Jim Cornell Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 What is the AK-3 crossover, is it in the newer K-horns? And what is better than the AA, on upgrading the caps, which ones? Coils, or the liqiud caps? Im new to the K-horns, so all the sound is new to me, and i dont know what upgrading would do! If i could get a reply, id know more what im looking at, im looking at the crossover now! Dusty, and it looks pretty dried out here! Looks like it was made in 49 LOL! Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 Jim, The AK-3 came in the most rescent production of the Khorn. It has faster slopes to each filter than the AA. As to which is better.. That is a subject of endless debate! You won't get consistnat answer. I think most will say that the older AA is best though. Better quality parts is always and improvment. Use Polypropylene caps and heavy solid wire inductors for the woofer and Litz wire coils for the smaller ones. You can get this stuff from Solen of Canada. AL K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 Jim, During Q-Man's and my crossover comparison, we both thought the AK-3 was the best sounding crossover Klipsch had in it's arsenal (the comparison consisted of AL, AA, AK-3 and ALK crossovers). Comparing the AK-3 versus the ALK was a very close call but I still preferred the ALK. I don't think it's worth paying $500 for the upgrade however. Now the AA and AL is a different story. If I had either of those 2 crossovers in my Khorns or La Scala's, I would opt for the ALK's in a heartbeat. And that's exactly what I did. Everybody's ears are different, so you may have to find somebody in your area who has some and do the comparison yourself... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregorius Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 My Khorns have the AK-2 crossover in them. How does the AK-2 differ from the AK-3? Thanks, Greg ------------------ HK AVR20 II Toshiba DVD 32" Toshiba TV Odyssey Stratos 1987 Khorns Mains 1976 LaScala's Rears KV-1 Center KSW-12 Sub Two-Channel Fisher 800C Receiver 1987 Khorns Teac CDP Pioneer TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 Greg Sounds like a good question for "Q" He would know. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted August 27, 2002 Author Share Posted August 27, 2002 Thank you AL Im ganna wait till a set of AAs come up on e-bay, and then ill expierement with them! So ill have the original AAs and the upgraded AAs at the same time, either that, or AK-3s! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Jim, On thing you should consider.. The AK-3 network has parts inside the woofer door that must be removed for both the AA and my design. "A-B"ing the two is not easy! You will also have to add a way to quick-connect the cables to the squawker and tweeter. The AK-3 had them hard-wired into the network. My network and the AA use a barrier block and spade lugs. Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted August 28, 2002 Author Share Posted August 28, 2002 Thank you again Al. I had the door off these k-horns once, and didnt see anything but the woofer, so this must be an addition, to the cross over! My AAs are fine, i was just thinking on an upgrade for testing! Other than that, beings im done buying Klipsch, upgrading is all i have left LOL! Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Jim, I have a pair of stock AA's that I will sell you. I don't have time now to add in my 2 cents. I'll post something later tonight. What midrange driver do you have? The K55-V or K55-M. Q. ------------------ Q-Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted August 28, 2002 Author Share Posted August 28, 2002 Q-man let me know how much, E-mail me! Regards Jim K-55-V This message has been edited by Jim Cornell on 08-28-2002 at 02:34 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 "Q-Man will Know" Well, I'm not so sure about that. I can build anything as long as you can make it using wood working tools. I'm a designer and draftsman for a cabinet manufacture. I also have my own little shop where I mostley do kitchen remodels and custom entertainment centers or the type of cabinets that you can't buy. That's why you hear of me building various bass horn cabinets for the fun of it. The bass horns that I build are ones no longer in production. The only way that I can hear what they sound like is to build them. If there are questions about network designs, you need to seek out others on this board. I can only tell you which networks I have, and which one I believe sounds the best. In the early 1970's I bought my first pair of LaScalas and they served me well for all these years. They had the "V" series drivers and the AA network in them. When I got into home theater I bought another pair of LaScalas, then another. Next came a pair of Klipschorns , then another. You know how it goes. I want all my drivers & networks to be the same in these speakers, because I want the sound to sound the same, or very similar as it travels from speaker to speaker. The first speakers to be up dated were the LaScalas from the 70's. I had to get rid of the"V" series drivers. This wasn't because I liked one driver better then the other. It was more like the majority rules, and all my other pairs had the newer "M" series drivers in them. When I called Klipsch to place my order for the new midrange and tweeters they told me that I had to also replace the AA network. The new AL and up networks were different because the K55-M driver was eather more or less sensitive then the "V". I don't remember which. The newer networks were designed to compensate for this and that there were also some other improvements along the way. I also decided to replace the K33-P woofer( square magnet) with the newer K33-E woofer (round magnet). Yes the E is better sounding then the P. What have I learned from Klipsch so far? The AA network is for the "V" series drivers. The later LaScala AL,AL-2(?), and AL-3; and the Klipschorn AK, AK-2, and the AK-3 are for the "M" series drivers. Now all my speakers had the same drivers, but I still had to update some of the networks. Two pairs of LaScalas still had the AL networks in them. Just a few weeks ago I got around to ordering another pair of AL-3 networks from Klipsch to put in my center channel LaScalas. I can't believe that I waited this long to do it. Mikes visit motivated me to tend to a few neglected items. It was do to comparing and hearing the difference between these networks again. One Pair of Klipschorns has the AK-2 networks and the other pair has the AK-3 network. I put the AK-2 pair in another room and use the AK-3 pair for my mains. What I know? Use the AA networks for the "V" series drivers only. The AA might sound a little better then the AL when it is hooked up to the "M" series drivers. This may be because the midrange sounds a little louder. You have to be careful, louder always fools you into believing better. The AK-3, and the AL-3 are the best sounding of the networks to me. They are cleaner more detailed and spacious sounding. AL Klappenberger's ALK network is also nice sounding and an improvement over the AA,AL,and AK-2 networks that I have. But, I don't think that it is any better then the AL-3 or the AK-3. If it is better ,it isn't worth the $500.00 change, because it is very close. I do question the use of the ALK in the Klipschorn. Klipsch makes and sells the LaScala AL-3 for $300.00. Klipsch also makes and sells the Klipschorn AK-3 for $1200.00. Why two different networks? Why such a large price difference? Obviously the AK-3 is doing something for the Klipschorn that the LaScala AL-3 isn't or can't. Now with that in mind, how can the $500.00 ALK network work for both the LaScala and the Klipschorn? If this were the case, wouldn't Klipsch be useing the same network for both speakers? It would be a lot simplier and cheaper to build just one all purpose network if it were possible. Wouldn't it? Al designed his network using his Belle, should a Klipschorn and LaScala have also been used? Do the Different tap setting do it all? The Klipschorn bass is much more powerfull then the LaScala and Belle. I need to put an ALK in one of my AK-2 Klipschorns and compare the two networks that way. Then do it again with my AK-3 pair. Most of my changing and comparing has been done with LaScalas and some other bass horns. Q. ------------------ Q-Man This message has been edited by Q-Man on 08-28-2002 at 09:27 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregorius Posted August 30, 2002 Share Posted August 30, 2002 Q, Thanks for a very informative post. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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