sthomas12321 Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Well, had these for a few days now.I was very suprised to see the KLF 30's produce 20HZ with a Wav test. Actually, it will play 20hz very loudly if cranked. Too bad they rolled off the speaker so quickly. Edit*Bob crites tweeters help the roll off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Just as an aside comment about the KLF, I think the mid horn they use is a better sounding horn than that used in the Forte ll. That said it does have some issues being a fairly thin walled horn and the panels can flex when the speaker is driven hard. Stiffening the horn walls with hard plastic pluming tube split in half length wise and glued into place helps as does and application of Dynamat style damping material. Constrained layer damping also hepls on the tweeter horn as does a patch of dynamat on the back side of the compression motors. Ti diphragms finishes off the horns (unless you want to play with felt applications) and you can start of upgrading the crossovers. You best first upgrade is to replace all the inductors with at least 14 gage Solen solid air core inductors (12 - 10 gage would be better with 8 gage North Creeks as best) then move to the caps and resistors. At that point I imagine you will be ready to bace and stiffen the cabinets and play with the reflex tuning. That done and you have a very nice loudspeaker which can hold its own in any crowd of speakers no matter the price. Best regards Moray James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWL Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Nice speaker sound wise,but poor craftsmanship,and its not just the glue..I agree. Lots of potential with minimal elbow grease and a few bucks. These are the speakers Klipsch should bring back with improved craftsmanship. The RF-7 crowd would love 'em. I think the 30's are closer to Reference sound than they are a Heritage sound......with the three-way design and bigger woofers making them more musical IMO.The original craftsmanship on these is piss poor....which is too bad considering how good they can sound (amplification dependent). I like how they are voiced and how smooth they can play. Most of all they rock. Tight, chest pounding bass with a few hundred watts will get your attention. Everything has to be in order or they can/will sound like a joke.....as will Fortes and Chorus ll's from my experience. A little TLC will do wonders for these babies. [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCSeminole Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Moray James, I'd be quite interested to hear what upgrades you'd recommend for the Legend series towers and center. I have contemplated getting new speakers from another manufacturer, but have held off and if I can breath new life into my KLF-20's and KLF-C7 I would probably go that route. I've seen Bob Crites website and wondered what other Klipsch owners have thought about his work in new crossovers and the titanium replacements for the tweeters. Would new crossovers be a good move along with the new titanium diaphragm be all that is necessary? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Glad to see you are enjoying the KLF 30. Yes once away from the initial shock of the new speakers reality sets in and since I have also owned those Paradigm V2's I agree with your assessment. The KLF 30's are a very good speaker and sound nice but so do alot of other speakers. There are speakers within the Klipsch family that I feel excel the performance of the 30's and also several outside of the Klipsch line as well. But alot of it comes down to personal preference. Some folks get so caught up in personal opinion that it sorta of clouds their judgement. At the end of the day buy what you like and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 LCSeminole: welcome to the greatest Klipsch forum on the planet. For me modifying is a big part of the hobby that is sound and music. That may or it may not be the case for others. There is a huge quantity of user comments and info in the archives take a look. I know it is impossible to read all of that at once but there is much there to learn from. Do take advantage of the wealth of information waiting there for you. BEC is a very well known and respected member at this forum.Klipsch community and one of the really good people that you will have the pleasure of dealing with. Bob Crites and his family are really fine people who support Klipsch and Klipsch users. Bob's titanium tweeter diaphragms are a must buy for your upgrades and I believe that Ti mid diaphragms are also a must buy which are only available from Klipsch. I think that I covered enough things to tweak in my previous postt to keep you busy for a good long time. I don't wan't to hijack the thread. If you have specific questions you can send me a PM and I'd be happy to provide answers to your questions that way.Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vital Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I like the sound of the Paradigm studio V2's a bit more. However they get thin sounding at 92 ish db (9ft) and the 30's don't break a sweat. The 30's also have more extended bass. The Paradigms are more refined though IMO. Paradigm 100 V2's (best series IMO) vs the 30's would come down to preference of tonal qualities and output level needed.To me the Paradigm sound like a warm bubble of sound without any life and absolutely no dynamics. They break up very fast when trying to listen to them at any decent level. They are pleasant to listen to but I prefer Klipsch which sound very much like the real thing and can hit whatever sound level you need. The highs of Klipsch are so much cleaner and clearer as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sthomas12321 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 The Paradigm 20 V2 speakers are pretty special speakers. IMO for $350 used it's hard to pass them by without a listen. I didn't like the V3 series and sold my 100 V'3 not long after I picked a pair up off audiogon. I'm really liking these klf 30's. *I do have one concern with these KLF-30's. I did notice one of the speakers have a orange like gasket that isn't centered in the midrange correctly(the other speakers orange gasket is perfectly centered). In fact, it's almost half way off center and covers almost half of the driver. Is there any way to repair this? I did a A/B test between the right and left speakers, but didn't notice any sound differences like I expected to. Anyway, if it's a easy fix, I would dive in and fix it just for peace of mind. Also, what exactly do the tweeter diaphrams do? Do I have to buy new corssovers too, or will they work fine without it? Also, what are the chances of the diaphram rear side gasket ripping if I try to tackle the diaphrams? If the gasket does rip, are there replacement gaskets? Just trying to cover myself from damaging these speakers if I do decide to upgrade them. Thx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Stimas12321: I think that I mentioned that switching to Ti diaphragms will solve your issues in every way as far as smoothe extension go plus you enjoy improved dynamics and higher level capability. The diaphragms are like large tweeter domes and they are what actually drives your horns. Tweeter diaphragms are available from Bob Crites and the mid diaphragms are only available from Klipsch. Klipsch have a policy of parts for service not upgrade work. Looks to me from here that you bought these speakers and then found they had problems so you bought a set of Ti tweeters from Bob but now you need the Ti mids from AKlipsch to keep things matched up. Too bad but it's a good thing that Klipsch has those Ti mids for you (they are about $168.00 plus postage for a pair). Wink. The orange gaskets are there to interface between your mid friver an the horn sounds like one of your mid drivers may be loose. Pull the horn out and off scres the driver centre the gasket and tighten the driver up good and snug. I like to use a long ultra sharp xacto blade to trim off any gasket thet sticks into the throat of the horn, the gasket should be flush with the horn wall. You dont need to make any changes to your crossover if you install the new diaphragms but you can if you want to. If you are all thumbs you can have Bob do most all of what I have mentioned for you. Perhaps you have a savy Klipsch owner in your local why not ask and see a good audio buddy could help you out for just a fe beer and a demonstration of your system I am sure. Good luck and best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 *I do have one concern with these KLF-30's. I did notice one of the speakers have a orange like gasket that isn't centered in the midrange correctly(the other speakers orange gasket is perfectly centered). In fact, it's almost half way off center and covers almost half of the driver. Is there any way to repair this? I did a A/B test between the right and left speakers, but didn't notice any sound differences like I expected to. Anyway, if it's a easy fix, I would dive in and fix it just for peace of mind. Kerry, These came from the factory new this way according to the original owner. I never noticed the slightest audible difference and both mid range drivers are tight so no worries. If the orange gasket bothers you from a pyscological cosmetic stand point you could always even them out. But as you already stated and I agree they sound much better with the grills on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sthomas12321 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I might just leave them be. I couldn't tell a difference either. I'm running these with grills on(test both on and off though), so it's not a big deal. if I take the grills off, i might center them up so they look nice. I'm glad they were like that already. I was mostly worried one might have slipped while they were turned on their sides. As long as the driver isn't loose, I guess it will be fine. Suprised Klipsch didnt go with black gaskets,lol. They must have been trying to compete with cerwin vegas orange rings-jk. MJ- Thanks for all that info. I might have to try some diaphram replacements. For $60, not much risk I guess. I could always go back to the originals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Suprised Klipsch didnt go with black gaskets,lol. They must have been trying to compete with cerwin vegas orange rings-jk. LMAO. Too funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 It does not matter how they got this way (mid gaskets askew) but it is important to check to see if the drivers are snug and to correct the position of the gasket. The throat of a horn is the most important section and transition between the driver and the throat of the horn is critical. Transition must be smooth and seamless. Any protrusions into the throat at this point will generate distortion. Just because you bought a car with a wheel out of alignment does not mean that you leave it that way.Putting the grills on and forgetting about the issue at hand says something but solves nothing. Taking the gaskets out to make them truly out of site and mind is a bad idea as that will leave a gap in the horn where the gasket should have been. Smooth is what you want and smooth is how they were engineered to be, these horns simply require some attention to detail and they will be fine. Adjustment is not difficult. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 It does not matter how they got this way (mid gaskets askew) but it is important to check to see if the drivers are snug and to correct the position of the gasket. Already stated the drivers are snug what does the position of the gasket matter. Klipsch doesn't think it matters already been asked and answered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 You are most welcome. The only risk you have is not spending the $60.00 for the Ti tweeter diaphragms and then spending years with your KLF30 wondering why they just don't do it for you when you could have had the Ti in there and been happy. Once you hear the difference the Ti tweeter diaphragms make you will begin to understand a little what the Ti mids will do because they have an even larger impact on the performance of the speaker.The only way you can go wrong is to not use the Titanium diaphragms. You will never want to switch back to the original poly and phenolic diaphragms this is not a subtle difference. Hope this helps. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Just because you bought a car with a wheel out of alignment does not mean that you leave it that way.. Ok your just being a smart ***. That is a brainless thing to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Taking the gaskets out to make them truly out of site and mind is a bad idea as that will leave a gap in the horn where the gasket should have been. He never said he was going to do that. Where are you reading? Is Kerry sending pms or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Did you really think about what you just said? I just gave you an explaination as to why it matters but it should be obvious, he said a large portion of the throat was covereed by the gasket and you think that is fine? Best put the grills back on so you don't have to think about it. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Quote "if the orange gasket bothers you from a pyscological cosmetic stand point you could always even them out" . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Now you are just being rude. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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.