ALK mods to Klipschorns?

[DTLongo]

Does anyone have experience with ALK Engineering mods to Klipschorns? I understand the company sells replacement crossovers that are said to improve the smoothness of mids and highs and moderate them relative to the woofer so that the Khorns' bass can really shine through. They also sell something called a Trachorn array that replaces the Klipschorn squawker and tweeter and is also supposed to improve the sound. Can anyone comment?

[Bill H.]

Disregard.................

[Deang]

That response just makes you look like a shill.

[jcmusic]

What's a shill?

Jay

[J.4knee]

Al's crossovers are very good. I use his universal replacement crossovers in my La Scala's. They do offer a very smooth response in the mids in my opinion. He has a variety of network options and combo's that will work in K-Horns. The Trachorns are tractix horn designed by Bruce Edgar and is used to replace the squawker horn in Klipschorns. Most who have used them were impressed with the clarity improvement the tractix design offers over original exponential K400/401's .

[Coytee]

I had Al's ES networks in my Khorns and I have his ES networks in my 3 LaScalas.

In the Khorn I think using any of these modifications, needs a bit more input from you. I'm not saying any of the following is 'fact', I'm FAR to non-technical to know that. It's only my experience.

I had his ES networks in my Khorns. My Khorns sounded very good and when I cranked things up, they kept sounding good (better than stock).

What I found interesting is, quite by accident I came walking down my stairs one day and at the bottom of the steps, was DIRECTLY in the line of fire of one of my Khorns but not the other one. The sound was distinctly better there.

Long story short, I ended up ascertaining that my Khorns sounded better when I was 20/30 feet away from them. I do not know exactly why but I've got a couple guesses.

I think because they are 3 way, that fact means it takes some time before the 3 drivers blend into a cohesive sound front. I was also using Al's ES networks which seperated the 3 drivers even moreso (because of the minimization of the overlap) and I think that also added a little time (and therefore distance) before the 3 drivers merged into a single wavefront.

The sound at 30 feet was absolutly delightful BUT, in all honesty, in my situation, they did not sound as good while in the same room.

When I moved the 2-way Jubilees in with signal delay, I immediately went to that same sweet spot to hear how much better they were going to sound there and much to my intrigue.... they soudned the same at 30' as they do while in the room with them. That disparity of sound has been essentially eliminated.

Why? I don't propose to know the exact answer. My gut feeling is I'm now 2 way, so I have 1 less driver to blend in and I'm delaying the signal to the horns and that aligns them. End result for me is I have better sound sooner.

So, I'd ask you this.... how do you listen?

Are you a:

1. I will use a flea amp and listen at 80 db's and be happy as a pig in mud or are you like me and

2. I will crank them every now & then and my typical listening might be 100 db's?

I would suggest that if you tend to crank things up more often, the steeper slope networks might give you a better sound but if you are more of a quiet listener then perhaps the more shallow might work for you since they have more overlap in each driver and would (perhaps) allow the sound to gel sooner for you and you don't need the seperation between drivers to help in the volume department.

Virtually everyone that I've heard comment about Al's Trachorns has loved them and as best I know, kept them. I've never heard anything negative about them. I was going to get a pair myself. I already had the ES networks, JBL 2404 and the next was the Trachorns...however, I got the Jubilees instead and never looked back.

[Deang]

What's a shill?

Jay

2.	a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.

If someone came in asking about what Bob does, I sure wouldn't want anyone coming in and saying, "Hey, call Dean, he'll tell you all about it."

[TBrennan]

What's a shill?

Jay

2.	a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.

If someone came in asking about what Bob does, I sure wouldn't want anyone coming in and saying, "Hey, call Dean, he'll tell you all about it."

Oh, I come here very seldom anymore, has using this forum for self promotion and personal profit become less frequent?

[PrestonTom]

A number of folks have done this mod from ALK (he offers other mods also). Their thoughts and experience are useful.

ALK used to be a regular member of the forum and I choose remember his generosity and good advice.

Is the upgrade and good one? Well that is a tricky question since these things are usually "quantified" by subjective testimonials. There are many positive testimonials. At one level, it comes down to expectations and price. Certainly, the mid horn on the Klipsch can be improved (as can all things) as well as the tweeter. With older crossovers, refreshing the capacitors is certainly a good idea at the very least. ALK, and others, also offer re-designed crossovers. Again, the price can get high or higher depending on your choices.

I guess my advice is to search the threads about the various options from ALK and others and see how they might mesh with your goals and budget.

One thing that most folks do not do is to first critically evaluate and prioritize the deficiencies in their system and proceed accordingly to address those specific deficiencies. I would think that would be a good first step.

Good luck,

-Tom

[seti]

Two different guys with two different philosophies. Bob sells
classic Klipsch reproductions. Alk sells a different type of crossover
with MF and HF horn replacements as well. It really depends on what you
want to do. They aren't really at odds. Both have a niche to fill. Nothing really worth arguing over.