laatsch55
09-08-2010, 12:27 AM
Been waiting on the components most of the summer, and they finally made it.
The first upgrade was the Crites 1526S woofer. Designed after the 70's Klipsch K-33 cast housing driver. WOW, what a difference having the right driver for the cabinet.
After that I was intrigued to think a mid horn and tweeter swap out would produce the same dramatic improvement. I settled on Al Klappenbergers Trachorns which were made by Bill Martinelli of woodhorn.com. The specific model was the 420 2" throat horn with a B & C DCM 50 2" driver. The tweeter was changed out to a B & C DE 10 drver with an ME 10 horn.
The pics show the horns mounted in the original motorboard made for the stock drivers. A new board is being built.
Costs;
Crites 1526S Woofers-------------------------------------275.00/ Pair
420 Trachorns--------------------------------------------550.00/ Pair
B & C DCM 50 2" Drivers-----------------------------------760.00/ Pair
B & C DE 10, ME 10 Tweeters------------------------------115.00/ Pair
Total-------------------------1700.00
Not an insignificant sum, and if your cornerhorns are running a stock Klipsch or Speakerlab crossover you'll also have to have Al K's Universal X-over at least. I put the new Crossovers in a year ago and just doing that made a profound difference.-------------Crossovers(kit form) 390.00
So you ask, " After all that cash was it worth it?" OH YES!!!!!
The " make you cringe" harshness of the mid horn IS GONE. Very smooth, silky even. Better clarity, I'm hearing things on some source material I have not heard before, and the before was no slouch. An interesting quirk was the same SPL's I was getting at 300-350 watts I'm now getting at 150-200 watts.
After another week or so I'll Tri-amp with either a Pioneer SF 850 or the D-23. I've had to attenuate the new horns -9.5dB to get them to sound right to my ears. It will be interesting to dial em in with the electronic crossovers.
The first upgrade was the Crites 1526S woofer. Designed after the 70's Klipsch K-33 cast housing driver. WOW, what a difference having the right driver for the cabinet.
After that I was intrigued to think a mid horn and tweeter swap out would produce the same dramatic improvement. I settled on Al Klappenbergers Trachorns which were made by Bill Martinelli of woodhorn.com. The specific model was the 420 2" throat horn with a B & C DCM 50 2" driver. The tweeter was changed out to a B & C DE 10 drver with an ME 10 horn.
The pics show the horns mounted in the original motorboard made for the stock drivers. A new board is being built.
Costs;
Crites 1526S Woofers-------------------------------------275.00/ Pair
420 Trachorns--------------------------------------------550.00/ Pair
B & C DCM 50 2" Drivers-----------------------------------760.00/ Pair
B & C DE 10, ME 10 Tweeters------------------------------115.00/ Pair
Total-------------------------1700.00
Not an insignificant sum, and if your cornerhorns are running a stock Klipsch or Speakerlab crossover you'll also have to have Al K's Universal X-over at least. I put the new Crossovers in a year ago and just doing that made a profound difference.-------------Crossovers(kit form) 390.00
So you ask, " After all that cash was it worth it?" OH YES!!!!!
The " make you cringe" harshness of the mid horn IS GONE. Very smooth, silky even. Better clarity, I'm hearing things on some source material I have not heard before, and the before was no slouch. An interesting quirk was the same SPL's I was getting at 300-350 watts I'm now getting at 150-200 watts.
After another week or so I'll Tri-amp with either a Pioneer SF 850 or the D-23. I've had to attenuate the new horns -9.5dB to get them to sound right to my ears. It will be interesting to dial em in with the electronic crossovers.