sunnysal Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 Ok, I keep seeing heritage drivers refered as junk, the x-overs modified every which way, etc. I would like to ask the people who have invested much of their time in studying these issues to lay out for me the "ultimate" k-horn. Assuming I want to keep the cabinets intact but am willing to swap out drivers and x-overs for anything out there, what do I do? I assume an all TAD or JBL driver compliment combined with a type A crossover with the best caps and coils is going to be the answer BUT...I hope you guys take the time to help me see consensus about what needs to be done to turn the klipschorn even more into a giant killer. Not that I don't love my k-horn right now but... regards, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 I would buy a new set of Klipschorns. I will if you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 Dean, For the size of your room, you'd be good with Scala's. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 Tony, That's a great question. Like yourself, I am more than pleased with the Khorns as they are. I have seen many a post denigrate the quality of the drivers employed, and have been wondering about the gains that might be achieved with better drivers. Anybody? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 It is the human condition to never be satisfied. However I am in no hurry to take a saber saw to my Khorns. I just want the drivers that PWK selected to sound their very best using modern technology. If PWK had selected some of the drivers mentioned the Klipsch line would have been out of my price league and many other Klipsch buyers. However it is very interesting to see the lengths some will go to with a speaker which originally sold for under $1000. I must say that I can sometimes see Orvis horns atop my Khorn bass bins in my dreams. I don't know though if they would sound any better, just look cool. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 I didn't know Orvis has ventured into the audio market? I do like their reels and the rods are pretty nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted November 14, 2003 Author Share Posted November 14, 2003 I was thinking about people like john warren and others who have experimented with higher quality drivers...let's see what they have to say...thanks, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 I think that Qman can help here too. He had replaced his midrange driver & horn with Altec 290 and 311-90 which are considered to be among the best vintage horns around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 "I didn't know Orvis has ventured into the audio market? I do like their reels and the rods are pretty nice too." Oops please, no v, sorry. I was fishing for the right words. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 These horns on Khorn bass bins. No crossover, one inductor to keep HFs out of woofer, driver selected to limit low bass. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 As one who has modified a set of Khorns I have a couple of comments: As Al Klappenberger said in an earlier thread ( I paraphrase here ) A good crossover is not going to make a bad driver sound good. I agree wholeheartedly. If the drivers supplied in Klipschorns were "Junk" then Klipschorns would sound like hell regardless of what improvements one made to the crossovers. The reality is of course that no hellishly bad Klipschorn has ever passed through the doors of the factory in Hope assuming only that they were in stock condition and were not in some way defective. This is not to say that improvements are not possible but simply to point out that any stock Khorn is a hell of a fine piece of equipment. Therefore to state that the drivers are "junk" is patently absurd.I concede however that there may well be better drivers than what Klipsch has used over the years. In my case I modded my AA xovers back to the Type A configuration using the components originally supplied with the speakers. That said while I prefer the sound of my Khorns with the Type A one should never infer from that that my beauties did not sound glorious with the Type AA. ( I find myself in good company here as PWK himself preferred the A to the AA ). The concept of synergy comes into play here. By that I mean that although Klipsch crossovers may not be theoretically the best possible and the drivers may not be the best obtainable - The combination of those drivers and crossovers in that cabinet produce a sound that is superior to what one might expect on a casual perusal of the parts list. Sometimes 1+1+1 can add up to 5. I have never had the opportunity to hear a set of Khorns with ALK crossovers but the feedback I have seen here on the forum convinces me that they clearly improve the sound of Khorns,LaScalas etc and represent a worthwhile investment. That said the ALK crossover is based on the original Type A xover albeit using better components and having been carefully tweaked to provide optimal response from the speakers which would not be possible if the drivers were truly "junk." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 Lynn, BRAVO!!!!!!!!!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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