Dave A

OK that has bearing on what I want to do. I specifically and only I am interested in working on a speaker or driver one at a time to verify there is no voice coil problems primarily rubbing of any sort. Again what I want is feed back from someone who has used this type of device to analyze this specific problem of voice coil rubbing which I assume this is for. I want to speak to someone who has done this with this type of equipment to learn specifically what to do. The guy who was using this type of device is considered the best speaker recone guy in Nashville now and he checks speakers this way. I assume since he does it for a living there is a reason he does it this way. He is not going to show me how to do this so I need advice from someone who will be willing. I want to know why he does it this way and not with software and IPads phones etc.

OK I can believe in software because I use it daily for design and machining. I looked at REW though and it appears to be for a different purpose than analyzing a single driver for things like voice coil rubbing. The guy I saw use one went from low to high Hz and back and would listen for any frequencies that caused strange noises and check ohms out to. If they had no bad noises and ohmed OK he would say they were good. What I want to do is specifically test individual speakers for problems. How does REW allow for that? I don't care about rooms I just want to check drivers with speakers I am working on. I have the B&K manual and thanks for the link. What I want is to talk to someone who has used one of these before for speaker testing. I am open to alternatives but the speaker rebuilder used a function generator and this thing only cost me $59.00 with shipping so if it does the job I don't want to look further.

A guy who has repaired speakers for me in the past used a frequency generator to test speakers with. Has anyone here done this and if so can you explain exactly what this does? I bought a B&K 3011B off EBay pretty cheap and can duplicate the sounds I heard when the speaker guy did it but don't know how to interpret what I hear.

What these guys say. There is a propensity here to throw dollars at things and many times I begin to think it is bragging rights driven. I can understand if it is a hobby and people with gobs of cash want to play around but I am assuming the OP wants an economical effective solution that works for his purpose. I intend to buy an Onkyo 8270 and use it to drive audio from my PC workstation to whatever speaker I am using that day. I may at times use it to feed my Crown XLi 800 because I think the commercial amps provide a more realistic concert performance environment since it is a commercial amp and produces the sound you hear at concerts the way it was produced at concerts. But it was only $235.00 delivered and has way more power than my ears could ever stand. These are the only things I would ever buy at this time to feed my speaker monsters using my PC as a source. Good cheap used Crown amps are all over the place if you want to go that route. Check out the Onkyo specs and that yummy DAC: 384 kHz / 32 bit output for just $100 dollars more at Parts Express. As cheap as $439 on ebay with factory warranty. Or buy this and that and the other thing and tinker.

There is a supplier of 1" Baltic Birch in Nashville. 5'x5' for basically $50 each with tax. It is not that much more than 3/4" and I bet a lot stiffer. My bet would be it would have to help too. I know the best sounding La Scalas I have had out of five sets are the Industrial one piece fiberglass coated ones that I kept for that reason. Yes the K43 woofer helps but the stiffer cabinet does too I am certain.

I have searched the forum and the crossovers sticky and I can't find the schematic for this KP-3.2B KP-320 crossover. Anyone have this?

I have a pair of KP-480-SW's. They look like KP-115's but the input cup says KP-480-SW Passive Crossover. Is there any information on KP-480 variants you have"

Got my B&K 885 in and the answer is no they cant be measured in place. Going farther than this with analytical equipment wont happen here so it looks like cut , measure and resolder.

So what did the 1" plywood do for the sound quality? I am thinking of building a Cornwall or Cornscala out of 1" Baltic Birch and figure it has to help.

ANYONE please help me answer this question. I have people beating me up on a listing telling me that my KP-480-SW's are KP-115's even though the input cup says KP-480-SW. I know not everything with Klipsch is well documented at times but I have a problem and I sure wish somebody could answer this.

Still looking for info on the KP-480-SW. Anyone know anything about KP-480 variants? I have questions people are asking me I can't answer so any help is appreciated.

Need to find four of these.

That is what I intend to try this coming week. I had asked the question because I might get direction on which LCR meter to get. For some reason I thought I had read somewhere that you could do this. I have ordered a meter now so it will be what it will be.

Hey folks they are relisted on Letgo. Listing says Helena Al and pickup in Alabaster Al. Here is the text. Read what I saw in person and have a laugh at what they said again. Really hope no one believes them and buys these out of ignorance. These should be CLNO (cornwall laminate not oiled) and not CWO. 73 Klipsch Cornwall Speakers $1000 firm Cornwalls are an American audio icon. 73 Klipsch Cornwall, rare Vertical horns and Alnico tweeter and squawker. THEY LOOK AND SOUND BEAUTIFUL Rare gem pair of Klispch Cornwall. They were made in 1973 with vertical horns and risers. Model CWO (walnut). The squawker and tweeter have Alnico magnets. Drivers: K-77 (Alnico tweeter) K-55-V (Alnico Squawker) K-33-P (woofer) Condition: I would give them 9 out of 10. Amazing after 44 years The grills and emblems are perfect. I took pictures of everything, you can see how nice they look and every flaw too, you will love them. Everything is original. The grill cloth (cane) is wrapped around the front plywood that the drivers are mounted into and it is not removable. They sound phenomenal; with hard to find vertical horns, the squawker and tweeter are mounted vertically and the woofer is off set. The speakers can be used upright or on their sides. These 1973 Vintage Cornwalls might possibly be the best loudspeaker made. Google them and read the reviews. Pick up only in Alabaster

Is it possible to check capacitors without unsoldering one end?

It seems to me there is a huge market of audio capacitor makers who cater to ego. More money spent does not mandate more or better results. IF I were to even consider doing this to a new speaker I would want to hear first from a guinea pig who has already volunteered to harm his setup. My number one complaint about online forum information is the attachment of ego and personalities to what should be straight forward information. There is a study online where some guy looks at tons of capacitors and his list is chock full of nonsense where capacitors can run you up to $600 each but somehow when you get right down to it the measured electrical values are the same as my cheapo Ersa or Solen caps. Maybe it is the voodoo spell they incorporate into the $600 dollar build that makes it worthwhile. I fail to see how exact same measured values between differing caps can result in harmonic bliss vs crummy sound. I might be wrong but I will have to see and hear evidence to the contrary which I have not yet. However if you have the money to burn the discovery process can be fun I suppose. Do most of the people who try these things even have the hearing capabilities to discern subtle differences or is their hearing impaired through age and abuse and the effort is wasted to begin with. There is a ring tone kids use that their parents cant hear because the pitch is to high for instance. I would do this to one speaker first and play before and after side by side and switch the two channels back and forth if you insist on doing this before I did it to both.

As the title says. KP-260's will fit to. I can make these but the Klipsch logo is beyond me.

Hoping to spare someone what I went through today. If you see a listing like this in Alabaster Alabama beware. represented in the listing as Walnut and condition 9 out of ten. Hooked up and ready to play. So I drive the 320 mile round trip. I get there and the son had supposedly taken the Monster cables and so they could not be played. Of course there were no others available either. The husband left in "anger" over this before I got there and the poor wife is left to show me. Well they are walnut laminate and yes it was a good job but hardly walnut. They wanted a thousand which I would have paid for an honest listing. Who knows but what the husband was not just hiding upstairs and this was their excuse to not have to play them. I offered 500 and quickly reconsidered and offered nothing and left the pestilential flea ridden house to the proud owners of the bogus Cornwall listing. You have been warned.

OK here is the schematic for the KP-480. The caps that are on there do not have a negative or positive marking and the 1 uf cap is one of those old blue Mexico ones. So therefore nothing special as far as I can see. I know in machining there is tolerance stackup where every little discrepancy leads to overall loss of tolerance so you eliminate them where you can IF it is required to meet specs. So I am back to asking why a 1 uf on top of two 100 uf? Is a 1/2 percent cap value relative to the aggregate really meaningful when the tolerance slop is far greater? Replacing these and duplicating what is there is not a problem I just don't understand why it was done this way and what difference that 1 uf cap makes. KP-480.pdf

I have a question in regards to capacitance. On a KP-480 crossover there are two 100uf and a 1uf soldered together in parallel. Now with the tolerance at best at 5% why so particular on 201 total uf when a 5% tolerance goes way past the 1uf capacitor? Can I just use two 100 uf caps and forget the 1 uf cap? Adding to this I can get a 10% tolerance 200 uf cap and just use one. I see on a Crites AL-3 the use of two 68 uf caps in parallel and they are 10% tolerance caps from Parts Express ( or at least the same thing is sold there ) so what is the best route to go here?

I have two amps. One is an Onkyo 8050 and if I try to run the KP-301,260 or 250's off them I have to be careful about bass levels as it will clip. I also have a Crown XLi 800 and it does not have these clipping problems up to louder than I care to play them. The Onkyo will run a pair of KP-480's and pro La Scalas with no issue but the sound is better with the Crown amp. I like the bass treble sound controls on the Onkyo better but if I feed the Crown right even though all it does is amplify the sound quality is better. I think the extra watt headroom makes a difference and if I replace the Onkyo it will have to be with something far more powerful.

I have had five sets of La Scalas. The fifth one which I intend keeping is an Industrial one piece fiberglass covered set. I think between the fiberglass and the aluminum corner reinforcements it is a much stiffer cabinet. Now it also has a K-43 and not a K-33 woofer which also adds to the sound quality but for sure I think the much stiffer industrial cabinet helps a lot. +1 for particle board is crap by the way, It is hard to imagine with the huge cost of new Klipsch they would opt for MDF over thicker plywood. I have read stories of plywood cabinets rolling down stairs and being beat up but surviving. Somehow I see big broken chunks in my minds eye with MDF.

Interesting that you say that about the fastrac. I have read a number of places where people talk about bad resonance from thin wall plastic horns or from metal horns. As an aside here. It seems like nothing is best singular known method here in audio land. I come from a back round where there is almost always a best way to do things. A design that is efficient and can be produced. Where manufacturing parts is pretty well proven science with known best ways of doing so. Still you have to dig for these things and then there is a group that wants to stay with what they knew but not realize there is a better way and provably so by the life of cutters and increase in cubic inch per minute metal removal rates. Part of the equation I go through to arrive at best practices in my shop is to find A, the guys who have actually done things similar to what I propose to do and B, have verifiable excellent results. In general I can go to see these things being done in real life and make qualified judgements as to how I should proceed. Here things are different. I can read a ton of variations and opinions but have little resource to actually verify that what the author says is correct by going to see and hear what was done. So I have to slog through numerous here is the best way scenarios to try and figure out who has the best well rounded practical builder knowledge according to their technical presentation on a forum and not a combination of standing there and hearing in person to judge for MY ears that what was done was right for me. There is an old adage that says measure twice and cut once. I do not want to try and reinvent the wheel I just want to find the best way and I am wondering if this is even possible. Perhaps our ears and perception are so diverse this is a naive hope on my part and I will just have to jump in and forge ahead. It is not just this forum, it is all the audio forums. I have observed a few very nice looking systems when I have been buying speakers but it seems there was never time to sit and hear and have explained what was done and why. I have to say that these systems were far more involved than I will ever need or want. I just want two channel audio because I am not a TV watcher. I want a self contained preferably one piece cabinet at best and a two piece like the newer la Scalas would be fine too. I am in awe of you guys with these theater setups and would like to stop in and hear but I have no desire to emulate you. Simple two channel Dave is my goal. Anyway back to Fastrac. I had considered the idea of machining a horn. I can make it in two halves to be joined quite easily and it could be any material I choose. Wood obviously has advantages in this area with screws and glues to join the halves and it looks good. I have often thought stacked maple butcher blocks would be pretty as well as a good base material. I can machine out of solid Delrin plastic two halves and screw and seal the joining surface and make it all thick enough to never worry about resonance. I can do the same with aluminum. Lots of $$$ for the material though. After all if you are removing the center cavity only out of a block that leaves a ton of dampening material. Then I think well OK can you even hear such a difference? The K400 horn sounds just fine to me. I like the La Scala's I just don't like the lack of profound bass with things like Toccata in D Minor. " I understand. Please explain why so many want the Cornwall low end then? That's not folded horn woofer design... Note: I am new to heritage speakers with folded woofer designs.....this is an honest question." Part of my dilemma too. I have had both Cornwall and Chorus speakers here. Both quite different to me and different from my industrial La Scalas. The KP-480 sub I am using with the La Scala's sounds a bit muddy to me and does not go low enough. The Cornwalls and Chorus's go deep but do not have the clarity of the La Scalas even though I really like the way they sound. Another consideration is my audio environment which is in my shop. All hard surfaces everywhere. The La Scala's seem to direct sound better to a central listening area and the speaker cabinet types are not so directional. My sound room is next to the CNC mill and lathe. The Cornscala was to me a possible worthwhile compromise that would allow me directional sound and bass and clarity in my environment.

Part of my reasoning to build is to reduce the shear size of the speakers. Part of my reason is because I want to. Whatever I do though i want it to be a significant improvement or it serves no purpose but size reduction which is nice but not enough.

Hey Justin it was a typo on my part and should have read ASD not SD. For some reason as I type this what I remember in talking to you was the Universal but looking at my notes it was the Cornscalla Universal. It was a long day when I typed all that. I am listening to you but what I would really like is for direct first person comparisons. I take it you have done this? If so what exactly were the improvements in the bass area. Refresh my memory if we did discuss this as I may not have jotted that down in my notes.