John Warren Posted December 17, 2001 Share Posted December 17, 2001 From my trails, the type of driver used on the Edgar mid is important as is the mounting and the horn construction method. The Audax units I've made sound pretty good(a violin sounds like a violin). They are not the end all, I agree, but they reproduce (IMO) with more realism than the 2" compression drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwardre Posted December 17, 2001 Share Posted December 17, 2001 Hey Soundog....FWIW I too performed this mod to my K-Horns about 15 years ago. My speakers are of pre '55 vintage and came equipped with a Klipsch fiberglass sectoral horn, with characteristics not unlike the 511's. The trade was the fiberglass' tendancy to 'clack' as opposed to the 511's inherant ringing. I felt that the 'ringing' would be easier to deaden that the fiberglass. Back then, there was no rope caulk, I dampened with DAP. Still holding true to this day. The mid drivers are University SAHF's and your x-over issue was dealt with by the original stock crossover, the K-500-5000 which blended as intended beautifully at 500. I ran across the adapters in a speaker shop in Berkley CA. Don't remember the make and as I eyeball them now, I do not see any clue as to mfg'er. Recently purchased a Belle for the center. Naturally, I wanted to capture the essence of the K-Horn upgrade to sonically match. I aquired a 511 from e-bay and flamed the K55V (non-solder terminal type) on via a homemade adapter through a 'newer' type AA x-over. 2 packs of rope caulk. I did not like the initial results. Muffled upper midranges and distortion. Thought I screwed up the K55 at first. Then started to doubt the adapter piece. I then purchased several University SAHF's from e-bay as well as a type AB x-over. Would have loved to test drive a Klappenberger special, but cannot afford a set at this time. The SAHF sounded much better. Clear, dynamic, accurate, but a tad on the 'shrill' side. This is a fairly efficient driver! I started to swap x-overs and found that an old AA I had sounded the best. The 'newer' AA I had did not have oil filled caps, the old has big oil filled.....size of cigarette packs. This mellowed the shrillness considerable while retaining all the qualities of clarity. I too have not noticed a problem between 400 - 500hz. As you say, music sounds great and that's what counts. I absolutely love this setup and cannot imagine a more perfect match for my old cornerhorn dinosaurs. WRT fit.....doesn't. At least not in the upper cavity of the Belle as it sits stock. I have the 511B (much to my wife's incessant whining) sitting 'naked' uptop with my tweeter (University 4404 mid-T) bolted straight up vertically off the top hole on the 511B face. Personally, I like the look. Almost retro. WRT the adapter, I just saw today a chap on e-bay that has some JBL adapters listed. His ad says 'other adapters available' so I e-mailed him with my (our) needs. I'll let you know if I get a positive reply. Good luck! Ed ------------------ Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundog Posted December 17, 2001 Author Share Posted December 17, 2001 Tom - I find it interesting that comparisons are sometimes difficult.... I've now switched back and forth from the K400s and the 511Bs a number of times (I have a set of wires from each and a set from the crossovers. The 511s are just sitting on top of the Khorns with the driver resting on a stack of paperbacks. I've listened to a number of recordings (jazz, rock and classical) and I seem to prefer one horn over the other depending on the recordings. While the 511Bs are more distinct on most recordings; they also have a very slight "edge" that emerges on some recordings. Vocals, in particular. In fairness to the 511Bs, I have not as yet mounted them securely and have not yet fully dampened them as you did (waiting for the damping spray to full "set"}. As John pointed out previously, extended listening reveals aspects that are not readily apparent on the first several listenings, where one's focus is more on the improvements - clearer notes than heard before, instances of more realism, etc. On subsequent listenings one seems to focus more on what's wrong. Here, over time, newly discovered anomalies grow in importance. Well I guess the experiment is not over, as yet. ------------------ Soundog's HT Systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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