Klipsch KLF-20 vs. RF-7 speakers

Crossovers are the key to moving these speakers to another level... A friend and myself decided one week to take an already great pair of mint RF3's using Dual 8's and a horn tweet/mid, we built a real serious pair of outboard crossovers eliminating the internal monster cable harness, and the real cheesy 3 inch square computer grade crossover... We used Goertz 12 gauge ribbon inductors, Mundorf silver caps, and I think it was either Vishay or Eagle Resistor .. We called klipsch and they gave us the official schematic cause the speaker was out of production, so we matched all values to a T'... Unbelievable advances in everything, like adding tubes, and a new Source like a quality DAC. It had about a 3db increase in sound pressure cause the volume was now way lower on the same amp, and the Bass was literally like adding a solid 12" sub somewhere in the room, no joke. Beyond that the Control physically of the drivers was like a VISE, the 8's now bareley moved and sounded so much cleaner. It was worth the couple hundred no doubt, Plus in some of the klipsch 2 way or I guess might be 2.5 ways there are very few parts, it seems they are 1st order's, cause only had 6 parts total on each board and we built them still with the Biwire posts.. I also did this to a pair of Cornwalls, it helped but was not as dramatic cause due to the 3 way it cost a lot more to use the same caliber of components that we did with the reference series, the biggest difference and Mistake in this case we believe building the cornwalls was that we ended up with Simple Solen 14 gauge inductors and they were built physically with much smaller parts to get away from just building seprate cabinets for outboards.. That was a pretty big difference though.

I found that the higher quality gear you go with, the less difference and more subtle the cross-over change becomes. It's all really subjective but someone who does the cross-overs for money will be even more less objective about them. I had my RF-7's crossovers upgraded and what I did notice, is that it tampered with the dead-on center of the vocals that I so highly liked. It widened the vocals that wasn't as realistic as the dead-center vocals like Klipsch intended it for..... as if the singer was right there in front of you in that spot. I had to trade my crossovers with another RF-7 owner to get the well-made Klipsch crossover sound back that I so enjoy. The crossover change reminded me of the wide button on some amps, making the sound wider but taking away in other areas to do so. It wasn't my cup of tea.

Banders,

I've upgraded 4 pairs of Klipsch speaker xover networks and not once did I ever run into what you've described. Whoever upgraded your RF-7 xover networks probably messed them up. Out of the almost 50-75 people that I talk to on the Klipsch forum, not a single person has ever described what you are talking about. Further proof that the person who upgraded your RF-7 xover network.

It's unfortunate because it has left a bad taste in your mouth about upgraded xover networks. The truth is "you have never truly heard a Klipsch speaker until you've upgraded the xover network."

Hey all,
Many thanks AGAIN for the continuing comments!
Excellent Listening!
John

I have to agree 100% with banders@smart.com I bought a pair of the Klipsch KLF-20's brand new and went through replacing the tweeters and the mid horn with titanium versions and it was just way to bright for my wife and I. This was also done at the same time having the cross overs upgraded and yes the cross overs were the right kind and the most expensive ones to buy. I experienced a similar sound that banders@smart.com went through and my wife and I just did not like what we heard. We also invited friends over and had them bring their own music in order to hear the speakers with all the upgrades and before we made the speakers back to the way they were. All agreed that the 20's sounded much better and a lot smoother and less harsh sounding with their original diaphragms put back in. My 20's are still in my living room after 15 years and sounding just like day one hooked up to a Meridian G57 Power Amp, Classe CP-47.5 pre amp, Onkyo T-4711 Tuner and a Denon DCD-3000 CD Player, and Audioquest wires. You should hear Frank Sinatra voice coming out of those Mid-Range horns, wonderful, just wonderful. banders@smart.com, I have to say you really do know what you are talking about when you say along the lines of using higher quality electronics for the better sound. I would put my 20's with their original diaphragms against anybody's horn speaker with titanium diaphragms anyday.