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My first K-horns


Fast996

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9 minutes ago, Fast996 said:

How a  bought upgraded AK2 crossovers? Any consensus? Crites...ALK...North Reading or others. Thanks

 

I prefer AA networks in my Khorns and La Scalas.  I guess it just depends on your budget .  Crites provides great customer service and very fast turnaround.

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1 hour ago, Fast996 said:

Pardon my ignorance about Khorns...but I've been doing some reading on the web and came across this blurb....

 

It is well known (by everyone except Klipsch engineers apparently) that the Klipschorn, Belle Klipsch and La Scala all use the same undersized mid horn that doesn’t match well with the woofer. They switched from exponential horns to Tractrix (something Klipsch itself uses in newer designs) and use a very good BMS driver (big improvement over the Klipsch mid). The folded bass horn is of course straight up Klipsch but why mess with success (one of my favorite all time speakers, the JBL Hartsfield also uses a folded front loaded horn).

 

So is this opinion valid about the midrange or not accurate?

 

Have you listened to them yet? 

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Congratulations on your "new" speakers. I am sure they will bring you years of enjoyment. 

 

Personally, I would not bother with the supposed upgrades at this point. Spend some time getting them set up (tight in the corners). Yours may not need this, but look up the threads on "pipe foam" and "false corners". These issues may or may not apply to you. 

 

IMHO, for the next few months, simply enjoy them. They are pretty good in their stock form.

 

After a few months you might want to refresh the capacitors, but please don't go crazy on upgrades or fancy capacitors. You may find any improvements to be rather subtle (in spite of the testimonials that others may provide). There are other more meaningful upgrades, but it would require using DSP, and some folks get nervous about that.

 

Enjoy them,

-Tom

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1 minute ago, PrestonTom said:

Congratulations on your "new" speakers. I am sure they will bring you ears of enjoyment. 

 

Personally, I would not bother with the supposed upgrades at this point. Spend some time getting them set up (tight in the corners). Yours may not need this, but look up the threads on "pipe foam" and "false corners". These issues may or may not apply to you. 

 

IMHO, for the next few months, simply enjoy them. They are pretty good in their stock form.

 

After a few months you might want to refresh the capacitors, but please don't go crazy on upgrades or fancy capacitors. You may find any improvements to be rather subtle (in spite of the testimonials that others may provide). 

 

Enjoy them,

-Tom

Good advice. Maybe I'll just post when I have them up and running,which is most of the fun of having new speakers. Thanks.

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3 hours ago, babadono said:

If you have good corners you are good to go IMHO. By all means seal them into corner well with pipe foam. Enjoy.

 

I do have one corner with the outside wall having a glass slider about 2 ft out from the apex. I saw this "false corner" setup and wondered if I had my cabinet maker make a pair. How

do you think they would work?

2021-04-27_18-25-15.png

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https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/200515-my-first-k-horns/&do=findComment&comment=2627740

 

 

This is excellent advice.


I have 1990 K-Horns and a few years ago started down the rabbit hole of modifications.


The first thing I did was to have a good look at the AK-3 balancing network and the cabling. The Monster Cable from the AK-3 to the speakers had gone a lovely green in sections and the clear insulation had gone sticky. Also, there was no terminal strip connector, the cables were soldered directly to terminal pins on the crossover board. After some research on this forum I ordered a cap replacement set from Bob Crites as well as a terminal strip. I measured the caps after I removed them from the board, and while a couple of them were close in value their ESR was up around 5 ohms. Others were way off the nominated value. The cabling in the woofer was OK but the caps were off spec.


So, I recommend that you get the K-Horns installed and playing, and inspect the crossover boards and internal wiring in the top hat. Then investigate the JEM Performance cap replacement kit, for the AK-2 or AK-3, the only difference I am aware of between the AK-2 and AK-3 is the AK-2 has 140uf (2 x 70uf) in the woofer circuit and the AK-3 has 100uf (2 x 50uf).

Scroll down this page to the AK-2 AK-3 diagrams.

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/113804-klipsch-crossovers/

 


As Tom said in his post, listen to them for a month or two. Different crossovers won't make as much difference as moving furniture around in your room or putting a thick rug on the floor in front of the speakers.
Certainly before you try anything other than the cap refresh, get yourself a miniDSP UMIK measurement microphone and teach yourself how to measure the speakers with REW.

 

 

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I have found that pool noodles work better than pipe foam for sealing into corners. Pipe foam eventually compresses and leaves a gap. 

I also use the type A network with Bobs can type or parts express capacitors. You might look into the ones recommended by Klipsch from JEM also. Check all connections on crossover...make sure all are correct polarity also. Welcome to forum. 

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9 hours ago, Fast996 said:

 

I was reading about going from the AK2 crossover to the Ak3 configuration. I have some leftover Arizona capacitor 2uf 200vdc...question,is it safe to use the 200 v caps in the mid range position?

 

200v caps will be fine, but what kind of Arizona caps are they ? Paper & Foil ? Polyester, Metalized etc.

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