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KP 115 Rebuild


Pete H

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I picked up a pair of 115's along with a couple pair of KP250's and it's time to do something with them to get ready for spring. I really like the 250's but they have to get some good bottom end and the 115's suck (there's just no nice way to put it). My question is could a simple driver swap make it work or is this just a really bad ported box. I have no experience with these except for plugging them in and giving them a listen, but the bottom end of my little RP 3's with powered 10's kills the low end of the 115's, they really are bad. I'm all ears.

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The KP-115 is 50hz box but is very efficient coming in at 101db with 1 watt of power. They are very portable. Xover frequency is 150hz. You could put a longer excursion woofer in the box and get a deeper dig, but most deep digging subwoofers are not as efficient and roll off very fast above 100hz.

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The KP-115 is 50hz box but is very efficient coming in at 101db with 1 watt of power. They are very portable. Xover frequency is 150hz. You could put a longer excursion woofer in the box and get a deeper dig, but most deep digging subwoofers are not as efficient and roll off very fast above 100hz.

I just can't hear much of anything coming from them, and they are working, but the tops completely overpower them. I took one of them apart last night and was shocked at the amount of foam damping material that was inside the box and the long port length. I'm going to post some picks and play one of the 115's against one of my ported cornscala bass cabinets, but I'm pretty sure that there's not going to be much of a comparison so that comes back to the questions regarding possible issues with the drivers or the crossover or the cabinet.

I totally agree that the specs are pretty good on the box and on paper it should sound better than it does. I do have a few other 15's K34 E, Crites Cast Frame, and Eminence Kappalite 15's.

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This could be interesting. I've had a couple of them to the same conclusion. Hope your experiments bring out either a good replacement/ mod for that driver/ cab or point toward a new Klipsch pro mini-sub.

I knew you would find this thread and I believe the term you used when I purchased these is "muddied" and I would have 2 agree. It seems like they are mismatched to the 250's in regards to output and that there's a problem with the crossover design because the 250's are screaming when the 115's are not pushing out comparative DB's. I'm going to post a picture of the various 15's I have and if we're strictly looking at how stout the drives are the K 48 is a grizzly bear in regards to magnet size and overall weight. I've searched the TS specs on the 48 and found a couple on the forum, but they don't match up so I can't directly compare the data but taking the information I have and plugging it into some basic box calculator programs that I found on line produce completely different ported configurations and cabinet volumes and when I try to back into the 115's box configuration it doesn't ever come up to the ports and volume that they have. Please keep in mind there are volumes of information that I don't have a clue about, but I do know what I hear and with the amount of speakers I have that are known quantities as well as builds that have been run against RF 7's and stock Cornwalls I think I can discern the difference between what sounds right and what doesn't.

I could take the K 48 and stick it in one of the Cornscala bass cabinets (split design) and see how it does, although that will be a real PITA and I would rather ask the question "how does the K 48 compare to other 15" drivers and does it perform in other application" the answer to that question would at least narrow down the possible problems with the 115.

post-34280-13819689346486_thumb.jpg

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I've seen more than a few of those passive networks completely melted down. Must have been pumping massive amounts of power in attempt to get some low end. Think seriously about bi-amping the setup so you gain much more control, power handling, and driver protection, to say nothing of reducing the fire hazard.

Michael

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I've seen more than a few of those passive networks completely melted down. Must have been pumping massive amounts of power in attempt to get some low end. Think seriously about bi-amping the setup so you gain much more control, power handling, and driver protection, to say nothing of reducing the fire hazard.

Michael

Those caps are electrolytic which break down with use. I wound up switching all my electrolytic's for high voltage 3% film capacitors which were specifically designed for high current (large surface area).

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  • 2 weeks later...

That's part of the big plan but for now I can just take the crossover out of the picture and just feed the 115 from the sub out and through one of my amps while trying to figure out if any gains can be made.

I'd have done that already.

I'd go easy on the volume to start in case you're bypassing a high pass filter. If you start to crank it, go slow and back it off if you hear anything funny (clanking) or if you're upping the volume and the sub quits getting louder.

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That's part of the big plan but for now I can just take the crossover out of the picture and just feed the 115 from the sub out and through one of my amps while trying to figure out if any gains can be made.

I'd have done that already.

I'd go easy on the volume to start in case you're bypassing a high pass filter. If you start to crank it, go slow and back it off if you hear anything funny (clanking) or if you're upping the volume and the sub quits getting louder.

I'm going to attempt to take some time this evening and give it a run to see what happens; I've just been too busy at work and was out of the country for the last week.
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Hopefully this weekend will be a little kinder to you.

In a very weird way it was; upon finishing the replacement of the sump pump yesterday after work and joking with Denise about wanting to retire in a home that didn't have any pumps, as I was pumping off excess pool water and joking about the pump in the septic tank (Joke was on me), I noticed that the breaker was tripped for the septic pump and pulled the lid to find the tank ready to overflow and the pump not working. When the coupling let loose that was holding back a 150' line filled with magical fluid (I was really close to the action) as I was trying to work the pump from the topside to work loose any debris that might have been trapped..................................are you getting the ugly picture................the late afternoon went to shi^ from there. On a positive note, I could have discovered the problem with this pump when the sewage backed up into the home so how's that for the "Glass is half full" theory?

The other bright note is that I don't have to call plumbers to fix this shi^ (so to speak) so I spent a whopping $20.00 in parts to fix one pump and $0.00 to fix the other one, but taking the expression "I've really gotten myself into some shi^ this time" to a whole new level..........................PRICELESS!

I will end this with Shi^ Happens.[:P] or I've got a really shitt^ taste in my mouth, or you can just make up your own. God, that was like a therapy session, and I feel much better now.

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