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P51guy

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Newbie, here. I own a pair of KLF-30's going on 19 years and while they are functioning perfectly, I am concerned about driver life, xover life, etc. I've read many comments in this forum that mention Bob Crites. I have visited his website and see that he offers replacement parts for the drivers and a new xover. 

 

My question is: has anyone purchased the 12" woofer (CW1228) for a KLF-30 and if so, how does it compare to the original K-31? Better, worse. etc. Also, how do the replacement tweeter and midrange  diaphragms sound as compared to the factory originals? Lastly, is the B&K KLF-30 xover a noticeable improvement?

 

Thanks for any advice.

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I can't comment on the drivers, but I can say that the B&K Crossovers are definitely upgrades over stock.  I have Crites crossovers in both my Heresy I's and RF-3 II's, and both had a noticeable difference when the crossovers were added in.  I imagine the drivers are at least as good as stock drivers - but I can't say for sure having never used them.

 

O/T: P-51 Guy, eh?  I have a cousin that rebuilt one and flew it for many many years.  My first time flying was in that plane, and it was amazing.  Quite the bird.

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1 minute ago, IbizaFlame said:

I can't comment on the drivers, but I can say that the B&K Crossovers are definitely upgrades over stock.  I have Crites crossovers in both my Heresy I's and RF-3 II's, and both had a noticeable difference when the crossovers were added in.  I imagine the drivers are at least as good as stock drivers - but I can't say for sure having never used them.

 

O/T: P-51 Guy, eh?  I have a cousin that rebuilt one and flew it for many many years.  My first time flying was in that plane, and it was amazing.  Quite the bird.

 

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19 minutes ago, P51guy said:

I haven't figured ot the way to reply correctly, sorry. Actually, the P51 is in place of Mustang (Ford). Thanks for your input on the crossovers.

Welcome

You will do fine here, amazing things are in your future.

 

Glad you pointed out Ford is the meaning of the name.

P.S. Good to start you out with your "First Like" :emotion-21:

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19 minutes ago, P51guy said:

I haven't figured ot the way to reply correctly, sorry. Actually, the P51 is in place of Mustang (Ford). Thanks for your input on the crossovers.

Ahhh, I see.  I think in the clouds.  If I had an academy close enough to me, my focus would be Aviation History.  haha

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I have his crossovers, tweeter diagrams, and mid-range diagrams in my klf 30's. I believe the mid-range diagrams were more of a stock replacement (not an upgrade), but the tweeter diagrams are definitely an upgrade in my opinion. If you send your crossovers to him to be rebuilt, they will be back to stock equivalent, but if you buy his crossovers, they are an upgrade because he can put better/bigger parts on them because he doesn't use a circuit board.

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12 minutes ago, dtr20 said:

I have his crossovers, tweeter diagrams, and mid-range diagrams in my klf 30's

Thanks for your reply! How did the crossovers change the tonal balance? I find the horns to be a bit strident on older recordings. Was that improved?

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I have a set of KLF-30s too that are about that age (am I really that old, I bought new)...  As said above, replace the poly tweeter diaphragm with a titanium ASAP, hand down best bang for your buck.  Then go from there, I didn't hear any improvements with the Xover, but I had no way to A/B, maybe my originals were still in spec.  I second that the phenolic mid-diaphragms are just a replacement not an upgrade.   I also didn't care for the TT mid-diaphragms in my KLFs.  They currently sit unused.

 

Joe

 

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2 minutes ago, Cantilope said:

 I second that the phenolic mid-daiphrams are just a replacement not an upgrade.

Thank you! I may purchase them and keep on hand so when the stock diaphragms fail, I have a replacement. Same with the crossovers. I suppose I'll have to buy the 4 woofers as well, as I don't want to wait until it is too late and they're not available.

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13 minutes ago, P51guy said:

Thank you! I may purchase them and keep on hand so when the stock diaphragms fail, I have a replacement. Same with the crossovers. I suppose I'll have to buy the 4 woofers as well, as I don't want to wait until it is too late and they're not available.

 

I wouldn't imagine any of these would fail for you, nor are they wear items... some of us on this forum have speakers 50 -60 years old (or more) all stock.  I have a set of 1978 Belles all original and work like the day they were born that I use everyday.  This is my very humble opinion but KLFs are not rare birds, I'd say save your pennies and go buy some music... Just treat them right and they'll last a lifetime.

 

Besides, this forum may open you up to other Klipsch offerings that you might like better than the KLF-30s, like my Jubilees.

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2 minutes ago, Cantilope said:

 This is my very humble opinion but KLFs are not rare birds, I'd say save your pennies and go buy some music... Just treat them right and they'll last a lifetime.

Sensible advice.

 

The replacement parts will cost more than I paid for the speakers new. I took advantage of the Klipsch employee purchase promo for the KLF series at the time and bought the pair for $450! :)

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On 01/19/2017 at 7:14 PM, P51guy said:

Newbie, here. I own a pair of KLF-30's going on 19 years and while they are functioning perfectly, I am concerned about driver life, xover life, etc.

 

My question is: has anyone purchased the 12" woofer (CW1228) for a KLF-30 and if so, how does it compare...

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

If the original 12" woofers are okay and functioning without any problems, then leave them alone. And though Crites offers a replacement, it's NOT a duplicate of the original. The original driver is not available anymore, so enjoy, but don't abuse them.

 

Same goes for the diaphragms... They won't fail unless you're abusing the speakers on a regular basis.

 

If you do change things, do them one at a time, starting with the crossover. That would put you back to essentially brand new. Change anything else and you'll change the "sound", which you may or may not like.

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On 1/19/2017 at 8:28 PM, IbizaFlame said:

I can't comment on the drivers, but I can say that the B&K Crossovers are definitely upgrades over stock.  I have Crites crossovers in both my Heresy I's and RF-3 II's, and both had a noticeable difference when the crossovers were added in.  I imagine the drivers are at least as good as stock drivers - but I can't say for sure having never used them.

 

O/T: P-51 Guy, eh?  I have a cousin that rebuilt one and flew it for many many years.  My first time flying was in that plane, and it was amazing.  Quite the bird.

I'll bet that was quite the thrill....best plane we ever built.

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