Jump to content

JohnA

Heritage Members
  • Posts

    5916
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by JohnA

  1. This is basically a theoretical discussion. In theory, a 2-way that performs equally is superior due to the reduced phase shift and distortion introduced by the crossover. To perform equally, a 2-way must have much higher quality, tougher drivers that inevitably cost more. Mr. Paul's AES paper introducing the K-400 horn showed just this. He had a lab quality driver that ran from 400 to 16k Hz and was quite smooth. However, the K-55-V and K-77 easily performed as well and was cheaper, including the extra crossover components.

    John

  2. Wiljam,

    The numbers of interested parties are looking good. I'll be sure to send out an e-mail for all interested people.

    Which brings up that subject. If you want to have another convention, please e-mail me and state your probability of attendance. It looks like this one will be in Indy in June.

    John

    colt4530@comcast.net

  3. You are correct on the way the ACT-3 works and your subwoofer placement. I assume you are using the crossovers in the subs to divide the signal between the subs and mains. Per Dolby Spec, the LFE channel has no extra information, so you are not losing anything in DD 5.1 mode. However, I believe the LFE channel in dts is a seperate track and you may be losing it with no sub. With the Bass Management Upgrade to the ACT-3, you can drive the subs from the LFE outputs and accomplish the same thing you have now, plus get control of the sub level from the remote and be assured of getting the LFE from dts.

  4. You need to listen to the horns unmodified for a while before you jump off into the pit of tweaks. I'd say 6 months.

    That said, you should be looking for K-55-V squawker drivers with solder terminals; they have more and smoother output from 4k to 6k Hz. Next would be flush mounting the tweeters with Klipsch "Z" brackets from the late 90s K-horns and Belles. Besides the brackets you'll have to enlarge the tweeter opening in the upper cabinet. After that I'd be looking at damping the squawker and tweeter horns. I cannot hear any difference due to damping the tweeter, but some can. Finally, you might try replacing the tweeter caps and woofer inductor with premium parts like Solen or Hovland. I replaced the 13 uF squawker cap in my Type AAs with Hovland Musicaps and couldn't hear any difference for my $120. I like the ALK crossovers I have. They're made with all the best stuff and designed for a nearly flat impedance curve. The ALK xover changes the voicing somewhat, but the results are surprising clarity. In my opinion, they're worth every dime.

    John

  5. I once had a pair of Marantz speakers that had an oiled walnut finish. Once a year I would oil them up about twice with lemon oil (which was labeled petroleum distillates!) from Formby's, I think. My sister has them and they still look great, and work! They must be 25 years old by now. I'm sure this just throws oil on the fire, but I believe that's all a good finish needs. I may have only been giving them a mild cleaning, but I liked the results. I also NEVER put Endust or any other similar product on them. Dust with a dry cloth only.

    John

  6. Dean,

    For $1200 you could buy a pair of cornwalls and mod them quite a bit. If I was going to build something, I wouldn't duplicate a Cornwall. The squawker horn would be too hard to find and you should be able to get more/better output from a different woofer, made for bass reflex, and a smaller box. I don't know the specifics of the drivers mentioned, but Tom is leading you down a path that is going in the right direction. A Radian 850 looks like a good candidate for an 800 Hz crossover point in a 2-way system.

    http://www.radianaudio.com/products/comp_drivers/2in_drivers.htm

    John

  7. The woofers' voice coils can be burned out by overpowering them, especially with equalization and big amps. Heresies will sound like they don't have enough bass if they are not placed properly, inviting a bass boost. Those woofers can be reconed fairly cheaply. Call 1-800-KLIPSCH. Their 15" brother the K-33-E is about $100 new or $75 for a recone at Klipsch. Surely your K-22s will not be more. Layne Audio in Nashville has had an after market woofer for Heresies. You could try one of those. I don't think I'd believe his claims for increased performance, there is only so much you can do with that size box. Last time I looked there was at least one pair of K-22s for sale on ebay, too.

    The Heresy will just get down to 50 Hz. I'd say the bass roll-off starts around 70 Hz and then only if you have then against a wall. I suggest putting them against the wall and ceiling in your bar, woofer up. Then, use gentle bass boost (no more than 5 dB) if the sound is not well balanced in your room. Make sure your amp is big enough to handle the boost without clipping; 5 dB is 3.6 times as much power as no boost. If you want to rock the house, get a pro subwoofer and eliminate the EQ on the Heresies.

    An easy, safe way to test drivers is to *rub* the leads on the terminals of a 1.5 volt battery. Don't use a 9V. Finally, the crossover points for a Heresy are 700 and 6000 Hz.

    John

  8. So far, I've replace all of the caps with Hovland Musicaps and disconnected the tweeter diodes. I have a pair of 12 ga. inductors for the woofers, but have not installed them. I didn't like the change with the tweeter inductor screw removed. I was given a graph that showed removing it exaggerated the 6k hump in the tweeters response. I heard more brightness and didn't like it.

    John

  9. Yes! I replaced the caps in my Type AAs and really enjoy the results. The tweeter cap change was quite noticible, but changing the squawker cap was inaudible to me. Upgrading the parts quality will improve the speaker's clarity while maintaining to original "voicing". I would NOT do this to a Type AL, as it is too complex and has inherent problems. Convert your AL to an AA or an AL-3 using high grade parts.

    John

  10. If new cables brought out a hum, you have a ground loop caused by the cables or poorly shielded cables, regardless of price. Cables cannot be too sensitive, just poorly designed.

    Replace cables one at a time until you eliminate the hum.

    Cable burn-in is B.S.! Which electrons are bad electrons? What physical change can 2 volts max. (and virtually no current) make? What it you accidently moved the cable? Is the sound now shot for 2 more weeks? No real engineer would tell you such things.

    John

×
×
  • Create New...