stalphonzo Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 OK help me out. I recently acquired a pair of modded kg 5.5’s. I want to hear a few opinions on why they were modded the way they were, the previous owner bought them that way and had no idea. First, the tweeters are in separate ¾ inch MDF enclosures that are attached to the tops of the original cabinets.The enclosures match the width and depth of the original cabinets. The woofers are in the original cabinets, but with different front baffles, so the woofers are toward the top of the cabinet. It looks like all 3 drivers are pretty close to the original spacing from one another. From what I can tell the port is the same size and location. There’s outrigger type spikes on them and about 1 inch of pink fiber glass inside, covering the top and sides of about 2/3 of the upper part of the original cabinet interiors, over some kind of sprayed on rubberized coating – plus a cross brace about ½ way down the middle of the cabinet. I thought that was original but I’m told it’s not. They certainly sound good, good punchy bass and clear to very high sound levels. They look pretty cool and the work was done well. Tight seams, crisp corners and good finish. I listen to a lot of rock and have tons of live shows on CD and DVD so I think they're a good match. They must weigh close to 100lbs though and measure around 45 inches tall.… traded a spare mountain bike for 'em..so for someone with an original pair, what would be the difference or improvements? It seems a lot of people enjoy modding the KG5.5's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovell Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I'd love to see some photos of your 5.5s. I've had mine since 1996 and can't seem to part with them. I've installed Crites titanium diaphragms and crossovers in them but that's as far as I've gone, so far. The mods on yours sound very interesting and I'd really like to see what's been done to them. Regards, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalphonzo Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 How did the XO's work out? i dont think moving the tweeters changed much.. There are some high end speakers out there with the tweeters in separate boxes.. I think the mods may have been a way to add bracing but keep the internal volume as designed. I will try to get some pics up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovell Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 The Crites crossovers worked out very well. They smoothed out the sound quite a bit and brought out more detail. The titanium diaphragms are a big improvement over the stock mylar, lots more sparkle in the highs. I tend to agree with your thoughts on the horns in separate boxes but still find it quite interesting that someone tried it. I lined the inside of my cabinets with thin .25 inch high density foam and it helped dampen them without altering the internal volume. The low and mid bass sounds tighter and smoother since I did this. Regards, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Raising the woofer up changes the distance of the bounce from the floor, which changes the frequency where the bounce reinforces and cancels with the direct sound of the driver. No idea on the horn in its own box, but I know some do it, just not why. I'd say listen and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Stalphonzo: here is my explaination. I expect that if you take a tape measure to your modified KG5.5 you will find that the centre of the horn is up off the ground at around 39 inches give or take. This places the horn at ear level when seated. Because this is a two way the modifier wanted to insure there was no gap between the woofer and the mid/hi horn so he raised the woofer. The spikes are for stability and hard coupling to the floor. Three spikes is actually best (think tripod) with one on either side at the front and one in the middle in the back. The fibrerglass is simple, cabinet volume damping. You only want to damp the top part of the cabinet as you need to allow the bottom part where the reflex action is happening to br resonant other wise you will reduce the functioning of the reflex vent or passive (same thing) More brace work would have been nice but some is much better than nothing and the rubber mastic coating is to help damp structural resonance. There are a lot more tweaks that you can do if you want to. Have fun and enjoy sounds like you got a fine deal.Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Are the separate enclosures for the tweeters an attempt at aligning the voice coils of the tweeters with those of the woofers? Pictures would be welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I have no idea as I have not seen a picture. Aligning the horn driver to the woofer is a very good idea which does wonders for the sound. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalphonzo Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Thank you everyone for the interest and the feedback! The tweeter centers are about 41 inches off the floor. That said, the spikes are height-adjustable. There's four to each speaker, each is a threaded rod with a knob on top. The points are tapered, but not sharp. They each run thru the ends of the outrigger, a piece of steel, one supports the front two spikes, the other the back. They measure 16 inches long to the 12-1/4 width of the cabinet and are bolted to the bottom of the cabinet. The rods are around three inches long. They work well on the deep pile carpet they're on. They are definately DIY. I've heard nothing but great things regarding the Bob Crites XO's and titanium diaphram upgrades- I am going to investigate soon. The idea on the woofer bounce is a new one to me at least - but it makes sense... perhaps they were on wood floors before. The tweeter boxes are the same width/depth as the cabinet so the tweeters are aligned on the same plane as the woofers. I know some designs align the back of the magnets for each driver for time correction. Does that hold true for horns? I WILL post photos!!! Unfortunately I am camera-less for the time being. It seems cell phone cameras are not very water resistant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 The mouth of the horn is on the same baffle as the woofer so no they are not time aligned.To align the horn and the woofer you would need to align the centre of the two drivers top plates. Sounds like the modifier used the separate boc to raise the mid/hi horn to the correct height. A four point base is just about impossible to align 100% while a three point tripod is a natural, adjust one spike for front to back tilt and one for left to right always 100% stable. The doofer had to be raised to maintain proximity to the horn. You got a nice set of speakers. Try damping the horns with dynamat and do the back plate of all four drivers too. Enjoy. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalphonzo Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Hi all - I finally got around to getting some pictures of the colossal KG 5.5's. All in all, I am quite impressed with the sound and they go well with my HT setup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stalphonzo Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Hello Moray I did finally post a pic, please take a look! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 These look great, I much prefer this configuration over the W M W configutation used in the Epic series. Find a pair of CF3 xovers and horns and use them. Works for me. Thanks for posting. Enjoy. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trongnguyen Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Xin chúc mừng bạn vì người nào đó trước đây đã nâng cấp cho kg 5.5 của bạn . Còn về mục đích là muốn làm cho tiếng bass xuống sâu hơn . Tiếng loa kèn sẽ không bị tác động bởi các loa bass khi nằm trong chung một thùng . Tuy nhiên tôi nghĩ với cách làm này bạn nên ngồi xa loa một chút . Bản thân tôi cũng có một kg 5.5 nguyên bản Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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