gheth54

Morning, billybob, I clicked on "Follow topic" at the bottom of the posts. Is that correct for "tagging" this conversation? The parts arrived on Thursday and I had the afternoon free to get at the project. Besides replacing the crossover caps, I also cleaned and replaced the ferrofluid in both tweeters. The original twenty one year old fluid was thick and lumpy, like the old caked oil on an old motor. The results really surprised me, I could hear the improvement as soon as the first CD stated playing. There's definitely much more "music" with the sound sharper and the instruments are more defined. Each note of EJ's piano is much more defined. Hearing the difference I realize how muddy the sound had become. Spinning Track 3 of the OST of "The Last of the Mohicans" the horns were singing again on the two fiddles. Additionally the mids and bottom end improvements has me revisiting the subwoofer crossovers and slopes. Any advice there would be very helpful. I'm not sure if the improvements are from replacing aged components, installing better components or a combination of both, but all in all, it seems like this has been the best $50 (including shipping!) I've ever spent in audio. Thanks again for all your help.

Waiting for the parts to arrive, tomorrow's my birthday (68!) so maybe another present! While scheming out the project there's was two questions I forgot to ask. I noticed the tweeters only install in 2 directions with the connections pointed towards ether side, rather than top or bottom. The woofers will go in any direction the screw holes align. Are the speakers "clocked" in the cabinet? The foam inside the cabinet only covers the back and one side. That suggests the speaker connections should be on that side so the foam guards against the wires rattling against the inner side and it encourages the wires to run away from the driver below it. Am I correct or just over engineering? LOL Also, I've read on this forum to "twist" together each driver's pair of wires. I'm familiar with the advantages of doing this in network and power related wiring, but it it good practice for speaker internal wiring? If so, it'll certainly make dealing with the wiring a lot easier. Thanks

That's great to hear! Through work I was able to source all the Dayton and the Jantzen replacement caps. Since its already apart, it seems like a good chance to refresh and upgrade the crossover. Reminds me of doing the timing belt on my VW, since its accessible, best to also replace the water pump. FYI, it was great watching Monza this morning and seeing my former employer with "Klipsch" on all the ear phones! I'll keep this thread informed on the outcomes from the crossover refresh. Thanks everybody for all your, kind, patient, and very informative help.

Morning, Deang, yes you did mention it, but with having to deal with project issues, it got lost in my head. So, this morning I attempted testing the speakers inductance with my component tester. The measures values: Left: Tweeter: .01mH, 3.0Ω W2: .48mH, 5.7Ω W1: .47mH, 5.8Ω Right Tweeter: .01mH, 3.1Ω W2 .47mH, 5.8Ω W1: .45mH, 5.8V I've attached a couple of pics showing the typical reading from the tester. Do these values make sense? Also spent some time reading a couple of sites descusing inductance and speakers. I understand the math, but still not quite sure what it all means.

deang; The outcome was it didn't sound like anything changed! That's what got me wondering about the condition of the crossovers. When I first disassembled the speakers I measured each driver's resistance. Left: W1: 6.6 ohms, W2: 6.0 ohms, Tweeter: 3.3 ohms Right: W1: 5.9 ohms, W2 6.0 ohms, Tweeter: 3.1 ohms None of these values seem to out of line, but is it true a driver can ohm as OK, and still be defective? Thinking back, about 10 years ago I had a B&K, REF7250 amp go BANG in a big way. Hit the power button on the preamp and was greeted by a loud squeal followed by an equally loud "BANG". Along with the amp, It took out both 6" woofers of my RC-3, center and the woofer of one the SF-1s I'm using as rears. I was able to find replacement drivers and replaced the amp with a Parasound, HCA885a. Maybe there was more damage that's just become apparent?

Done, thanks for the "Heads Up"

A quick question about how this forum works. Why are there 2 replies in this thread from billybob that I don't see any text?

Sorry for not getting back right away, but an emergency popped up at work that required a bit of travel and my total attention. The silver lining is it earned more audio and cat food money! LOL Deang; how would I measure the DCR of a speaker? I have one of those electronic component testers (M8 Transistor Tester or Electronics Tester For Dummies), would that give an accurate value? A few of the audiophile EEs and Elec. Techs in my research unit told me after over 20 years they had no doubt the crossover's caps were in need of refreshing. Especially considering Klipsch probably sourced them from the lowest bidder. If I use the 1%, Dayton caps the total costs for both speakers, including 2 packets of ferrofluid, should be around $50. Cheap, compared to the usual expenses associated with this addiction! The stock Klipsch crossovers came with 5% caps, and I've read a post here claiming that Dayton 5%s actually test much better than they're rated. Any thoughts on this would be a great help. Thanks All

Yesterday I got some time to reassemble the crossovers and speakers. Crankysoldermeister; thanks for the tip on Goop, Marine. It was perfect for adhering the caps to the board. Just oozed some on a Q-tip and spread it over the contact area. Testing the system with a few CDs found nothing really changed, still favored the right speaker. So I used Billybob’s (Thanks Billybob) tip to listen to each driver through a paper tube. While the tweeters sounded about equal, I noticed the woofer that was still connected while its speaker mate was disconnected, sounded lower than all the other woofers. Early this morning I swapped it with its counterpart in the other speaker and I’m waiting for my neighbor to leave for work before I see what happens. As a mech. engineer I have a fairly basic electronics knowledge, so please feel free putting me right if my analysis is off. Both woofers are wired in parallel, the signal is seeing the inductance of both speakers equally. But with one woofer not in the circuit, the connected driver was seeing the full power (load?), rather than it being split between it and the other driver. Could that result in some kind damage, like over heating the connected driver and/or the crossover?

I just got off the phone with MidwestSpeaker asking about their aftermarket replacement titanium dome tweeter. Figured I'd check them out just in case I need a replacement. Anybody here have any experience with their aftermarket replacements? Also had a look at both tweeter's diaphragm and coils. While both look nice with no evidence of burning, the ferrofluid was chunky, looking like the caked oil you see on an old, neglected motor. Brian from Midwest told that happens over the years and replacement isn't a difficult job. So, I guess I'll order a couple of 1" tweeter ferrofluid packets. The other issue is any recommendation for a good adhesive for attaching the components back on the board? Usually I just use hot glue, but I've read on several DIY sites it looses its adhesion in around a month. I have a lot of experience with how destructive vibrations can be to electronics, so I want to get it right the first time! Billybob, the paper roll is a great idea, almost ashamed I didn't think of it myself. The speakers are bi-wired, so disconnecting the woofers wire should make it easier hearing if one is lower than the other. Would just running the tweeters by themselves possibly cause any problem in the tweeter circuit? I've already visited the "loose post" and had to tighten all 8 post's 8mm nut.

I figured the values being consistent between the two speakers might be a good indicator everything is OK. But then figuring in their age is over 20 years old, it wouldn't be surprising if they are ready for some refreshing. Thinking back I seem to remember one of the tweeters not sounding as loud as the other. Besides whether it actually making sound and its resistance, is there any other way of telling if one of the tweeters has a problem?

Thanks for the quick reply! I removed all 3 caps (18uF, 4.5uf, and 12uf) from the boards and tested them separately. Removing the caps also had the benefit of isolating the coils and resistor. So, while they were still on the board, there shouldn't have been any errors from the other components.

Morning, I’ve been chasing a speaker problem in my system that I really could use some expert help. A few weeks ago I noticed the stereo staging collapsed and the center moved about 2 feet to the right of my optimal listening position. In 2 channel stereo mode the only speakers running are a pair of original 2001, Klipsch, RF-3s. A little investigation found the black ground wire of the left speaker’s upper 8 inch woofer came loose. The metal clip crumbled when I attempted squeezing it tighter, so I had to replace the spade clip. Now I find even when my RAT Shack meter shows the two speakers are equal, when I play music it still favors the right speaker. First move was to swap the left and right with the center channel, and substituting the interconnects, but no change. I don’t know how long the woofer was disconnected, could it have caused some kind of damage to the crossover or other drivers? Over the weekend I disassemble the pair and had a close look at the drivers and crossovers. All 4 woofers read around 6 ohms and both tweeters are around 3 ohms. But a red flag is the crossover of the speaker that had the ground wire come loose has a slight “cooked” smell of over heated electronics. That prompted me to dig deeper, removing and testing all of each board’s 3 caps, and testing the 3 coils and resistor while on the boards. None of the components looked obviously bad and all the caps and resistors tested well within their marked values. I do wonder about the health of the inductor coils. According to the schematic and testing: Schematic Value Right Left Woofers 0.75mH, 5%, DCR<0.3 ohms 0.59mH, 0.7ohms 0.59mH, 0.6 ohms Tweeters 0.25mH, 5%, DCR<0.50 ohm 0.24mH, 0.9 ohms 0.25mH, 1.0 ohms 0.30mH, 5%, DCR<0.55 ohm 0.19mH, 0.9 ohms 0.20mH, 0.9 ohms While the two 0.25mH coils look good, the tested values of the 0.75mH and 0.30mHs look way out of spec. Do these numbers show they are “cooked” and need replacing? Any other observations or help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

One of the K-1085 drivers in my RC-3 died. Looking to buy a replacement or what ever substitute (k-1086?) Klipsch now recommends. Thanks Gene

One of the k-1085 drivers in my ancient RC-3 died. It looks (sounds!) like the voice coil was damaged during a move. Researching finding a replacement, I see Klipsch stopped making K-1085s years ago and recommends a k-1086 (used in RC-3IIs) as a suitable substitute. Is this correct? I'm going to also post this on the Garage Sale forum, if anybody here has a K-1085 or a suitable replacement they want to sell , please let me know Thanks Gene