Do KG4 speakers have quality problems?

[Diggs]

This is the second woofer I've had to replace in my speakers since I bought them a year ago. Since my last replacement I have decided to let my sub handle all of the bass. If anyone has a Denon receiver I can tell them my settings and they can tell me if I'm overdriving my speakers:

In stereo through a CD Player

Left and right set to 0 gain

bass and trebble at 0

speakers set to large (sounds better)

Max volume -20

This is what I've always had it set too since my last mishap. It just started sounding this way a couple weeks ago. On pianos and bass guitar a buzzing is clearly audible through one woofer. $80 apiece for replacements is not cheap IMO.

With the volume at -20 it shouldn't be too much for these speakers should it? On this website where you can order parts, it says that the older woofer that came with the original speaker is discontinued and was replaced by a new model. Was there a quality issue with these woofers? I don't understand why my woofers are going bad.

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Denon AVR-2800

KG-4 mains (too bad the rest of my speakers aren't this good)

Polk C-175 center (it's ok)

Infinity RS-10 Surrounds (suck)

Audiosource SW-15 subwoofer (excellent sub for it's price)

Pioneer DV333 DVD

Sony 5 disc CD player

All in a 12x12 apartment bedroom.

"What?! I can't hear you!"

[Guest BobG]

No QC issues with KG-4 woofers. The speakers are far older than one year. Where were they the rest of their lives? BTW, a setting of -20 is not meaningful. It indicates that you are 20 (20 what?) down from maximum. Is that maximum without distortion? Who knows.

[T2K]

Hey Diggs, where did you find a parts list?

Keith

PS> I've got a Denon 3801 and -20 isn't terribly loud with KG5.5's.

[Diggs]

Keith,

Back when I registered they had a section that had replacement parts for nearly everything Klipsch made with prices and I used this to find my woofer. I guess when they redid the site they removed it because I can't find it now. I don't believe -20 is pushing it either, but it's plenty loud in my small bedroom.

If there was nothing wrong with the old woofer, why was it discontinued? Can woofers just "go bad"? Oh well, I guess what I know what I'm getting for Xmas.

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Denon AVR-2800

KG-4 mains (too bad the rest of my speakers aren't this good)

Polk C-175 center (it's ok)

Infinity RS-10 Surrounds (suck)

Audiosource SW-15 subwoofer (excellent sub for it's price)

Pioneer DV333 DVD

Sony 5 disc CD player

All in a 12x12 apartment bedroom.

"What?! I can't hear you!"

[Dave in Nashville]

Diggs:

I agree with BobG. What were your KG4's put through before you bought them? Right now, my KG4's are sitting next to '77 LaScalas in order to suppliment the weak bass of the larger speakers (the loudness button is on). Although the KG4 drivers can't be heard, the bass is acceptable until I save up for a large Velodyne.

My 17 year old son has had the system up to some pretty ear shattering levels and the bass from the KG4s can actually be felt throughout much of the house. I hope you can solve your problem because the KG4 model is a really fine speaker.

Dave

This message has been edited by Dave in Nashville on 12-04-2001 at 02:28 AM

[J M O N]

If you've already had to replace two woofers, I don't think the problem is with the speakers. Look elsewhere for possible problems.

[Guest BobG]

Over time, Klipsch replaces many parts with newer versions. This is not to say we have never had any QC problems, we have our share, but the mere fact that there is a new part to replace an older part is not cause for concern. What specifically has happened to each of the two failed woofers? Are parts separating? Anything scraping? Frozen assembly? Just dead with no mechanical signs of distress?

[Diggs]

I have yet to take apart the speaker to determine exactly the problem. I'll take it apart this weekend to see if anything is scraping. I hope this is the problem, but knowing my luck, probably not. Just like the last one, if I slightly put pressure on the cone the buzz goes away. Of course, so does the ability of the woofer to make bass. I'm not an expert, but they shouldn't just start to fail under normal playing conditions even if they were abused, should they? There is literally such a small amount of bass coming out of my speakers I don't see how it could fail. I can put my face right in front of the speaker and feel a very small vibration. Denon isn't exactly known for its bass output, especially at my settings. I'm not bashing the speakers. I think they sound great and will continue to buy from the Klipsch line, but if my woofers continue to go out at this rate I'll have spent $360 by next winter on top of what I paid for the speakers.

JMON: What else could it be? My receiver? Please enlighten me. I'm not exactly an audiophile.

[fini]

Diggs, two of the woofers on my pair of kg4's have a problem, too. A buzzing sound underlying the signal. When I carefully push on the cone, applying even pressure around the dust cap, I hear/feel a scratching sound. Does this sound like what's going on with yours?

fini

[J M O N]

The odds of you replacing a defective woofer with another defective woofer are extremely low. That's why I said you should look for other problems. In general, woofers are pretty durable so they would have to be abused to get damaged. It doesn't sound like that has happened (at least not with the new one that you replaced). For starters, can you connect your speakers to another stereo system to see if you still get that problem? It's hard to say what the problem could be without more info. Try to do some detective work.

[boa12]

diggs & fini, sounds to me like your voice coils are fryed &/or damaged. i've had the same symptoms in 3 woofers in dif klipsch speaks i've had over the years.

cured w/ new woofs.

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My Home Systems Page

[Guest BobG]

Are your speakers wired out of phase relative to each other? If you reverse the leads (+/-) to ONE speaker, do you then get better bass? Or, do you get better bass with just one speaker playing but when you adjust the balance so that both are playing the bass diminishes? Both are indications that one speaker is out of phase with the other. Because bass is so close to mono, if the speakers are out of phase, there can be nearly complete cancellation in the bass.

If you push gently and evenly around the dust cap and feel scraping, the voice coil is rubbing the pole piece or the other side of the magnetic gap due to abuse or manufacturing defect (abuse only if they played fine at first). The driver would need to be replaced.

In most brands, abuse takes out tweeters. With Klipsch, it is just as likely the woofer will go as our horn loaded tweeters don't require as much energy to play loudly and keep up with the woofer. It is not that our woofers are not durable, they are beasts by comparison to many brands. But the amount of energy going to the tweeter in direct radiating designs (not horn loaded) means they are the weakest link.

[fini]

BobG, When you say the driver needs to be replaced, you're talking a new complete woofer, not a repair to the woofer, right? Or is there a repair that can be made that's more economical?

fini

[Guest BobG]

Typically, woofers are not repaired, they are replaced. This is the case with all but the biggest, most expensive pro drivers which are rebuilt. Even that is not a simple task as it requires special alignment jigs to replace all the non-metallic parts.

If you can identify what part of the driver is buzzing, and it's externally accessible, you could reglue the parts. You can also remove the driver from the cabinet to inspect for separated parts on the back side of the driver. It's possible that the suspension (spider) has come partially loose.