KG-4 cabinet upgrade

[ThomasD.]

Have the BEC X/O's & Titanium Diaphrams on order for these.  Are there any recommended cabinet mods?  With my Polks, Gluing the Magnet Assemblies to prevent Magnet Shift was suggested.  Installing Dynamat Extreme on the stamped steel Woofer and Passive Radiator Basket Frames to minimize resonances and ringing, installing Hurricane Nuts and Machine or Cap Screws in place of the existing Philips Head Sheet Metal Screws Polk used, to torque down all the drivers to prevent vibrations and resonances, Re-Positioning the internal Dacron Batting for Best Performance, Installing Blackhole 5, Sonic Barrier, or No-Rez behind the woofers for improved midrange clarity and imaging, Installing new gaskets if needed for an air-tight seal, re-sealing the cabinet internally if needed.  How much of this would be of benefit to the KG-4's?  I see additional cabinet bracing recommended for some of the 'Heritage' series, any other models need it?  Thanks

[Maz4bz]

You may find something of interest here...

[ThomasD.]

@Maz4bz  Yes, very informative and interesting.  Are you still using the -5db L pads with the Crites Ti's? 

Thanks again.

[Maz4bz]

Hi Tom,

I went back to the -4db Lpads and I've settled on these now after many months of music and movie watching.

That's just my taste however. Yours might be quite different. I'd say experiment to see what sounds best to you.

 

Of course the KG4 is a very different speaker to the KG 5.5 and it gets some glowing reviews. Perhaps it needs no attenuation on the top end? I've never heard them, would very much like to. But if you feel the top end is tiring then pls don't write them off. Give the lpad approach a chance. You might be pleased with the results.

 

I've been working my way through the Econowave threads on PE and Audio Karma and all these accomplished designs specify a variable Lpad.

 

Enjoy the journey!

[ThomasD.]

Interestingly enough, I was just looking at another pair of Kg-4's that came up on CL when I noticed a pair of black 5.5's listed also.  My wife really likes the 'mid century' look so a wood finish is mandatory. Hence, my Klipsch Rvx 54 HT system has been relegated to storage and the 'vintage' look is in order now.  When the  BEC x/o's & Ti tweets get installed I'll decide if the L-pads are necessary.  My ears aren't what they use to be with 40 years of construction caused tinnitus limiting my hearing range somewhat.  Your step by step tutorial on building the L-pads gives me confidence that even a clumsy electrician like myself can play with the 'nuances' of fine tuning these great speakers.

Thanks again.

P.S.  Australia is on our 'bucket list' of places to visit before my wife & I are too old to enjoy the traveling.

G'Day Mate

[Maz4bz]

Gday Tom,

Being a "sparkie" you're already ahead of the game mate! I just operate a keyboard for a living so those lpads will be a breeze for you.

 

Really glad you've found some value there, that was 90% of the objective of posting my experience. I got 99% of my ideas from fragments others had scattered around the web. Thought I'd bring all that together into one fulsome KG 5.5 thread. I won't deny the balance was probably just an opportunity for a little self promotion 😂 !

 

Hope you make it down-under soon and if you do make it this far you must get over the ditch to NZ, fair dinkum its God's own country our Kiwi cousins have over there.

Cheers,

Maz. 

[ThomasD.]

6 hours ago, Maz4bz said:

Gday Tom,

Being a "sparkie" you're already ahead of the game mate! I just operate a keyboard for a living so those lpads will be a breeze for you.

 

Really glad you've found some value there, that was 90% of the objective of posting my experience. I got 99% of my ideas from fragments others had scattered around the web. Thought I'd bring all that together into one fulsome KG 5.5 thread. I won't deny the balance was probably just an opportunity for a little self promotion 😂 !

 

Hope you make it down-under soon and if you do make it this far you must get over the ditch to NZ, fair dinkum its God's own country our Kiwi cousins have over there.

Cheers,

Maz. 

Thanks for that.  I frequent this forum, the Polk Audio forum & the Carversite mainly and find all of these to be extremely informative & entertaining.  The knowledge & experience of these sites is quite wide spread and everyone is quick to help with all issues.  And a little 'self-promotion' on your part is well deserved.👍

As soon as I hit submit on the last post it dawned on me that it might be taken as somewhat derogatory, which I certainly didn't intend.  Have always appreciated the different geographical 'language inflections' & variations. Glad you took it that way.  My wife worked with an 'Aussei' for several years who was married to a 'Kiwi'.  It would be a shame to make it all the way to 'Down Under' & not  also enjoy the 'God Zone' also !

Thomas

[JohnA]

I didn't know Polks need so much work. 

 

If you don't change the cabinet volume much (calculate it) braces won't hurt, but likely aren't needed.  Covering the backs of the horns with Dynamat or rope caulk MAY help.  If the speakers are over 30 years old they might benefit from new capacitors.  A dull, recessed treble will be the symptom.  The only speaker I've heard that in was a 40+ year old H-700.  Do not add stuffing to a speaker that was designed without it.  It changes the "apparent" volume by making the trapped air more springy. 

[Maz4bz]

Hi Tom,

No chance of offence using what is everyday language down here. Certainly don't want to be too serious about anything on line these days. Not with the Russians egging us all on at each other, eh! 😉

 

The beaut thing about damping your speakers, as I see it is that it is:

• cheap;
• easy;
• infinitely adjustable; and
• completely reversible!

In my case, once I had pulled my drivers and looked into those big old empty boxes I muttered to myself something along the lines of "wow, that's a big old box to not have any bracing". It was like an echo chamber in there! I really can't imagine an essentially empty box being a great basis for a fine speaker. A "loud" speaker? Yes! So I'd say give it a try, it definitely, in my mind, helped my speakers sound more refined, but likely reduced their efficiency. There's no free lunches.  I'm no expert however,  but this bloke seems like he knows what he's on about....

 

I've built a few subwoofers in my time using the freeware WinISD which is easy to use. You can vary the box volume and port specifications at will and see the resulting response changes instantly. In my experience it shows that quite substantial changes to box volume have quite a small impact on simulated bass performance. 

[ThomasD.]

This is what was recommended for 'tightening' up the bass specifically on speakers with passive radiators.

http://www.blackhole-america.com/five.html

[Maz4bz]

Nice, looks pricey though. The cost of shipping kills a lot of options for us that live outside the USA. 😥