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77VanillaSky

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  1. Well, I don't have the original phenolic drivers, one was blown and the other crumbled to dust when I took the horn apart to instal the titaniums. I threw away the original crossovers as they were nearing 30 years old... Thanks
  2. Hi Ski Bum, in answer to your questions in order: > When I posted that the EL34's resolved the issue, that was before I played through more of my collection. On the test tracks I was using, they did. Others later on I discovered still had the glare. I would say I'm at 60% now - trying to equalize for the remaining 40% >Yes, the amp has a 4 & 8 ohm speaker tap - I've tried both and neither has a effect on the glare. Oddly enough, the 8 ohm sounds best - richer/fuller >Treble control doesn't effect the glare - my issue is more that the 2 - 4k range is "louder" than the other band widths on certain recordings, especially 70's vinyl. >You are correct in that this amp is extremely revealing and as far as eq'ing with software and what not, I'd rather keep it simple and see if I can just better match the KG4's to this new amp And thanks for the good thoughts and serious reply - I appreciate it.
  3. Correct, just trying to better the sound. Some recordings are fine, others exhibit the midrange glare in the 2 - 4k range. I would like to listen to "all" recordings through the KG4's. So, I'm just asking for advice on how to change the crossover point. If any of you know how to do that, I'd appreciate any knowledge you could share. Thanks!
  4. Hi there, I have a pair of first generation KG4's that have the Crites titanium drivers as well as his crossover networks. These speakers have always sounded fabulous with my old, integrated transistor amp. The top end was always smooth and silky, yet very revealing without any harshness. I recently purchased a high end tube amp and now my favorite speakers hurt my ears! There is an upper-midrange glare that has appeared that makes these speakers very unlistenable and no longer balanced. Using a spectrum analyzer, the offending frequency is in the 2k - 3.8k range. The caps in the crossover network are 3uF and 8uF. I read online here that the crossover frequency for the KG4's is 1800Hz. I think if I changed the crossover frequency to a higher value, that would reduce or eliminate the glare by sending more highs to the the double 8" drivers, correct? Sorry, I don't know enough about electronics to experiment with changing these values without some guidance. Would any of you know what values I should try to change the crossover frequency? Or, is there another approach to remedying this upper midrange glare? Thanks in advance for any help you can lend. Cheers!
  5. I have a pair of 1984 first gen KG4's (even though they are listed as starting production in 1985, the labels on the back say 1984). I never liked these speakers! They sounded very harsh and edgy, yet yielded a very good sound stage, but they just fatigued my ears. Five years ago I read on one of the Klipsch forums about Bob Crites having designed and contracted a fabricator to make a titanium replacement for the phenolic horn drivers showing scope readings of a virtually, very flat response on supposedly sounding much smoother and liquid. For about $50 I ordered the pair and swapped them in and everything that people were saying was true. Very smooth, open, and airy, but without the jagged harshness. It was like listening to a completely different speaker -- one I fell in love with and became my main speakers. A couple of weeks ago, I read about the capacitors loosing their life around the 20 year mark and it hit me that the caps in my 1984 KG4's are now 31 years old. When back to Bob Crites' website and for $100 I could send him the original networks for a cap replacement, or for $200 I could receive new networks with all upgraded materials including new chokes, etc. -- I opted for the latter. I ended up removing all of the old “stacked-up” networks of this first gen that had everything glued up in a pile on the back of the input panel – turns out that the choke and transformer? (coiled bobbin) just popped off the plastic input back panel by prying a flat head underneath them and giving a little twist, removed the 3 screws, popped off the one cap that was glued, and cut the wires to the terminals. Then new network board fits on the wood floor of the bottom of the cabinet attached with velcro. After I finished wiring the first cab, I decided to do an A/B comparison between your network and the original 31 year old network. I conducted a very good test condition by putting on a mono LP, The Kingston Trio, and threw the balance knob Left/Right to compare them back and forth… let me tell you something, it was a dramatic difference! The old network sounded like the banjo was being played underneath a quilt. So, even though the speaker cab with the new network sounded brighter, and more open and airy, I would say it wasn’t adding anything, but simply allowing what was naturally in the recording to come through, whereas, the 31 year old network was not allowing all the highs to pass through to the horn. When I listened to the speaker cab that still had the original network, it was a kin to turning the treble control about 3/4’s the way down. As far as the bass, I’m not sure if it’s in my head or not, but it sounded a little tighter – just as strong as before, but with a little less resonance. Once again, Bob Crites has amazed me with his quality designs and engineering. I now have the ultimate KG4’s with Crites’ titanium horn drivers and upgraded, new networks! BTW, they are works of art just to look at (see before and after pics). And because the new networks are mounted on new cedar boards, they smell good too! I’ll never have to worry about moths in my speaker cabs I'm sure all of you know about Bob's Klipsch upgrades and maintenance services, but just in case you don't: www.critesspeakers.com Original 1984 network: New Bob Crites network:
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