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Blown K-77


Feezelbum

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O.k., well, I think I gone and dunnit....

 

I was listening to some music yesterday (kinda loud as I was bouncing around the house and outside doing some chores) and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. When I turned on my music today, it sounded off.

 

After some investigating, I found that one of the tweeters in my scalas was not producing any sound.

 

I checked the connections, all looked good, so I decided to hook the tweeter up to the other scala to rule out a possible crossover issue, and I got no sound there either.

 

Based on the below picture, it appears the diaphragm is o.k.

 

Am I now in the market for a replacement, or is there anyway to repair this puppy?

 

post-60974-0-78880000-1450825695_thumb.j

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I am using baby cheek horn with a Selenium D220 driver. I just this week tried the Eminence APT-50 and to my ears it did not sound as good.

 

Far be it from me to give you advice, as you know ten times more about this stuff than I do, but is is possible you need to give the new drivers a few weeks to break-in?  Or at the very least, give your ears time to adjust to the new/different sound?

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You are correct that I did not try them but a few days. I am inquisitive and wanted to hear what the Eminence driver sounds like. I could easily live with either one. They both are very good. Part of my view could be visual, the selenium is a much larger better looking more expensive driver. As you know if it cost more it has to sound better, it is a trait we call are guilty of but not true. I am keeping the Eminence, and I think Eminence makes quality speakers and drivers. I plan on using them one day when and if I decide to build a set of speakers. I already have an Altec 811b horn to use in a build. I could not detect an improvement, not that they sound worse, and decided to put my Seleniums back in. I probably used the wrong words saying it did not sound as good. It did not sound to me as an improvement over the Selenium. Poor choice of words on my part.

The original apt50 driver is what Bob uses for hos CT125. It's tons better than the K77.

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Feezelbum   your tweet is gone,,,those on that link from CECCA would be good deal cause you should replace both. Or just buy Crites tweeters and be done with it and sell yours. I sold my K-77s and bought Crites and never looked back...while I was at it I changed to the 4500 hz crossover also. It will take the load off the mid range. Those K-77  can not handle much power. Rick

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You need a new diaphragm, the brown piece on the magnet must never come off the black piece on the horn.

 

The $20 aftermarket diaphragms are garbage.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Klipsch-La-Scala-Factory-K-77-F-Tweeter-Horn-Diaphragm-Faceplate-Assembly-127126-/151254367672?hash=item2337767db8:g:jcMAAOxy3HJTI3ez

 

 

That's not a diaphragm that you linked to nor is it $20.00.  The seller "simplyspeakers" sells quality replacement parts.  I've used them numerous times.  You can call them on the phone if necessary and actually talk to a knowledgeable person as well.  I think they're located in FL.

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You need a new diaphragm, the brown piece on the magnet must never come off the black piece on the horn.

 

The $20 aftermarket diaphragms are garbage.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Klipsch-La-Scala-Factory-K-77-F-Tweeter-Horn-Diaphragm-Faceplate-Assembly-127126-/151254367672?hash=item2337767db8:g:jcMAAOxy3HJTI3ez

 

 

That's not a diaphragm that you linked to nor is it $20.00.  The seller "simplyspeakers" sells quality replacement parts.  I've used them numerous times.  You can call them on the phone if necessary and actually talk to a knowledgeable person as well.  I think they're located in FL.

 

 

 Bob and i just had a conversation about replacement diaphragm's recently as i have those K-77's from the Heresy's i picked up were acting up and i swear he included those in the list of things not to buy.

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You are correct that I did not try them but a few days. I am inquisitive and wanted to hear what the Eminence driver sounds like. I could easily live with either one. They both are very good.

 

Part of my view could be visual, the selenium is a much larger better looking more expensive driver. As you know if it cost more it has to sound better, it is a trait we call are guilty of but not true.

We all agree on that one!    (I'm deliberately ignoring the last part of that sentence)  :D

 

I am keeping the Eminence, and I think Eminence makes quality speakers and drivers. I plan on using them one day when and if I decide to build a set of speakers. I already have an Altec 811b horn to use in a build. I could not detect an improvement, not that they sound worse, and decided to put my Seleniums back in. I probably used the wrong words saying it did not sound as good. It did not sound to me as an improvement over the Selenium.

 

Poor choice of words on my part. 

LOL!  Seeing as this is the Holiday Season, I forgive you.  :lol:

 

 

Of course the point in my original post is that not all drivers need breaking in, and there is a large contingent who don't agree with drivers breaking in at all, so I didn't know where you were on that spectrum.  I'm not black and white on this subject and think there is room for both sides to have a legitimate argument.

 

I went through a drop-in CD swap as well and I didn't think the new giant CD's were dramatically better than the old little (neo magnet) ones.  Of course I wanted to hear a difference, but it wasn't there for me.  I wonder if the XO needed to be tweaked to fully realize the potential of the new driver, but I don't have the expertise to analyze and optimize a crossover.

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Thanks for all of the replies!  As usual you guys are an awesome source of info.

 

I've gone ahead and ordered the diaphragms from the link Carl provided.  While my soldering skills are suspect, I think I'll be o.k. with the videos I found, as well as the great info on the K-77 rebuild on Bob Crites site.

 

I was heavily considering Bob's CT120 replacements, and may still end up going down that road eventually, but I just wanted to see if I would able to salvage the originals.

 

This was not the project I was hoping to work on over the holidays :(

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"That's not a diaphragm that you linked to nor is it $20.00."

 

The link is to the only decent functioning K77 diaphragm that I am aware of, and no, it's not $20

 

  "The seller "simplyspeakers" sells quality replacement parts.  I've used them numerous times."

 

The $20 ones "simplyspeakers" shipped me are complete and utter garbage (I own test equipment too).

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Ouch! Dude!

 

Okay, while you have things apart and are tinkering, do the A --> AA conversion on the crossovers.  Running the Type A at war volume is a sure path to getting really really good at diaphragm replacements.

 

Which is fine, of course, if getting really really good at diaphragm replacements is your goal.

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Ouch! Dude!

 

Okay, while you have things apart and are tinkering, do the A --> AA conversion on the crossovers.  Running the Type A at war volume is a sure path to getting really really good at diaphragm replacements.

 

Which is fine, of course, if getting really really good at diaphragm replacements is your goal.

Thanks for the advice!  I usually keep it at fairly respectable levels, but ya, I was a little over 12 o'clock when it happened :blink:  O.k., who am I kiddin.... I run 'em a bit hot most times.

 

Crossover conversion is a little unnerving given my weak understanding of all things dealing with electrons, but I give it a go if all goes well with the diaphragm.

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Ouch! Dude!

 

Okay, while you have things apart and are tinkering, do the A --> AA conversion on the crossovers.  Running the Type A at war volume is a sure path to getting really really good at diaphragm replacements.

 

Which is fine, of course, if getting really really good at diaphragm replacements is your goal.

Thanks for the advice!  I usually keep it at fairly respectable levels, but ya, I was a little over 12 o'clock when it happened :blink:  O.k., who am I kiddin.... I run 'em a bit hot most times.

 

Crossover conversion is a little unnerving given my weak understanding of all things dealing with electrons, but I give it a go if all goes well with the diaphragm.

 

Put a 1 amp fuse in the speaker line and it will stop blown tweeters. Klipsch recommended 1 1/4 amp when I bought my speakers but they can be hard to find. It will still play plenty loud before fuse blows and if it blows you then know you had it too loud. There are other ways to protect the delicate k77 but it involves some electronic knowledge. 

 

 

Sounds like a great idea, and one that I can handle with my limited skills.

 

The good news is I got the new diaphragms installed.  My confidence is growing a bit with the soldering iron.

 

I hooked up the tweeter placed it on the top of the cabinet to make sure it was working before putting it back in, and it sounded a wee bit weaker than the other original tweeter, but at that point, I was just happy it was actually producing sound.

 

Odd thing was that after I mounted the tweeter back in the cabinet, it seemed to gain a little more projection, and was much more closely matched volume wise to the original.  Overall, it seems pretty evenly matched with only a slight variation that I can certainly live with.

 

I'm just glad to be back to listening again.

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