geoff.

Sweet!

...I would expect no less in this forum, lol Sometimes some salient points arise though...

...picture of my lame attempt at bracing

That’s the 5000s in the picture. The lame attempt at bracing was an afterthought, I had them open to PL (adhesive) all of the joints. In another thread years ago I mentioned you could literally shine a flashlight inside the cabinets and see light through some of the joints on the outside. It “seamed” to be a common issue in similar threads. Might be a good idea to invest in a tube. The K-601 horn was an afterthought too. It actually fits flush in the cabinet and you could notch it around the tweeter or woofer, if you were so inclined, for the fun of it. Of note, I have had three pairs of K-601 horns over the years, and each pair had a different composition ranging from thin brittle plastic (pictured, probably first year) to thick non-resonating resin. ...starting to regret selling them, NOT, waaaay too many projects on the go, as usual.

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Yes, that would be to match the increased output from the woofer. As a side note, the Tangent 5000s were the ONLY pair of Klipsch speakers I have ever owned where the K-107-ti tweeter sounded good as a direct substitute for stock.

8 ohm vs 4 ohm for starters, I think. The 4ohm woofer in the 5000 “has more bass” and the passive is probably tuned for it.

I have owned both. Actually just sold the T-5000s last week. It was a tough decision, but the only time I used them was when I was messing with my main speakers. And they always impressed me, even compared to La Scalas. Impressed me compared to the Forte 2s as well, so much so that I kept the 5000s and sold the others. Taller and front passive is a plus. You could put them in the middle of the room and they sounded great. The 500s never quite did it for me in the bass department. The 5000s did. The 4 ohm woofer would account for an extra couple decibels SPL and the other drivers ride along with it it. The crossover is unique to the 5000, the 500 has the Heresy 2 crossover. I was always thinking to get the H3 upgrade kit for either pair but never did. I have no doubt the end result would be stunning.

Managed to do a bunch of apples to apples, apples to oranges, and apples to cherries comparisons. Using A/4500 crossovers: In case previous posts were skipped (that never happens) initial impressions of ZXPC 18x 10 horn on PRV driver were that it was hot, especially in the high end. This is with A/4500 crossovers so all of that should be cut off(?) Lots of energy at the HF cutoff. Lots of information coming out of a big horn. As is to be expected. Almost overwhelming at first... To see if it was just the PRV driver I swapped out a pair of K-55-Ms on the ZXPC 18 x 10s with adapters I had on the shelf. Still more HF energy than I was used to “stock”, but less detail than the PRV drivers. But, big horn, more sound. Definitely worth a try. Then I dusted off (literally) a pair of K-510s on Faital Pro HF200s. Not as much high end, still more than “stock”, but guess what? Smaller sound. I prefer the the bigger horn, apples to apples here. That’s when I was reminded the HF200 has a tapered throat to 2” JUST like the PRV driver, sigh. Using AA crossovers: I know, I need a bandpass. On the shelf was a pair of Crites 6000hz bandpass boards (pictured) left over from a go at titanium mids in Cornwalls and Chorus 2s years ago. Tried the ZXPC/PRV and K-510/HF200 combinations again to pretty much the same results. Lots of energy still in the squawker at the high pass. I really thought the boards would kill it. Just for the heck of it I tried a pair of Cornwall 2 crossovers (600/6000hz) with the bandpass filters in the mix. A little less energy at the high frequency cutoff this time. But, only when it’s gone do you really appreciate the lower crossover to the bass bin. I have heard it said many times on this forum that the lower you are able to cross the better it will sound. Yet it still goes contrary to what I want to believe about bass response. The midrange, on anything I tried, gave the tweeters a run for their money. In the end I preferred the A/4500 combination. But a steeper slope on the squawker roll off, or adjustable midrange would no doubt nail it perfectly. This makes more sense in light of why so many have also dialed down the midrange in their AA crossovers even with stock drivers and horns. I can fully appreciate the efforts all of the forum members have gone through trying to dial in their DIY speakers. I can also see why the L pad question is perennial. What I can’t see is why I haven’t bought K-402s and be done with it, lol.

I don’t know. But don’t all 1” compression tweeters fall into this same category? Add to this, while I was mixing and matching horns and drivers for comparison I was also rudely reminded that my Faital Pro HF200 2” throat drivers are merely tapered HF140 1.4” drivers, lol. Although the Faitals do have an almost 3” diaphragm. Caveat emptor, eh?

...JBL?

At half the price of a pair of whatever variant of the K-55 you can choose new it is an economical solution. A cheap entry into the corrupting world of 2” horns. But for the record, for any suspicious minds, @Curious George are you now, or have you ever been an employee or family member of an employee of the PRV Audio company or any of it’s affiliates? LOL!

I’ll see your bump and raise you

All of this! Especially #1. I have intently followed the posts of many contributors and their progress as they try to dial in the mids. ALK was way ahead of the curve with the ease of adjustment built in. Re-reading some older posts another member had a great suggestion to put a swamping resistor across the squawker for ease of adjustment until you find the right balance and THEN get the cap and tap values correct and remove it. Would really like to get some definite feedback on the need for a baffle too. I always thought it was necessary, but it how much is needed. What effect does it have, one way or the other?

Makes you wonder about the potential of a K-55 if it the throat was opened up more?