gago1101

For dynamics, highs / lows, I use War of the worlds, pt1 Introduction by Michael Romeo

Reviving this thread. Great comparison video, thank you! Interesting to note how the series progresses from RF7 to RF7iii. Easy way to describe is in-your-face forward sound with the original RF7s and mellowing out with the RF7iiis. From that very limited demo, I kind of prefer the RF7ii, but the video and the tracks heard can be tricky. Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has looked inside the RF7iiis or can share any pictures if for any unlikely reason it has been disassembled. I am trying to see what Klipsch has done when they talk about isolating the woofers to mitigate potential standing waves.

Fostex d1400 has the exact same mounting holes, 3 of them. You may also look at the less expensive Fostex D1405. Madisound.com has both and they also have the mounting diagrams and sizes. Since I have just replaced mine, I know the hole pattern and size is exactly the same. Check this out. http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/horn-tweeters/fostex-d1400-compression-horn-driver/

BTY, I forgot to mention. The most significant upgrade and improvement will be when you get rid of the internal crossover and go active bi- or tri-amping.

Yep, there is the Fostex D1400 driver ($1000/pr) and the TAD beryllium drivers that would cost about anywhere from $2500-$8000/pr. The latter is considered the best of the best. Both will be better than the Radian I think. If i had the money I would go for the TAD drivers, but there are a few other upgrades I would do before installing the TAD, such as increasing the heft of the speakers to decrease resonance and possibly change the tractrix horn to a lower cutoff frequency. The 10" drivers in the original Klipsch I think are amazing and, in my opinion, nothing will better them.

It should work fine. The Radian's raw sensitivity is 111dB, I think that is pretty close to what the original Klipsch is. However, the original crossover may be specifically optimized, in terms of sound, for the original driver. It would be hard to say how it will sound. Aluminum is not necessarily a step back , some people swear by them and pay lots of money to buy (i.e. vintage Altec drivers). I think it should be significantly better for the mids and mid-hgihs and mellower on the higher end. You can for example look at JBL synthesis 1400 array horns. They do use aluminum for the midrange horn (750Hz to 8Khz) and titanium for the high frequency horn. http://www.jblsynthesis.com/downloads/products/prod_94_634484048356173879_Specification%20Sheet%20-%20Project%20Array%201400.pdf The best way to answer your question would be to try and listen for yourself. Parts-express has a great retunr policy. You can try them out and retunr them if you don't like it. It is easy to change the drivers. It is almost plug and play. The only thing is to use shorter mounting screws as the ones that come with the Radian driver are tool long to fit the Klipsch's plastic horn.

The Radian 475PB also has a 1.75" diaphragm. I originally referred to the Radian's exit diameter, which is the same 1" as the original Klpisch. here is the link to the manufacture's site & specs for the driver http://radianaudio.com//index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=18&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=27033&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=40&vmcchk=1&Itemid=40 My original crossover is completely out with wires cut, no going back. If you decide to get the Fostex super tweeter's, which I have to say are amazing, you will need to have some kind of a crossover as they only function in >7KHz range. You need to have a new passive or active crossover. Passive maybe the way if you plan to drive them with a single amplifier.You can either build them yourself (many example in DIY audio) or buy from small DIY manufacturers here is the spec sheet for the supertweeter. http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/speaker_components/pdf/t900a.pdf I have to say that the sound is significantly more refined with this tweeter, no harshness at all, with lots of transparency and freq extension.

Yes, I have added 2 new drivers to each speaker. First, I have taken out the original crossover and am using an active electronic crossover instead. I had added the Fostex T900a super tweeters in the past to cover above 8khz range. Now I changed the original 1" Klipsch compression driver to the Radian driver to cover 800Hz - 8KHz range. So no, the painted horns are not blank, they house the new Radian driver. With this setup one needs to have 3 different ampifiers, one for each driver.

Just to update my original post. I finally ended up getting a much cheaper option than Fostex or TAD, I got the Radian 475PB-8 1" Aluminum Horn Driver ($360/pr) to replace the original Klipsch K-701-G drivers found in my RF-7 ii speakers. The removal and the replacement of the drivers was really easy, took about 20 minutes. As I had the horns out, I also ended up painting the horns gold/bronze to match the woofers and the Fostex tweeters (see attached). First, Radians are about 50% bigger than the Klipsch in size and probably twice as heavy. You can find the frequency responses attached to the post. There is not much difference, possibly slightly flatter response with the Radians. Also, it seems the Klpisch actually goes slightly lower down to 800hz compared to the Radians (see before & after freq responses below) Now the sound. I am very pleased with the change. I think the vocals sound significantly more clearer and open, it is almost like a night and day change. I do not feel the congestion and harshness any more. Interestingly, the freq response cannot explain the difference in sound that I am hearing. I also spend a lot of time trying to get the speakers time aligned. After lots of impulse measurements and delay adjustments, I finally have them aligned perfectly and it sounds sublime. I can say my current setup easily bests the Mcintosh mc601 / B&W 800D combo in Magnolia by miles. Can't be happier

I was actually able to take it apart. The front frame is there to hide the screws.The driver is connected using 3 screws exactly spaced as the Fostex D1400 drive that I am looking to get. I am still trying to decide wether to pull the trigger on the Fostex $1.2K/pr or go berserk and get the TAD td-2001 drivers $3K for the pair. Will let everyone know when I get either one and install.

I am not trying to change the driver based on an aberration on the graph. I am merely trying to blame the bad midrange sound that I can hear to the aberration or possibly to woofer rolloff. It may just be the quality of the sound that the driver makes rather than anything else. Hence, my idea of replacing the compression driver. The mids sound harsh, congested and lost in between the bass and the highs. It is much better with the separate amplification and electronic crossovers, but still not good. My side by side comparison is with my cheap JBL L890 speakers, which sound significantly better in the mids, clearer and more open. The Klpisch p39f has almost the same size horn with just a larger throat. It goes down to 500hz, so I am hoping the horn will allow for the 650hz range. I have not ventures to take the drivers out, but will be doing it soon. Thanks for the replies!

Thank you, that does help. Looks like the plastic horn is fitted in snuggly without and screws and should come out together with the driver.

I have removed the crossovers altogether and am using an active crossover. The speakers and its 1.75" compression drivers are fine. The only thing is that I feel I am missing something in the 800-1khz zone. Not sure if it is the nature of the driver or the hump it creates at around 2khz. I is hard to see from the room response that I get below. My goal is to replace the driver with something like Fostex 1400 so I can lower the crossover point to around 650Hz instead of about 1khz that I have now.

Does anyone know how or if it is easy to take out the compression drivers on Klpisch RF7 ii's. I am trying to figure out if it will be easy or too hard to replace them. thanks in advance

Thanks for the comments, guys. It did take a lot of dedication, especially considering the wife fury I faced during the process