[Tom Bombadil]

Breaking them in now, but there is NO WAY their sensitivity is anywhere NEAR the claimed 96dB@2.8V/1m like Klipsch spec sheet says. 

I haven't read through the entire thread but did scan a couple of pages after you asked this and didn't see a response.

Stereophile lab measurements showed a sensitivity of 89.6db.   Nowhere near the spec of 96. 

People buying these thinking they are getting a highly efficient speaker are being deceived.

[angtrumpeter]

Very excited to start this journey.  Tracking shows the box from GR is showing up tomorrow on Black Friday.

Question for those that have done this, is what tools and/or extra's will I need to complete the project.  I do have a wen solder gun I bought at a thrift store that works.  I am going to pick up a heat gun.  As a car/motorcycle guy I have plenty of wrenches and such.  Oh, and I do have a Dremel that I can use if needed to knock the notches of the woofer opening.  Anything else?

Also, does the kit include a mounting board for the crossover or will I need to buy that and cut it?  If so, what are did you use?

Thanks!

[MichaelBliss]

Question for those that have done this, is what tools and/or extra's will I need to complete the project.  I do have a wen solder gun I bought at a thrift store that works.  I am going to pick up a heat gun.  As a car/motorcycle guy I have plenty of wrenches and such.  Oh, and I do have a Dremel that I can use if needed to knock the notches of the woofer opening.  Anything else?

Also, does the kit include a mounting board for the crossover or will I need to buy that and cut it?  If so, what are did you use?

Thanks!

I ended up with half an inch of solder left, but maybe that's because I thought "wow, he gave me a lot of solder" and went to town...   There's just enough of everything, like heat shrink.  Mine didn't come with screws, but I had some.  And yeah you need a scrap piece of wood or something for the circuit.  I 3d printed mine just for fun.   Hot glue gun.   And you need something to cut that norez stuff into strips.  Also some bluetac for dampening.

[angtrumpeter]

I'll head out and look for something for the circuit board.  I think my wife has a glue gun she uses for crafts.  Cutting the no-rez I was hoping I could use scissors.

Thanks for the help Sir!

I ended up with half an inch of solder left, but maybe that's because I thought "wow, he gave me a lot of solder" and went to town...   There's just enough of everything, like heat shrink.  Mine didn't come with screws, but I had some.  And yeah you need a scrap piece of wood or something for the circuit.  I 3d printed mine just for fun.   Hot glue gun.   And you need something to cut that norez stuff into strips.  Also some bluetac for dampening.

[Skilly]

My local Menard's sells Craft boards of various thicknesses that one can cut down to the desired size. That is what I used for my crossover Boards. It was pretty cheap and easy to work with.

[angtrumpeter]

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out!

My local Menard's sells Craft boards of various thicknesses that one can cut down to the desired size. That is what I used for my crossover Boards. It was pretty cheap and easy to work with.

[vlad335]

I just bought the 8000 towers and the 504c center in piano black for a great price. I do hear the hole in the frequency response but otherwise these speakers are great. Incredibly dynamic and clear which are two attributes of speakers that i look for. Had Polk LsiM 707's and 706c. i guess they didn't do anything wrong but i was bored with them. These are much more exciting watching HD blurays as they hit hard with onscreen action.

Considering the crossover upgrades for these but I am not sure how to solder this stuff up. My skills in this area are not the best.

Couple questions...

Does anyone on the forum build these for people such as myself? Obviously I would happily pay for such a service.

How does the crossover upgrade for these two different speakers (8000f and 504c) affect the dynamics and sensitivity afterward. i think the 8000 towers measure 92db. Does the upgrade lower this? I am guessing this is the reason i like the Klipsch much better than the Polks for watching movies.

[angtrumpeter]

It would not be a project of mine unless blood was involved.  I did start by drilling out the binding hole with a smaller drill bit and worked my way up.  I think the jump to 7/16" was a bit too large.  The cup swung around resulting in the flesh wound.  I used a c clamp to finish and do the rest of the holes, (while my wife laughed at me).  End of the day it worked and tube connectors installed.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

I just bought the 8000 towers and the 504c center in piano black for a great price. I do hear the hole in the frequency response but otherwise these speakers are great. Incredibly dynamic and clear which are two attributes of speakers that i look for. Had Polk LsiM 707's and 706c. i guess they didn't do anything wrong but i was bored with them. These are much more exciting watching HD blurays as they hit hard with onscreen action.

Considering the crossover upgrades for these but I am not sure how to solder this stuff up. My skills in this area are not the best.

Couple questions...

Does anyone on the forum build these for people such as myself? Obviously I would happily pay for such a service.

How does the crossover upgrade for these two different speakers (8000f and 504c) affect the dynamics and sensitivity afterward. i think the 8000 towers measure 92db. Does the upgrade lower this? I am guessing this is the reason i like the Klipsch much better than the Polks for watching movies.

Thats something I've been considering offering to those that dont feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to assemble a crossover on their own.

So long as all you need/want done is the assembly of the crossover and youre okay with installing the tube connectors, and soldering the runs of wire to the crossover/tweeter. (I dont know the actual dimensions needed to run the cables or where you want to mount the crossover, unless you're somewhat local to me)

I could probably do it, & even print a custom board to hold the crossover, and allow for easy mounting with screws.

Turn around would probably be a week since i would have to do it after work and spend a little time designing the mounting board & printing it.

Not really sure about a price for time/materials, but feel free to DM me and maybe we can work something out!

[vlad335]

Thats something I've been considering offering to those that dont feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to assemble a crossover on their own.

So long as all you need/want done is the assembly of the crossover and youre okay with installing the tube connectors, and soldering the runs of wire to the crossover/tweeter. (I dont know the actual dimensions needed to run the cables or where you want to mount the crossover, unless you're somewhat local to me)

I could probably do it, & even print a custom board to hold the crossover, and allow for easy mounting with screws.

Turn around would probably be a week since i would have to do it after work and spend a little time designing the mounting board & printing it.

Not really sure about a price for time/materials, but feel free to DM me and maybe we can work something out!

Awesome. I can do the soldering I think. My problem is setting up the circuit properly. Looking at a diagram then seeing how people put the parts together, I just don't get it. That part of my brain must be dormant.

I will have to order them and then I will be in touch.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Awesome. I can do the soldering I think. My problem is setting up the circuit properly. Looking at a diagram then seeing how people put the parts together, I just don't get it. That part of my brain must be dormant.

I will have to order them and then I will be in touch.

Sounds good! 

I did forget to answer the first part of your question.
I know that watching Danny's videos he always looks to get as flat a response as possible, and i remember with the Klipsch upgrades he toned down the tweeter a tiny bit to better match the levels of the woofers, but listening to Ron's A/B of the RP600M I remember the main difference being fuller mids & a more balanced tone.

But not having heard them first hand, I imagine that they still offer plenty of dynamics. Tho from most reviews I've seen, the RP line isn't quite as sensitive as Klipsch markets them, often falling closer to 89-90dB range.

Danny's crossover upgrade will only soften the top end by a small amount, but instead offers a better overall response, esp in the mids with much better clarity & detail, which I would consider a worthwhile trade-off, esp when using tube connectors.

[vlad335]

Sounds good! 

I did forget to answer the first part of your question.
I know that watching Danny's videos he always looks to get as flat a response as possible, and i remember with the Klipsch upgrades he toned down the tweeter a tiny bit to better match the levels of the woofers, but listening to Ron's A/B of the RP600M I remember the main difference being fuller mids & a more balanced tone.

But not having heard them first hand, I imagine that they still offer plenty of dynamics. Tho from most reviews I've seen, the RP line isn't quite as sensitive as Klipsch markets them, often falling closer to 89-90dB range.

Danny's crossover upgrade will only soften the top end by a small amount, but instead offers a better overall response, esp in the mids with much better clarity & detail, which I would consider a worthwhile trade-off, esp when using tube connectors.

Thank you for the reply.

ill have to see what Danny says about the dynamics and sensitivity. These klipsch are awesome in this area and hoping the upgrade doesnt tamp this down. i dont know a lot about speaker design and maybe I am worried about nothing but this would be a deal breaker.

As far as the Polks are concerned the Klipsch are night and day with dynamics and punch. I read a review somewhere awhile back saying the 707's were some of the flattest measuring speakers that they had ever tested. To me, it seemed the highs were slightly rolled off and while I couldnt say any frequencies stood out, they didn't induce any excitement with movie soundtracks either. Despite being huge one would think they would slam but not the case. It was not a power issue either as I used Crown amps and later upgraded to a Parasound A51 a couple months ago.

Maybe I don't like flat speakers lol.

[Tyson]

I have the Klipsch Forte III, one of the things I love about them are their dynamics and punch.  I had them upgraded by Danny and it was similar to what happens with the RP600.  Flatter frequency response. 

The Forte's didn't lose any dynamics at all.  In fact, if anything I felt like the mids were even more dynamic because I wasn't losing as much information as before.  I imagine it will be the same with the RP600. 

[MichaelBliss]

I agree with everything said, they don't lose much if anything in the treble, they just sound more balance and pack a punch in the midrange now.  They're still exciting to listen to, even more so now.  To my ears.  Though I had the treble turned down a bit on my pre-amp, now I don't feel the need to.

[vlad335]

I have the Klipsch Forte III, one of the things I love about them are their dynamics and punch.  I had them upgraded by Danny and it was similar to what happens with the RP600.  Flatter frequency response. 

The Forte's didn't lose any dynamics at all.  In fact, if anything I felt like the mids were even more dynamic because I wasn't losing as much information as before.  I imagine it will be the same with the RP600.

Thank you for the info. That is good to hear.

I subscribed to Danny's Youtube channel and did some binge watching. His video of the 504 center he explains that he actually reduced the number of parts in the crossover with the upgrade. That has to be a good thing!

I can't praise these front 3 Klipsch speakers enough for their dynamic response. Once again, while the Polks were likely ruler flat they were chocked off and BORING compared to these cheaper Klipsch. I suspect they had a high parts count crossover which was loaded with cheap crap to flatten the response out.

Another area of concern for me is the response of the 8000f Danny showed before the upgrade. It had a rising treble response but these towers here sound just about right to me. I am 55 years old and played bass guitar in loud bands for 40 years so maybe my ears are shot in this range. The polks sounded muffled in the treble but perhaps they were in fact, perfectly flat. I had actually considered the Aperion super tweeter add on for the Polks at one time. ( I saw Danny's video on this and have reconsidered) Maybe I can substitute a different value resistor in the treble circuit to make the highs a tad hotter. Maybe build it as designed then keep this option open if it is too muffled for me.

[Tyson]

Dynamics and sensitivity have more to do with the drivers used than the crossover used.  The Polk just has softer more laid back (and less sensitive) drivers. 

If you're hearing is going, then I'd suggest that the greater clarity that Danny's crossover brings to the table is actually much more important than the rising tweeter response in the stock crossover.

You can also do what I did - keep both crossovers.  I liked how my Forte IIIs sounded before the mods, so I kept the original crossover parts and crossover board.  That way if I ever wanted to reverse the changes, I could, easily. 

That's the cool thing about DIY - you get to decide for yourself if somethings better or not, and if it's not, change it. 

[vlad335]

Dynamics and sensitivity have more to do with the drivers used than the crossover used.  The Polk just has softer more laid back (and less sensitive) drivers. 

If you're hearing is going, then I'd suggest that the greater clarity that Danny's crossover brings to the table is actually much more important than the rising tweeter response in the stock crossover.

You can also do what I did - keep both crossovers.  I liked how my Forte IIIs sounded before the mods, so I kept the original crossover parts and crossover board.  That way if I ever wanted to reverse the changes, I could, easily. 

That's the cool thing about DIY - you get to decide for yourself if somethings better or not, and if it's not, change it.

Yes i know that the sensitivity of the drivers is the main factor.

I could be wrong and most likely am, but i was under the impression that increased number of components in a crossover design will lower the sensitivity and subsequently the dynamics of the speaker design as well. More resistance in the signal path effecting current if you will.

I read this somewhere on the internet in the past so it must be true. 

[vlad335]

If you're hearing is going, then I'd suggest that the greater clarity that Danny's crossover brings to the table is actually much more important than the rising tweeter response in the stock crossover.

Yeah, I just now realized this to be the case. When i first fired up the Klipsch I thought, "Wow, finally a speaker with some high end!"  Then i see Danny's frequency response graph and read everyone screaming about how bright klipsch speakers are... Yep, I lost high frequencies.

I'll have to see how the crossover upgrades perform in regards to the high end. Have to get the money together, have someone build the crossovers and then find time to install the stuff so it could be a little while.

Thanks for the replies!

EDIT: I just went to the site to order the parts. $60 shipping! Really!?!

[Tyson]

Yes i know that the sensitivity of the drivers is the main factor.

I could be wrong and most likely am, but i was under the impression that increased number of components in a crossover design will lower the sensitivity and subsequently the dynamics of the speaker design as well. More resistance in the signal path effecting current if you will.

I read this somewhere on the internet in the past so it must be true. 

It depends.  Usually more parts means that more has to be done to correct the natural response of the drivers.  That usually does cause loss of sensitivity but it's more due to response shaping than anything else. 

The best crossovers are minimalistic, IME.  They do just enough to get the drivers to play well together and otherwise get the hell out of the way.  I've seen Danny work and he's a master of doing exactly that. 

So yeah, flatter frequency response with fewer parts, that's right in Danny's wheelhouse.

[Danny Richie]

EDIT: I just went to the site to order the parts. $60 shipping! Really!?!

We are still working some kinks out of the new website. Shoot me an email and I'll quote you the true shipping cost.