4977 Posted April 29, 2001 Share Posted April 29, 2001 I am about to try to repair the cabinets on a pair of KG 5.5's. While I have them apart is there anything I should do that would improve the speakers before I put them back together? Thanks, Q. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted April 29, 2001 Share Posted April 29, 2001 I did so much to a pair of KG 5.5s, they werent far off from the cornwalls !! Changed the dampening, ports, ETC The cornwalls of coarse had better bass response, and the uppers are hard to beat! Let me guess, the backs are loose? Check the fronts, as well they are loose to, i guarantee it! Look through the port, and if you can see the crossover, move the dampening material to the backs! Make just a small enough hole for the wire to go to the drivers! On the ports, get a piece of cardboard, like a comercial toilet paper roll, or carpet roll., and extend the ports 4 inches! This will at the same time dampen the plastic ports, and will mellow out some of the hollow sounds, in the low end! Finally, if your good with a solder gun, put 8 guage flat wire to the drivers, giving them even better efficiency!! Ok, staple the dampening to the backs,to keep it in place, use black electrical tape on the ports for the extention, caint see it anyway, and a heavier wire! Dont forget the 5 inch wire in the crossovers! As far as the boxes, i tried my best to support them, but there wasnt enough room on the inside to do this, so i just drove some screws through the sides, and painted them to match the wood grain!! If you want to go thru all this, thats fine, if not thats fine!! The sound was so impressive, ive had Klipsch owners here in shock!! They did keep up with my cornwalls great at that time, they were that intense!! Over all i did sell them, due to a new addition to the family, but they didnt get my modifications, that was my secrets!! I still got $650.00 for them with screws in them!! Ok, my secrets out, Thats OK!! Have fun Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4977 Posted April 30, 2001 Author Share Posted April 30, 2001 Thanks for the info. Since I originally posted the question I replaced all internal wiring with 12 gauge wire. Will I see much of an improvement if I redo it with 8 gauge? The damage I am attempting to repair is the result of UPS mishandling the speakers while shipping them to Tulsa from Houston. I am in the process of stripping the finish so I can fill in the dings and paint them. If that doesn't work I will have to build new cabinets. So far there does not appear to be anything other than cosmetic damage. Would it be worthwhile to reinforce the cabinets with 1x1's along the the internal joints? Also should I consider replacing any of the components in the crossover? Thanks, Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 My Kg 5.5s came apart, 2 years after i bought them, all 4 speakers rattled loose! I bought 2 pair back then!! I turned them up pretty good while partying, never did hurt the drivers, just the cabinets!! To start, it took 3 replacements, on one speaker, and 2 replacements for the other when i bought them new!! So it took about a month to purchase these speakers, there were so many defects!! I would just move the dampening material to the backs, inside if you dont want to do all the mods i did to these!! But remember, the KG 5.5s were side by side with my cornwalls then to!! Now i own 4 cornwalls!! I did NOT like the way the 5.5s were made, seemed cheap to me! Especially the boxes!! If you can brace the inside of the boxes, do it now, so you wont have to down the road!! Good luck Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 Jim, just wondering when you bought your 5.5's.I bought a pair in January 1995 and they are as solid as a rock today.In fact,I haven't heard of any cabinet problems associated with these speakers.Just womdering. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 Kieth, they are about the same build as the KLF 20, and 30, so just keep an eye on them!! All you KG 5.5 owners, dont have to modify yours like i did mine, i thought as long as i had to do all i did, i myers well expeirement some!! The KG 5.5 was a real kick *** speaker, out did the past speakers ive owned!! I havent even put my cornwalls thru the abuse like the KG 5.5!! I found the loose cabinets, using home theater, i had to really turn it up to get the rattle with music!! But once i did notice the rattle, my speakers went down hill for me!! I saw how the cornwalls are built, and wound up flushing out the KG5.5s for them! I did fully blame Klipsch, and will never buy again from them, till this day, i will NOT buy anything new from Klipsch! On top of it taking a month to get a good 2 pair of speakers, they fell apart, i was pissed!! Consider older klipsch, used cornwalls were cheaper than the KG 5.5s!! That part of Klipsch i love, the vintage stuff!! But dont worry to much, about your cabinets, but some day they will work themselves apart!! Have fun, and enjoy Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted May 1, 2001 Share Posted May 1, 2001 OH yea, and by the way, ive been into audio scince i was 11, now 36, i have owned 70 thousand of not more,, sets of speakers!! Klipsch is the BEST you can get!! Trust me Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted May 2, 2001 Share Posted May 2, 2001 Jim Cornell, thanks for the information.As a matter of fact I just yesterday removed my 5.5's from storage and gave em a spin.I had forgotten how good they sound.Sorry to hear about your bad experience with your 5.5's. Maybe it was an isolated occurrence.I'm sure Klipsch would have made your speakers good had you advised them of your problem.One of the reason's I buy Klipsch is not only the great product,but the support that they offer their customers.Rare these days.Good luck to you. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted May 18, 2001 Share Posted May 18, 2001 I did see Klipsch make improvements, and even discontinue these speakers because of these problems! They have fixed a lot of them, and i didnt want to send 4 KG5.5s to hope, that was my decision! My kg 5.5s were new in 96, and had the same problems as the klf-30! Which were made right after the kg 5.5s! The kg 5.5s were the Legend series! If i remember it was on the boxes! Sorry Bob.G and everyone at Klipsch, for putting the blame on you! But these speakers should of been investigated better before they left the warehouse!! I WILL buy a new pair,if need be, now that its all better, and taken care of! Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Posted May 18, 2001 Share Posted May 18, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Jim Cornell: extend the ports 4 inches! In reality, extending the port length lowers the tuning frequency of the port. Tuning the enclosure too low could cause a dip in your midbass frequencies. I've got KG5.5s myself, maybe I'll actually run the numbers and see exactly what you did. quote: Originally posted by Jim Cornell: put 8 guage flat wire to the drivers, giving them even better efficiency!! Wire that size for such a short run is really overkill. Replacing the stock wire with some good 12 or 14 guage OFC wire is a better choice. Soldering the wire directly to the speaker terminals (done correctly) would also give you a better connection than using connectors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted May 19, 2001 Share Posted May 19, 2001 I used 8 gage because it was also my speaker wire!! The ports after the extension, really made the bass like cornwalls!! The mids were ok, at least to me! All 4 of my cornwalls are 8 gage also, as of this day!! The KG 5.5 seemed better all the way around, it was unreal! You should maybe glue the inside diameter of your boxes if you ever have them open, just to secure the boxes, glue and 1X1s! And of coarse i was just expierementing on these at the time, wonder why i wound up with the Cornwalls!! Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Posted May 23, 2001 Share Posted May 23, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Jim Cornell: The ports after the extension, really made the bass like cornwalls!! Well I measured my KG5.5s to determine the actual "stock" port size and calculated enclosure volume (based on adjustments from external measurements). I ran those numbers; the original port frequency was about 35Hz and your 4inch extension made it change to about 29Hz. Without the woofer specs I cannot actually determine how that affects the speaker's frequency response (but I could make the above determination because port frequency is only based on port diameter, port length, and enclosure volume -- it's independent of the driver believe it or not). It could be that Klipsch ported these speakers on the high (frequency) side to make them more efficient and to give them a good punchy mid-bass. If that's the case, then your lowering their porting frequency by 6Hz could be a good thing -- or maybe your change just sounds good to you simply because of personal preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted May 23, 2001 Share Posted May 23, 2001 Give it a try, they sounded really great!! Thats if you have the kg5.5s! The pair kept up with my cornwalls remarkably well!! Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diehard Posted June 11, 2001 Share Posted June 11, 2001 Are you guys insane??? you actually open up your speakers??? Oh my god. The thought of me coming at my speakers with a screwdriver conjures up images of Tim Taylor (Tool Time)!!! More power. His ideas always ended up in ruin. I love my KG 4.2s and can't imagine changing a thing. But now I think, hmm are my boxes going to fall apart? Can I build a better speaker? Do the wires really need changing? Uh oh. Where did I put my screwdriver?!? ------------------ Will Work For La Scalas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 Hummm. Diehard, I don't know about you, but I think there's some bit of DNA on the Y chromosome that causes the "Gee, I got a new thingie, let's open it up and look inside" reflex. I have NEVER been able to buy a pair of speakers, amplifier, preamp, processor, turntable, satellite receiver, car, bike, computer, house or just about anything else without suffering this irresistable urge to open it up and look inside to see how it's made. Most of the time, particulary with CD players and VCRs, I have absolutely NO IDEA what I'm looking at, but it sure looks cool, and you can get a good idea of how well engineered something is by looking at the components selected, the care with which they're assembled, the way things are labelled, etc. About the only things I really care about that I've never tried to take apart include: 1) wife 2) bowling ball 3) telescope (carefully aligned optics I couldn't realign without wondering for the rest of my life if I had everything collimated correctly...) 4) TeeVee set (rumors of wickedly high voltages combined with massive cabinets and large investment of $$$) Ray ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4977 Posted June 12, 2001 Author Share Posted June 12, 2001 I have to admit that I would have never considered taking these speakers apart while they were intact. Fortunately for me UPS was kind enough to ruin them so I had nothing to loose. I doubt that I will be rummaging around inside my KLF-20's anytime real soon. On the otherhand, I did have a lot of fun making this pair into a couple of center channel speakers. Q. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diehard Posted June 14, 2001 Share Posted June 14, 2001 yeah I definitely think it's a Y-chromosone thing. I've taken all kinds of things apart I shouldn't. Although I didn't take my NAD apart even though it's supposed to have some cool innards. I am too afraid to damage the important things like the speakers. ------------------ Will Work For La Scalas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtximages Posted September 20, 2003 Share Posted September 20, 2003 Ok I just tried to mod a kg 5.5. I added internal bracing the best i could. I figured I could go with the kinda braces that push outward but after hearing about these cabnets coming loose I decided to go with something what would pull on the side walls from inside. heres what i found at home depot (pics). I must ad caulk to these because they resonate really bad. also, I stapled the foam to the sides and back. and I added about 3.5 inches to the port. I found a pvc pipe fitting that extended from the factory port and taped it on. My conclusions. I cannot tell if the bass is deeper or not. I do think it sucked some midbass out. It does not seem as punchy. My braces I dont think are working very well either. However, it is very difficult to do an A/B comparison by constatly turning the balance knob. Btw, another reason I went with those type of internal braces is because I didint want to mess around too much with the internal cabnet volume. I did not find many possitive attributes by doing one speaker and it took a while to get those braces right. I think im gonna try something else now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtximages Posted September 20, 2003 Share Posted September 20, 2003 Like I said those babys resonate badly. I have to dampen them before I do anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted September 20, 2003 Share Posted September 20, 2003 This post is 2 years old i was surprised to see it again! Yea i did undo the mods in the end, what i thought was better really wasnt! Since this post,,, I sold them, got 4 cornwalls, swapped them for 4 chorus, then sold them, and got 4 Klipschorns, then sold (1) set of those, for cornwall2s, and cash, then got heresys LOL WOW!!!! Regards Jim Now i have Klipschorns, cornwalls, and heresys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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