sound_bites Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 I have a pair of 83 K-Horns that I built some ALK universal XO's for (Thanks AL for the schematics and parts list), it was the best thing I could have ever done for them! Al was right when he said that Klipsch engineers leave a lot to be desired in the building of good crossover networks, not to mention that the components used are outdated. The stuff that is available now is so much better...Here are some pics of the XO's. I have since replaced the 7.2uf & 2.2uf caps with Kimber Kaps....The squawker sounds so smoooooooth now. The bass is nice and tight, and more robust and authoratative than before, more "real". The over-all balance of the speakers is smooth and very pleasant. It sounds like the drivers are all working together the way they were meant to. Also, this upgrade presents a much easier load on my 300B SET... Below, you can see where I added another set of binding posts for a direct connection to the woofer from the new XO. I replaced the old plastic jobs on the terminal cup with some Cardas jobs, and used the second set as a passthru from the amp to the XO input terminals. I replaced the crappy zip cord to the woofer with some 12ga monster cable, and used euctic silver solder throughout. The crossover wire is all 14ga 99.9% silver wire Telfon coated. I originally used all Dayton caps to very good effect. Replacing the 5uf and 2.2uf values with Kimbers made an even great impact on the overall sonic smoothness of the highs and mids. I'm glad I did it. The Litz wire inductors are a must, even for the bass section. The sonic improvement this mod gives the KHorn is dramatic and highly recommended for anyone still using the old AA/AK series...you'll be amazed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Very nice! Someday I'm going to get a pair of ALK's to try out. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sound_bites Posted March 18, 2007 Author Share Posted March 18, 2007 Thanks, They were pretty simple to build and made all the difference! If you build them yourself, whatever you do don't skimp on any of the parts. Make sure you use good quality caps (Dynamicap, Kimber, Auricap, etc...) and only use Litz wire inductors for the best results... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddyi Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 way cool ! - -- I'm not pleased with AA Khorn- AL is such a nice & helpful guy too. Whats your amp and DAC (or whatever source) - how did you remove the Litz's insulation for soldering? - would Jensen (good inductors ) compromise the outcome? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesboy Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Nice clean build job on the networks. Al K is the man! The Litz wire insulation scrapes off with a razor knife. Go to Al's website at ALK Engineering. He explains there why not to substitute anything for the Litz wire inductors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sound_bites Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 Hiya Freedyi, Thanks for the props... [] I am currently using an Opera Consonance Reference 2.2 Linear for my source, though I bounce between it and a heavily modified Cayin CDT-17A. Both have their merits, but the Linear is growing on me. Lots of merit in Non-upsampling, the sound is much more natural. I also have an Original CD-2008 MKII I am modding... My amps are a Yaqin MS-300B SET amp and a Music Angel 845 SET and Dussun V8i. The 300B is my fav thus far, but I do like to bounce between the 845 and the big Dussun! There's nothing like pushing 105db K-horns with 300wpc of SS power every once and a while! You may notice a theme: All of my electroincs are of China origin. Some (and I do mean "some") of the stuff coming out of there is of great build quality, affordable... and is as good or rivals the hgh dollar US/Euro gear...[:$] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sound_bites Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 Hi Bluesboy, When I was making my connections I thought about that, I just soldered 2" tips of the teflon silver wire onto the tips of the Litz inductors. I used shrink wrap to give it a finished look. Doing this I was able to make "hot joints" (and not worry about damaging heat sensitive components like the caps).... The heat of the iron melted the insulation and allowd the solder to melt thru to the cable underneath giving me perfect electrical joints.[Y] I tried scrapping but it was much too tedious...[:'(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddyi Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 that Yaqin looks sweet - how about this little amp? - appears to be triode-tied pp KT88 w. solid-state doubler and tube used as slow-turnon diode http://www.pacificvalve.us/XSD2020AKT8.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 I have a pair of 83 K-Horns that I built some ALK universal XO's for (Thanks AL for the schematics and parts list), it was the best thing I could have ever done for them! Al was right when he said that Klipsch engineers leave a lot to be desired in the building of good crossover networks, not to mention that the components used are outdated. The stuff that is available now is so much better...Here are some pics of the XO's. I have since replaced the 7.2uf & 2.2uf caps with Kimber Kaps....The squawker sounds so smoooooooth now. The bass is nice and tight, and more robust and authoratative than before, more "real". The over-all balance of the speakers is smooth and very pleasant. It sounds like the drivers are all working together the way they were meant to. Also, this upgrade presents a much easier load on my 300B SET... To be fair, your original crossovers WERE almost 25 years old. Smooth is the best descriptor of Al's xovers. I have a pair. But they requires the most expensive componentry. Also, remember, engineering is all about building the cheapest thing that does the job. It is NOT about building the best or most expensive anything. It is really easy to build anything when cost is no object. When cost limits are removed, an engineer becomes a scientist or a designer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 I prefer the A crossovers in my Belles. I have the BEC A/AA crossovers with the GE oil caps perhaps I will try them with premium caps later on. If I were going to spend alot of money on crossovers perhaps I would go active instead. I looked at the alk crossovers and they were very pricey even if you build them yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 I have to agree with John A. on this. Al's crossovers are really nice, but I built a set of first order crossovers that John designed. They reside in my La Scalas. John had loaned me his ALKs while I got mine built (I promise I'll return them, John!). I swapped one out and powered the system back up. I really couldn't tell the difference between the two. Now, this is my system in my room, YMMV. Mine didn't cost near as much as Al's either. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 I have to agree with John A. on this. Al's crossovers are really nice, but I built a set of first order crossovers that John designed. They reside in my La Scalas. John had loaned me his ALKs while I got mine built (I promise I'll return them, John!). I swapped one out and powered the system back up. I really couldn't tell the difference between the two. Now, this is my system in my room, YMMV. Mine didn't cost near as much as Al's either. Bruce Bruce, I agree with you to a point. I've had the same first order crossovers that John designed in my system, and one still resides in my center Belle. I've also had ALK universals - including my current pair that have primo caps. The two types of networks sound pretty similar at lower volumes (except for the tighter bass on the Universals) - with in fact the first order still sounding a little better on the top end due to the larger amount of driver overlap. The difference between the two networks becomes apparent, however, once you go into moderate to higher volume levels. Simply put, at least to my ears - and in my room, the first order network can become quite shrill at much higher volumes (even with tubes) while the Universal stays more composed. This is probably due to a bit steeper slopes and the whole constant impedence thing. I've also noticed more detail and resolution with more expensive caps, but I'd prefer not to get into that somewhat controversial debate as there are plenty who opine that "caps are caps." If I never really laid into the volume level at times, I could see how there would not be much discernable audio difference between John's first order and Al's Universal. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Carl, we aren't at odds here at all. I rarely push over 90 db. That's why the DHA2s sound fine to me, with my 2A3 amps. At the least, it was fun building them. If I had a monster amp and wanted to lose my hearing more quickly, I guess I might spend the money to have my speakers sound better while doing it. [] I was also thinking that the DHAs are constant impedance, but John would have to clarify that. Pus, I don't want to get into an argument over Al's designs. His crossovers are very good, and a little more complex. I am sure the 18db slope on the tweeter helps a lot at higher volumes. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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