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396s box build & modify


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Looking to build a better and more aesthetically pleasing box for my 396s.  I’d like to build something proportionately similar to the Forte IIIs and use a passive radiator from Parts Express in hopes to also get them to dig much deeper.  What are your thoughts and suggestions?  Thanks, everyone!!

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Making them prettier can be done fairly easy. They weren't designed to be pretty.

Making them sound better, is the hard part. They were designed to sound good and by some pretty smart people. The port they have in there already, probably gives you as much extension in the low end as you are going to get. A passive radiator is basically the same thing. You would have to eliminate the port for the passive to work. One step up, one step back.

Build three nice cabinets, put a subwoofer in one. 

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2 hours ago, MookieStl said:

Build three nice cabinets, put a subwoofer in one

Good idea. 396's with a sub would be amazing, there a great speaker. imo

 

The 396 is not just thrown together if a passive would have increased low-end performance anything worthwhile, it probably would have come with one instead of ports. Size is also not just a guess, start changing a few things and I would bet performance goes downhill pretty quick.

 

To see the many changes and a bunch of prototypes tested changed and tested again repeatedly to finally come out with a speaker that's the best combination of certain parts and cabinet size for best performance is quite surprising, it's a long process.

 

I was quite surprised to see the many changes including drivers, this is where the Anechoic chamber and test equipment and of course experience are priceless.

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Since you already have the 396 I'd just sand and then veneer the existing boxes. A lot of the sound of the 396s come from the carefully crafted voicing between the drivers in the crossover. The box plays a big part in this and I doubt you would get something that sounds better using the existing passover. 

 

If you really want to change the box, I recommend going completely active with a DSP and then voicing the speakers yourself with REW and a calibrated measurement mic. This is the approach I'm currently working on. I have an active setup with K510s on top a pair of old bookshelf speakers, soon to be replaced with a custom cabinet with 2x12 Eminence KappaLites.

 

One of Roy's long held principles here is a Klipsch speaker is a complete system consisting of drivers, cabinets and crossovers. Change any of these and you don't really have a Klipsch anymore. He's justifiably proud of the sound of the 396, and maybe a simple cosmetic change is the right approach here.

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On 5/15/2019 at 8:46 PM, MookieStl said:

The port they have in there already, probably gives you as much extension in the low end as you are going to get. A passive radiator is basically the same thing.

If they were designed like the KP-301-IIs and other pro speakers the port is for efficiency not extension.  I'm sure these could be modded for more extension however you may lose the overall balance between the woofer and tweeter.  A crossover mod may be necessary and then the can of worms appears.

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18 hours ago, CECAA850 said:

If they were designed like the KP-301-IIs and other pro speakers the port is for efficiency not extension.  I'm sure these could be modded for more extension however you may lose the overall balance between the woofer and tweeter.  A crossover mod may be necessary and then the can of worms appears.

Roy said he "tuned" the cabinet to 34 hz. I thought that would include some type of length to the port (which I cannot find anywhere) in an attempt to extend the bass. But that was an assumption based on very limited knowledge. (just enough to get me in trouble)

Would a simple hole cut in the motorboard be for efficiency only and not trying for an extra hz or two? 

Bottom line is don't change it, or other things in the chain will also need "tweaking".

 

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5 minutes ago, MookieStl said:

Roy said he "tuned" the cabinet to 34 hz. I thought that would include some type of length to the port (which I cannot find anywhere) in an attempt to extend the bass. But that was an assumption based on very limited knowledge. (just enough to get me in trouble)

Would a simple hole cut in the motorboard be for efficiency only and not trying for an extra hz or two? 

Bottom line is don't change it, or other things in the chain will also need "tweaking".

 

I'm the last one that will ever argue with Roy.  He's forgotten more about audio than I ever will know but it sure doesn't seem that they're tuned that low.

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Based on the specks, it's 60 - 18,000 and -10db at 35.  Waiting on mine to show up but these are like the heresy's and were designed to be used with a sub.  If you want to change the look, there are many simple ways to finish the existing cabinet to your liking, paint, epoxy, fill, sand and veneer, but having I loved them just the way they were from the first time I heard them 3 years ago, now if they would just show up.

 

KI-396-SMA-II-Data-Sheet-v05.pdf

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Look at the impedance graph in that spec sheet.  The low spot between (what would be) the two humps at the left sure looks a lot like 34 Hz to me.

 

Go to the Eminence website and have a look at the different woofers.  The higher the sensitivity, the less low they go.  What do you want?  Deeper bass and moderate sensitivity or what you're getting?

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