Quartet Question + Long Winded "Hello!"

[jlfx64]

Well, I have an item that got listed in the “Alert” forum so
I figured it was about time I introduced myself. I have been lurking on this forum (and a few
others) for about a year now learning everything I could about home audio. I have only been in the hobby (spelled: habit)
about a year now, and it didn’t take too long to run across Klipsch. Having a young family, with multiple
financial obligations, I don’t have the disposable income to run out and buy
all the latest and greatest audio equipment in the world. Truth be told, even if I did have the cash
laying around, I still probably wouldn’t buy the latest and greatest! That mindset is what has brought me to
Klipsch. I got my first pair of KG 3.5’s
about 7 months ago for $65. For the life
of me could not figure out how I could get so much performance from $65! That’s all it took and I began to scour my
local Craigslist (Tampa) for more Klipsch stuff. After some twists and turns and a little
hustle, I have finally put together, what I consider to be, a pretty nice
system. I recently acquired some
Quartets for my fronts, which replaced the KG 5.2's I am selling, my
original pair of KG 3.5’s for the surrounds, a KG 2.2 v for the center, and a
Paradigm DSP 3200 sub (thanks Santa).
Pushing it all is a NAD T753 receiver with a PS3 as my primary source
for music (CD’s and Digital) and Blue Ray.

Something I did want to say in general terms is that I have
been helped out twice by Klipsch enthusiasts.
One time was the day I bought the KG 5.2’s (ironically enough, from the
same guy that sold me my first KG 3.5’s) and most recently with the Quartets. Without going into gobs of detail, I will
tell you that both people knew exactly what they had and what their gear was
worth and in both cases, gave me an amazing deal. I can tell you definitively that is was not
my razor sharp bargaining skills that got me these deals. Rather, it was the owners’ appreciation for
music and the home audio hobby and their willingness to help a guy out who was
just getting started. If it happens once
in a 7 month period, you think, “that was a very nice person”. When it happens twice, and both times was the
result of a heartfelt conversation about music, well then you start to draw
some larger conclusions. My conclusion
is this; Klipsch owners are generally a good group of people that really love
music and/or home theater. I have seen
the manner in which you treat each other on this forum to go with my own
personal experiences and can honestly say I hope to be a contributing member of
your community for years to come.

Ok, ok. Ending the
cheesy but somewhat obligatory “Hi Everybody” part now!

So now to my question. I want to raise/tilt the Quartets to get them
closer to ear level. Has any fellow Quartet
owner gone through this process and found a good distance up/tilt for their own
speakers. Any recommendations on stands
or even a simple DIY schematic? I’m not
hugely handy but not completely useless either, so I’m not opposed to a DIY as
long isn’t it isn’t too crazy.

[Coytee]

Welcome to the forum!

I don't have Quartet's so I don't know the answer to your tilt question.

You are however, right about this place. I remember when I first found it.... I finally found people who heard of Klipsch, knew of Klipsch. I actually felt like I found a band of brothers....a bit goofy & strange as they all may be!! []

You know who the real good guy hero's are?

Our wives. [Y]

[Marvel]

You are however, right about this place. I remember when I first found it....

and he needed a LOT of help back then... []

Actually, he's smarter than he lets on.

Welcome to the forum!

Bruce

[Daddy Dee]

welcome to the forum!

[willland]

Jlfx64,

Welcome to the Klipsch forum and more specifically, the Florida chapter.[]

You have a nice setup brewing and as you spend more time on the forum, the knowledge you will obtain and the kindredness you will realize even more from this great bunch of people in this community.

I have a NAD T773 receiver in my guest bedroom driving my RB-35's and sometimes my Heresys and I just love that receiver and from what I have heard, the T753 sounds just as good.

Now to your Quartet tilt question. My suggestion is a bit primitive and "McGyverish" but I went and bought a couple of 28" x 48" throw rugs and placed 2' long pieces of 1" x 4" lumber under the front edge of each rug and placed the front of each Quartet riser on top. Completely concealed to still meet WAF requirements. The result had a 2 fold improvement, better acoustics and tweeter midrange more in line with my ears. My chair sits almost perfectly in an equilateral triangle about 10.5 " feet away.

Bill

[jlfx64]

Thanks everybody!

Coytee, I have to agree with you. My wife can't be anything short of a saint

having to put up with me! []

Will, thanks for the suggestion. I probably should have also mentioned room

dynamics in my OP, as they are going to be a challenge. I have a "Man Loft", which is to say

I have soaring ceilings, goofy room shape, and basically no wall on one side of

the room. As for my actual

listening/playing area, the fronts are about 6' from the listening spot,

slightly toed in, and probably 5' - 6' apart (just off each side of the TV

stand). For what it's worth, the center

is on the TV stand, so it's probably 5' from the listening spot and the

surrounds are floor standing and about 5' from the listening spot, turned in

facing the listening spot directly from each side. (In other words, the

surrounds are set to the left and right of the couch, not behind it.) So, all that being said, do you think your

suggestion would work for my situation?

Do you lay the rugs out completely letting them come into the room? With my speakers toed in, they may look a

little strange. So you have had success

with just tilting them and not raising them at all? Did you ever try to raise them at any

point? Given my proximity to the

speakers, I'm thinking I will have to lift them at least a few inches even if I

do tilt them?

I also wanted to get yall's opinion on this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181057769724&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

I emailed the seller my speaker dimensions and asked if they

would fit. He responded that he had used

them with some Marantz Imperial 7's (or something like that) which we almost

the exact same size, only 4.5" shorter, and they were always a good

fit. Any thoughts?

[jlfx64]

Not sure what all that shenanigans are below my post?

[willland]

So, all that being said, do you think your
suggestion would work for my situation?
Do you lay the rugs out completely letting them come into the room? With my speakers toed in, they may look a
little strange. So you have had success
with just tilting them and not raising them at all?

Let me back up a bit. The throw rugs are bumped up to and completely parallel to the front wall but I do have the pieces of lumber slightly angled in so my toed in Quartets will be on the same plane as them. It does not look goofy at all. Can't really tell there is a "bump" in the rugs.

Did you ever try to raise them at any
point?

Never raised the Quartets with makeshift or custom stands. Others have though with great results. I personally would not raise them more than 4 to 6 inches.

Bill

[moray james]

I put mine up on four post stands which were 16 inches tall, you want to position the centre of the mid horn at your seated ear level. Best regards Moray James.

[wuzzzer]

Do your Quartets have the factory risers?

[moray james]

No the factory risers are not very stable and they look way to dated. The idea is tocentre the mid horn on your ears when seated so stand height will depend upon your height and your seat. I also switched out to the KLF20 woofers and K79 tweeters with all ti diaphragms all four horns. Pls I added 2.5 ounces of dead weight to each passive and totally braced stiffened and redamped the cabinets. Response into the upper twenties. Best regards Moray James.

[jlfx64]

So, all that being said, do you think your
suggestion would work for my situation?
Do you lay the rugs out completely letting them come into the room? With my speakers toed in, they may look a
little strange. So you have had success
with just tilting them and not raising them at all?

Let me back up a bit. The throw rugs are bumped up to and completely parallel to the front wall but I do have the pieces of lumber slightly angled in so my toed in Quartets will be on the same plane as them. It does not look goofy at all. Can't really tell there is a "bump" in the rugs.

Did you ever try to raise them at any
point?

Never raised the Quartets with makeshift or custom stands. Others have though with great results. I personally would not raise them more than 4 to 6 inches.

Bill

Will, do you have a picture by chance?

[jlfx64]

No the factory risers are not very stable and they look way to dated. The idea is tocentre the mid horn on your ears when seated so stand height will depend upon your height and your seat. I also switched out to the KLF20 woofers and K79 tweeters with all ti diaphragms all four horns. Pls I added 2.5 ounces of dead weight to each passive and totally braced stiffened and redamped the cabinets. Response into the upper twenties. Best regards Moray James.

Thanks for all the info Moray! How do you keep a speaker this tall and heavy stable at 16"? I see the reasoning, but that seems pretty high! Would a combination of lift and tilt give the same results?

As far as switching out speakers, I do have a pair of KG 5.2's that the Quartets replaced on hand. They also have a 10" active (k-1001-k) and a 12" passive (KD-121). I noted that the KG 5.2 does go 4 Hz lower than the Quartet stock, but I'm not sure if that is a fuction of the actual speakers, larger internal volume of the KG, or a power issue with a 2 way woofer getting more power than in a 3 way set up (or none of the above...). Would there be a sound improvement with switching these out worth the hassle and reduced value of the 5.2's (if any)? I am making the assumption that these speaker would fit and work in the space of the Quartet, which I'm not really sure how to find out. Or, is the KLF20 just a really go natural match? Is there a thread where you talk about (and maybe picutre) the brace, stiffen, and redamping? And finally, why the K79 tweeter over stock? What model of speaker used these tweeters?

Also, if it matters, I have the TI Diaphragms in the tweeters only and the full Bob Crites crossovers. (I also have the stock crossovers that were rebuilt with the Crites rebuild kit and rewired with much nicer wire, which I will probably be selling shortly [])

[willland]

Will, do you have a picture by chance?

I don't think I saved a photo but my avatar, though small, might give you an idea.

Bill

[willland]

I found a photo of my Quartets and fortes(which I sold[]) tilted and toed in to listening position. Not noticeable at all huh?

Bill

[moray james]

I told you I use a quality four post stand there is zero issue. Tilting is unstable there is no balance the center of gravity is shifted to a precarious position. Stage and image are distorted in a most unnatural way and the sound is not as realistic as when the speakers are at right angles to the listners and the centre of the mid horrn is at ear level. I do not have available a picture of either my Quartet or Forte ll available but here is a very similar sized Harbeth M40 (12 " woofer) so you can get a sense of scale, the Klipsch look wonderful and best of all they perform better than on the old floor risers.

You can go to Audio Karma and take a look at the threads I started on Brace work and a number of other mods. Below is a link to a thread with some pictures of two different speakers which I braced these may give you some ideas. As far as woofers go I can only speak to what I have used and the KLF20 woofers are superb. They will however require you enlarge the opening so they will fit. They are well worth the effort. Better bass than my Forte ll. Hope this is of some interest. Best regards Moray James.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=372783&highlight=klf20

[jlfx64]

Sorry I haven’t responded to my own thread in a few days. My responsibilities keep getting in the way of my free time!

Thanks Bill, you are right that it is very hard to tell there is any tilt at all. I don’t know that this solution will work for me as I have bookcases on either side of each speaker. I may just have to go with a stand, but thanks for digging up the pictures!

Moray, on the stands, can you recommend any companies/people that produce a stand similar to what you have pictured? I’m having a tough time finding any as I mostly run into monitor/small surround speaker stands when I do searches.

I am very interested in the bracing, but again, I’m having trouble finding a thread that is truly “bracing for dummies” either here or on Audio Karma. I saw your recent post where you suggested a couple of options for wood type and thickness to use, but no details on how it is actually done. Just a few questions I have for example:

-What secures the braces to the sides of the cabinet? I’m assuming the wood needs to be cut to the near exact length of the inside of the cabinet and use a rubber mallet to hammer it into place with some wood glue on each end?

-Should the front/back and side/side braces cross each other and be secured together? It looks like they are on one of your examples.

-How many braces need to go in and where should they be placed inside the cabinet?

I don’t mind putting some time in to my speakers. My limitations more revolve around my skill set. For example, I don’t have much in the way of tools for wood working. I have a circular saw and a sander, and that’s about it. I have never done much wood work, and what I have done, didn’t really require exact measurements like this project will. For example, I would never attempt to increase the size of the woofer cut out in the cabinet as I do not have a tool capable of making that cut. I am all about tinkering, I just don’t want to do something stupid, like mess up the cabinets. I think you posted in another thread somewhere that some bracing is better than none. Is there a caveman/idiot proof way to brace the cabs with limited tools and woodworking experience?

Thanks again for the help and suggestions everyone!

[moray james]

You can either contact Noel Nolan at Skylan Stands or you can look at his work for ideas. noel has a new custom version for the Heresy and this also fits the Forte as well. Noel can cur you what ever height stand you need.Just remember you want the centre of themid horn at your seated ear level. Remove the factory riser.

some home supply hardware type outlets will cut lumber for you for a small charge. With a retro job you will be working through the woofer and or passive opening. A vertical brace on each side panel a couple on the back and horizontals above and below each driver on the baffle including the passive and one to split the top will do then tie them all together with solid 3/4" stringers. The braces only require white glue to hold them in place. Don't cut anything so it is tight give yourself room. Connect side to side panels and front to back baffles this way the box can neither compress or expand.Brace work does not need to look fancy to work look at the KLF20 I di in very short order Vs the Quartet which was a much more comples job. Both work well. See the small braces on the front baffle of the Quartet which make the woofer mount much more rigid, easy to install very helpful. The better you plan and layout the easier and better the job will go for you. This is a slowish process but it is very effective and you only need to do it once. Hope this helps best regards Moray James.

http://www.skylanstands.com/products.htm