klipsch1 Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Hi all. I need some help finding the positive and negative connections on the AK3 crossovers in my klipschorns because I want to change the mid drivers to k55v alnico and I think the previous owner played around with the wires and since they are not marked red or black on the crossovers I was hoping someone can tell me where exactly is the red and black for mids and tweeters on the crossover. since they are soldered and not marked, I don't know what wire is positive and what wire is negative. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panelhead Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Take a look at a schematic. You can tell by seeing where the +/- connect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wirrunna Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 There is a tin plate with a bunch of wires going to it which is the central - or earth point. You can see a bunch of black wires soldered to it, also the - (negative) from both the tweeter and squaker. The tweeter + goes to the junction of the middle 2uf capacitor. The squaker + goes to the upper tap on the autotransformer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipsch1 Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 thats great, because from what i see on my crossovers, i think the squawker and tweeter are wired wrong. but i will double check again. thanks so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khornukopia Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 8 hours ago, klipsch1 said: I need some help finding the positive and negative connections on the AK3 crossovers In your picture and other pictures I have seen, it appears that the insulation has white letters and numbers printed on the positive side of the twin cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipsch1 Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 2 hours ago, Khornukopia said: In your picture and other pictures I have seen, it appears that the insulation has white letters and numbers printed on the positive side of the twin cables. Yes I’m aware of that , but I think the previous owner may have altered the cross over and that is why I wanted to confirm. So that when I change the mid k55m to the older k55V , I don’t switch the + and - by mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wirrunna Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 On my AK-3s the Monster Cable to the speakers had gone a delightful green in places and the insulation had gone very sticky, so I replaced the cable. In another thread https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/179946-crossovers/ Deang has a picture of a cap meter measurement of one of the 2uf caps that has gone way off spec. I replaced the caps on my AK-3s with a Bob Crites replacement kit, and then went on to completely rebuild the crossovers - https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/118361-k-horn-crossovers-from-ak-3-to-universal-to-es/ Another check is the squaker driver https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/130970-is-it-the-al-3-or-the-squakers/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipsch1 Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 I just replaced the stock k55m with older k55V ( dual phase plug ) and it sounds amazing. I also found out that the previous owner had the + and - mixed up at the swuaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 The K-55-M has a two piece phase plug too. It’s just a ferrite magnet version of the K-55-V (soldered lugs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipsch1 Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 12 hours ago, Deang said: The K-55-M has a two piece phase plug too. It’s just a ferrite magnet version of the K-55-V. Are you sure ? As far as I know , only the k55V had the dual phase plug design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windashine Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 here's a post from last year about the k55-v (nice picture in there) https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/168535-k55v-dual-phase-plug/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipsch1 Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 its amazing that the the k55m were soldered backwards . the + and - were switched so maybe I was not getting the right sound out of them when they were on the horns? in any case the k55v dual phase plug mids sound very nice. I replaced the diaphragms with new ones from bob crites. the k55v also sound a little less harsh. maybe its because the k55m were connected the wrong way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Those old caps are not helping either. I have yet to find a crossover with those on it that measured right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Well, you fixed a polarity issue, and replaced diaphragms. This would have a profound impact on the sound. Crossovers and wiring are next. I’ve lost three customers in the last month after I explained what they would have to do to replace the crossovers. Seems people just aren’t as excited as working on their speakers as I am. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 45 minutes ago, Deang said: after I explained what they would have to do to replace the crossovers. The H2's and KP-2500's I recapped makes me not want to do a set again, LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 AKs are the worst. You have to deal with a mile of nasty green Monster cable - it all needs to be replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
001 Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 18 hours ago, Deang said: AKs are the worst. You have to deal with a mile of nasty green Monster cable - it all needs to be replaced. can you elaborate on why the wire needs to be replaced? i have the ak3 with monster cable, i have seen pics of the cable turning green etc but does that actually affect the sound? my monster cables are not green like ive seen & the insulation is not sticky. if its shows none of those signs does it still need replaced? also, can you explain "what they would have to do" to replace the caps in the ak-3 x-overs? isnt it just soldering in new caps like any other x-over? just curious fi something more is involved. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 when i had them crap wires on my k-horns a simple cleaning in the top hat the wires just broke off the k-55 midrange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 4 hours ago, EpicKlipschFan said: can you elaborate on why the wire needs to be replaced? i have the ak3 with monster cable, i have seen pics of the cable turning green etc but does that actually affect the sound? my monster cables are not green like ive seen & the insulation is not sticky. if its shows none of those signs does it still need replaced? also, can you explain "what they would have to do" to replace the caps in the ak-3 x-overs? isnt it just soldering in new caps like any other x-over? just curious fi something more is involved. thanks. There is a now known off-gassing issue related to the insulation. It's what causes the copper to turn green and sticky. When it gets bad enough, it will increase the overall insertion loss of the system (adds resistance). Any new network that is purchased, will come with a barrier strip. The current wiring is soldered to the network. Since all of the connections need to be cut, it makes more sense to replace it, as opposed to crimping spades to the old wire. Disconnects are crimped to the new wire, and then connected to the tweeters and midrange drivers. Nothing needs to be soldered. The low pass section in the bass bin is normally bypassed or removed. However, I don't see why it can't be reutilized, and only the high pass be rebuilt. The capacitors in the low pass section are of higher quality that what is used in the high pass -- something I've never quite understood. At any rate, it requires a little bit of work by the end user, and many don't want to mess with it, which is a shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
001 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 thanks for the info. my wires still look & feel good... the caps still sound good as well, im sure an upgrade would benefit them but for now they will stay in stock form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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