bkevind Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I picked up a pair of HIP, a little while back. I haven't really listened to them critically, as I don't think they are of quality enough sound to warrant a critical session I just plunked them on the floor of the garage and hooked them up. However I can tell you they get ridiculously loud...which makes sense as that is what they were made to do (at a certain frequency anyway maybe 200 and up?) There is some quality in the mid bass that I do not like, it's hard to explain exactly. I need to disassemble and see what I've got to work with. I am feeding them 80Hz and up for now, I'll experiment with higher crossover frequencies and see how that goes. I've also considered blocking the ports. They probably need new caps, maybe a different network altogether, and I will make sure all the drivers sound as they should. So far they seem to be. Anyway, my goal is basically to improve their sound somewhat, but I don't want to try and re-invent them. They are what they are. Any thoughts you have will be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 The most obvious things are the crossover caps. They are surely 30 years old and if they haven't been used much have probably deteriorated and gone off spec, especially the ESR (internal resistance). The next thing is their intended use, sound reinforcement. They are voiced for half space outdoors. Indoors, the squawker and tweeter are quite hot. I have a pair I bought for my church. Vocals outside are excellent; music less so, but the balance is much better without room reflections. Indoors, I cross them electronically to a pair of KP-480s at 120 Hz. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkevind Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 12 minutes ago, JohnA said: The most obvious things are the crossover caps. They are surely 30 years old and if they haven't been used much have probably deteriorated and gone off spec, especially the ESR (internal resistance). The next thing is their intended use, sound reinforcement. They are voiced for half space outdoors. Indoors, the squawker and tweeter are quite hot. I have a pair I bought for my church. Vocals outside are excellent; music less so, but the balance is much better without room reflections. Indoors, I cross them electronically to a pair of KP-480s at 120 Hz. Yeah caps for sure. I forgot to mention these are HIP-2, not sure what the differences, I know the ports look different. Garage at least is fairly large space, but definitely will have some undesired reflections for the HIP intended function. Maybe I'll reserve them for use outside on the deck I've read some of the super heresy threads., makes me think I could sweeten these up with some thoughtful modifications. Are the drivers different in the HIP-2 or is it more about the crossover network that runs the squawker and tweeter hot? I'm wondering if some as simple as a replacement network would help them work better for my use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 I think they are different, like an HII, but I'd have to see a pic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkevind Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 Thar she blows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 From what I have seen the HIP-2 is basically an early model KP-250 with the Eminence k-42 woofer, k-53 plastic mid horn and k-79 tweeter. I believe @ClaudeJ1 is working on customizing a pair right now, maybe he'd chime in? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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