[jeffreybehr]

By the way, in building our Biro L/1 speakers, the crossovers are designed for the target (printed) value capacitors used, and then each capacitor is measured and those not really close to the target value are simply not used. It is nice to produce loudspeakers that all come out the same.  The final test (before burning in on music) is matching the speaker to a standard model on wide band white noise.  Its so easy to hear anything different this way.

Frank Van Alstine

And it appears you folks do it right and most don't.

[avahifi]

By the way, in building our Biro L/1 speakers, the crossovers are designed for the target (printed) value capacitors used, and then each capacitor is measured and those not really close to the target value are simply not used. It is nice to produce loudspeakers that all come out the same.  The final test (before burning in on music) is matching the speaker to a standard model on wide band white noise.  Its so easy to hear anything different this way.

Frank Van Alstine

[TheChairGuy]

I'm not nearly handy enough to mess with crossovers, but I can attest to the benefit of a sandbag at the bottom of the speaker cabinet.  Oversized benefits, to be sure.

I can also attest to the excellent effect that plast-i-clay has, adhered to ths basket(s) and internal walls of the box.  Simply remarkable...and all described in Frank's 'Audio Basics' newsletters 20 years ago, copies of which are available in .pdf on his website.

Thanks Frank - it made my off-the-shelf Optimus (Radio Shack) LX-8 sound great.  And folks, plast-i-clay modelling compound goes for about $2.00 a lb. and I used about $26 worth on both speakers. A very worthy upgrade to most speakers it is.  

[Lost81]

Thank you to everyone who contributed their valuable advice on this issue, especially to Frank, who pointed out the necessity of determining the exact value of the capacitor and resistors being swapped in, as well as matching them in pairs as well.


-Lost81

[kfalls]

Yes but also depends on your speakers.  I upgraded the crossover parts with same value on my Klipsch speakers and it made a huge difference in high frequency resolution.  My Sonus Faber still sounded better   I would never touch the crossover in my Sonus Faber speakers unless I have spare parts.
Pictured below are the stock vs modified.

I'm interested in which Klipsch' you modified.  I'm a big fan of the older models and have had a pair of Kg4s for over 15yrs.  I enjoy the sound of the Kg4s, but I believe thay can be better with quality components.  I've already replaced the binding posts with some I received from the seller of my Legacy Focus' and didn't use.  Were you able to get a schematic from Klipsch, or did you trace the circuit out yourself?  I've read the entire post and have the concepts stored away, but any comments or suggestions you may have for he upgrade would be appreciated.

[avahifi]

If you want to make a really meaningful improvement to Klipsch horn loaded speakers, simply wrap the outside of the midrange and tweeter horn bodies with a double layer of black cloth electrical tape (friction tape - like used on baseball bat handles or hockey sticks).  The stray resonances from the horn bodies are less than 10 dB down from the "real" signal at sone frequencies.

As an alternative, coat the horn outside surfaces with a 1/8" layer of good old plasticlay.  Don't block any vent holes.

You will be amazed to hear the "honk" go away and how "quietly" the music plays from an undisturbed background.

Do one side first, then compare them on mono material, your jaw will drop, guaranteed.

Frank Van Alstine

[Levi]

I'm interested in which Klipsch' you modified.  I'm a big fan of the older models and have had a pair of Kg4s for over 15yrs.  I enjoy the sound of the Kg4s, but I believe thay can be better with quality components.  I've already replaced the binding posts with some I received from the seller of my Legacy Focus' and didn't use.  Were you able to get a schematic from Klipsch, or did you trace the circuit out yourself?  I've read the entire post and have the concepts stored away, but any comments or suggestions you may have for he upgrade would be appreciated.

Sorry for the delay.  I just simply trace them out since it is a simple 2-way network(KG5.5).  If I will do this again, I will eliminate the circuit board and wired it direct.  That should save time and expense.

Levi

[pedrillo]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, I am looking to upgrade my merlin crossovers. Already purchased the caps, ampohms recommended by Tony Gee at humblehifi.
Now the question: I would like to put in a better inductor, which brand should I look at???
The resistors will be duelunds.
By the way at first I was only going to swap the caps and resistors but after reading here I thought it's a good idea to make another crossover so that i can compare.
Any thoughts????
P.S. I have a technician that can measure any parts that need to be measured so it can be matched!!
Peter

[EthanH]

I'm no expert, but I think it really depends on what function the inductor serves within the crossover; lowering or raising DCR can matter quite a bit depending on where the inductor is located in the circuit (i.e., is it in series with the woofer, the tweeter, part of a notch, etc). 

With that said, there's a good thread on inductors in the Ellis Audio circle.  Goertz Foil and Solen Perfectlay are both popular premium brands, and then there's more expensive stuff like Duelund, Mundorf, and North Creek.  Again, I think to get a really good recommendation the location of the inductor in the circuit must be considered, but assuming the value and DCR are okay I'm sure any of the above would be sufficient.  I  believe Magico uses Goertz and Rockport uses Solen.

[NagysAudio]

It depends on the speakers being modified... For example, one should never change any parts in a Goldmund speaker, as they will never sound as good, even if you use $2K silver/gold/platinum/unobtanium capacitors. Goldmund has extremely talented engineers working for them and to a casual person it might look like they're using a simple $0.10 capacitor, they don't! They take so many variables into consideration that if one was to change something, it would be impossible to predict the outcome and everything would get thrown off balance.

Most audiophile speaker manufacturers use simple designs and crossovers. In simple crossovers, Mills resistors always sound better than anything else and I'm speaking from experience here. Capacitors all sound slightly different from each other and sually silver tends to sound the most pleasing, so If money is of no concern, the Mundorf Silver/Oil would be excellent, Jantzen Z-Silver are nice as well. But inexpensive caps like ERO MKT1822 and Solen are extremely good. As a matter of fact, Goldmund uses Solen capacitors in their loudspeakers.

Aircore inductors always sound best, however one has to chose the correct AWG to match the original inductor's DCR. If you can match the DCR, then aircore will absolutely always sound the best. Solen Perfectlay are fantastic inductors.

Now someone mentioned 24AWG wire for the tweeters... That's way too small of a gauge. There's no reason to use something that small. Any kind of 14-10AWG zip cord wire will sound better than any 24AWG wire.