allsmiles Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I have been reading about Bob Crites and Dan Wescott and updates. Is this something I need to do ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I have been reading about Bob Crites and Dan Wescott and updates. Is this something I need to do ?? YES. Reguardless of who does it, you, or another forum memeber, the componets in the crossover network age and are out of tolerance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 What speakerfritz has told you is correct. With their age, the capacitors in your crossovers will have drifted off spec and become resistive, causing the sound to be way off factory spec, which is a fabulous sound. My best advice would be to e-mail both of these guys to find out what they can do for you. You might also want to check out alkeng.com. Al Klappenberger is another forum member who is also a purveyor of crossovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Congrats on the K Horns. That is a major move! You are starting with the King Daddy's. I have a really special pair of ALK Type A netowrks for sale. Look in two channel under a thread that I just started. Here is a link: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/749870.aspx You crossovers are old and out of tolerance. You may not be able to tell because they sound so good compared to what you may be used to. The capacitors in the netorks deteriorate with age. Bob Crites sells parts to get your netowrks back to the way they were originally. You probably have Tye AA's which are good networks. You can get these back to factory spec pretty cheaply by contacting Bob and many here swear by the AA's. Dean and Al K. sell netwroks of a new design. I don't know that much about Dean's. I hear that they are very good and a cut back version of Al's. I may be wrong and Dean, please correct me if I am. Al K. makes a Type A network and an extreme slope network. You can get info on: www.alkeng.com Look for the Klipsch corner. The ALK Type A presents a constant impedance of 8 ohms to your amps instead of varying impedance. I have a custom version of his Type A for sale (with Hovland caps). Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Me Loves Khorns Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 I have a pair of 1988 Khorns. I just got back from the Pilgrimige in Hope. I brought the speakers up ther to listen to them with various equipment. I too got on this forum to ask the same questions. While I was there, I had Michael and Bob Crites place a modified type A passive crossover network and a new set of their Tweeters in them. The difference that it made was amazing. They sounded brand new, much cleaner and much more defined than before. I was a little skeptic at first. I didn't want to have to pay for something that only made a minimal or nonessential difference. I could not be happier with the changes. As you read this forum, you will note that there are a million different types of changes that can be made. But for the money that I spent, which was very reasonable, I feel as though I have brand new speakers. I could never afford new Khorns, but I don't think that the new ones have much on my current ones now. Consider all of the changes. There are several people who make crossovers. I only hear good things about all of them. I doubt you could go wrong with any of them. If they were bad, people on this forum would be grumpin and moanin about it. The folks here seem to be only a little bit opinionated.... Good luck to ya. I'm new to all of this, and can only give you my opinion, but I am thrilled to death with my new changes. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Cain Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Or...... You could try an electronic crossover. With separate amps for each driver. It may not be "old school" but will give you the ultimate flexibility when experimenting with drivers. You might like smaller tube amps for the mids and tweets and a larger SS one for the bass. I use a DriveRack DSP which has more bells and whistles than a three-way speaker might need, including 28-band EQ, an RTA, sub-harmonic synthesizer, over easy compressor/limiter, active crossover with parametric EQ, and automatic feedback suppression. It also has speaker alignment delay on every output. A nice stereo three-way electronic crossover would give you enough flexibility to avoid passive crossovers forever with the added benefit of tri-amping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Each route has its own expenses, sometimes obvious and sometimes hidden. If you just want to squeeze the most out of the existing and go no further, then a set of refreshed xovers, or new modded ones, are the way to go. The higher end of the new modded will also give you the flexibility to biamp. Running with active xovers will allow you to triamp, and also open the Pandora's box of mods, many multiple amps, and years of tinkering. It boils down to how much you want to tinker and explore. No desire to do such leads to the first option. A burning desire demands the second or third option. Spend too much, and you have to expirement. Spend too little, and you will be spending again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 TIME OUT- just enjoy them for a while. Congratulations on your purchase. Do they sound good to you? Is there anything wrong with the sound? My opinion is that we are getting way to quick to judge that things 'aren't right' and begin to tear our beloved Klipsch speakers apart much too quickly. Yes there are some improvments that might be made, but just enjoy them as is for a while. Isn't it miraculous that after 30 years they still sound THIS GOOD? Then make a careful study of the suggested modifications and make your plans to refurbish or re-engineer your Klipsch speakers. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 "I hear that they are very good and a cut back version of Al's. I may be wrong and Dean, please correct me if I am." Good grief, I should never have let Al rename it. O.K., sure - a 'cut back' version of the ALK that's a cut above the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 "I hear that they are very good and a cut back version of Al's. I may be wrong and Dean, please correct me if I am." Good grief, I should never have let Al rename it. O.K., sure - a 'cut back' version of the ALK that's a cut above the rest. Dean, You are being modest. Word on the street is that your crossovers are a great upgrade and I have never compared the two (or three if you include Bob's rebuild) so I can't say which is better or best. The only thing that I know for sure is that the ALK was a big improvement over my worn out factory crossovers and I'm sure yours would also have been a big improvement as well as Bob's. For everyone out there, Bob, Dean and AL all make great products and each has a great track record. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Cain Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 TIME OUT- just enjoy them for a while. Congratulations on your purchase. Do they sound good to you? Is there anything wrong with the sound? My opinion is that we are getting way to quick to judge that things 'aren't right' and begin to tear our beloved Klipsch speakers apart much too quickly. Michael You hit the nail on the head. Sorry for suggesting a more complicated path. [] Unless you have old capacitors that need replaced, I agree with Mike's "Just use them" philosophy. They sounded good when they came out of the factory. They'll sound good now. You can put fancy wheels on an old car. It won't drive any better. LOL. After 18 years, or so, the surrounds on my EAW's 170mm Polydax midranges are evaporated. Had the same problem on Dahlquist DQ-10's a few years back. The Klipshorns don't use a foam surround, do they? I'm pretty sure they use the cloth / rubber ones. ? ? ? Who can confirm/deny this? Do rubber impregnated cloth surrounds eventually break down? I don't know for sure. Surrounds and capacitors would be my only concerns. Anyone know about the Klipschorn's surround's life expectancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Klipsch surrounds DO NOT break down in time, at least that's been my experience with the K33 and K22/K24's in all of the Heritage series that I own. I don't think they have ever used a foam surround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 "They sounded good when they came out of the factory. They'll sound good now." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 "Good" is not the same as "great". A piece of quartz looks nice, but it doesn't look quite as nice after you sit a diamond next to it. People buy these old speakers, and they really should set aside some money to make them the best they can be. Anything less is a waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Just enjoy them for a while. There's plenty of time to tear into them later. Why is everyone in such a hurry to jump on new members and sell them stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Cain Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Klipsch surrounds DO NOT break down in time, at least that's been my experience with the K33 and K22/K24's in all of the Heritage series that I own. I don't think they have ever used a foam surround. That's what I'm hoping for my LSI's. [] Haven't used them in at least 10 years, so my fingers are crossed. I may use them, instead of the EAW's in July, with SB180 subs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Cain Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Just enjoy them for a while. There's plenty of time to tear into them later. Why is everyone in such a hurry to jump on new members and sell them stuff? Maybe some folks are just natural-born hucksters? They have all the answers and will gladly charge you for them. I'm just a dumb ol' guy with more questions than answers. So I kinda enjoy watching the never-ending quest for Nirvana. I suppose you can damn near improve ANYTHING if you throw enough money at it. I had fun making a 904cc, 409 lb, 75 hp Ducati into a 944cc, 350 lb, 90 hp Ducati. Learned a lot along the way and met some cool folks. And I have a bike like no other in the world. LOL But it cost $$$$ for the motor work and all the carbon fiber, plating, painting, suspension work, etc. And it barely goes 150 mph. LOL I think I'll leave esoteric changes to audio gear to those who feel the need. Let 'em have their fun. I had mine with my Duck. My Dynakit MK III's and Dahlquist DQ 10's are totally stock and sound just fine to these abused, old ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Michael, BECAUSE THEY ASKED! The benefit of owning Heritage speakers is that they can be easily tweaked. How many other speakers out there have aftermarket add-ons? How many other speakers have a bunch of fans rabid enough to attempt it (Altec fans not withstanding). Nothing wrong with "freshening" old speakers and/or old electronics! DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 I knew I'd get jumped on for my opinion. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Not jumpin. Not intended to be that way. Your opinion is always welcome here. Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.