ClaudeJ1 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 8 hours ago, Marvel said: I'm not waxing poetic about anything. I have some K69As sitting here, some 2 inch throat horns, amps and digital crossover. Just waiting until I get the LS moved off to my son's in a week (and they don't have K55s in them, either, but some EV 1828s... another small throat driver). I do need to get some XLRs and other cable, but it won't be long. It's all good. It is all good. Waxing poetic was a general observation of all comments, not yours. I measured and listened to K-55's for decades, and like PWK once said "There's not a dime's worth of difference" when he commented about new ones being installed in the factory. Dope From Hope claimed that, while the dual phase plug versions had a "prettier curve," he doubted that it would be very audible. The subsequent P-trap mod for the older ones notwithstanding. So I'm reaching for my BULLSHIT button concerning all the poetic waxers on this thread as to how "wonderful" this newer version of the same thing is being lauded. My response is backed by countless measurements and critical listening sessions. The biggest change in my K-55's was replacing old capacitors and adding a new diaphragm to old LaScalas. What the waxers basically said was "my old car runs great with new tires, vs. the deflated ones I had on there before." Newer drivers allow for 2-way systems with their own advantages, but it's beyond the scope of this text also, but they are very expensive, vs. even the latest K55G/2. Diminishing returns applies to those also. The Atlas driver was designed for a bull horn with enough umph in the lower range to carry a full human male voice. It is still an amazing driver for it's size and a great choice by Paul Klipsch. It has withstood the test of time. So upgrading to the latest version is basically trying to make it NEW again, but it doesn't deserve the "greatness" accolades it has received. OTOH, the Celestion Axi2050 is another matter altogether......... In talking with Gary Gillum, PWK was most impressed by the Gauss 4000 driver they used in the original MWM prototype, which was a 2-way crossed at 500 Hz. and reached 15 Khz. without a tweeter. Even PWK himself ended up with a modern 1.4" driver in his 2-way Jubilee mono speaker at home while keeping all K-55 drivers in his 4 Khorns (2 Walnut and 2 Rosewood) and one Belle that were right off the factory floor. I suspect he was starting to play with 5.1 at home before he passed, be my guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, ClaudeJ1 said: like PWK once said "There's not a dime's worth of difference" when he commented about new ones being installed in the factory. Dope From Hope claimed that, while the dual phase plug versions had a "prettier curve," he doubted that it would be very audible. So I'm reaching for my BULLSHIT button concerning all the poetic waxers on this thread as to how "wonderful" this newer version of the same thing is being lauded. The biggest change in my K-55's was replacing old capacitors and adding a new diaphragm As Dean has said earlier in this thread the difference could very well be "new" parts versus old worn out parts-- through my listening experiences I've been able to hear differences between the push pin, soldered lug and 55g drivers. Most if not all of the Klipsch factory k-55's I've owned were 30+ years old and of course the 55g's were brand new. The 55g's clearly sounded better to me every time but with 30 year old parts with no clear history of care or abuse who knows? It would be interesting to see a brand new set of the current Atlas drivers measured and compared directly to this new version of the 55g-- Now that these new drivers cost a pretty significant amount more than the stock drivers it probably warrants some investigation. From Crites website: "Atlas PD-5VH Alnico Midrange drivers. Same as the K-55V and K-55X. Shipping for a pair of these new drivers is $17.00 in the US. Pair Atlas PD-5VH Drivers: $300.00 A-55G/2 Midrange Driver. Replacement for the K-55X, K-55V, K-55M, K-51V and others. Pair of A-55G/2 Drivers $450.00 plus $17.00 for shipping." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KT88 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 I am more than thrilled with my remagnetized K77 Alnico that I installed an hr ago. Honestly, I am shocked in a positive way. Now the Lascala sound as I have it in emotional memory from my teeny time in the 70s. More of that in its own thread. I believe that a tweeter has a greater psychoacoustic effect on the overall speaker experience down to the bass, which sounds drier and fuller. But what I want to contribute to this thread, I will definitely soon have my K55V remagnetized....after this pleasing result with the K77. New diaphragms I have since May in the K55V. But now I am convinced that the newly strengthened magnetic force will also contribute something. Only then can one really make comparisons. It is not fair to compare a 44 year old driver with a new one. Of course, I don't know if the K55V weakened or not. It was the case with the K77. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahaSHO Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 I went with the original A-55-G's a couple years ago because I wanted to make my speakers, basically new again. The drivers that my La Scala's came with were pretty beat up, so I wanted to replace them. I also went with CT-120's and A-4500 crossovers... I also have a new pair of K-33's that I need to swap in, only for having made everything 'new' again. For a more direct comparison, I also swapped in some A-55-G's to the Heresy's I refinished, which they already had new capacitors in them. I can't say I noticed a difference between what I pulled... And what I pulled out were two different drivers, a K-55-M and K-55-V (dual phase plug). I couldn't tell the difference between the speakers with two different drivers. Now, I do have a bit of OCD, so making them the same was a bit of a must to me. Do I like that the A-55's spec better and the new version spec even better? Yep. Can I say I hear it? No. Will I upgrade my originals to the v2? No. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 7, 2021 Share Posted November 7, 2021 2 hours ago, jjptkd said: It would be interesting to see a brand new set of the current Atlas drivers measured and compared directly to this new version of the 55g-- yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmlowz Posted November 7, 2021 Author Share Posted November 7, 2021 On 11/6/2021 at 12:25 PM, Deang said: Yes. If John Allen says there's an improvement, there is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudeJ1 Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 6 hours ago, jimjimbo said: Why do you continue to insist that the K33 is a replacement for the K43? It is NOT. That was from a NON-Klipsch website. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 How exactly does a driver get remagnetized? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 klipsch Authorized https://reconingspeakers.com/products-page/klipsch-k-33-e-woofer-121501/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmlowz Posted November 8, 2021 Author Share Posted November 8, 2021 2 hours ago, wuzzzer said: How exactly does a driver get remagnetized? Not a Dimes Worth Of Difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 3 hours ago, wuzzzer said: How exactly does a driver get remagnetized? the magnet is placed in a Magnetizing coil , the required voltage is set and the magnet is then magnetized or re-magnetized - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KT88 Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 6 hours ago, rmlowz said: Not a Dimes Worth Of Difference I made different experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryk Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 I purchased a pair of the a55g-2's to replace my original a55g's. For me the original a55g's were a significant upgrade to the forty year old k55v's that came with my Cornwalls. In my system the a55g-2's are a big step up in resolution over the first version. At the same time there is an ease to the music which makes everything flow more naturally. IMHO this is a really nice upgrade. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 42 minutes ago, larryk said: I purchased a pair of the a55g-2's to replace my original a55g's. For me the original a55g's were a significant upgrade to the forty year old k55v's that came with my Cornwalls. In my system the a55g-2's are a big step up in resolution over the first version. At the same time there is an ease to the music which makes everything flow more naturally. IMHO this is a really nice upgrade. Please PM me if you are interested in selling your original a55gs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbiz Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 On 12/17/2021 at 4:16 PM, larryk said: I purchased a pair of the a55g-2's to replace my original a55g's. For me the original a55g's were a significant upgrade to the forty year old k55v's that came with my Cornwalls. In my system the a55g-2's are a big step up in resolution over the first version. At the same time there is an ease to the music which makes everything flow more naturally. IMHO this is a really nice upgrade. Same here. I got more space and detail with my A55G/2s. However, the overall sound for my La Scalas was not balanced with my new crossover caps from JEM Performance. So I got new diaphragms for my K55Vs and reinstalled them. The sound is very balanced now. I'm still waiting on another ALK crossover, at which time I can experiment with driver levels for the A55G/2s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Not balanced in what way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 On 11/7/2021 at 11:46 AM, jjptkd said: It would be interesting to see a brand new set of the current Atlas drivers measured and compared directly to this new version of the 55g 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 not balanced because of the shear size and weight of those yellow TI caps he recently put in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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