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upgrading caps & resistors for RP-600m


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Hi, 

Has anyone upgraded their caps and resistors on the Klipsch RP- 600m? If so which caps and resistors did you go with? I want to tame the piercing highs on the rp600m.  I can either get Kimber Kable 8tc speaker cables which are neutral sounding and help with the highs a little bit or just upgrade to some neutral sounding caps(which would help out the brightness even further). I know the Jupiter copper foil paper and wax caps and Jantzen Amber Z-cap are neutral sounding.  Both caps will be an upgrade over the stock cap while adding some more detail, lower noise floor aka blacker background and I believe better midrange. The resistor I need to do a little more research on but have it narrowed down to a few brands.  If anyone has used these caps on other Klipsch speakers I would like to hear your opinions on them.  I will also be upgrading the internal wiring and speaker binding post at the same time.

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Are you sure you aren’t driving them too hard - either too loud or beyond what your amp is capable of. The older Reference stuff could be a bit obnoxious, but this last iteration sounds really good as is. 
 

I use Mills resistors and the Bennics or Daytons work well for this kind of stuff. 
 

 

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I run them at 50 to 60% volume and use a separate Outlaw power amp to run my fronts and center speakers. The amp is 200 watts per channels. My old definitive technology sm55s were no problem at the same volume but those are considered somewhat neutral sounding speakers. I have heard quite a few people say the 600m is considered a bright speaker.  I have sensitive ears right now since I have a slight ringing/buzzing in them so it makes the highs on the rp-600m probably sound more bright or piercing then they would to someone else. Yes I was thinking maybe Mills resistors but hear lots of good things on Vishay resistors as well. Also do you have any idea what a small bypass cap does placed parallel with the regular Cap? If I was reading it right it adds a little more detail and possibly a slight extra warmth or brightness etc depending on the ones you choose.

Edited by Willief23
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I dont think changing capacitors in those relatively new speakers is going to prevent them from being shrill.  The Outlaw amp is mid-fi at best and you did not say what you are running for a Source my bet is your issue is upstream and pushing a small speaker to hard.

 

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Changing caps will help sometimes.  The reason is probably that some caps roll off the highs more then others. L-pads are what your really need for shrill highs though. The difference between name brand resistors is almost if not a non-issue. Reason being they are so simple they are hard to screw up. You can make a resistor with a piece of paper and a carbon pencil at home. Try and measure if you do not believe. 

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As for resistors, it's already more a difference of construction than brand, e.g. cement resistors vs. wire resistors.
To be honest, 30 years ago many people would have an amplifier or preamplifier / receiver with a tone control and the whole thing would not be a problem. Today, people want to change capacitors on new speakers because they simply don't have a tone control anymore.

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3 hours ago, KT88 said:

As for resistors, it's already more a difference of construction than brand, e.g. cement resistors vs. wire resistors.
To be honest, 30 years ago many people would have an amplifier or preamplifier / receiver with a tone control and the whole thing would not be a problem. Today, people want to change capacitors on new speakers because they simply don't have a tone control anymore.

I am not a big fan of tone controls but they do have advantages to tailor the sound for ones taste and room. I will not throw rocks at a system with tone controls. 

Too bright sound is a common problem with horns. At least it is a common complaint with horns. Just as tone controls are out of favor so is speaker controls, actually l-pads, they are out of favor as well. More people would be more happy with their horns if they included as way of turning down the high frequencies with controls. Simple problem to solve using after market L-pads. Not complicated to install. 

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Those speakers may not be right for you unless you have tone controls.

Heck of a situation to be in with new model Klipsch to even consider so calling upgrade.

If you want to, sell them. If not, you have an answer.

Welcome to the forum! 

Another is a simple yet decent equalizer to help with the higher end... thanks!

Edited by billybob
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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, I’m a little late to the party on this discussion. But i have had success in taming the exaggerated highs, dip in the midrange and sloppy bass of the rp 600 with an upgrade kit from Danny Ritchie at GR research. The kit includes sonicap caps, air core inductors, and i splurged for mills resistors of the same spec in the kit. I took this upgrade a step further and used non hardening clay on the driver basket and back of the tweeter horn frame. I also used no rez for the lightly braced cabinet, which is by no means sturdy stock. Lastly i used Dynomat to line the binding post cup and bass port, further dreading resonances. I haven’t listening since installing my mills resistors. But i can say i am increasingly pleased. These things have soul! Now With the crossover upgrade and bass driver dampening, these speakers have excellent mids, something this speaker never was a used of stock. Awesome detail instrument seperation and that sort of holographic floating soundstage. Most importantly i think for you, is that sonic is glassy smooth and balanced, no more shrill highs that measure elevated compared to the mids and bass. Very pleasing and clean highs with the upgrade. No longer a show off speaker but a truth telling speaker. Bass is way tighter cleaner plays lower and with more authority. All around took this speaker to another level in every way. I can’t even describe how much better its off axis listening is. It took it from a speaker that sounded like a 500 dollar speaker to a speaker that can compete with competition in the 1000-2000 price point. There are a plethora of you tube videos of the upgrade and listening demos before and after you can check out, at GR research and new record day. Cheers

Edited by Jkaiser3
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On 7/3/2021 at 3:17 AM, Willief23 said:

Hi, 

Has anyone upgraded their caps and resistors on the Klipsch RP- 600m? If so which caps and resistors did you go with? I want to tame the piercing highs on the rp600m.  I can either get Kimber Kable 8tc speaker cables which are neutral sounding and help with the highs a little bit or just upgrade to some neutral sounding caps(which would help out the brightness even further). I know the Jupiter copper foil paper and wax caps and Jantzen Amber Z-cap are neutral sounding.  Both caps will be an upgrade over the stock cap while adding some more detail, lower noise floor aka blacker background and I believe better midrange. The resistor I need to do a little more research on but have it narrowed down to a few brands.  If anyone has used these caps on other Klipsch speakers I would like to hear your opinions on them.  I will also be upgrading the internal wiring and speaker binding post at the same time.

 you're driving these speakers  with around 100w ,  which is the maximum power rating of 100w of the RP 600M bookshelf speakers   it is normal that the Highs are piercing  , since you're into sound distortion levels  -

 

all  you need to do  is lower the volume , or lower the controls of the Treble , or remove the Loudness tone control  , or  better  yet use an equalizer  , because sooner or later you will be  blowing these speakers .....................replacing 100$ or more of capacitors would be a total waste of money  for such an inexpensive set of speakers ,  you'd be better off getting a 2nd set of RP 600M which will give a much better sound  , with 50% less distortion  -

 

my guess  that you're at the point where you  need a more powerful set of klipsch speakers , like RF 7 III  - 

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I have had a pair of rf-7 and they are some of the worst sounding speakers I’ve owned. There is a distinct point of origin from the midrange and less so with the highs. Danny explains their shortcomings very well here. 


some folks just don’t get that speaker manufactures won’t put in the time to design a speaker as good as it could be made or with high quality parts until you get into the several thousand dollar mark. If you want to avoid this, and yet still get a large portion of that quality there is no reason you can’t open this little speaker up and make some changes. Very easy, fun and a learning experience. Best of all the end result is your proud of what you have created. I have a pretty little sleeper klipsch rp600m that smoke nearly anybody else’s out there. 
can’t recommend the work, knowledge and offerings of gr research enough!

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For all you folks who are concerned with power you can use a 300 watt amp on this all day long if played within reason. But a general rule of thumb is actually to pair a speaker with 150 percent of its rms rating for best performance it does this by having greater control of the driver, reducing distortion, and preventing clipping in your amp by having the power to drive your speakers as loud or hard as you want. These would do great with 125-150 watts per channel. My 105 watt per channel denon was on the low end of what was acceptable, it lacked bass authority, I’d say 125-140w is the lowest power that will drive the rp600m well to reference levels.

Edited by jrocks29ms@gmail.com
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