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Claude's "Super Heresy" from Frankensmurfs


DizRotus

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3 hours ago, DizRotus said:

 

There are three 1.5 uF capacitors.  I assume you are referring to the one just before the autoformer in the squawker circuit.

Yes, the midrange one that is all by itself to the right in the photo. But you gotta use your new Autoformer as prescribed. You will hear more detail.

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Not yet.   The bass is pretty good with them as they are in the photos.  The two front subs are in the corners.  I can place the SHs close to the fronts of the subs, or take the subs away to place the SHs closer to the walls and corners.  That sort of shuffling must wait until the weekend.

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Claude, @ClaudeJ1, the initial tests went well.  Substituting Bob’s 3636 autoformer, adding a Dayton 2.0uF cap to the squawker circuit, and removing the pro tweeter protection bits sounded so good I decided to duplicate that on the KP-2.0A boards keeping only the inductors and barrier strips.

 

At this point, re-using the old (the KP-201 was last produced in 2004) 1.5uF caps and the 68uF cap seemed like a false economy.  After looking into replacements for the 68uF cap, I contacted Bob Crites, @BEC, and ordered a rebuild kit plus some extra 1.5uF caps.  They should arrive today.

 

Dealing with Bob at B&K Enterprises is always a positive experience.  I liken it to dealing with a local hardware store with creaking wooden floors compared to a big box store.   I’m Happy to pay a fair price to get known quality and excellent service.

 

Photos to follow.

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On 11/5/2017 at 11:11 AM, DizRotus said:

Before and after photos. @MookieStl

 

Before.jpg

after.jpg

 

Everything about the F’smurfs was KP-201, except the KP-101 boxes and woofers.  It would be interesting to learn the tale of how everything but the enclosures and woofers from KP-201s ended up in, and on, those blue boxes, but it shall remain a mystery.

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11 hours ago, DizRotus said:

Claude, @ClaudeJ1, the initial tests went well.  Substituting Bob’s 3636 autoformer, adding a Dayton 2.0uF cap to the squawker circuit, and removing the pro tweeter protection bits sounded so good I decided to duplicate that on the KP-2.0A boards keeping only the inductors and barrier strips.

 

At this point, re-using the old (the KP-201 was last produced in 2004) 1.5uF caps and the 68uF cap seemed like a false economy.  After looking into replacements for the 68uF cap, I contacted Bob Crites, @BEC, and ordered a rebuild kit plus some extra 1.5uF caps.  They should arrive today.

 

Dealing with Bob at B&K Enterprises is always a positive experience.  I liken it to dealing with a local hardware store with creaking wooden floors compared to a big box store.   I’m Happy to pay a fair price to get known quality and excellent service.

 

Photos to follow.

I agree about dealing with Bob. Met him and his son about 10 years ago at a Klipsch function in Hope. Good guy for sure. I'm glad to hear my recommendation is working for you. It was an approximate start point based on experience and a bit of math. Let me know when you have all the premium caps installed and if you want to curve the speakers in your room.

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5 minutes ago, ClaudeJ1 said:

Let me know when you have all the premium caps installed and if you want to curve the speakers in your room.

 

I'll do that thanks.  As soon as I finish working out I'll shower and then rebuild the KP-2.0As while watching Spartan basketball.

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Yesterday Claude, @ClaudeJ1, paid a brief visit to see and hear my Super Heresys.  Fortunately, I was able to sneak him in without my wife requiring the usual blindfold to shield guests from the clutter in my basement sanctuary.  Unfortunately, Claude was unable to play any of the demonstration/test CDs he brought , as I do not have a CD player hooked up.  Those CDs must wait until Claude's next visit,

 

The brief audition was done with Pono player into my gmarsh "Wiener" TPA3118 with ~18v of battery power.  With the speakers placed as they are shown in the above photos, Claude seemed satisfied with the bass, while suggesting that it would improve if closer to the rear wall.  Later last evening I rearranged things as they are in the attached photo.  The bass is noticeably improved from excellent to excellenter.  As previously mentioned, the networks are temporarily located outside the boxes (visible on the floor) with the leads passing through the rear ports.  After Claude returns with his instruments and they're dialed in they will go inside the boxes.

 

Using the Crites, @BEC 3636 autoformer, I'm able to make 1dB adjustments to the output of the squawker.  The stock H2/KP-201, upon which this SH network is based, has the squawker output at -10dB.  Claude recommended starting at -4dB, which is how it was set yesterday during the audition.  It is now set at -5dB, which I'll try for a time.

 

Today I finally got around to trying the Texas Instrument TPAS3255EVM received about a week ago, due to the corruption by Rich, @rhing.  The 3255 is fed 48v DC from a Mean Well PSU also recommended by Rich.  The improvement over the excellent TPA3118 is startling.  I can't recall how much power it puts out in 2-channel BTL mode when fed 48 volts.  Perhaps Rich will chime in with the informed details.

 

Note the Kronenbourg 1664 in the photo.  My wife is into theme birthdays and this year the theme was things French.  My son bought the French beer to wash down several baguettes.  The catalyst for the theme was the poster my wife gave me for my space.  It will probably displace my 43 year-old Italian bike.  Too bad I didn't have the French beer to offer Claude during his pit stop.

 

The Super Hereseys and the TPA3225 more than meet my expectations.  Thank you Claude and you too Rich and Bob.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, DizRotus said:

My wife is into theme birthdays and this year the theme was things French.  My son bought the French beer to wash down several baguettes.

FYI, French was my first language, so next time I see your wife, I can say a few words in French (with courtesy translations of course). LOL.

Nice job on the speakers. They sounded really good as is, so they won't need too much tweaking!

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16 hours ago, DizRotus said:

 

 

 

 

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Translation for bottom: 28 Street of the Italians in Paris. The record player (the best of talking machines).

The term for loudspeaker in French is "Haut Parleur" which, roughly translated is "High Speaker" or "High Fidelity Speaker".........a term which symbolizes the progressive nature of audio when ElectricalTube amplifiers were pioneered by Bell Labs to outperform the existing Mechanical Wonders of a diaphragme directly coupled to the horn and driven by a steel needle modulated by large grooves in a Shellac Record..............a system with limited bandwidth for sure.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello DizRotus

Glad you like the mod.

 

I bought a pair of Heresy 1.5 some years ago and was not pleased with the bass. Found Claudes Baby Cornwall mod and got intouch with him.

Bought the parts and did the mod. Claudes mod was for the Heresy type E crossover. I had the Heresy type E2 crossover and  turned it into sort of a type B1. Doing that was a big leap in better bass but I felt the midrange was still a bit to loud. So I bought some ALK CSW crossovers and set them up to my taste. - 12 on the midrange and - 4 on the tweeter. 

This could have probably been done with different caps but I did not have anything to go on. 

 

My Heresy´s have the K-52 H midrange and have bought titanium diaghragms for them and B&C DE 120 tweeters.  Turned out very nice. 

 

The main reason I did the mod was that I wanted more bass and did not want a subwoofer in my livingroom. Claude was very helpful with my project. 

I have been in contact with other members who have Baby Cornwalls and it seems that everybody who hears them is amazed.

Again many thanks to Claude from Sweden.

 

 

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Hey Claude, @ClaudeJ1, would there be a way to port “Super Heresys” in the front?  Whatever my brother does, it must go in a bookcase which makes rear ports problematic.  I’m thinking the woofer can go in an enclosure by itself, leaving space on the motorboard for a port.  The squawker and tweeter horns could be located directly above  the bass enclosures on a separate baffle board.

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19 hours ago, ClaudeJ1 said:

So I'm assuming you're happy with the sound after the midrange tweak? No curves required?

 

Eventually, I would like to take you up on your offer to bring test equipment to measure the speakers in place.  That can’t happen until spring.

 

What are your plans for the 8“ woofers from the Frankensmurfs?

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7 minutes ago, DizRotus said:

Hey Claude, @ClaudeJ1, would there be a way to port “Super Heresys” in the front?  Whatever my brother foes, it must go in a bookcase which makes rear ports problematic.  I’m thinking the woofer can go in an enclosure by itself, leaving space on the motorboard for a port.  The squawker and tweeter horns could be located directly above  the bass enclosures on a separate baffle board.

Yes, no problem if you build it from scratch as you have. With a factory Heresy cab as my original, there was no room. You just need to offset it slightly to make room for the port or get it to paper thin leftover lumber in the very front corner. A circle template or compass will tell you whether or not the offset is necessary. You just won't get the wall or corner reflection to acoustically enhance the bass like the rear port does. Or you could use twin smaller ports of equal depth and inside AREA. Or use 1/2 inch plywood to create one at the very corner of the front panel instead of a round port, make it rectangular with the same depth and area. or change the height of the box slightly and make it a tiny bit narrower to compensate. As long as the inner volume and port volume is the same, it will have the same tuning for that woofer, which is superlative in this application as you know.

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22 hours ago, ClaudeJ1 said:

Yes, no problem if you build it from scratch as you have. With a factory Heresy cab as my original, there was no room. You just need to offset it slightly to make room for the port or get it to paper thin leftover lumber in the very front corner. A circle template or compass will tell you whether or not the offset is necessary. You just won't get the wall or corner reflection to acoustically enhance the bass like the rear port does. Or you could use twin smaller ports of equal depth and inside AREA. Or use 1/2 inch plywood to create one at the very corner of the front panel instead of a round port, make it rectangular with the same depth and area. or change the height of the box slightly and make it a tiny bit narrower to compensate. As long as the inner volume and port volume is the same, it will have the same tuning for that woofer, which is superlative in this application as you know.

 

I’m thinking the woofers could be in separate enclosures made deliberately taller and narrower than a Heresy.  That could put front ports as low and close to the room corners as possible.  The squawkers and tweeters would the be higher and could be mounted on baffle boards that could be tucked away when not in use.  Realistically, how far could the squawker horns be vertically from the woofers before noticeable degradation?

 

Given the above plan, all he needs to start are the tweeters and squawkers from H2s, Fortes, KP-201s, etc., the Eminence woofers would come from Parts Express.

 

Or, we keep our eyes open for another pair of Frankensmurfs.

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  • 2 years later...

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