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Can I modify K-horn this way?


drobskyk

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Hi,

I recently listened to a pair of K-horn tri-amplified by Klimo Beltaine 300B(5W) and I think the mid and high were sort of harsh, but the bass was clear, though a little bit thin, just like my MBL 101's. I have also listened to a TAD system(ET-703 tweeter, TD-4001 mid-high with wood horn, 4 TL-1601 direct-radiating woofers/channel), which sounds great but costs more than 130K14.gif , so here is what I paln to do:

1. Replacing the crossover with AlK's(if this is impractical, then I will shift to Marchand tube crossover)

2. Silver wiring for the whole system

3. Replacing the tweeter with TAD ET-703

4. Replacing the mid-high with TAD TD-4001 with wood horn

5. Replacing the woofer with TAD TL-1602(with lower Fs(21Hz) and Qts(0.21) than 1601)

6. Two active subwoofers for the bottom end below 35Hz

For your reference:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Industrial/SpecificationDetails/0,1448,1541,00.html

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Industrial/SpecificationDetails/0,1448,1539,00.html

I know these drivers are not cheap, but they cost definitely much less than 130k9.gif

Any comments will be appreciated!!!

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comments appreciated, huh?

Comment: I think you are nuts!

Seriously...the problem you are having with your k-horns is most likely due to the upstream electronics and NOT the k-horns themselves...or it is associated with the installation of your k-horns. I have given all kinds of tricks to get the most out of k-horns lately...do a search for them all. PWK recommended AGAINST tri-amping and bi-amping of his heritage speakers...and I believe he knew what he was talking about. Re-wiring them with silver wire is gonna make em sound even harsher, too! They were originally voiced with zip-cord...the farther away from that you get the harsher the sound! If you absolutely HAVE to rewire them...then go with copper!!

IMHO, you are trying to cure a cold by wiping a runny nose...you need to look at your upstream components and your k-horn installation to get improvements in sound quality...and once you do this, you will find no other modifications necessary.

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1.gif

Actually I don't have a pair of K-horn, but I like the concept of a fully horn-loaded system and I am now very certain that the bass from the folded horn is far from booming, muddy, or whatever was said.

As a matter of fact I just plan to build a K-horn-like system which only take the advantage of the bass bin and, perhaps, the crossover network. I would never buy a pair of K-horns and do the things you thought to them.

About the upstream electronics of the system, I remember they were :

Linn CD player

Klimo Merlin preamp with separate power supply unit and built-in Beag

Bryston electronic crossover

Maybe the Bryston is to blame for the imbalance of the mi-high and bass, I don't know. Just a thought.

Thanks for your response anyway1.gif

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Oh my goodness. This is quite agressive.

If it was me, I would:

1)Dampen the existing horn before replacing with wood.

2)Replace the zip cord with a good 12 GA copper wire.

3)Add subs if you still feel you need them.

4) Install the ALK before replacing drivers.

5) If your still wanting to replace drivers, talk to Al K to make sure the resistance changes will still work OK.

Good luck with you project.

JM

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your plans do sound extreme. no doubt a TAD speaker is going to sound good, I like the TAD 2401 and 2402 hron studio monitors (which you can get used for about $3k-5k) there is a guy building reproduction hartsfields with TAD drivers for about $7-9k (http://www.classicaudiorepro.com/). I think if size and budget allow, better off buying something like those, perhaps even some horns from avante garde....btw everyone seems to agree that silver wiring would exacerbate the problems you heard when auditioning the k-horns, not ameliorate them. regards, tony

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If I was going to re-build a Khorn, I would read everything that Tom Brennan and Qman posted on this site about JBL bassbins and rebuilt big old horns, and everything that mobile homeless has to say about tube amps, plus would consider SVS bass tubes for the deep low end of things. In the end, I might just buy the colorful Advantgarde horns because their looks remind me of a sports car that I just have to have3.gif

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It looks like a progressive "wish list" to me.

OTOH, if this is all done at once, it is more like making a mostly TAD system with the K-Horn bass bin as one of many components.

Just one of those situation where the original is modified beyond recognition.

Gil

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drobskyk: There is nothing boomy about k-horn bass . Andy was right about checking the upstream electronics.

I've got two audio control series III PHASE COUPLED ACTIVATORS hooked into both my k-horns and lascala's, the bass is so tight and snappy not to mention fast, that i'm almost afraid of blowing a driver.

If k-s sound bad chances are it's the signal path not the speaker.

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drobskyk,

Listen to these guys-they know what they're talking about. From past experience the K-horns are very amplifier dependant so before you do anything try different amplification-you'll be surprised just how much this affects the overall sound of the speakers.

Jeff

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