twk123 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Hey guys so lately I realized the phenolic diaphragms in my KG 5.5's were getting worn out. I actually thought that my KG's had little or no bass because the tweeters would 'scream' at me before I had the chance to put enough wattage into them to push the 10'' woofers. That being said, I finally got the Crites titanium diaphragms and now the speakers sound MUCH more controlled and I can now turn them up to get the awesome bass that the parallel woofers can throw out. However, after some listening I noticed that while the titanium had excellent imaging and sounded more airy, the music didnt have that warm 'life' that the phenolic tweeters produced. The speakers now sound like a cold, scientific reproduction of the music. Has anyone else noticed this with the titanium tweeters? From what I have read its pretty much universally loved as an upgrade. I simply directly replaced the diaphragms, is there anything else I can do to bring more life into the speaker or should I just get new phenolic tweeters from Klipsch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Klipsch doesn't have new phenolic diaphragms (IIRC), they switched to a polymer type years ago (which sounds less detailed than the phenolic IMO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I have given away all my phenolic diaphragms (I think) perhaps you can ask if any satisfied ti owners have some phenolic skins for you to enjoy. Each to his own. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) I have a pair of phenolic diaphragms, removed from my KG 5.5's.....PM me if interested...only 1 MILLION DOLLARS!! OK, maybe not that much....seriously, PM me. Edited January 7, 2015 by jimjimbo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I have a new pair that I might let go for that price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twk123 Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the help guys. I will keep the ti ones in for now. Is there a way I can test my old phenolic ones using a multimeter from autozone? Maybe I can switch around some things upstream in my system to warm it up a little. Do you think replacing the caps in the crossovers will help, maybe the bad diaphragms were hiding the other issues somewhat. Edited January 7, 2015 by twk123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantilope Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I have actually only found the polymer in the tweeters of the KLF series. My KLF-C7 had polymer but the KG1.5 KG2.5 and the KG4.5 all phenolic. I have not found polymer in any of the KG series I have run across. Which seems stupid since the KG1.5 has phenolic, but my KLF-30 has polymer. I paid a hell of a lot of money for those polymer diaphragms and the lower models all had better parts. I have the same gripe about the speaker terminals, the klfs are plastic but the KGs are knurled brass. I would have gladly paid the difference when I bought them new. As far as new Phenolic, I have had good success through Simply Speaker. Who carries both the ti and Phenolic and even the polymer I believe. http://www.simplyspeakers.com/klipsch-speaker-replacement-diaphragms.html Can a diaphragm wear out? I thought they either worked or didn't and as far as testing yes, you can use a volt-ohm meter to test these. Are you in the big City in UT? I'll see what I have laying around... I think I might have given mine to my dad to change out his polymer in his KLFs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twk123 Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 I have actually only found the polymer in the tweeters of the KLF series. My KLF-C7 had polymer but the KG1.5 KG2.5 and the KG4.5 all phenolic. I have not found polymer in any of the KG series I have run across. Which seems stupid since the KG1.5 has phenolic, but my KLF-30 has polymer. I paid a hell of a lot of money for those polymer diaphragms and the lower models all had better parts. I have the same gripe about the speaker terminals, the klfs are plastic but the KGs are knurled brass. I would have gladly paid the difference when I bought them new. As far as new Phenolic, I have had good success through Simply Speaker. Who carries both the ti and Phenolic and even the polymer I believe. http://www.simplyspeakers.com/klipsch-speaker-replacement-diaphragms.html Can a diaphragm wear out? I thought they either worked or didn't and as far as testing yes, you can use a volt-ohm meter to test these. Are you in the big City in UT? I'll see what I have laying around... I think I might have given mine to my dad to change out his polymer in his KLFs. Hey thanks for the link. I am going to keep the titanium in for now and get a multimeter from O'Reilly's Auto Parts this weekend and test the old ones to see what is going on. I put on some vinyl and it sounded very good so I am thinking the titanium is more revealing and bringing out the weaknesses in my digital system. I just bought an Amperex 7308 vintage gold pin tube for my DAC too so with any luck that should balance everything out as the stock tube was known to be not as warm. I live down in Lehi but work downtown in SLC. If you dont mind, I would love to hear your setup with the Cornwalls and the massive sub you built sometime (assuming we dont all choke to death from the inversion...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 As your system becomes more transparent it will make good recordings sound better and bad recordings sound worse. If you plan on keeping the KG5.5's I'd recommend installing new caps in the crossovers at the minimum or sending them in to Crites for a rebuild. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 As for the titanium tweets, every speaker I own has them, 5 pairs. That's the first thing I do any more is yard out those old crusty diaphragms!! Huge improvement, especially at upper volumes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twk123 Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 As your system becomes more transparent it will make good recordings sound better and bad recordings sound worse. If you plan on keeping the KG5.5's I'd recommend installing new caps in the crossovers at the minimum or sending them in to Crites for a rebuild. Good luck! I think this is what the issue is and why vinyl still sounds good but Spotify is hit or miss. I did notice that movies sound amazing with the new tweeters with details I never noticed before. I watched the opening scene from the LOTR The Two Towers last night with the volume cranked and the metallic screeching sound of Gandalf shoving his sword into the Balrog made me stare in disbelief at the screen. I will probably keep my KG 5.5's for life and definitely want to do the crossovers soon. Do you know how difficult it is to do the new caps? The old crossover boards look too small for the larger caps from Bob Crites, should I take them apart and mount on a new board like Crites does? Also is there a way to test the new xovers? I would hate to build them and screw something up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I've always just sent my Crossovers in to Bob Crites as he seems to do a good job and is pretty quick at turning them over. For the 3-way speakers he usually charges $150 for a rebuild and testing. I would imagine he would charge less for a 2-way like the KG5.5, especially considering his new ones are $225. http://www.critesspeakers.com/prices_-_new_crossovers.html KG-5.5 PAIR of TYPE KG-5.5 CROSSOVERS INCLUDING NEW INTERNAL WIRING: $225.00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantilope Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 (edited) I live down in Lehi but work downtown in SLC. If you dont mind, I would love to hear your setup with the Cornwalls and the massive sub you built sometime (assuming we dont all choke to death from the inversion...) We should do it. However I am in Mt Green, about 5 miles from Snowbasin ski resort, its a bit of a drive (but out of the inversion). You might like my KLFs too, I think they are head and shoulders above the KG series and have ti in both the mid and high and Bob's xovers in them. I too work in SLC... Edited January 13, 2015 by Cantilope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twk123 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 I live down in Lehi but work downtown in SLC. If you dont mind, I would love to hear your setup with the Cornwalls and the massive sub you built sometime (assuming we dont all choke to death from the inversion...) We should do it. However I am in Mt Green, about 5 miles from Snowbasin ski resort, its a bit of a drive (but out of the inversion). You might like my KLFs too, I think they are head and shoulders above the KG series and have ti in both the mid and high and Bob's xovers in them. I too work in SLC... Yeah that is quite the journey from my house. Its a nice drive though, I used to have to head up to the Browning plant up in Morgan occasionally for a work meeting. Those KLF 30's look awesome, definitely a progression from the KG 5.5's. Maybe I can find a free weekend and make a trip out of it. I will PM you if I have time sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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