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Improving the Belle K500


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Hello,

 

I've been really enjoying my Belles the past few months. Slowly repair and upgrading them to get the most out of them. Is there any upgrade path on the K500 without chaining the the driving compatibility?

 

Seen some dampening techniques, but wondering about other modern alternatives...

 

Something like this would fit with minimal changes to the motherboard: 

https://www.parts-express.com/goldwood-gt-400pb-1-horn-1-3-8-18-tpi--270-095

SPECIFICATIONS
Horn Type: Constant directivity
Throat Diameter: 1", 25mm
Dispersion: 100

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9 minutes ago, Stevenarrow said:

Hello,

 

I've been really enjoying my Belles the past few months. Slowly repair and upgrading them to get the most out of them. Is there any upgrade path on the K500 without chaining the the driving compatibility?

 

Seen some dampening techniques, but wondering about other modern alternatives...

 

Something like this would fit with minimal changes to the motherboard: 

https://www.parts-express.com/goldwood-gt-400pb-1-horn-1-3-8-18-tpi--270-095

SPECIFICATIONS
Horn Type: Constant directivity
Throat Diameter: 1", 25mm
Dispersion: 100

Step backwards.

 

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I've not done anything to my K-500's in my Belle clones, personally. Not sure how much a difference I'd really hear. Only other thing I thought about doing was make them a 2-way using the Faital pro driver and horn. K-510's are just too much for me. I'd spend more on those horns and drivers alone than I did in building them in the first place.  I did do all new drivers...Crites CT120's & A-55's and a new pair of K-33's. But still wonder. 

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Maybe if we ask Dave A he will make us a eliptrac horn that will fit in the K500 cut out. 
Elptrac 400 is a great option. I believe they can be ordered as a kit and can be used with the k55.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

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Adding damping to the exterior can't hurt.  Mounting the horn to the front of the motorboard will help reduce diffraction from the mouth.   A tractrix horn would also help.  There are a few designed for a Belle Klipsch. 

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20 hours ago, avguytx said:

I've not done anything to my K-500's in my Belle clones, personally. Not sure how much a difference I'd really hear. Only other thing I thought about doing was make them a 2-way using the Faital pro driver and horn. K-510's are just too much for me. I'd spend more on those horns and drivers alone than I did in building them in the first place.  I did do all new drivers...Crites CT120's & A-55's and a new pair of K-33's. But still wonder. 

 

Ive gone two way and super custom, but I found diminishing returns the further away from the original design. I found the Faital 2" drivers to be very 'PA' or mechanical sounding, and less enjoyable for daily listening. My goal is to make these Belles as close to original as possible while using modern spec components that will last another 30 years.

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5 minutes ago, Stevenarrow said:

 

Ive gone two way and super custom, but I found diminishing returns the further away from the original design. I found the Faital 2" drivers to be very 'PA' or mechanical sounding, and less enjoyable for daily listening. My goal is to make these Belles as close to original as possible while using modern spec components that will last another 30 years.

 

Makes sense.  I would imagine I won't be changing mine out in the near future with how they are already built.  They sound darn good just like they are....except for the missing low bass that I'll take care of at some point.  They are very music/genre dependent as to just how they sound but I do enjoy them overall.  But I do love how mine look.  ;)

 

Yes, I do remember your build of the Belle bass bins and, if I remember correctly, the K-402 on them.  Quite impressive.

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44 minutes ago, avguytx said:

 

Makes sense.  I would imagine I won't be changing mine out in the near future with how they are already built.  They sound darn good just like they are....except for the missing low bass that I'll take care of at some point.  They are very music/genre dependent as to just how they sound but I do enjoy them overall.  But I do love how mine look.  ;)

 

Yes, I do remember your build of the Belle bass bins and, if I remember correctly, the K-402 on them.  Quite impressive.

 

YEAH, yours look great. Mine are beat up now... kinda dig the aesthetic for now. The sound is great, Crites woofers in, squawkers on their way, and tweeters soon. My friend with LaSs, and all original drivers said the ALK steppingstones slide XO was a real game changer.

 

The Belle/402 was just way too disconnected to sound like music in a residential space.

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28 minutes ago, Stevenarrow said:

The Belle/402 was just way too disconnected to sound like music in a residential space. 

 

Are you using passive crossovers?

 

I got a pair of Selenium HM4750 horns from Bob, paired with some K-69/PAudio BM-D750 drives on my LS. Sounds awesome, but the mids are padded down a little.

 

Bruce

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56 minutes ago, Marvel said:

 

Are you using passive crossovers?

 

I got a pair of Selenium HM4750 horns from Bob, paired with some K-69/PAudio BM-D750 drives on my LS. Sounds awesome, but the mids are padded down a little.

 

Bruce

 

Yes, Passive only. 2 channel, analog.

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