[Sonny]

Hi, been a while, but anyone have the XO schematic for the new XO?

Thanks

[Danny Richie]

Hi, been a while, but anyone have the XO schematic for the new XO?

Thanks

The schematic is our intellectual property. If you want it then you need to order the kit.

[wilsonhines]

@Tyson and/or @Danny - I have two questions if you would be so kind as to help me out.  I have a beautiful set of Forte I.  I am about to put a set of Crite's crossovers in and I was going to replace the speaker wire while I was at it.  How much speaker wire should I order in feet?  Also, in regards to the sound dampening, how many sheets of No Rez did it take to do the job? 

I appreciate your help. 

[Danny Richie]

@Tyson and/or @Danny - I have two questions if you would be so kind as to help me out.  I have a beautiful set of Forte I.  I am about to put a set of Crite's crossovers in and I was going to replace the speaker wire while I was at it.  How much speaker wire should I order in feet?  Also, in regards to the sound dampening, how many sheets of No Rez did it take to do the job? 

I appreciate your help.

A couple of helpful hints or things to consider....

The Crite's upgrades are a parts only upgrade, it is not a new crossover design that corrects for break up, time arrival, or amplitude issues.

He does use good parts, but don't connect everything using the connecting blocks that he provides. Those have steel screws and connectors on them. Those things will eat up some of what you gained with the good parts.

Figure on needing 50 to 60 feet of single conductor wire and three sheets of No Rez.

[wilsonhines]

A couple of helpful hints or things to consider....

The Crite's upgrades are a parts only upgrade, it is not a new crossover design that corrects for break up, time arrival, or amplitude issues.

He does use good parts, but don't connect everything using the connecting blocks that he provides. Those have steel screws and connectors on them. Those things will eat up some of what you gained with the good parts.

I didn't know this until a few minutes ago, but someone in my Intro post said you can make a crossover setup for me.  is that true with the Forte 1? Is this something we need to talk about offline or what?

[Hobbsmeerkat]

I didn't know this until a few minutes ago, but someone in my Intro post said you can make a crossover setup for me.  is that true with the Forte 1? Is this something we need to talk about offline or what?

In order to provide an updated crossover for the Forte I, we would need to have one shipped or brought to us in order to evaluate and do the design work.

Feel free to email us or give us a call during the Week 10a-5p Central time.

[wilsonhines]

Yeah, sadly, I'd be better off buying a set of new Forte IV's LOL

[Tyson]

Yeah, sadly, I'd be better off buying a set of new Forte IV's LOL

Forte IV's are going to still have most of the same problems that the I's have.

[wilsonhines]

Forte IV's are going to still have most of the same problems that the I's have.

I understand where you're coming from, but you're missing the point.  While absolutely trying to not seem unkind or harsh, I just paid $10,000 on a diesel performance job on my truck that should have easily cost $7,500, but the guy was a better Duramax man than he was a Powerstroke man.  Well, I essentially paid this guy to learn my truck; that's the gist of the story, but it's true.  I can't see me paying a ton of money in shipping (I live in NC) a 75~ pound speaker to the west, paying an amazing guy to do a lot of valuable work and time on my speaker to learn to build a crossover and then sell the resulting IP to crossover customers going forward and me sit there as a paying guinea pig.  That's like, twice in a week.   

[Tyson]

Danny does the design work for free.  Just have to pay him the cost of the parts when it’s done.

[Early B.]

I can't see me paying a ton of money in shipping (I live in NC) a 75~ pound speaker to the west, paying an amazing guy to do a lot of valuable work and time on my speaker to learn to build a crossover and then sell the resulting IP to crossover customers going forward and me sit there as a paying guinea pig.  That's like, twice in a week.

The cost to ship one speaker to Danny plus his newly designed crossovers will be roughly the same amount you paid for your Crite crossovers ($300 - $500) which have cheap parts and won't improve the sound. 

[wilsonhines]

The cost to ship one speaker to Danny plus his newly designed crossovers will be roughly the same amount you paid for your Crite crossovers ($300 - $500) which have cheap parts and won't improve the sound.

I'm thinking about calling UPS Freight or FedEx freight just to check and see.  I was thinking the freight would be every dime of $400 and I can't imagine how it wouldn't be $300. 

As far as Crites crossovers, you say they are cheap parts and won't improve the sound, but a lot of people out there speak very highly of the difference they make in these Heritage line of speakers.  The parts are good quality parts, Danny even said the parts are fine.  Danny may cross it over differently or whatever, but saying it'll make no difference in the sound is quite unreasonable. 

These are $1,000 speakers at top prices.  I think they're worth $1,000 because the wood and all is in great shape, almost perfect, and they're 40 years old.  However, most people are paying $800-900 for a pair.  I've got $800 in these and if I ship them to Danny, I've got, hopefully, $350 in shipping and Danny has to make something too.  That's asking a heck of a lot.

[Tyson]

What would you prefer?

[genjamon]

Depends on if you’re looking to resell them later or if they’re for long-term enjoyment. If the latter, I’d look at it like Danny’s mods would bring the performance up to a level at or beyond the newer speakers. So, for $1500, you’d be at a performance level well beyond that. But if for resale, then yeah I don’t think you’ll recoup your investment under any upgrade scenario, Crites or otherwise.

[wilsonhines]

A couple of helpful hints or things to consider....

The Crite's upgrades are a parts only upgrade, it is not a new crossover design that corrects for break up, time arrival, or amplitude issues.

He does use good parts, but don't connect everything using the connecting blocks that he provides. Those have steel screws and connectors on them. Those things will eat up some of what you gained with the good parts.

Figure on needing 50 to 60 feet of single conductor wire and three sheets of No Rez.

Danny, after doing a search for a few minutes, I came up with hardly anything worth mentioning regarding barrier connecting blocks, except run-of-the-mill cheap parts.  Is there a better source?  I could swap that out off the board easily.

Thanks again,

[Hobbsmeerkat]

The Crites networks are essentially a "refresh" of the stock network.
There will certainly be improvements in clarity just by replacing the old caps, wiring etc. and if that's what you're looking to do, then that's not a bad way to go.

It won't fix any issues the stock speaker had when it was first introduced, but it will get them back to sounding the way the used to, if not a little better simply due to the quality of the components being better.

I do agree that you should avoid the networks screw terminals and use direct soldered connections, but if you don't feel comfortable with soldering, it's a trade off for convenience.

[wilsonhines]

Depends on if you’re looking to resell them later or if they’re for long-term enjoyment. If the latter, I’d look at it like Danny’s mods would bring the performance up to a level at or beyond the newer speakers. So, for $1500, you’d be at a performance level well beyond that. But if for resale, then yeah I don’t think you’ll recoup your investment under any upgrade scenario, Crites or otherwise.

I could see keeping these another couple of years, maybe three.  I don't really expect to get my money out of them or anything in this hobby.  It's complicated, but I intend on buying a new set of Klipsch Lascalas.  The way I intend on funding that is rather morbid to some, but it'll mean a lot to me.  I have had an insurance policy on my father, at his behest, for 25 years.  He's in his last stretch.  Those Lascala's will be "my dad's Lascalas."  I'll never sell them. 

[wilsonhines]

What would you prefer?

What do you mean?

[wilsonhines]

...

I do agree that you should avoid the networks screw terminals and use direct soldered connections, but if you don't feel comfortable with soldering, it's a trade off for convenience.

Ahhh, direct soldering!  Yes!  I was asking Danny what he would do.  I can't believe I didn't think of that.  LOL

With a little practice, my soldering will work.  I'm a ham radio operator, but I'm out of practice.

[Tyson]

What do you mean?

Ah, nevermind, I see that the La Scala's are your dream speakers.  Since you've already found a way to finance the La Scala's, I'd treat the Forte I's as a fun project speaker and send them do Danny to do his magic on them. 

If you decide to do that, other issues you should address are the flimsy cabinets and resonant drivers.  I'd use dynamat on the metal frames of the drivers and I'd corner brace the Forte cabinets.  And put Norez on any exposed flat areas in the inside of the cabinets.  Doing all 3 of these things will get you a speaker that will sound quite a bit better than even the current Forte IV's.