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Belles: Fastlane Audio wood tractrix horn?


Jdel46

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Hi, I'm a long time Klipsch Heritage guy, but I'm new to the forum. I have a very nice pair of Belles and I'm thinking about buying the Wood Tractrix horns without drivers that are available from Dave Harris of Fastlane Audio. Has anyone tried them and what are your thoughts? They're big bucks, are they with the investment? ALK Engineering recommends them.

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I've used the Fastrac Cornwall, Fastrac LaScala, and the Eliptrac 400.  Much more open sound, more natural... all good!  You can use your original driver.  The 2" Eliptrac is a whole other level but you will be looking at a new crossover as well.  I'd suggest getting the Eliptrac if/when you are ready to go ahead and get a 2" driver instead of spending the money on the adapter that allows you to use your original driver.   They are all worth the money... its just a matter of how far your budget can go.

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You can get inexpenisve $150-200 each 2" mid range drivers. The prices of 2" has been falling. Dave's Tratrix is a great option esp if wanting to stay stock appearing. The Eliptical is a big investment but worth the upgrade. If doing it piece meal... Go Wood Tratrix youll be super happy.

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I haven't heard that particular horn replacement however I have heard his other horns and they sound great. That Tractrix horn replacement would sound better than stock in my opinion.

Didn't Bob run Dave's Tractrix mids with Beyma tweets in his Bells?

Anyway, those horns sound very good.

tc

PS: Welcome Jdel

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They're big bucks, are they with the investment?

 

I'd actually recommend this instead: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/90599-jubscala/page-22#entry1825519

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/156524-midrange-horn-placement/#entry1862475

 

You can go "2-way" if you use a 2" driver that doesn't chatter above 10 kHz - like a BMS 4592ND with their passive crossover (this is a dual-diaphragm driver), or some other 2" driver with a Be diaphragm, like a TAD or a JBL/GPA with Truextent aftermarket diaphragm.  Both of these approaches would be a killer configuration and will probably far surpass acoustically your first choice, above.

 

Chris

Edited by Chris A
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I've had Dave's Fastrac Horns installed for quite a while now, and IMO it's a worthwhile improvement over the K400. The Fastracs sound much more natural in tone, whereas the K400 sounds hard to my ears. There are even better solutions (as pointed out by others), and you may want to explore those avenues. One big plus of the Fastrac is that it's a drop-in upgrade.

 

BTW, my macbook keeps auto-correcting Fastrac to Gastric.

Edited by Blvdre
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Thanks to everyone for your recommendations and welcomes! Here is the problem, the vocals sound a little wooly and muffled. I've been experimenting with placement with limited results, which is why I'm considering new horns. I didn't have this problem with my LaScalas or Cornwalls. Thoughts?

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Hi, I'm a long time Klipsch Heritage guy, but I'm new to the forum. I have a very nice pair of Belles and I'm thinking about buying the Wood Tractrix horns without drivers that are available from Dave Harris of Fastlane Audio. Has anyone tried them and what are your thoughts? They're big bucks, are they with the investment? ALK Engineering recommends them.

I bought a pair (wooden horns Al had made ) from Al way back and they made them sound great. Really opened up the sound

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Here is the problem, the vocals sound a little wooly and muffled. I've been experimenting with placement with limited results, which is why I'm considering new horns. I didn't have this problem with my LaScalas or Cornwalls. Thoughts?

 

Something with a conical profile and a mouth flare will solve your stated listening issues, as well as--and this is extremely important--correcting the time alignment issues of the Belle tweeter-midrange (best way to deal with that is to eliminate the tweeter and go full range with a better driver), and the bass bin-midrange offset (almost as important as the former offset correction on the resulting sound).  You can use a digital crossover or you can move the tweeter and midrange.

 

The JuBelle links give you all the settings and the resulting on-axis frequency response/phase of the result.  My center Belle now sounds just like the flanking Jubs (except for bass extension).

 

https://community.kl...22#entry1825519

 

https://community.kl...t/#entry1862475

 

Chris

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Bigger is better and while you may be able to do some small improvements to a 400 or 401, you're not going to get the open, less congested sound of any of the aftermarket wood horns that slip right in the cabinet.

 

Its the most pronounced improvement I have make to my K's even when I was still running the factory K55m drivers with adapters.

 

vtrac42.jpg

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Thanks to everyone for your recommendations and welcomes! Here is the problem, the vocals sound a little wooly and muffled. I've been experimenting with placement with limited results, which is why I'm considering new horns. I didn't have this problem with my LaScalas or Cornwalls. Thoughts?

wooly and muffled?  Have you recapped or replaced your crossovers yet?  Those are words that I would have used to describe the original caps in my AA networks prior to replacement.  I'm a passive network guy... just never jumped into active.   You would benefit from wood horns such as the Fastracs without a doubt!  

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Something like this for 2-way (which for me was a substantial improvement in sound.....going 2-way and dropping a crossover point)

 

 

Nice, what are you running for the horn, driver and crossover?

 

After listening to some Altec 820s, I do crave a two driver system.

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Something like this for 2-way (which for me was a substantial improvement in sound.....going 2-way and dropping a crossover point)

Richard are these yours ?

 

 

Nope.  I stole the picture.  I think they belonged (belong?) to Steve (Fyrpwr)

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