ka7niq Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 This is why it is always best to only do one speaker at a time, so you can compare, and be sure your improvements, are really improvements! Different strokes for different folks, I guess. No regrets on my end on the planning, research, and execution of my modifications. For me, the results are what matters and I am certainly happy with those. Glad it worked out for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarrod2750 Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I had seen these too. One of the crossovers has the clear wires and he other th color coded. Seems like each crossover is a different version n. Appears someone is parting out a CF3 (no word on which version, or a serial number), as the bay has a pair of woofers, a tweeter, and crossover on it. Just an FYI for anyone that may be looking for parts. Who knows if the seller has a clue as to the version though. Bracing is done on my cabinets and I've got some temporary damping in right now. Plan to start testing to determine the permanent damping here this weekend. Very pleased with the results so far. Put everything back together and have been listening for the past few days and couldn't be happier. Noticeable difference in tightness of sound and clarity. Crossover refresh also was substantial improvement. All in all, couldn't be happier with the results on my CF3s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 not much to making one match the other I imagine the differences will be in the caps which are due for replacement but might be wise to borrow an inductance meter and chek the inductor values just to be sure. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadedhorn75 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Hey all! My first post brings good news about my version 1 CF3's. Paid $500 from original owner barely used! So I was reading this thread last night, well have re-read this thread for a few years actually for anything tweakers can massage from thier Epic series to improve the sound, and and.... I had some 3M Coban elastic spongy type medical tape in my tool box and wrapped it form fitting all around the horns (thin) plastic, several layers of it to stiffen and dampen, tighten up unwanted resonance. Well it worked really good. It seriously was nite and day. Much the same as pushing the dolby B button and your tape deck! I did an A/B and it was sooo much smoother from left to right. Beaver Dam! I was really pleased that something so simple made a huge differance. [] Those horns always ran hot enough to fry bacon and irritate me to the point of wanting to sell them many times. Yet have kept them for the times when the sweet symphony hits all the notes. I always had them set low on treble but that killed the presance of any sound over 10k. I've had them for 5 years and lived with the pros and cons. Changing out amps and transports, cables,wires, digital to analog, even vinyl sounded harsh. This was the first time I said holy $$$$! I poured a stout at midnite and enjoyed what I was missing all this time! Its hard to tame such a forward speaker. Easily a 10 to 20% reduction of the irritating highs. I know i'm exicted but hey I'm desperate. I was able to move the highs up a click without out being annoyed. I will be doing more work to the horn adding lateral bracing and more light damping to the horn area and drivers. As for my set up now its geared towards HT, but pure stereo sounds much more controlled with music. I'm so glad I kept looking for solutions for this problem! I am using a 2001 Denon AVR 5800 flagship that is 170 x 7. (100$ Craigslist mint lol) And it hits hard. I am carefull with the CF3's tho as there are little to no parts to be had. I look all the time to stock up just in case. Bob Crites said nothing is available either. I was very close to getting tubes or a second amp to run the horns. I was also shamelessly looking for new(used) speakers. Maybe a few more cheap cabinet mods will suffice. As I really like the sound, but different sources are so revealing I constantly have to adjust the perameters to enjoy. I highly recommend anyone with Epics to pull out the horns and slap some type of deadening material around them and try it out. A 5 minute job was just was they needed Imo. Sure wish I knew about this years ago! Have fun and rock on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapsnb01 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Loaded - Welcome to the forum! Glad to hear that the horn damping you did worked out well and that you're happy with the results. Working on the horns will be one of my next projects too...so, I'm looking forward to hearing the results for myself. How long have you had yours? I paid $475 for mine in very similar shape...best money I could've spent on speakers! I think you'll be pleased with the results from the bracing work that you're thinking about as well. For myself, I found it to be a very noticeable improvement in sound quality. The link to what I did is below, if you're interested in giving it a look. http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/172130.aspx Anyway, welcome and glad to see another forum member that enjoys the Epics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadedhorn75 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Hi and thanks. Yes I read your bracing post. We have to figure out this CF3 complex together. I used to be a carpenter, still have all my fingers, but now I am a chef so just take some slices off lol. Iv'e had them for 5 years. I like them, but its so hit and miss its perplexing. And been configureing them with many different gear set ups. I started the Cf 3s with 1986 Onkyo Integra P304 pre amp, EQ 35, M504 amp and even used a Marantz CD 73 Cd player. One of the first cd players for the public. Sounded very good. It was made in 1983 and was owned by the govenor of my state. But I regretfully sold it at peak market for 500. I only paid 1.75 for it at a garage sale haha. It was nice but ya know things gotta go sometimes. I sold all that for a profit. The second set up I had with the Cf3s was midline Yamaha M' seperates. Can't remember those #s. Yammy had a nice soft sound but did not have enough power. Yes of course I want Macintosh tubes but the bank would not let me remortgage! I hope we all can continue to expand this thread, I really appreciate the labor put into it from all of you. Wait a sec, she left to get the kids! Time to fire em up and "test" some more. I have read everything on the internet over the years that I could find about the Epics, Klipsch and the meaning of it all. hehe. Going to find that sweet spot that really works or die trying lol. I also have 2 sets of KG 5.5s and a pair of 3.5s that I will toy with to. I am going to wrap those horns as well. Even lifetime stereo noobs can learn lol. My x33es cd player says "Enjoy"! in digital letters, later- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 LoadedHorn75, do you have any pictures of what you did? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loadedhorn75 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Take a look at Dennies Pics on page 9. I did similar only wrapped all of the horn throat. Dynamat might work better than what I used but its spendy. I was going to stop by a car audio shop close to my house and see if they would sell me some remenent pieces or a small chunk. If you want to experiment just wrap it up with a dense hand towel and tape it firmly on, not to tight. Try it on one horn and try to hear the differance at modest volume. Who cares if its ugly if its in the cabinet and hopefully adds sonic improvement. Hold on to the horn firmly when removing, green taped wire is red! Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Google is your friend.... Just some examples! Dennie Here you go! [Y] Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khornbred Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 you are not going to find cheap rems of dynamat. they use every scrap of it. i buy rolls of it off the auction site. search for sound deadener, or sound dampener and you'll get hundreds of hits of generic versions of dynamat at much better prices. when applying it, heat the mat with a hair dryer to help it form to the horn, or whatever you're applying it to. i put two full layers on my horns, and then found myself going through listening to my whole music collection because the difference was so noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarrod2750 Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I ended up picking up some dynamat extreme from bestbuy and 1x3 wood stock. I wrapped the horns and added some internal bracing. I hear less distortion fom the horns and the bass seems slightly tighter. When I get a chance I might add some additional bracing. One thing i was surprised about was how thin the plastic materials of the horn area hen I removed and wrapped them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustangerfourlife Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Hey guys need some help.I just scored some cf-3s and i cant read any of the serial numbers to tell what version i have.I feel they are either versions 2 or 3 because they have the 3 inch ports.The guy i got them from didnt even know what model cfs he had.I didnt know anything about the cf series so i had no idea about the 3 versions either.They oak but what can i look for to find out if they are version 2 or 3. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapsnb01 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 On the crossovers if it has clear wire coating, it's a version 2. If it has black, red, and green wire coating, it's version 3. You're right on the ports, if they're 3" then it's not a version 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) The crossover is on the terminal block. Here is a pic of the CF-4 version 1. Here is the CF-3 XO, version 3. Edited June 15, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustangerfourlife Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Well being i cant read the serial numbers i thought i had Ver 1 but now after more investigating i am going with ver 3. 1 speaker had the clear wire crossover then the other had the multicolor wires.Then i went ahead and pulled a woofer and found a date from 1996. With that everyone says the ver 3 are crap but to me and comparing them to some of my other Klipsch i have and owned in the past (LC ,CW ll,KG 5.2) I don't know what to do with them...lol.They are not as brite/crisp as my klf 30 but ,sound better then my quartets.The 78 Hersey's lack in the bass dept for bass heavy music.But are killer with their forte of music ie jazz folk classical.I love the look of the cf 3, so does anyone know if i can just use the cabinet's for another set up of some sort or sell them and try some Chorus ll's. Sorry i am so indecisive...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapsnb01 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Wait, so if I understand correctly, one speaker has the clear wire and the other is color? So one is a version 2 and the other a version 3... None of the version 3 had clear wire, so if one has clear it can't be a 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 (edited) Wait, so if I understand correctly, one speaker has the clear wire and the other is color? So one is a version 2 and the other a version 3... None of the version 3 had clear wire, so if one has clear it can't be a 3. I agree with your logic, but in the opposite direction. If Mustang4Life has a woofer labeled 1996, then it can't be version 1 or 2! Is it possible that since 1996 was at the end run of the CF-3, Klipsch put whatever wire in there they had on hand? +++ Re: keeping or selling the version 1: K4L, I don't know what to tell you, my friend. I know what others have said about the V3, but I hear more criticism of the CF-4 v3 than the CF3 v3. I think at this point it is up to you to decide if they have the kind of sound you like. If not, then either sell or maybe upgrade the XO like this whole thread suggested. Aside from the XO mods, there are also CD replacements (ask Moray James, he'll tell you ) and some enclosure mods that are very extensive, if you really wanted to take those boxes apart. I like to tinker, mod and refinish my speakers, so for me the fun was to bring some 20 year-old speakers back into service and then hot rod them just a bit. Edited June 18, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapsnb01 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 (edited) I agree with your logic, but in the opposite direction. If Mustang4Life has a woofer labeled 1996, then it can't be version 1 or 2! Is it possible that since 1996 was at the end run of the CF-3, Klipsch put whatever wire in there they had on hand? I suppose it depends which speaker the woofer came out of. If it came from the multi-colored crossover speaker, then it would match up - since that one would be a v3. If it came from the other, then you're guess is as good as mine. FWIW, when I was tryng to figure out mine, I called Klipsch and was told that the clear coated wire was only used in v1&2...but, who knows. Serial numbers would've helped, but I see M4L can't read those... Edited June 18, 2015 by kapsnb01 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.