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Modified my KLF-20's into something new


Fizik

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If Klipsch had made a three way RF-7 with a limited edition Peruvian walnut veneer, they might have looked something like these.

 

I had previously done a few upgrade to my KLF-20's, the titanium tweeter and upgraded crossover from Bob Crites. They really helped improve the sound. The one thing I still missed was the copper drivers my previous RF-5's had. So I found a set of 4 RF-7ii drivers and started a project. My cabinets weren't bad or failing like some of klf speakers can have, but decided to rebuild them anyways. I kept the width and depth the same and increased the height closer to the rf-7ii. I left the ports on the rear the same, this dropped the factory tuning frequency by only 3 hertz or so due to the increased volume inside the cabinet. I've seen some people change the tuning closer to 30 hz but since the speakers are usually crossed over at 70-80hz it was easier to just reuse the stock klf-20 ports.

The cabinets are made from a combination of Baltic birch plywood and Peruvian walnut. The walnut and plywood were bonded before being cut into the panels for the new cabinets since the walnut is not a thin veneer. No dyes or stains were used on the walnut, just a tung oil based finish. In the first photo I was testing the fitment to see if i could use the dimension from the stock cabinets. The drivers were fortunately the same size which made things a little easier. The only different really was where the screw holes are.

 

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19 hours ago, Fizik said:

If Klipsch had made a three way RF-7 with a limited edition Peruvian walnut veneer, they might have looked something like these.

 

I had previously done a few upgrade to my KLF-20's, the titanium tweeter and upgraded crossover from Bob Crites. They really helped improve the sound. The one thing I still missed was the copper drivers my previous RF-5's had. So I found a set of 4 RF-7ii drivers and started a project. My cabinets weren't bad or failing like some of klf speakers can have, but decided to rebuild them anyways. I kept the width and depth the same and increased the height closer to the rf-7ii. I left the ports on the rear the same, this dropped the factory tuning frequency by only 3 hertz or so due to the increased volume inside the cabinet. I've seen some people change the tuning closer to 30 hz but since the speakers are usually crossed over at 70-80hz it was easier to just reuse the stock klf-20 ports.

The cabinets are made from a combination of Baltic birch plywood and Peruvian walnut. The walnut and plywood were bonded before being cut into the panels for the new cabinets since the walnut is not a thin veneer. No dyes or stains were used on the walnut, just a tung oil based finish. In the first photo I was testing the fitment to see if i could use the dimension from the stock cabinets. The drivers were fortunately the same size which made things a little easier. The only different really was where the screw holes are.

 

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How do you rate the RF7 woofers to the KLF20?

You said they are the same size so they could fit in the same recesses?

 

I've been debating on moving from the KLF20 to the RF7 woofers in my home built's but didn't want to do a bunch of retro fit.  The crossover work might be a little more painful.

 

Thanks,

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1 hour ago, pzannucci said:

How do you rate the RF7 woofers to the KLF20?

You said they are the same size so they could fit in the same recesses?

 

I've been debating on moving from the KLF20 to the RF7 woofers in my home built's but didn't want to do a bunch of retro fit.  The crossover work might be a little more painful.

 

Thanks,

The KLF-20 woofer really is a great driver. I'm sure there a slight acoustic differences (different materials, etc), but not drastic enough for me to notice. The driver switch for me was mainly for cosmetics. The tweeter and crossover upgrade were a much more noticeable difference for me.

 

Also they did fit into the recess, the screw holes were just a bit further out on the rf-7 driver.

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51 minutes ago, Fizik said:

The KLF-20 woofer really is a great driver. I'm sure there a slight acoustic differences (different materials, etc), but not drastic enough for me to notice. The driver switch for me was mainly for cosmetics. The tweeter and crossover upgrade were a much more noticeable difference for me.

 

Also they did fit into the recess, the screw holes were just a bit further out on the rf-7 driver.

Agreed.  I'm wondering how the copper would go with the gray speckled of the Audiom drivers  Image result for audiom 6wm

That's what's in my bigger system currently.  I like the cast frame and no plastic pretend ring of the RF7 II woofer.

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Wow, beautiful work! I really like that Walnut veneer. I bet they sound better than the RF-7 II's too, I recently had a pair of the RF-7 II's and they sounded ok but lacked the clarity of the 3-way Klipsch's. Congrats on a job well done!

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On 4/10/2017 at 1:22 PM, jjptkd said:

Wow, beautiful work! I really like that Walnut veneer. I bet they sound better than the RF-7 II's too, I recently had a pair of the RF-7 II's and they sounded ok but lacked the clarity of the 3-way Klipsch's. Congrats on a job well done!

Thanks!

I can't speak for the second gen RF-7 as I've never heard them in person, but they do sound quite a bit better than the first generation 7's

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