[Richie_C]

I'm keen to try the KLH Model 5 upgrade.
I have a pair of these and I love the look of these speakers, yet I'm hoping to get a little more out of them sonically.

I recently upgraded a pair of Klipsch RP 6000F (with the GR kit) and to be honest (and surprisingly) I think they now sound a little better than my KLH Model 5s in their stock form.

I can't see here that anyone has performed the KLH upgrade. Might I be the first?
Hoping if/when I order the kit, I can get some more detailed instructions, or some help here.

The Klipsch upgrade kit had very very basic instructions (I'm a complete novice). But seeing as though others had completed the upgrade and shared their methods and some good pics here, it made it easier.

I feel pretty confident performing the required work/soldering etc, but getting some guidance on the layout would be super helpful.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

I think we've only sold 2-3 kits for that model.
But it's not a traditional upgrade like the 600M since we only had them for a few hours.

It's more of a cap swap than anything. Replacing the two small polycaps in the tweeter circuit for Sonicaps, and replacing the electrolytic cap in the mid circuit for a pair of polycaps in parallel, along with a set of tube connectors, and 3 sheets of Norez.

Model 5 crossover for reference:


The 2 caps in parallel that replace the electrolytic will need to be secured using a small board and jumper wires  since they're much too large to fit.

It will help to improve clarity & detail within the mid and treble, as well as tighten up the bass response, without changing the overall tone of the speaker.

Normally, we would also recommend replacing the resistors and removing the attenuator, but most of the resistor values are hidden and are also the larger 25W variety, so finding good quality replacement replacements wont be easy, since most good quality resistors fall in the 10-15W range. Bundling resistors in parallel would be necessary, but without seeing all 3 values, we just that section alone.

We do have a couple "after" pictures we can share with you if you email us.

[Richie_C]

nice one, thanks for the info Hobbs

the before and after pics would be super helpful

keep an eye out for an e-mail and an order (destination QLD Australia) in the coming days

Richie

[mkrawcz]

I have a pair and replaced the 2 smaller caps and the electrolytic cap. The caps are glued to the board and you will need to cut the glue with a hobby knife and pretty much destroy the old caps to get them off the board. A pair of Solen poly caps will be needed to replace the electrolytic cap. Those caps will need to be mounted on their own little board in front of the main crossover with some wire going to the holes on the main board. As big as the speaker is, the crossover is mounted right in the middle and there is just enough room for the Solen caps in front. I haven’t done any other mods to the speakers other than the Sonicaps/Solen caps. The speakers where good before the caps, now they are excellent after the mod.

[mkrawcz]

I can’t find a picture of it all completed, but here is the modded crossover with the jumper wires.

[Richie_C]

thanks for sharing mkrawcz, much appreciated

[Richie_C]

[Rocket]

Hi,

What do you think of the modification? Looks like a straightforward swap of capacitors.

Cheers Rod

[mkrawcz]

You will notice things improve a lot over about 25-50hrs with those caps. One other thing I noticed about the KLH is that bass woofer takes forever to loosen up when new. I think most reviewers haven’t really listened to these speakers at their potential. The bass/lower mid is not at its full potential for at least 100 hrs of use. They really need a long break in with some dynamic music. But once everything is broken in, these speakers are outstanding for the money. The clarity and detail goes up dramatically just by swapping out the caps. Do they image and soundstage like NX-Oticas? No, but they do a decent job nonetheless, and they are just a really enjoyable speaker to listen to. One of my personal favorites.