricultural, for home hi fi critical listening. I think you'll find the Altec 416 or 515 will give you much more detail in the bottom end & also superior tone in the bottom end for critical listening. That said, the JBL is a great driver, but not one that I would consider ideal for critical listening in a home environment. For PA & high power sound reinforcement use they would be ideal....in these situations most of the delicate details become masked & therefore it's not such a consideration. I've used 416's in Altec model 19's & also A7's & the punch, clarity & detail is hard to beat. All the best, John

Sounds awesome!! If you were listening to the A7's on their own I would suggest swapping the E140 for something like an Altec 416 or a 515, but as you have so much other reinforcement I doubt whether you will need it. Well done!

If you're looking at constructing a heritage type system & you're going to use the ALK Tractrix, I don't think you can go past the K55 from the point of view that the Tractrix will open the sound of this driver up dramatically. It also has other advantages - it can be crossed over quite low (400Hz), is inexpensive & it is basically bullet proof. You hardly ever hear of anyone blowing one unless they do something stupid to it. I'm currently waiting for delivery of my set of Tractrix horns from ALK & will be running this combo, plus the mods below. For the top end - the Crites tweeter is also hard to beat. Very smooth, detailed & extended frequency range....once again at a realistic price. For crossovers, you have to have the ALK Universals. Best investment I ever made. Having the ability to pad the midrange up or down is invaluable! Best of luck.