garyrc Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 (edited) I looked at the Wikipedia article, just for the fun of it, and it wasn't fun. They say Klipsch moved away from silk diaphragms to embrace phenolic, aluminum and titanium. Did Klipsch ever use silk diaphragms? Did anyone? I only go back to phenolic. They couldn't resist talking about honk in the first paragraph, and implied that Klipsch metal horns honked or rang. I'm aware that PWK believed they did not if they had a well screwed down flange, but I'm also aware that several forum members tried to damp down the metal horns. I'm one of the ones who bought the newer K401 horn (braced fiberglass?), and found very little or no difference. Who wants to take a stab at re-writing the Wikipedia article? Maybe include the reactions some of you had to the Khorn v.s. the Palladium at Hope, and maybe discussing the Jubilee? Edited September 18, 2015 by garyrc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 (edited) Who wants to take a stab at re-writing the Wikipedia article? Wow, what a great idea. Some of your guys have irreplaceable knowledge and although some of that can be found on the Forums, putting all that info in one place is a great idea. I glanced at the Wiki page. It is sparsely written and is out of date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klipsch_Audio_Technologies And you're right, Gary. That comment (discussion actually) on "honkyness" needs to go. Would you care to start a new thread so people who can update the Wiki article can coordinate and collaborate? Edited September 18, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 PWK believed in compression drivers. Silk doesn't hold up good under compression unless it is hardened. If you harden it you take away silk's unique qualities. Silk without a horn can sound great as I have Morel MDT-33 tweeters in some speakers I built though they are in the 92-93 db efficiency range. Doping up the silk, you might as we use phenolic which has some of the properties of a cloth doped dome but holds it's shape better under pressure. Excellent for midrange use. Tweeters, Klipsch finally looked elsewhere with metals and polymide type domes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I have a funny feeling that silk domes as we know them didn't exist back in the early 40s,, at least not soft but maybe similar to coated phenolic. Here is Hecht's patent on soft domes http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3328537.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 The only softies I am aware of were in the Quintet 1, KSB bookshelf series, and soundbars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 YES that wiki article is way out of date,,, JIM HUNTER at Klipsch Co is the historian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 NO silk was never used in diaphrams back in the 40s 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 A possible origin for this confusion is that Bell Labs used silk "resistance cloth" between the diaphragm and the back chamber of horn drivers to ensure correct loading of the horn diaphragm. I've never heard of silk being used a horn driver diaphragm material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 But the question is ...Did Klipsch ever use it ??.... I find no evidence to it.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 But the question is ...Did Klipsch ever use it ??.... I find no evidence to it.. First of all - Wikepedia rarely make errors as they research the subject in a historical perspective - compiling a lot of data they extrapolate to make a summary - silk has been used in making diaphragms for a long time and may be still used today - re-inforced of course - we all seem to forget that the EARLY diaphragms were either made by University or later on by Atlas and eventually EV -so Klipsch per say never made their own diaphragms -but University and EV did use silk in their diaphragms - -PE has these University silk diaphragms for the 1828T - http://www.parts-express.com/ev-genuine-replacement-diaphragm-591235001-for-electro-voice---university-id30ct--300-132 Here is an article that is conclusive -for the use of silk - http://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/loudspeaker-drivers/diaphragm-material Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Who wants to take a stab at re-writing the Wikipedia article? Wow, what a great idea. Some of your guys have irreplaceable knowledge and although some of that can be found on the Forums, putting all that info in one place is a great idea. I glanced at the Wiki page. It is sparsely written and is out of date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klipsch_Audio_Technologies And you're right, Gary. That comment (discussion actually) on "honkyness" needs to go. Would you care to start a new thread so people who can update the Wiki article can coordinate and collaborate? funny to say - but Honkyness - could very well be a southern expression used at the factory by some workers as a slang - and we all know that PWK had his own and unique slang - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Who wants to take a stab at re-writing the Wikipedia article? Wow, what a great idea. Some of your guys have irreplaceable knowledge and although some of that can be found on the Forums, putting all that info in one place is a great idea. I glanced at the Wiki page. It is sparsely written and is out of date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klipsch_Audio_Technologies And you're right, Gary. That comment (discussion actually) on "honkyness" needs to go. Would you care to start a new thread so people who can update the Wiki article can coordinate and collaborate? Maybe not. When things go off the tracks at Wiki it can end with pistols at dawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 (edited) WIKI is not the gospel of KLIPSCH history,,,Vast amounts are not there. I can attest to that.. Edited September 20, 2015 by ZAKO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 But the question is ...Did Klipsch ever use it ??.... I find no evidence to it.. First of all - Wikepedia rarely make errors as they research the subject in a historical perspective - compiling a lot of data they extrapolate to make a summary - silk has been used in making diaphragms for a long time and may be still used today - re-inforced of course - we all seem to forget that the EARLY diaphragms were either made by University or later on by Atlas and eventually EV -so Klipsch per say never made their own diaphragms -but University and EV did use silk in their diaphragms - -PE has these University silk diaphragms for the 1828T - http://www.parts-express.com/ev-genuine-replacement-diaphragm-591235001-for-electro-voice---university-id30ct--300-132 Here is an article that is conclusive -for the use of silk - http://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/loudspeaker-drivers/diaphragm-material We need to be careful stating that there is extensive research for all wikipedia entries.. Wikipedia should ALWAYS suspect. Yes silk is used today in dome tweeters like my Morel MDT-33 or the Dynaudio D-28 and up. The typical goo doped silk or cloth dome. Any current compression drivers using silk would need to be stiffened to the point they might as well be phenolic / plastic coated, at least in midrange applications which would be more demanding. Not much like most think about a silk dome tweeter. Even the manufacturer (when googled) refers to diaphragms as for tweeters, not calling out compression driver usage. If early manufacturers used silk, it was simply a substrate easily formed and hardened with resins. Most cloths could be used similarly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I cant find any advantage for silk in mids or tweets,,, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I cant find any advantage for silk in mids or tweets,,, natural damping 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 JBL aquaplas is a better damping.. ... cheaper and more effective 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I cant find any advantage for silk in mids or tweets,,, natural damping Natural dampening if you don't harden it as it needs to be in a compression driver. In a dome tweeter I would agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 (edited) I find it interesting that the new PRO-6803's are silk. That's going to trip me out opening a Klipsch box and seeing silk domes inside. What's even more interesting is the marketing material: "The silk dome high frequency driver of the 6000 series offers all of the benefits of the titanium counterparts of the 4000 series with a noticeably smoother, more balanced reproduction, particularly in the upper vocal range of 2kHz – 8Khz. This results in a warm, natural, and lifelike sound while still displaying the exceptional dynamics and power inherent in a Klipsch speaker." If this is true then why not use them more often? http://www.klipsch.com/pro-6803-c Edited October 1, 2015 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big mac Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 It think they used them in the ks series only, from 94 to 97 give a take a yr or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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