JohnA

FEmale!

Tube amps can be good and a kit should be a fine way to go. Based on my experience with the Type AL, it would be a bigger problem. They have overbearing, honky midrange that is seriously lacking in detail due to the ringing the squawker and probably the woofer filters do. How did you get ALs in a K-horn? If you are tri-amping with Crown amps, you should have control over the levels, but unless they are old DC-300As or D-150s, they are going to be harsh. Why don't you try a nice Mac, Aragon, Proceed, or B&K MOSFET amp around 100 watts and switch to a Type AA, AK-3, or ALK crossover? I'll bet you'll be much happier. One of Klipsch' trainers has said he'd never seen a Heritage system sucessfully biamped with SS and tube amps together.

Wow, Jim, How did you get Type AL crossovers in K-horns? The components of a La Scala are the same as the K-horn (K-33-E, K-400 horn, K-55-V/K-55-M, and K-77/K-77-M). There was never a K-33-M woofer, though there were varients like the K-33-B and -P. For most of their lives they used the same crossovers, too. The Type A and Type AA (with crossover points of 400 and 6000 Hz) were used in both from sometime in the late '50s/early '60s until 1982. In '82 the Type AL/AK was used and that lasted until later in the 80s (after '87) The primary difference was the Type AK was split in two parts. The crossover points were still 400 and 6000. There was an AK-2 for a short time and then the AK-3. There was an AL-3, but I'm not sure there was an AL-2, though you'd think there was. There are some important differences between the AK-3/AL-3 crossovers, regarding the woofer filters, aimed at smoothing the response of each bass horn. The 2002 and later K-horns and La Scalas have Type AK-4/AL-4. We haven't seen the schematics, yet, but the parts quality is better and the autoformer is gone. The crossover points have been changed to better use the new drivers. Now that you know how to build a clock, the components in your La Scalas will be perfect in a K-horn, even the crossover. Should you have a Type AL, trash it, or use it as parts for a Type AA or ALK. If you need schematics, several of us have them.

You should change to the type AA, ALK or Type AL-3 networks. the choice is pretty much yours and depends on whether you think the oil-filled motor-start capacitors sound better than the newer Hovland/Solen caps. I like my Type AA with Hovland caps as well as the ALKs.

Tony, The higher the "order" of the filter the more important the actual value of the component becomes. For a 1st order tweeter filter, I've found most anything from 2 to 3.3 is acceptable. Part of it is how close to "theory" do you want to stay, but the practical side says with varying impedance vs frequency, quite a bit of leeway is present.

The K-33-E should have some of the following numbers on it: 15162, 15-3309, on the cone 451520-2 (maybe w/o the dash) and perhaps 1520F5637. I don't have the numbers for the K-43, but since you numbers are similar, I'd suspect you have the K-43s. Even though Eminence made the woofers for Klipsch, Klipsch would not use Eminence labeled parts for replacement.

Mr. Lascala, PLEASE DON'T SHOUT!!! I have several pairs of each and cannot hear a difference. The K-77 begins to roll-off at about 10k and the K-77-M starts dropping around 14 or 15k. That is about the only difference. For that reason, I prefer the -M, in case there is some HF above 10k in a piece of music I'm listening to. I don't want to miss anything. I keep a K-77 as a spare.

For $15 I've got to have a set! I'll send an E-mail via the Forum.

I'm unfamiliar with those subs. The K-horn's response starts down at 65 Hz and has a bounce at 50 and down again. Id set the crossover at 65 os 70 Hz and use a 12 dB/octave electronic crossover. Harrison Labs F-mods will do a nice job. They are passive and inexpensive. They plug into the power amps and can be had in matching high and low pass versions.

While Klipsch used Eminence to produce K-33-Es for the last several years, they normally don't have Eminence printed on them. The number on the cone doesn't look like the Eminence part number for the K-33-E, but I'll have to check later. You should post some pictures of your woofers, so we can better figure out what you have. K-33-Es have been only $110 each from Klipsch, so if you want to change them you aren't looking at a lot of money. You can call Eminence with the numbers (67-**** means Eminence) and they can tell you what it is. If you have K-43s, the La Scalas will have a bit louder bass. The K-43 doesn't go as low in a K-horn as the K-33, but in a La Scala there is little difference. K-43s are about $250 each. They were common in La Scalas. Real K-33s are often for sale on ebay.

You were.

K-33-Es came with both round and square magnets. My '81s have square and my '87s had round.

Go get pics of the crossover!

There are 2 equations and a little judgement involved. The Power equation is: Pwatts=I*V; I is current (amperage) and V is voltage. The other equation is Ohms Law: V=I*R; where R is either resistance or impedance. (To be completely accurate, there cannot be a phase shift between the voltage sine wave and current sine wave. If there is, a more complex equation is required.) Using algebra to substitute values, P=V^2/R (that is V squared). Judgement comes in because a speaker's/driver's impedance curve is not flat and is likely complex (the aforementioned phase shift). So, your 46 volts causes different power levels at different frequencies since the "R" changes. P=(46.8)^2/8 P=274 watts

Mike, Look at www.madisound.com

The most well thought of inductora are Solen Perfect Lay. Buy the largest practical guage.

Can they carry a tune? The humming is from the amp. Their efficiency makes it audible.

The weekends of June 6th or the 20th look good for me. What say Ye?

Ray, that's great! Can you do the whole movie? One day I'll go to Morocco. Mine is from "Die Hard", but I can't actually say or type it: "Yippee Kai Yea, M.. F...!"

The courteous thing to do is to write to the company and request an "audience". We want to be exceedingly courteous since we are, in effect, inviting ourselves to someone elses's "house". In addition, we would ask for a tour of the facilities, if available. We should also arrange a social gathering and invite the corporate officials to be our guest so we can reciprocate their hospitality. We did something similar last time. While I wrote the last letters, I had lots of help and behind the scene coaching. I cannot claim the work was mine. I am willing to do it again, or assist someone else. The first order of business is to select 2 dates in one month and offer either as possibilities for a tour/visit.

Atta boy, Doug!

Maxxwedge is constantly selling copies of the DfH. I want originals.

Colin, We're not too far from complete agreement, except for "tube watts". "P=I*V" and "V=I*R" govern how many watts any amp can put through any speaker. If either a valve amp or a SS amp applies 10 volts to a K-horn you get about 17 watts. I will grant a valve amp does not sound as bad as a SS amp when driven into clipping, but it is still clipping and capable of no additional power. Valve amps might begin to sound as coarse as a SS amp if the output transformer could pass the high frequencies required to create a true flat topped wave during clipping.

There is no risk at all from reconing with the correct part. Klipsch will probably recone this passive radiator (or the active driver) for you reasonably. In fact, you can use plain tissue paper on both sides and Elmer's glue to repair the passive radiator yourself. You can use light, thin cloth as well. That will get you going until you can make a proper repair.

A bottle of Lemon Oil, well chilled, and a Class A diet will get you "Home". The K-horn varies from a low of 4 ohms in the bass to a little over 30 ohms in the midrange with the tweeter running at 8 ohms. I'd say the 8 ohm tap would be the best compromise, but you should try both.