Anyone familiar with Heresy Type D Crossover?

[Mark Dyrbye]

My 1975 Heresy crossovers are Type D.

The tweeter is a K-77 and the crossover places a 2 mF cap (brown plastic) in series with connections to the T2A transformer.

The mid horn K-55V also has a 2 mF cap (also brown plastic)in series with connections to the T2A transformer.

The K-22-EF woofer is in series with an inductor labelled 2133.

I have searched the archives and so far cannot find any references to this Type D crossover. I hope it is not rare. Anyhow, I would like to reduce the harshness of higher and more intense notes.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Steve Phillips]

My '75 Heresy,ser #"N",has an E network,but with the same caps(but yellow)as you described and wired the same.

I changed the caps to Solen from parts express.

Do a search on Heresy upgrades and you will find a bunch.

Changing just the tweeter cap will help,but I haven't done anything other than that.Well that's not true,mine has been modified with a K-401 squawker and modified AA network.Before I did that I tried it with just the cap change and liked it.

[Malcolm]

Hmmm...

BobG, Trey, or any moderator, can you shed any light on the Type D network?

I think the Type D is relatively rare, at least in the number of years in which it was used. But that is not a problem for you.

The networks for all the Heresys and H700s manufactured between 1965 and 1984 I have seen are very similar. They all have the same inductor in the woofer circuit to roll off the woofer at 700 Hz, and the same autotransformer to match the more efficient tweeter and squawker to the woofer. With the exception of the last few years of production, the network changes appear related only to matching the woofer, which changed many times, to the tweeter and squawker, which were essentially constant for about 20 years (K-77 or K-77-M and K-55-V).

My 1965 and 1972 Heresys have Type C networks with a 1 uF cap and a 2 uF cap. My 1975 and 1977 Heresys have Type E networks with two 2 uF caps and uses different taps on the T2A than the Type C. My 1984 Heresys had Type E2 networks which were the same as Type E except they had a 33 uF cap added, apparently necessary because of the change to the K-53-K squawker. I always wondered if there was a Type D crossover. Looks like it was used sometime between 1972 and 1975.

Have you had your 1975 Heresys since new? The caps in all of mine, except the 1984s, were originally paper in oil. The brown plastic caps in yours make me think they might have been replaced somewhere along the line. It is also possible Klipsch had a problem getting paper in oil caps, just like they had a problem getting alnico woofers. Either way, you might consider replacing them with your favorite "audiophile grade" caps on principle: paper in oil, metallized polypropelene, or what ever else you prefer.

The other thing that interests me is that your 1975s have K-22-EF woofers with ceramic magnets. My 1975s have K-22 woofers (CTS, alnico, smaller magnet structure). If the K-22-EFs in yours are original, it means Heresy went from alnico to ceramic, then back to alnico for a while, and finally to ceramic for good.

You might want to look at the Type E network schematic that has been posted here and should be in the archives. It sounds like the only difference in the Type D may be the taps used, since the values of the components are all the same. If you do, let us know what you find.

All of the tweaks listed in the archives for the Heresy apply to yours. The most common complaint with the Heritage series is midrange harshness or ringing. It can be tamed by damping the squawker horn with Dynamat or Moretite. This is the first tweak most people seem to do on the Heresy. You can do the same thing to the tweeter, but it doesn't seem to me to do much. But most people don't have a problem with the tweeter, anyway.

Of course, you can always turn down the treble, too.

[Al Klappenberger]

Mark,

A friend pointed out to me a Dope from Hope publication describing the "E" network as having inverse phase on the woofer compare to an earlier network for the Heresy. I think we can assume that earlier netwrok was the type "D".

Al K.

[ckt]

Schematic....you may have to print it, to view it right, depending on screen resolution

This message has been edited by ckt on 03-11-2002 at 08:12 AM

[Mark Dyrbye]

Thanks all. A fellow emailed me the Dope from Hope note, and my Heresy speakers were made just before the note went out in 1975.

I compared my type D crossovers to the Type E, and yes, the polarity of the two horns is to be reversed, per Klipsch's recommendations. That is the only change I am aware of when the D became the E, unless the component (caps, etc) suppliers were changed.

I made the polarity change in my speakers, and could not be certain of the difference. However, I have some lower quality parts in my system I have to upgrade (very soon!!!) so my listening patience is short. I'm sort of caught in a audiophile "hell" right now, not enjoying the music as I have listened to some great sounding equipment recently.

I also changed taps on the T2A autotransformer (horn tweeter was at tap 3, moved to tap 2 to lower horn output by a few dB). This change I could hear right away - the brightness was decreased, yet the clarity was retained. The midrange is still too annoying on intense notes, so the other upgrades I need to do are still needed.

I am planning to upgrade the crossovers with either Al K's design or just do a straight improvement of the existing 2 uF caps and the choke to much higher quality pieces. Since I live in Canada, and don't want to import (customs duties and other associated problems) I'm still reseaching suppliers. When I make the upgrades, I'll share my impressions.

I sure value the information available through this BB! Thanks to all of you who keep it alive!

Best regards, Mark

[Malcolm]

Solen is a good source for capacitors and inductors. There are in Canada I believe.