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KP-301 new owner, but I need some advice


Jon B

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5 minutes ago, Jon B said:

 

This is a picture of the 3.6 with soldered driver wires. The inputs are spade clips, but the red, yellow, and green driver wires certainly are soldered into the board with their common connections.

 

thanks for the picture -------------looks really different -----JUST -where do you see the MARK  3,6  on the XO ---------TX

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2 minutes ago, RandyH000 said:

thanks for the picture -------------looks really different -----JUST -where do you see the MARK  3,6  on the XO ---------TX

 

Upper left on the board. It is a 3.6A and not an M. I see that now that it is removed. Looked like an M inside the speaker.

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23 minutes ago, Jon B said:

 

Upper left on the board. It is a 3.6A and not an M. I see that now that it is removed. Looked like an M inside the speaker.

 YEAH   , I see it , on the upper left ,   here is a picture of what a KP-3.6A looks like on a wood board ---------versus a PCB

 

 

 

 

 

image.jpeg

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24 minutes ago, Jon B said:

 

Upper left on the board. It is a 3.6A and not an M. I see that now that it is removed. Looked like an M inside the speaker.

So ,  how did this 3.6A Crossover sound versus your New Chorus Crites crossovers

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The clarity of the Crites is impressive, and the speakers are now very balanced. The workmanship is also very good and I find they are quite clean when compared to the original crossovers that look a little sloppy to my eye. One of my primary complaints in the past is that speakers with horn drivers had a harshness to their sound. In my opinion a speaker should only reproduce the content and not flavor it with their own sound. For me, going back to the early 80's , the Cornwall was one of the few speakers I had ever heard that did not add it's own sound and the horns did not impact the sound at all. In the case of the 301's like the Cornwall's, the speakers are virtually invisible to me. But I also have 59 year old ears that spent their teens and early 20s close to guitar amps and PA systems that were far to loud, and then a decade in close proximity to operating jet engines. Thus I do not think my ears are any kind of reference standard. But there is no doubt a Polk, JBL, Bose, Infinity, Cerwin Vega et. al. from the 70's and 80's had their own "flavor" when comparing the same tracks played back using them. And few would accurately reproduce ANY content without "colorizing" it. In those days I recall folks saying, Vega's are for rock, JBL's are middle of the road, Infinity and Polk are better for Classical music and so on. To me, that is not the purpose for a speaker because you do not change your ear to listen to different content, you're stuck with the human ear 1.0 for whatever you want to hear and your speaker should accurately reproduce EVERYTHING or what is the purpose? These 301's can to that now for me and it doesn't matter what I play they are perfect! I have the Cornwalls I always wanted - in a smaller and I admit a less attractive package.

 

The 3.6 was the only CX in my 301's that worked up to par when I got them. The 3.0b in the other speaker had a very weak tweeter and a hyperactive mid - it seemed very harsh to me and at first I thought the tweeter was damaged. It wasn't until after I replaced the domes that I realized the crossovers were the root cause - live and learn I guess. So the titanium domes I purchased were not required to fix the problem, but fortunate because they do sound very good with the new crossover. Bob Crites told me the titanium tweeter in the 301 II and Chorus is the best choice for their crossovers, but not the 3.0b crossover in the original 301. In that case the titanium tweeter would not be very smooth. IMHO he is spot on with that assessment in the case of my speakers.

 

I'm a happy camper indeed!

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  • 1 month later...

Jon, if you like Chicago, check out Leonid & Friends.  They’re a Chicago cover band from Russia, and they’re great!  You can see their videos on YouTube.  They do a great job on 25 or 6 to 4.  I liked them enough to buy the download of their CD, Chicagovich.

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  • 2 months later...

Hey Islander,

 

I have listened to L&F many times, before Covid I planned to go see them when the came through Vegas - sigh. As a former guitar player (who not played with any purpose in more than 20 years) I absolutely adore their accurate reproduction and tribute to the outstanding guitar work of Terry Kath on 25 or 6 to 4. It is just about perfect to my ear. They are outstanding musicians indeed.

 

Jon

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Hey folks,

 

Had a bit of a disaster on this one......

 

I took my Crites crossover equipped 301s to a pre Christmas event at work to do a little sound reinforcement for some vocalists and piano player at the event outside. I used the 301's, my Yamaha M-60 amp, and an 8 channel board supplied by a friend. I set the gear up the day before for a rehearsal and everything went just fine, but the day of the event when we powered up the amp it smoked right before my eyes. We pivoted to an AV receiver we had in a workshop as a last second backup but it would not make a sound. The receiver would not go online when connected to my 301's and we had to use a large powered speaker cabinet the piano player had for something to amplify the event and performers. Thankfully it was a small show....

 

Anyway, I took the 301's home and put them back up on the shelf in my garage and have been too depressed to even touch them after they were involved in blowing up my favorite vintage amp. Any thoughts on what may have happened?

 

I heard something moving around in one of the speakers as I was loading it in my SUV and it was an hour each way to get there. But I have not pulled the woofers to take a look inside. Guess I am too depressed to even look and it is a bit cold in my garage this time of year....

 

Thanks,

Jon 

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  • 4 weeks later...
While serving in the USAF and in Germany in the mid 80's, I was a part-time speaker rep for Cerwin Vega, Bose, Infinity, and Klipsch, as well as DBX effects. It was at that time I fell deeply in love with Cornwall's, but on an enlisted man's pay could never afford them. Now that I'm older, and in a better financial position, I can afford some of the "better things in life." So I am actively working to scratch that itch that dates back to 1983 when I heard the Cornwall for the first time.

 

Jon

How ironic... I was in the USAF at RAF Alconbury from 1978 to 1981, and I was offered a job as the rep for the UK, for Nakamichi, and Yamaha. I Turner it down because I was enlisted, and with varying shifts I did not think I could do the job...now I with I would have accepted the offer.

 

Sent from my SM-G985F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

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On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2021 at 3:37 PM, Jon B said:

Hey folks,

 

Had a bit of a disaster on this one...…

 

 the day of the event when we powered up the amp it smoked right before my eyes. We pivoted to an AV receiver we had in a workshop as a last second backup but it would not make a sound. The receiver would not go online when connected to my 301's

 

have been too depressed to even touch them after they were involved in blowing up my favorite vintage amp. Any thoughts on what may have happened?

 

I heard something moving around in one of the speakers as I was loading it in my SUV

 

Thanks,

Jon 

 

Wow that is crazy, missed this update somehow-- my only thought would be perhaps the crossover broke apart either loading / offloading or in transport and caused a short in one of the speakers? This happened about a month ago have you had a chance to pull a woofer and investigate? The M-60 is a nice amplifier hopefully it can be fixed?

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23 hours ago, NBPK402 said:

How ironic... I was in the USAF at RAF Alconbury from 1978 to 1981, and I was offered a job as the rep for the UK, for Nakamichi, and Yamaha. I Turner it down because I was enlisted, and with varying shifts I did not think I could do the job...now I with I would have accepted the offer.

 

Sent from my SM-G985F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

I'm glad I did. I virtually lived in the Base Exchange so for me it was a natural. I built an incredible sound and video system that required special insurance when I sent it back to the States. But that all evaporated in an ugly divorce years later..........sigh. If I shot her, I would be out of jail by now with all my stuff! LOL Just kidding, not serious.

 

JOn

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23 hours ago, jjptkd said:

 

Wow that is crazy, missed this update somehow-- my only thought would be perhaps the crossover broke apart either loading / offloading or in transport and caused a short in one of the speakers? This happened about a month ago have you had a chance to pull a woofer and investigate? The M-60 is a nice amplifier hopefully it can be fixed?

 

It just so happens I opened them up this weekend and found the cause - a comedy of errors.... more on that in a moment.

 

I bought a used Parasound HCA-1000 Saturday and I wanted to see how it sounded with the 301's. It sounded good, but the first thing I noticed is that thing hums like an old barber cutting hair! I disconnected everything and I am positive it is the amp humming through the speakers at idle. I tried different power cables, power outlets, and a power conditioner - it just kept humming like a fluorescent light - not as loud as that, but you get the idea. It is just frustrating that this latest addition is not 100% is all. The Yamaha M-60 I killed  by being stupid was quiet as a whisper in the same situation.

 

So what happened to the Yamaha?!? *I* happened to it! When I changed the crossovers from the mismatched 301 crossovers to the Crites Chorus I crossovers I went from a HF and LF input to a single input. Which means there was a second connection I did not need so I just left it tacked up in the case. THAT WAS A MISTAKE and I should have just diked them off and soldered them back in if I ever wanted to go back to stock crossovers. You can probably see where this is going....Apparently the prior owner had done a little "creative wiring" inside the speakers and bridged the LF and HF connections internally, which I did not notice. And of course the connectors that were buttoned up inside eventually touched each other and definitely shorted my amp and possibly a receiver I tired later. I feel SO stupid and know better.    

 

Moral to the story, don't trust a used speaker to be in a stock configuration! Test it and take reasonable precautions - it may save you a fine vintage amp!

 

Jon

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3 hours ago, Jon B said:

Apparently the prior owner had done a little "creative wiring" inside the speakers and bridged the LF and HF connections internally, which I did not notice. And of course the connectors that were buttoned up inside eventually touched each other and definitely shorted my amp and possibly a receiver I tired later. I feel SO stupid and know better.    

 

Moral to the story, don't trust a used speaker to be in a stock configuration! Test it and take reasonable precautions - it may save you a fine vintage amp!

 

Jon

Actually some of the old pro speakers weren't wired for bi-amping with dual inputs they were wired for daisy-chaining multiple speakers one off another so they might have been stock? Anyway glad you figured it out and sorry about your amp!

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/9/2021 at 2:42 PM, jjptkd said:

Actually some of the old pro speakers weren't wired for bi-amping with dual inputs they were wired for daisy-chaining multiple speakers one off another so they might have been stock? Anyway glad you figured it out and sorry about your amp!

 

My heart is still broken over the Yamaha M-60. I feel like such an idiot.

 

BTW, I doubt the creative wiring was done by Klipsch. Because the soldering and wires did not come close to the original work and was plain as day once I hit it with a strong flashlight. Let's just say the only thing done right was using solder instead of wrapping in with electrical tape or using foil to make the connection - as I have seen applied to fuses......

 

 

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On 3/8/2021 at 1:48 PM, NBPK402 said:

How ironic... I was in the USAF at RAF Alconbury from 1978 to 1981, and I was offered a job as the rep for the UK, for Nakamichi, and Yamaha. I Turner it down because I was enlisted, and with varying shifts I did not think I could do the job...now I with I would have accepted the offer.

 

 

you would have liked it ,  Alconbury is quite central and one can reach a lot of the UK -London-Cambridge-Oxford -Birmingham-Sheffield -

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/1/2021 at 2:46 PM, japosey said:

Here is a guy who seems to focus solely on Yamaha amps

 

http://legendaryamps.com/

 

I left the Legendary Amps guy a message about a month ago, no reply. Must be nice to be so busy you don't need any more work.......

 

I'll just put the M-60 on a shelf and get it fixed and the caps replaced at a later date. I have added a Rotel RA-1060, a Parasound HCA-1000, and a Adcom GFA-545 II to my stable so I have options for now. At least until I do more buying, selling, and bartering.

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  • 2 months later...
On 3/9/2021 at 2:22 PM, Jon B said:

 

I bought a used Parasound HCA-1000 Saturday and I wanted to see how it sounded with the 301's. It sounded good, but the first thing I noticed is that thing hums like an old barber cutting hair! I disconnected everything and I am positive it is the amp humming through the speakers at idle.

 

Is it humming through the speakers or is the amp itself making noise?

 

I had a pair of amps (different brand), one of which had a power transformer that audibly hummed. At first I thought it was electrical and coming through the speakers, but it was mechanical.

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/11/2021 at 6:12 AM, Marvel said:

 

Is it humming through the speakers or is the amp itself making noise?

 

I had a pair of amps (different brand), one of which had a power transformer that audibly hummed. At first I thought it was electrical and coming through the speakers, but it was mechanical.

 

It is definiately through the speakers. And it is very clear.

 

I am trying to place where that bridge and pickup come from in your profile pic. I have seen hundreds of guitars, played almost as many, and even played some very odd guitars including a 5 neck that belongs to Rick Nielson, but I can't place that one. What is it before I blow a fuse in my feeble old mind? 

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