klf-20 Bass shy

[caribhifi]

I picked up a pair of KLF-20's recently and I am still not sure if I like them. The problem is they do not sound balanced, the highs and the mids are there but the bass is really, really light. Do I need a crossover upgrade? would appreciate any & all suggestions.

Thanks

Caribhifi

[Modified-Tractrix]

If your KLF-20's are bass shy;

1) there is something terribly wrong with them, blown woofers etc.

2) you have a different defintion of bass than the rest of us. KlF-20's should have lots of bass

A crossover upgrade is the the direction to go. Pull the woofers out of the cabinets and make sure the DCR is in family with what it should be, I am guessing in the high 3 to 5 ohm range for those, also check for rubbing cones as th epyle built woofers of that era can have issues if handled roughly.

[TNRabbit]

^ x2. If you have bass-shy KLF-20s, something is WAY wrong. What are you driving them with? How are they set up? Room dimensions? Pics?

[vman71]

Agree! KLF-20's & 30's when set up correctly are outstanding with bass. If there's one thing that these two Legend series speakers do excel at, it's bass.

[mark1101]

Are they in the corners of the room?

[David Pritchard]

When I got my KLF-20's I also felt they were bass shy. My speaker placement only allows them to be placed off the floor on either side of a plasma TV. This is my solution- new tweeters from Bob Crites and new crossover net work from Bob Crites(Critesound.com). This smooths out the mid and high range so the speakers are not so in your face. I then added an older Infinity BU-2 sub woofer (1996-used prices run $200.00). This adds bottom fullness and warmth to the sound. I am now happy with the sound of my KLF-20 installation.

Has any one tried out the Duelund capacitors or a Duelund resistor with this speaker? Or has any one tried different sound damping material inside the cabinet?

David Pritchard

[tommyboy]

Why not just get a sub?

[WMcD]

I'm with the others above who say there is something way wrong. So let me suggest the following: 10) below may be the most important.

1) Whenever someone comes on-board here and reports having just purchased speakers and are disappointed with performance . . . I tend to think the lack of performance (damage) is why they were sold. BTW, welcome to the forum. You'll love these once things are cured.

2) I would try playing one and then the other and see (hear) whether is not performing relative to the other.

3) Look at the main www.klipsch.com site and search for the model. Take a look at the two pieces of literature there. You'll want these in any case.

4) The info shows there are bi-wireable. That means there are two terminal pairs in the rear of each. One is for the bass the other for the mid and tweeter. There should be a set of brass-gold jumpers to make sure the two of pair are fed in parallel. Make sure the jumpers are there and connections are snug.

5) If you're using some HT receiver, make sure the menu has the output to these as "large". If a simple amp, are you sure it sounds okay your old speakeers. Always worth a check. Bass and treble controls set to center.

6) Maybe the bass drivers have been fried (see 1). Take off the front grills. With power off, try moving the bass diaphragms with open handed fingers about 1/8th inch . A partially blown voice coil may feel gritty.

7) Play some program with bass content. The bass-vent will prevent gross movement but you should be able to feel some bass (again gentle finger pressure.

8) A real test is with an ohm meter. One thing you can do is just measure resistance at the inputs in the back. My guess is that two good woofers will measure about 3-4 ohms. If one is bad, you'll see 6-8 ohms. If both bad you'll get infinite ohms.

9) Going deeper if you want to, you'll have to take out the woofers, disconnect the feed wires (or at least one) to a given woofer and test the resistance.

10) By way of edit: Make sure that the speaker units are wired properly to the amp and not with one having reversed polarity. Bass can suffer when the woofers in one box moves forward and the woofers in the other moves back. Reversed polarity on one speaker relative to the other.

Please excuse if you know all this. It is important to see that the red (plus) output of the amp is wired to the red (plus) input to the speaker. This can become muddled and you must look at the wire pair feeding each box to keep track.

Lamp cord (also known as zip cord) is marked so that one of the pair has some striations . I use the mnemonic that that grass is kinda striped and grass is green, and on the ground' so I use that as ground. Other types of wire can be gold and silver, red and black. Just keep track.

There is the notion that if BOTH speakers are wired backwards, you can't hear it. Still, I think the best way is to observe red to red - and black to black.

You can use an ohm meter to check out which wire is which on each end, too.

I also mark the wires with a tag of masking tape or nail polish once the issue is settled.

That is about all I can say without more information.

Best,

WMcD

[NeutronNed]

I'll second (third, fourth, fifth???) the others. I'm listening to a pair of KLF-20's as I type this that I've had since 1999 and the bass response is well-balanced against the mid and highs. The 10-step check-up suggested above is an excellent starting point. I would underscore a couple of things:

a) Check for mis-wiring. It could be that these were repaired and the woofers are reversed.

Check the foam surrounds. My 9-year-old speakers look flawless, but haven't been abused. If you have air leaks around the foam, the bass output will be low and you'll also likely hear some very unmusical sounds coming from them.

c) The suggestion to check the bi-amp jumper is a great one. If these were biamped before, the gold-plated flat metal jumpers could be missing. A simple heavy gauge shorting wire will work.

d) It could be that the woofers were replaced with non-factory drivers. I can't tell you exact what to look for, but the specs say that there should be two K-1036 speakers. Hopefully this isn't the issue.

Good luck - you'll be enjoying some of the best sound you've ever heard very soon!!

[Modified-Tractrix]

WMcD

Very nice post. I know when I use the traditional corner placement with my KLF-20's the bass is very strong. I think the KLF series are voiced to be away from corners and out in the room a bit for better tonal balance. I just can not imagine a properly working pair being considered bass shy ever.

[pzannucci]

Depending especially on placement and system matching , the KLF-20s can sound a little thin, or maybe bass-shy.

They are voiced a little forward in the mids and treble (depending on what you are used to) and that is why I bought KLF-30's when I listened to the two of them.

WMcD gave some good suggestions also to resolve some possible issues. Check them out also.

The woofers in the 20's are no slouches. I have a pair in each of my home built speakers (although a 6 cu ft box).

If you don't find anything amiss you may have to just work with positioning or possibly crossover/L-pad work. They can be modified to balance the sound to you liking pretty easily and be quite rewarding.

[Fish]

Very simple,gear or room,the 20s can have thunderous bass as long as they are in/near corners and fully functional.I'd still use a sub no matter.

[yamaklipschman9.1]

had same problem with klf 10s wasnt speakers was amp had croosover set to high and amp did not enough low end up grded to a yamaha htr 5990 145*7 now shit falls off wall s almost every time what are you power ing them with?

[Fotog]

When I first bought mine, I went back to the shop and wanted a "graphic equalizer" as that is what I thought I wanted/needed for more bass. The techs said I needed a sub woofer and that is what I bought. A decade later, and as part of a HT setup, I am a Legend fan for life. I suppose there are better speakers out there than the KLF-20's, but mine sound so good I'll likely never look. They do need to be away from the wall as these have rear ports. Corners give extra depth.

Very best of luck with your deciphering the root cause of your shy bass. Can't argue with the 10 points above.

[Tim Currie]

I know this is an old *** thread.....

But I think I have the same issue with my 20's. I can only imagine its the room/placement, just looking to see what you guys think. I was listening to my Dad's Infinity Sm-125 which are a big box, old school 3-way with 12" woofers, and they put out quite a bit more bass and go deeper than my KLF's. Of course his are in his house and mine are in.....mine. Anyway, no other options for room placement. But right now the left one is in the corner and the right is at the end of a wall the opens up to the dining room and entry way. Basically it's a 17'x12' room and one of the corners is opened into the entry way/dining room. So one is in the corner and one is on the wall where the wall just ends (of the 12' side of the room) 3/4 of the way across the width of the room. You guys think it's just the room/placement? I do have a kickass new sub I just scored (SVS PB2!!!) so when thats on its not like it matters....