Meet Roy Delgado

[Bill W.]

23 hours ago, henry4841 said:

Unless I am mistaken Roy mentioned doing the very same thing to PWK before he died and got disciplined for asking such a question being PWK said he had already tried it decades ago with no improvement. As CBH just said you should not believe everything you read on net. That and always consider who it is say something. Do they hold an engineer degree like PWK. 

I remember a game from childhood where they line up the class in a row and the first student reads a sentence to the next person, who then repeats it to the next person until it passes through the entire line. The last person to hear it then goes back to the first person to compare what they heard to the original sentence. It NEVER comes close to matching even when the students are told to repeat it exactly as they heard it. Too funny!

[Travis In Austin]

23 hours ago, henry4841 said:

Unless I am mistaken Roy mentioned doing the very same thing to PWK before he died and got disciplined for asking such a question being PWK said he had already tried it decades ago with no improvement. As CBH just said you should not believe everything you read on net. That and always consider who it is say something. Do they hold an engineer degree like PWK. 

Both Roy and Trey Cannon @Trey Cannon have a specific anecdote about hearing PWK's "thoughts" about using rope caulk or other material to dampen PWK's horns. 

 

I will let Trey tell his story himself, but needless to say the Colonel was about to throw Trey out of his house until Ms. Valerie interceded. Trey was only the messenger. 

[Islander]

For anyone who hasn’t heard about this, here we go.  The old cast aluminum K400 horn did indeed ring when struck, if it was out of the cabinet.  Once it’s secured to the motor board and supported by the bracket near the back end of the horn, the ringing disappears.

 

Eventually, the cast aluminum K400 horn was replaced with the resin/plastic K401 horn, which has all kinds of stiffening ribs on it, so the issue, minor as it was, is completely gone.

 

Dynamat and similar products are made to be applied to the inside of car and van door and body panels, so that they don’t resonate at the very high volume levels that some enthusiasts like.  It may seem satisfying to “address a long-standing issue with my speakers”, but PWK was satisfied that once the K400 horn was secured to the motor board, there was no issue.  

 

If one of the more knowledgeable members knows more than this about these horns, feel free to jump in and correct me.  To me, what encouraged lots of folks to do minor (and occasionally major) mods to their speakers was the way the HF section was open at the back, like a hot rod with the side panels of the hood, or even the whole hood, removed so you could see the amazing state of the engine, or the speaker.  

 

The newer La Scala IIs and LS5s are closed at the back, and we rarely hear about anyone opening up the HF section to modify the squawker, tweeter, or crossover.  Could it be that the factory would prefer that people just enjoy listening to their expensive speakers, without trying all kinds of tricks that take the sound away from what PWK and Roy worked hard to perfect, within the economic constraints of commercial production, of course?

 

Can you imagine how Roy feels when he reads things like, “These are great speakers, but of course I could barely listen to them until I did x or y to them.”?  It’s not just Klipsch speakers that get these odd mods.  A couple of years ago, I read a review of a certain non-Klipsch speaker.  It had the bi-wiring arrangement, with each upper and lower binding post connected by a strip of metal.  The reviewer actually stated that, “These are good speakers, but of course they sounded like crap until I replaced those cheap metal straps with the excellent Brand Z connecting links.”  I might have gotten a word or two wrong, but that was the reviewer’s opinion of the speakers.  Misinformation like that is no help to anyone.

[henry4841]

8 hours ago, Islander said:

For anyone who hasn’t heard about this, here we go.  The old cast aluminum K400 horns did indeed ring when struck, if it was out of the cabinet.  Once it’s secured to the motor board and supported by the bracket near the back end of the horn, the ringing disappears.

 

Eventually, the cast aluminum K400 horn was replaced with the resin/plastic K401 horn, which has all kinds of stiffening ribs on it, so the issue, minor as it was, is completely gone.

 

Dynamat and similar products are made to be applied to the inside of car and van door and body panels, so that they don’t resonate at the very high volume levels that some enthusiasts like.  It may seem satisfying to “address a long-standing issue with my speakers”, but PWK was satisfied that once the K400 horn was secured to the motor board, there was no issue.  

 

If one of the more knowledgeable members knows more than this about these horns, feel free to jump in and correct me.  To me, what encouraged lots of folks to do minor (and occasionally major) mods to their speakers was the way the HF section was open at the back, like a hot rod with the side panels of the hood, or even the whole hood, removed so you could see the amazing state of the engine, or the speaker.  

 

The newer La Scala IIs and LS5s are closed at the back, and we rarely hear about anyone opening up the HF section to modify the squawker, tweeter, or crossover.  Could it be that the factory would prefer that people just enjoy listening to their expensive speakers, without trying all kinds of tricks that take the sound away from what PWK and Roy worked hard to perfect, within the economic constraints of commercial production, of course.

 

Can you imagine how Roy feels when he reads things like, “These are great speakers, but of course I could barely listen to them until I did x or y to them.”  It’s not just Klipsch speakers that get these odd mods.  A couple of years ago, I read a review of a certain non-Klipsch speaker.  It had the bi-wiring arrangement, with the upper and lower binding posts connected by a strip of metal.  The reviewer actually stated that, “These are good speakers, but of course they sounded like crap until I replaced those cheap metal straps with the excellent Brand Z connecting links.”  I might have gotten a word or two wrong, but that was the reviewer’s opinion of the speakers.  Misinformation like that is no help to anyone.

Well said.

[JohnA]

On 12/10/2022 at 10:45 PM, Islander said:

For anyone who hasn’t heard about this, here we go.  The old cast aluminum K400 horns did indeed ring when struck, if it was out of the cabinet.  Once it’s secured to the motor board and supported by the bracket near the back end of the horn, the ringing disappears.

 

I just tested a mounted K-700.  When struck there is a short duration "ting".  The K-700 is much shorter and has smaller wall surfaces than a K-400, making is naturally stiffer and less prone to ring. 

[henry4841]

Just curious if Klipsch ever thought of a rotating top part of the K-horn. From what little I know even the closed back K-horns should be placed in a corner. Just seems to me that having a rotating mid and high section would make good sense for adjusting the sound to ones room making the speaker more versatile. I am sure the engineers have considered this and just wonder what their thoughts were for not doing it. Heavy duty lazy susan and a bottom sheet of MDF for the top section is all that would be required. Aesthetic reasons or technical? 

[Deang]

People do change their mind about things, and I’m sure PK was no exception. There is no growth without adjusting your position as you are presented with new information. 
 

I have a hardcopy around here somewhere from Klipsch Engineering on the K-401. If I can find it I will screenshot it.

[Deang]

I couldn't find the document. However, I did find this in the timeline for the Klipschorn and La Scala.

 

Nov 20, 1987
The Aluminum K-400 horn was replaced with the K-401 structural foam horn resulting in slightly improved distortion figures.