Jump to content

Changing KLF Diaphragm


Rivernuggets

Recommended Posts

Same thing with mine. I googled it and although I can't remember the exact answer, I do recall that it wasn't a sign of anything wrong, and yes, it's normal.

On the first one of mine, I wiped most of it off. On the second, I left as is an just stuck the new Ti on and called it good. Har.[6]

I'm sure Moray will be along shortly, his KLF post alarm is going off right now...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey I heard a ding ding ding alarm kind of sound man. I have two sets of KLF20 and all of the comp drivers in those were dry. Yours would apear to have ferofluid in them. Since I have not seen this I cannot really comment. I would check with Bob to make sure that the adhesive used on his diaphragms can stand to be soaked in Mobile 0ne oil. I do know that you could wick the fluid out with paper towel and you would have tweeters the same as both of mine. I tend to prefer drivers which do not use fluid in the gap. Were there any fiber pads under any of your diaphragms? I have bought some with and mostly without (pads).

The job of the fluid is to disapate heat in the VC and allow harder drive it also damps Vc motion to some degree and can be used to control resonance which I can easily see with the poly diaphragm. All the other K79 tweeters run dry so you would be the same a Forte, Chorus or other driver with this diaphragm. Myself, I would run it dry but that is just me. Please check with Bob. Good luck and best regards Moray James.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never knew fluid is sometimes intentionally put there. Is that where the phrase "liquid cooled" comes from?

From Crites website, step by step "Replacing The Diaphragm" :

"...sometimes the manufacturer of the tweeter may have put ferro-fluid inside the magnet gap. Ferro-fluid is a solution of magnetic particles in oil. If that is in there (you would immediately know since it is an oily looking nasty mess) just leave it alone and replace the diaphragm. It would be impossible to get all of it out. It is in there for increased heat transfer to cool the voice coil."

He says (on the site) it's the same process with the Titaniums.

Thanks for your help guys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That must have been where I read it.

I know that I read about 3 different how-to's before I did the replacement, and after all that, it turned out to be ridiculously easy.

Enjoy! I thought mine were actually too bright at first, but it's been 6 months now, and I've also changed some components in the stereo cabinet.

I have to admit, the best change was putting in a good source, my KLF's are sounding better than ever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was curious how much difference there was in the TI diaphram so since I have 2 pair of KG 5.5 I wrestled them in place to to do an A-B comparison on the same source. I used my fully restored realistic STA-2100 as the source and it has plenty of clean power....The difference to me was not subtle but dramatic......since I am anything but an audiophile...I can only describe it as "cleaner and more detailed".......I love the upgrade...well worth the cost.....so I am now going to order them now for my other KG 5.5 and the KLF-30's I just bought......plus it is E_Z to do......p.s. also tried same test with a Sansui G-7700 which has a different sond than the Realistic .....but with similar improvements

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My new diaphragms arrived yesterday. I look forward to the conversion this weekend! Between the Ti tweeter diaphragms, Bob's crossover rebuild, and the cabinet improvements I've made to an already MINT set of KLF 20s, I'm excited to have such an awesome set of Klipsch speakers. I'm never getting rid of them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heritage - I've tried two sets of HIIs (didn't care for them) and a set of Quartets (had these in place for over a year). I loved the Quartets, but the KLFs nudged them out a bit, and certainly look a lot better to my wife (that's important). I had them on stands, and was also worried about my kids knocking them over. I'm sure I'll get another set of Quartets or Forte II in the future if I ever have a space I could use them in. I think the KLFs, with the 3 way design and classy tall tower asthetics are a very nice speaker indeed. [:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys,

I just finished replacing the tweeter Diaphragms on my KLF 20 and KLF C7. I also went ahead and recalibrated with Audyssey. No oily mess for me. Was an easy and straight forward process. I really liked the way my system sounded prior to the change, and I like it now, too! Hard to tell the difference without a direct A/B comparision since I was very pleased with the performance before.

Troy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Another developement and question for ya'll. This now dealing with the KLF-30 mids.

After installing the replacement tweeter diaphragms and listening, there was still some distortion from the mids (squawker). I purchased replacement mid diaphragms from Klipsch. I asked for titaniums but was told they are not compatible without changing the crossover. Klipsch must be getting many requests for titanium mids [:D] .

So, he then says, "Yeah we have the Phenolic diaphragms for those in stock". I asked to make sure they are the correct replacement, and he assured me they originally came with Phenolics. I was a bit confused because the Klipsch website lists the KLF-30 mid diaphragm as "Polymer".

After the new mid diphragms arrived, I started to install the first one, and yes he seems to be correct. The original diaphragm looks exactly the same as the new replacement. The new ones say "phenolic" on the boxes.

Now to my question. The new phenolic dia's have one small tab and one large tab for connecting to the crossover. That's a great way to always keep polarity the same. The wire connectors that come off the crossover, however, are both the small size. Sure the black wire is negative and the yellow is positive. Could someone tell me which tab on the new diaphragm is positive and which is negative? I've stared at it from all angles trying to see a mark of some kind. Doesn't seem to be any indicator. Is there a way to troubleshoot the polarity with a multimeter?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...