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Klipsch MWMs, just for the fun of it!


geoff.

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     A while ago an unloaded pair of these came up locally (anything within two hours one way is local to me). I told the seller I’d take them, but after measuring the entry into my basement I had to back out of the deal. He was very understanding and that was that. Shortly afterwards all of the ads in the usual places were gone and I thought they had gone to a lucky buyer. Fast forward a couple weeks and I get a text saying he was going to try and make them work in his space but he was in the same boat as me, but if I still wanted them I was first in line. Well, lightning rarely strikes twice so I set up a date to meet fate. Even if they only ever make it to my garage I had to hear them in person. Who parks a car in a garage anyway? 

 

     Over the holidays I managed to get ONE of the two bins loaded with a pair of square magnet K-33s. I pulled the tops off my LSI Splits with Crites AB-2 crossovers (same as AL-3 minus the tweeter protection) and DE-120s on SMAHLs. Dusted off a Technics SA-GX303 85 watt/side receiver and charged up an old iPod with a 1/8” to RCA cable feeding it. I turned everything to zero and powered on the iPod and receiver and slowly dialed some Black Sabbath up to about 9 o’clock.

 

What a disappointment compared to my La Scalas. I was expecting them to blow the garage door off and it was moot.

 

...then I fiddled with the iPod connecting cable and the OTHER channel kicked in! With the loudness in and the bass full, at about 10:30 on the volume control I chickened out.

 

Ozzy lives! Chest thumping drums and guitars, and the LSI tops kept up perfectly with the treble control flat. Maybe once I woofer up the second bin they will fall shy but I don’t think so, I’ll just dial the bass down to tilt the balance.

 

Special thanks to@bluesman., if you’re ever headed north on the 400 my door will be open to you! The garage will be tight, but I’ll just put the snowblower in the driveway, lol!

 

 

 

62F65D66-0AB8-4646-A4C4-E6C84CD0B9BD.jpeg

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I have K-43s. And Kappa 15Cs. Two pairs of each. And they’re spectacular in the shorter horns I have (LSIs and Peavey FH-1s).

 

But I believe with every fibre of my being that the extra octave down low the square magnet K-33s bring to the table meets the road in these bins. And not subtly. For the same reasons I think the Crites woofers would excel here.

 

For my immediate purposes I do not need the added power handling for which the K-43s were incorporated into the design, but it may be something to play around with and measure at some point. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, geoff. said:

 Over the holidays I managed to get ONE of the two bins loaded with a pair of square magnet K-33s. I pulled the tops off my LSI Splits with Crites AB-2 crossovers (same as AL-3 minus the tweeter protection) and DE-120s on SMAHLs. Dusted off a Technics SA-GX303 85 watt/side receiver and charged up an old iPod with a 1/8” to RCA cable feeding it. I turned everything to zero and powered on the iPod and receiver and slowly dialed some Black Sabbath up to about 9 o’clock.

I know how that sounds and I really like it. What your using is very close to what I use in the shop.

 

But you will end up with a whole other bass bin, twice the bass. 

 

I am using Two single bins, diy split LaScala tops (same parts) with AA crossovers, a receiver connected to a laptop. I used an I-Pad untill it got outdated and would not work. Switched to an older laptop with a HDMI connection and the sound was much better.

 

I really like the sound and listen to this alot, I can also roll it facing the door or pick it up with the tractor and put it out in the yard. It sounds great outside, just like LaScalas but more bass. 

 

Glad you tried this. :emotion-21:

 

Ignore the grinder.

shop (18).jpeg

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1 hour ago, dtel said:

It sounds great outside, just like LaScalas but more bass. 

 

 

 

 

...that grinder has character and belongs in any garage

 

I would LOVE to hear these outside when I accoutre the other bin! I have two buddies with some serious acres, and one has a tractor, so that may be the way to go. If they ever make it to the basement they are there for the next owner. I’ll have to do a mock-up with cardboard before I try and shoehorn them down the stairs. 

 

The bass really is quite phenomenal though, and Klipsch clean. You are front row at a concert with these. 

 

I would have never even considered half the speakers that have graced my humble abode over the years if it weren’t for this forum. 

 

 

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9 hours ago, geoff. said:

..that grinder has character and belongs in any garage

I had rebuilt some old tools after I built the shop, that was just one, the after pic.

9 hours ago, geoff. said:

I would LOVE to hear these outside when I accoutre the other bin!

I have never heard 2 double bins should be good, Those top drivers should keep up pretty well.

 

9 hours ago, geoff. said:

I have two buddies with some serious acres, and one has a tractor, so that may be the way to go.

This is 6 acres, I don't do it much but I have put thm outside and it sounds really good. LaScalas sound good outside also, just less bass.

 

9 hours ago, geoff. said:

I’ll have to do a mock-up with cardboard before I try and shoehorn them down the stairs. 

If they were singles it would be easy. When I got mine they just happen to be singles, I got them to copy in Red Oak for the living room, 4 singles 2 on each side.

 

9 hours ago, geoff. said:

The bass really is quite phenomenal though, and Klipsch clean. You are front row at a concert with these. 

 

The folded horn to me just sounds better, more realistic. And I just like the MWM design and sound, it just sounds big and being a horn clean sounding.

 

9 hours ago, geoff. said:

I would have never even considered half the speakers that have graced my humble abode over the years if it weren’t for this forum. 

 Same here, I sould definitely would not have the sound I have without advice and the people here, not even close.

 

Glad you got to try these, they are good, also a simple design that works well.

 

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Way to go Geoff!!!

 

Michael tried to entice me to take them off his hands last Feb. but after I did similar measurements

I could not see any way of getting the doubles in my basement. ☹️

 

I think 🤔 I could shoehorn 4 singles down the stairs.

But you know as well as I do how rare a pair of MWMs are up here, and especially singles.

 

I might need to drive up and have a listen to the new garage set up,

Tom

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, dtel said:

I know how that sounds and I really like it. What your using is very close to what I use in the shop.

 

But you will end up with a whole other bass bin, twice the bass. 

 

I am using Two single bins, diy split LaScala tops (same parts) with AA crossovers, a receiver connected to a laptop. I used an I-Pad untill it got outdated and would not work. Switched to an older laptop with a HDMI connection and the sound was much better.

 

I really like the sound and listen to this alot, I can also roll it facing the door or pick it up with the tractor and put it out in the yard. It sounds great outside, just like LaScalas but more bass. 

 

Glad you tried this. :emotion-21:

 

Ignore the grinder.

shop (18).jpeg

 

 

Ignore the grinder, right.  I can hear  Christi now....  

 

"ELDONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN, those things are GRINDING ON MY NERVES, turn those off and turn the PRETTY ones on..."

 

Ok, I know she likes them, I just had to get that off my chest.

 

 

K33-K43, wasn't the K33 the "driver of choice" when they were designed, but they were burning the drivers up (cranking it too loud) so they started populating them with the K43?

Or am I confusing that change with bypassing the fuse and per Hunter, "using the $100 K?3 driver as a fuse to protect your $4 fuse element"

 

 

 

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@HPower, Tom, you are welcome here anytime as well! I just checked my phone and I still have you in my contacts. I’m a little further up the road now in Barrie. These would have fit in my old house easily.

 

Had a great conversation with Mike, twice, lol, when I picked up each bin. That guy did a lot of leg work to get these here. They were part of a package that came out a roller skating rink in Quebec. When he told me that I kinda glazed over in a flashback, lol.

 

When I came too we were discussing ALK crossovers.

 

Somewhere after we touched on tube amps my feet started to freeze and I knew it was time to hit the road. 

 

Over the years a lot of the rarer Klipsch seems to have come to me out of Kitchener. And Sudbury!

 

As I “mature” though, the conversations are always the high point and the speakers are an added bonus(albeit a pretty good one). There is so much more sharing ( read “learning”, for me) that just flows in person. I ALMOST envy my kids still in highschool. 

 

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21 minutes ago, Coytee said:

 

 

 

K33-K43, wasn't the K33 the "driver of choice" when they were designed, but they were burning the drivers up (cranking it too loud) so they started populating them with the K43?

Or am I confusing that change with bypassing the fuse and per Hunter, "using the $100 K?3 driver as a fuse to protect your $4 fuse element"

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the book of Klipsch, the gospel of Claude, I too am of the belief that the MWM was originally engineered using the K-33.

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7 hours ago, Coytee said:

"ELDONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN, those things are GRINDING ON MY NERVES, turn those off and turn the PRETTY ones on..."

 

Ok, I know she likes them, I just had to get that off my chest.

No she loves them, just not real loud and heavy metal will not cut it, I can't complain much but still do at times.

7 hours ago, Coytee said:

K33-K43, wasn't the K33 the "driver of choice" when they were designed, but they were burning the drivers up (cranking it too loud) so they started populating them with the K43?

K43 was the original, it was for Pro and could take a little more power than the K33.

 

6 hours ago, geoff. said:

From the book of Klipsch, the gospel of Claude, I too am of the belief that the MWM was originally engineered using the K-33.

Don't know about gospel but 43 was original, Claude did test the 33 and 43 and the 33 did go a very slight bit lower. I have the K43 in the set in the shop and k33 in the 4 singles inside. I used K33's inside because the K43 cost more and are at times hard to find.

 

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Those K-43's are the way to go in MWM's and La Scalas. You give up a couple hz in bass and pick up astonishing mid range. You DO realize that you have doomed yourself, right?  Once you hear big you can never UN-hear. La Scalas are not even close to those MWM's.

9 hours ago, dtel said:

The folded horn to me just sounds better, more realistic. And I just like the MWM design and sound, it just sounds big and being a horn clean sounding.

Single fold horns rule. To bad you have not heard the real deal though. You still are running those plebian regular size bins.

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Pretty much, lol.

 

Moved from the south east end of Lake Simcoe to the north west side. 
 

Second thing I did was buy a snowblower.
 

It's only about an hour drive from the old digs, but mother nature gives no quarter up here. 

 

My youngest son was starting his first year of highschool up here so I found a house one street away from it. He lost his mind when I showed him the new place. 

 


 

 

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