KLF 20 Speakers - Rebuilding

[Chiman]

Hi,

After a number of years pounding my KLF20's with a Sansui 9090DB, there are now pops and distortions on the Woofers. I am looking for a reputable shop to bring these in for rebuilding. I'm located just west of Boston.

These are just too good to trade in for new. I'd much rather rebuild them if I can find someone well versed in bringing these back to life. Any ideas?

Dan

Framingham, MA

[Mighty Favog]

You could even contact Eminence directly, they're the ones that made them for Klisch.

Just tell them that Klipsch's number was a K-1036-K.

[djk]

Eminence will not sell any OEM drivers, or cone kits for same, to anyone other than the original OEM.

[Mighty Favog]

Even if OEM is not stocking/selling/supplying them any longer?

[Ironsave]

Simply Speakers.com has a speaker reconing/ repair service, although I have never used it.

I think Parts express does this also.

That may be your best option, as buying used on Ebay may lead to the same problem in a year or two. (Maybe less).

Good Luck.

[Chiman]

Thanks to all for your feedback. After a lot of searching around yesterday, I guess I am going to have to dive in and work on these speakers myself. Can't really find anyone in the Boston area who wants to tackle breaking these down and rebuilding them.

Are there any known posts on here for Klipsch KLF 20 Troubleshooting and Rebuilding 101? I really don't know if I have speaker, crossover or speaker cabinet issues. All I know is that the woofer (s) have a blown buzz to them occasionally but not always. Just before this happened there was a prolonged low frequency buzz that came out of one or both.

As you can tell, I am a neophyte on working on or troubleshooting speakers, so my first plan was to pay to have someone tackle this job - looks like I am going to become an expert by default! [8-|]

[Ironsave]

I totally forgot about Bob Crites. (Sorry Bob).

I would send him a pm or give him a call here, and see what options he may have available for you:

http://www.critesspeakers.com/

(BEC on the Forum).

Good Luck.

[Brac]

I second the Crites recommendation. The KLF series cab's do tend to come apart sometimes, but you should be able to tell that just be looking at them and trying to wiggle panels.

[djk]

Make a fist and hit the front and back panels with the heel of your hand, hard, that should make them buzz (if they are loose).

[Chiman]

Well, I took the plunge and disassembled one of the speakers yesterday. All four components plus the driver have been removed. I don't see any evidence of damage to the crossover, the caps and resistor all look fine, no obvious damage to the inductors. The box itself looks very tight, I banged around on the front and back and didn't sense any looseness.

One thing I did discover was a missing screw on one of the drivers. It almost appears as if the screw was never installed, as the screw hole in the cabinet doesn't appear to be enlarged like the other three.

Now that I have them out, they are part number K-1036-K . I need to find a place in Boston that can check them out. If one or both are indeed bad, can they be rebuilt? Is there a suitable replacement?

I also note that the seal on the back of the drivers is pretty flat and compressed. Since i don't have a point of reference, how pliable and thick should those be?

BTW, the speakers were built in at least Mar,1999, as that is the date code on one of the horns. Was that after the glue problems or during the glue problems?

Thanks to everyone who has replied.

[Southern]

Did you rule out the Sansui as being the source of the problem?

[moray james]

I decided to drop in a set of Titanium tweeter and mid diaphragms
into my KLF 20's last night. To my surprise the K79 tweeters were
factory shipped with poly tweeter diaphragms. I had been under the impression
that these speakers were factory fitted stock with the phenolic diaphragms one
normally finds in a K79 but this is was not the case as mine came from
the original owner who never changed them.

The poly diaphragm is a poor performer and really limits the quality
of sound produced by this otherwise fine tweeter. So pull your tweeter
and check to see what is in there. If you are on a tight budget I would
suggest that you at the least upgrade to a phenolic diaphragm, they are
available from those who have upgraded to the Titanium units. If you
want the best these tweeters can provide then get the Ti units from Bob
Crites, they cost $30.00 each plus postage and are excellent. Best
regards Moray James.

[Chiman]

I actually did rule out the receiver. I put in my G 7500 and also a lower powered Marantz 2238 plus I put in in an older Sony CDP 491 CD palyer. Both speakers still do the same thing. Best I can describe is thew woofers are bottoming out. You hear that pop during certain passages. Here's the big mystery. I can put on vinyl or my internet radio and blast these things with no pops.

I took the whole set of sepakers (out o the cabinet) to a old time speaker guy yesterday and he gave them a bill of good health. What he did say is that the CD players can put out a miminal 2 v and the old standard for the vintage amp inputs were 750mv. He suggested that the CD input is distorting the output and what I am hearing is distortion from my amp; it is being overdriven. He suggested that I buy an 12db attenuator to put in line with the CD RCA jacks and test it again.

I put everything back together this morning ( have to order the attenuators ) and once again went to some hard rock stations on the internet radio turned up only to 1/2 output and also used the built in FM tuner, put the 9090DB at 11O'clock on the volume and rattled the windows, Put in a CD and couldn't get near that volume; pops from the woofers as if they are being overdriven.

This is just hard to figure. The problem has been around for a year or so; I've just kept the volume down sine this problem arose. It's summertime now, so it's time to blast! :-) Has anyone gone down this path with the KLF 20 (or any speakers) speakers bottoming out only with CDs??

[djk]

What input are you using for the CD player?

I hope not the phono input.

[Chiman]

No, I didn't use the phono input. :-) I've used both the Aux and Tape in inputs on several receivers. I have to beleive the CDs are distorting, not the speakers. I've had this setup for at least 5 years, it all started when I heard that low frequency extended blast that sounded like a tuba. I was in the basement at the time so wasn't near the speakers. They were cranked at the time. The crossovers don't look damaged physically. When they go, is one of the symptoms a low extended balst from the speakers? This was in the sound, not a sound external to the music.

[Chiman]

Well, the mystery of the underperforming KLF-20s is solved, thanks to Bob Crites and Carl Richards in Connecticut. I'll try to keep this brief but detailed enough for someone with similar issues to have a corrective action plan in the future.

Problem: Woofers occasionally crackle and pop during some bass passages. Overall speaker performance is sub par, muddy. Speakers are being driven by good quality gear, Sansui 9090, G-7500, Marantz 2250.

Corrective steps: Removed all speakers and drove them down to Carl Richardson at Carl's Custom Loudspeakers in Hartford, CT. He tested all the speakers via a low powered frequency response test and all speakers passed with no issues. Computer printouts showed good linearity and very good performance within all the speakers useful frequency ranges.He also checked for rough spots in the coil, fractured spider, etc. All were good.

I conferred in parallel with Bob Crites and discussed this problem. He suggested a crossover rebuild as a first step. I sent him the crossovers and also ordered the Ti dome replacements for the tweeters as an upgrade, not to resolve any problems.

I also purchased some basic 2" polyurethane foam and ran it along the back and sides inside the cabinets.

Solution: Received the rebuilt crossovers and performed the tweeter dome rebuild. Wired up everything and whoa........... my speakers are back!

The accuracy and presence is unbelievable. No pops and the foam has quieted the "boominess" inherent in these speakers. There's still plenty of bass, but it's more natural now. One other thing, I hardly need to use any power from the recievers, at around 10 o'clock, you can't stay in the room it is so loud, but uncluttered, undistorted loud. I am very happy with these results.

Summary: Mr. Crites is top notch. I asked a million quesitons and he patiently answered them. The results exceed expectations. Hopefully I can now enjoy these speakers for another 12 years! Thanks to all for your help on this problem! Dan

[rockhound]

Thanks for giving a summary of your problem and what steps were taken to correct it. I just recently purchased a pair with the Dean G networks so I'm reading all I can on them. Thanks again..now lets rock!