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Question on K 402 horn dimension


Arizona Dan

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Keep working on it.

It is all good as long as there is fun in it. 🙂

 

I had an opportunity to listen the sound out of similarly designed speakers at audio show. Except the horn was Oris type and there were four open baffle bass drivers (two above the horn and two below the horn). The sound coming from horn itself was beautiful. Unfortunately the bass was not well integrated with the horn and there were serious deficiencies.

 

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18 hours ago, Arizona Dan said:

Here are some photos of what I am working on.  It is open baffle bass with Klipschorn top end.  One may ask why is he doing this.  The simple answer is that I already had the 4 18" drivers and the subwoofer crossover and some plywood pieces.  All I had to buy was some 2X 4s and some screws.  I was able to try an open baffle design for less than $100.  

 

You may notice the tweeter location.  I wanted to see if physically centering it on the midrange horn made any difference.  I know I am making the time alignment worse, but only by a few more inches.

 

So, how does it sound.  Great.  For something that I just threw together, I am very pleased.  Next step is to try a differnt horn.  Why??  Good question.  The current Klipschorn horn sounds great.  I am very happy with it.  I even ask myself why go to the trouble of trying something else.  Basically, I am retired and need something to do.  Why not try to make the design as best as I can (without spending too much).

 

I need to buy a microphone and measure the response.  I am holding off because I have  no way to alter the response if it looks bad (which it probably will).  I plan on buying some sort of digital crossover (mini dsp or something), but I am still in the planning stage.

 

Enjoy the pictures.  Please don't laugh at the design.  OK - go ahead and laugh.  It looks like a Frankenstein.

 

Dan

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Who cares about looks? How is the sound?

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The sound is fantastic.  They image very well.  Voices are excellent.   They play all types of music: rock n roll, organ, jazz, large and small orchestra, movies.  They do have a problem with some acoustic bass.  I'm sure the acoustic bass issue could be fixed, but I'm not ready to tackle it yet.

 

My room is 19' wide by 13' deep.  With the Klipschorns 19' apart and sitting close to the back wall, I noticed that the central image was not very strong.  Then I experimented with moving the speakers closer and away from the wall.  I was able to get a good central image and the bass was still pretty good.  Though I knew I had lost some bass with the Klipschorn being away from the wall.

 

The next experiment I did was to seperate the top part of the Klipschorn from the bottom.  I placed the top part on a small table and put the bass part back in the corner.  I knew that the timing would be messed up, but it was a free experiment.  This allowed me to move the top part around to find the best location for imaging.  If you can find the magic spot, they can image great.

 

My next step was to build what I am now using.

 

Dan

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33 minutes ago, Arizona Dan said:

Though I knew I had lost some bass with the Klipschorn being away from the wall.

 

I had a friend who owned a pair old khorn decorators, placed about three feet into the room. They sounded really good and certainly weren't lacking for bass in his room. They shouldn't have worked well, but they were very satisfying. Sometimes you never know.

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Thanks capo72, Marvel, geezin, Parlophone1, Tom Preston, Islander, Chris A, Coytee, Randy H, West Coast drums and Chief Bonehead for all of your support and help.

 

Stay curious is geat advice.  I know I have not reached the limit of what is possible in my room and I plan on keeping the experiments going.  I first started in the early 70's when I got a 4 channel receiver for Christmas.  I remember hanging the four speakers in the corners of my bedroom.  I thought I was in heaven.  In 1976 I bought a Kenwood reciever, technics turntable and a pair of Electro-Voice loudspeakers.  I still use the Kenwood reciever to listen to the radio.  In the early 2000's I bought Bose Lifestyle 12s.  That was a mistake.  A few years later I bought a used pair of Vandersteen 3a loudspeakers from Audio Advice in Raleigh.  Very nice sounding and I still have them.  Around 2012 I bought a used pair of Klipschorns.  I am still enjoying them very much.  As you can see from above pictures I am doing a little experimenting and still staying curious.

 

I plan on using DSP, but I have a few questions and will need some help.

 

Dan

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  • 6 months later...

Thank you.  I do like the Mac equipment.  I bought the Mac equipment to use with Vandersteen 3a.  A few months later I bought the Klipschorns. I assumed the large solid state MC402 would be all wrong for the Klipschorns.  It turns out that the large Mac is excellent with the Klipschorns.  Since I am only using the top half of the Klipschorn, the MC402 is only powering the tweeter and midrange drives.  Nothing like have over 1,000 watts available when I use less than 1/2 watt most of the time.  Oh well, it works and sounds fantastic.  

 

Yes, I agree that the hobby is about having fun and getting good sound.  We're not building nuclear powerplants, were just having fun.  I'm still trying to figure out how to build the wooden horn.

 

Dan

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  • 1 year later...
On 8/8/2021 at 9:44 PM, Arizona Dan said:

Thank you very much Chris.  

I have been wanting to build a K 402 horn for a long time.  I'll get started soon.

Just wondering, is it wrong or in bad taste to discuss building a Klipsch product on a Klipsch site? I don't want to do anything wrong.

 

Dan

 

I built two La Scala bottoms myself when I was about 17 year old.  There was no way at that time in my life I could have afforded a set of Klipsch speakers and certainly not the La Scalas!!  I am now older, have a successful career and own four sets of Klipsch speakers. I think the Klipsch and DIY stuff worked to Klipsch company advantage in my case.

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