JustTaylor

Hey There, I own the Velodyne Optimum 10. I loved it so much I was going to buy another and run dual subs. I found a great deal on an Optimum 12. I am currently running both of these. The Optimum series are some of the best compact subwoofers at any price IMHO. However, they need about a week of moderate volume to break in. For a small room, the Optimum 8 will be amazing. Set all of your speakers to small and crossover at 60-80hz, enjoy. You won't believe your ears, these subs defy the laws of physics. You can also make all adjustments from the listening position with the IR remote. This is completely priceless for time alignment and phase integration.

Hello Everyone, Over the past 2 years I have been spending every spare minute upgrading, restoring, and tweaking my home theater. I bought an entire KG series home theater. I replaced all of the old capacitors in all 7 speakers. I then replaced all of the stock diaphragms with Crites titanium upgrades (Crites Rules!). I bought a Yamaha RXA-1000 receiver. I then purchased 2 450 watt Audiosource amplifiers with triple darlington output stages for the R/L channels. This amp is used to power my KG4.5. I then used the receiver to power the other 5 speakers (KG3.2,2.5,KV3 center channel). I did some research. Although the Yamaha receiver arguably has the highest fidelity of any receiver I have ever owned, it only tested at about 60 watts/channel with all channels driven into 8 ohms. It sounded very good in my opinion. It was perfect at low to moderate levels and good at reference level. I purchased the Emotiva xpa-5 to even out the power to all channels. I can't believe how good this amp sounds! It has the same fidelity as the Yamaha receiver, but with infinite reserves. I have all 7 speakers crossed over at 80hz and allow my little Velodyne Optimum 10 (1200 watts rms flat to 23hz!) take care of the really low frequencies. I must say it sounds perfect to me. I was looking to buy another Optimum 10 and found an Optimum 12 on sale. It will be delivered next Monday and I will be ready to set up dual subs. I would like to thank everyone involved in this forum. Some really bright and crazy folks here. This place has opened my eyes to the world of true high fidelity. Couldn't have ever done it without the ocean of knowledge available here. I will be posting pictures my next day off. I have spent a few thousand dollars total for a sound system that is up to par with some costing 10 times as much. IMHO Klipsch speakers past and present are hands down the best all around speakers in the world, period.

Hey Ken, I love the KG series. Go to Critesspeakers.com. Order the KG 4.5 crossover repair kit for 60 bucks. Take out the 4 screws and remove the woofer. Take out the 3 screws holding the crossover to the inside of the cabinet. Replace the old capacitors with the ones Bob sends you. The KG 4.5s will sound like new. While you are at it, order some of the new titanium diaphragms for 60 bucks. If you do these two things, you won't believe how amazing those KG 4.5s sound. I did this with mine, then my KG3.2, then KG2.5, and KV3 center channel. My 7.1 home theater destroys anything I have ever heard! I even like the way the KG's sound over my Heresy I's with c-125 tweeters and new caps. I also believe they sound even better than my Heresy II's with titanium upgrades and new capacitors. You do these simple mods and you will have some of the best sounding speakers you have ever heard. Add cross braces and you will like them better than rf82. Good luck, and don't be afraid of soldering iron, its totally simple even for a beginner.

Sorry, I didn't think to take photographs. There are two ways to do this. 1: Remove all components from cabinet and all contents. Violently knock off the back panel through the woofer opening. Add shelving braces or cross braces where desired. Re-glue your back panel. 2: Remove the woofers and internal foam. Measure the internal dimensions of the speaker. Stay away from the corners because they are properly braced already. Buy untreated wood for your braces at home depot. You can cut your braces 1mm shorter than the internal dimensions of the box. I added cross braces 1inch below the woofer and it worked out great. I didn't wan't to add screws from the outside. I used Gorilla wood glue. It works extremely well, but be careful. Do this in a shop and where gloves. The glue expands to about 5 times its size. As long as you can barely align the strait edges of your first brace perpendicular to the sides of the cabinet and it fits securely without glue it will work great. You will have to find a way to set the first brace. I used old hardback books stacked on top of each other side by side. When I set the brace on top of the books it was perfectly centered. After you see that your first brace fits securely without glue, remove your first brace and dab some glue on each side. Be careful though, this stuff blows up like a balloon and becomes part of the wood. After the first brace dries for about an hour. Check its firmness. I was able to easily swing the speaker around violently by the brace only! Now adding a second brace is simple because your first brace is already there to set it. Cut and glue your second brace from back to front, perpendicular to your first brace. Let dry. Give the cabinet a wrap and hear how dead it sounds compared to the other. You can add additional braces until you reach the desired effect. Cheers!

Why do my speakers (kg4.5 mains, kv3 center, kg2.5 surrounds, kg3.2 surround back) sound out of phase with subwoofer when set to small with crossover at 80hz? When they are set to large the phase seems perfect. Seamless match between speakers and subwoofer (velodyne optimum 10). Is there a 180 degree phase shift anytime you use a crossover? My receiver is a Yamaha RXA1000. Is it because I am using ported speakers with a sealed sub? Shouldn't it not matter because my speakers are playing above 80hz? Someone please explain. Thanks.

What is necessary to refinish these HBR's. Do they need to be sanded or stripped or what?

Also, do I need to remove all of the components to have these cabinets refinished? Could I just cover the front panel completely and be careful?

What kind of caps are these? They are black boxes. Are these paper in oil caps? Why don't they look like batteries? What were they using in 85?

I think I'm gonna order Heresy III's. I didn't realize how inexpensive they could be had. This stuff really gets a hold of you!

Thank You. I have some serious food for thought. I have a wonderful sub paired with these. Its not the largest but it works well. It is a velodyne optimum 10. I can't hear where the speaker ends and the sub begins. I like your idea of purchasing another set. I'm not sure if I'm quite ready for the extensive list of mods you have recommended. I must say I added cross braces to my kg4.5 and they now sound spectacular. I may leave these alone for a few months. I have been advised that you should leave functional speakers alone for some time just to become acquainted with their sound. It's a shame, they sound amazing but because of this forum I feel like they have not nearly reached their potential.

The only problem I have is no experience changing capacitors. Who does this type of work? Is it easy for a beginner?

Just picked up a pair of Heresy I speakers in great condition. Serial numbers match and start in 85. They sound amazing to me. The only mod that seems available is the c125 Crites tweeters, as well as the new crossover with lower high pass crossover frequency. I would like here from other Heresy I owners who have made these modifications and how you like the results compared to the original sound of the speakers. Any input appreciated. Thank You.

I recently added internal bracing to my klipsch kg4.5. I can't believe how much better they sound. I used to have a tough time matching the phase with my velodyne optimum 10. Now they sound as though they were built for each other. These speakers now with new cross braces, and new titanium diaphragms are just amazing. They still have the original caps. I'm leaving them alone for a while. I wonder why the designers only used corner bracing originally. Doesn't seem like it would have cost much more to add braces needed to make these speakers so much better. I'm thrilled, 20 dollar upgrade that sounds priceless. Thank God for the info available on this forum.

Thank you for the prompt response. That sounds like sound advice. I'll give it a few months then go ahead with replacement. I am going to have to send my crossovers to someone because I am not confident that I can do the work myself. The crossover boards are really tiny in the kg4.5. I don't want to get in there and really mess things up. Do I need to add braces and dampening foam/material to these speakers as well? I've read little mods like these can really improve fidelity. Can they just be stuffed with anything? Wool? Thanks again, your response was very insightful.

I recently collected these speakers for a home theater system. They sound very nice as I have replaced the stock diaphragms with Crites titanium upgrades for all. I would like to know how to tell if the capacitors need replacement. i don't want to waste the time and money if I could not tell in a double blind test with new caps. I contacted the tech department at Klipsch and they assured me that the stock capacitors rarely ever go "bad", even on speakers this age. They said the caps should be fine for many years to come. I have looked at the crossovers, they look new. All the speakers sound symmetrical and clear. I still feel uneasy about the whole issue because of the quotation marks around "bad". I am all for upgrading/replacing capacitors if it will make a real, noticeable difference. Someone please help. This seems to be a controversial issue. Could someone please explain to me the difference in functionality between old and new capacitors. Please explain differences in sound quality new capacitors will make. Thanks.