sy247 Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I have been the lucky owner of a pair of factory built Klipsch Jubilees for nearly 3 years. I am considering my options to upgrade my system. Apart from upgrading my vinyl replay system or perhaps going to a DAC / music server for hi-res audio I see that I have three options. 1. Improve the passive crossovers I have 2. Change to an active crossover and bi-amp 3. Replace the K69/A drivers with TAD 4002 I have a crossover which I believe is a circuit design by Roy Delgado. I have discussed the option of having another pair of crossovers based on a similar circuit but built with air core inductors, upgraded caps, wiring and WBT connectors. I had a chat with Al Klappenberger and he said he had a much better design but that it would require EQ to be introduced. We didn't get into a discussion about how this might be achieved. I am interested in hearing from anyone who has upgraded to the TAD's I have head the Jubilees actively driven and I was impressed but the price of the EV Dx38 and another pair of Quicksilver monos is not very appealing! Any advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runninshine Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Welcome to the forum! Someone will chime in real soon. Great looking set up[H]! Can you still get jubs from Klipsch? I am very interested in hearing them someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Welcome to the forum and how in the world have you kept things quiet for 3 years!!! (I'll bet that there are some on the forum that wish I could have kept quiet for 3 years [:#] [:$] []) Though I do not have the TAD's, I've heard them. I personally think that is probably the single most noticable improvement that you can make to your speakers. "Someday" I'll have a pair... I just have a hard time justifying them. As for actives... keep in mind that Ebay can be your friend. I bought THREE Dx38's once. Two of them were around $500 each and the third was $400. It was a buyers market that day and I recognized it... There were 3 Dx's on ebay and someone (dummy?) came along and listed FOUR more at one time, making it a total of 7 for sale at once. I presumed that would pound the price down and I was right. Regardless... you can see them go for around $600/700 if you don't mind used. I've heard them next to an all out cost no object passive... I personally couldn't tell much difference with the passive and Dx. The active cost about $3,000 in parts alone. Compared to the Dx, I couldn't justify the price for me. Perhaps others can. Where are you located? Another blasphemous idea for you would be to put a solid state on the bass bins. I ran a Crown K2 on my bass bins with a Viva 300B SET amp on top. Sounded veryyyyyyyyyyyyy nice as long as I stayed in the limits of the Viva. Just an idea.... Just as some have given their 100 day report, you need to give your 1,095'th day report! [] Also... I've got a list of owners, city/state kinda thing. If you'd like me to add you to that list, it would then be visible for anyone in the area to contact you for an audition. (if you don't want on the list, it's ok) PM me on the side if you are interested. Here's what I'm talking about http://community.klipsch.com/forums/p/144087/1474234.aspx#1474234 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I am interested in hearing from anyone who has upgraded to the TAD's...I have head the Jubilees actively driven and I was impressed but the price of the EV Dx38 and another pair of Quicksilver monos is not very appealing! Any advice would be appreciated. I'd look for a used EVDx38 if I were in your shoes. I've found used units at the $500-$550US (~310-330 pound) price point on ebay. I'd wait on adding any more valve amplifiers - instead I'd go for a good used SS amp for the lf drive and use your present valve amps for the hf. Trust me on this.Several reasons exist for this recommendation: 1) You get Roy Delgado's anechoic chamber PEQ settings and hf driver delay with this, and these are spectacular improvements over hand EQed passive crossovers without delay correction. 2) The active crossover unit will be stable under all load conditions - including very, very loud over time (unlike some passive designs) 3) The time delay compensation will most definitely increase your soundstage performance noticeably 4) You need to save your lunch money for a while to afford the TADs--which aren't cheap (unfortunately). They're worth it. 5) You might think about later adding horn-loaded subwoofers to add back the octave below 32 Hz that the Jubs really won't produce. It's a big upgrade - and DIY horn subwoofer designs can be had for $500US total cost to you (assuming US prices on Tang Band drivers). You'll need access to a table saw, a hand drill, and good 18mm Baltic Birch. You'll also need about two 300-500 W SS amps to drive the horn subwoofers. The Crown XTi series amps have built-in PEQ and crossover filters (48 dB/octave L-R!) for a low price (less than $400US). Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Hi Coytee, I have been meaning to register on here for a while lol! I haven't exactly been quiet about them to be completely honest. I am based in the UK (near Norwich feel free to add me to the thread) an I wrote an review for www.hifiwigwam.com but people are not really interested in things they do do not know and I have never had anyone who wanted to hear them from the forum. The people that have heard them have been impressed of course. I have been thinking about experimenting with solid state on the LF probably Crown. You've helped make my mind up, I am going to give it a try. A second hand DX38 and a Crown Macrotech 1200 amp it is. I will keep my eyes peeled on eBay. Would it be possible to obtain the settings for the DX38 from somewhere? The TAD's I will have to hear sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 10, 2011 Author Share Posted June 10, 2011 Chris, you've made some interesting points. Nice system by the way 1. I would like the control the DX38 would give me to tweak settings. I know time alignment of speakers in pro-audio is important and I suspect this is the case in hi-fi too. 2. I wonder whether my crossovers are performing as well as when I first got them. They are sitting on the LF bins. This has been in the back of my mind, it is difficult when you live with a system to determine whether you are just getting used to it or whether the performance is changing. 3. The Jubs produce lovely clean bass but they don't go deep enough for me. I love hearing proper sub bass in high quality PA systems and I don't get that at home 4. The TADS are expensive but I have a source for second hand units. They are used in a UK made PA system called Opus and they trade on the PA system forums. A guy was recently selling 5 x 4002's (one with a broken diaphragm but the others in ex condition for £2000. I don't know whether I would be happy to take a risk on second hand units used in a PA system however. The thought of getting 4 good ones for £500 each is very appealing. The subs sounds interesting, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I am based in the UK Did you get them with Ralph's assistance? I'm aware of "someone" in the UK that bought a pair after hearing his. If that wasn't you then that suggests another pair floating around. Here is the file in PDF form for the Jubilee's/K402/K69 I'll add the TAD version next. As an aside, I or someone can also email you the TLX file for the Dx38 unit and you can upload the file directly into it. Unfortunately, the TLX extension isn't acceptable to attach here but it can be emailed. DX-38_settings_for_Jubilee_with_K402_&_K69.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 For the TAD's DX-38_settings_for_Jubilee_with_K402_&_TAD_4002.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Welcome to the forum. Using an electronic crossover (and bi-amping) would be the next logical step. The EV dx-38 is a popular choice. There are others depending on your budget. Good luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 Thanks for the PDF. If you could post the one for the TAD's it would be very much appreciated. Yes, I did get them through Ralph. I heard them at the Heathrow hi-fi show and knew I had to audition them properly with a view to seriously buying more or less as soon as I heard them. I am currently bidding on a Dx38 and a Crown Macrotech 1200 so hopefully I should be experimenting with an active setup soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 If you could post the one for the TAD's The one for the TAD is already posted above. Pretty cool that Ralph brought them to your home for an audition. I met him when we were over there. I just had to see his setup. Nice guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 It was very cool that Ralph brought them over to mine for a demo! I think he knew they were already sold but it was important to check they worked in my room. Ralph has helped me to assemble a system that does a lot of things very well. I steadly sold various other bits that I had including an Esoteric P70/D70 transport and DAC and steadly replaced with bits from Ralph. The Astin Trew CD player that replaced the Esoteric sounds better and cost £1500. I am also very impressed with the Lenco deck with Artisan arm and Sounsmith Aida cartridge he built for me. Top guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 11, 2011 Author Share Posted June 11, 2011 I thought I would post my hifiwigwam review thread for those interested: http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?22575-Klipsch-Jubilee-Quicksilver-Audio-Teac-Esoteric-system-review @ Coytee - looks like you read it when I first wrote it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 I've just won the EV Dx38 on eBay now to find an suitable amp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 [Y] Make sure they pack it securely. It's rugged, but... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 I have purchased a MC2 T1000 amplifier: http://www.mc2-audio.co.uk/t1000.html Apparently they are supposed to be very high quality. It has two variable speed fans which might be a bit annoying, apparently one can be set to not cut in until the amp reaches 90 degrees. It may also be possible to replace the other with a quiet PC fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Looks like you'll have plenty of power [Y] If you find the fan being an issue, keep in mind that the Crown K series (K1, K2) don't have fans and are convection cooled. I've got a pair of them and use them with good results. Perhaps inexpensive too... I think you can find them on Ebay in the neighborhood of USD, $600/700. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 I did look at the Crown K2 which I found for between £450 - 600, I will give it a go if the MC2 is too noisy. MC2 have got a really good reputation for sound quality in the UK and I have heard a couple of PA systems recently using the bigger amps which sounded amazing so I wanted to give it a try. I paid £400 for it and could sell it on probably for not much less if it doesn't work out. Just got to sort out some cables now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sy247 Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 I got everything rigged up this weekend and it sounds very good indeed. A very different presentation to the tubes and the passive crossovers. I think the Jubilees really seem to like some solid state grip on the LF. I am very impressed. The sound also seem a lot more together, if that makes sense? Maybe the time alignment of the drivers? Sometimes I used to find the there was a bit of harshness with electric guitar or brass but the sound seems to be a lot smoother and more even. But still with a lot of detail. The biggest surprise is my turntable. I have never heard it sound so good. I would say that the sounds may have lost a little delicacy and transparency compared to the valves but it has gained so much in other areas and as we know hi-fi is about compromise and I think the plus points outweigh anything lost. I will do a lot more listening over the coming week or two and report back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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