Klf 20 Upgrade?

ClpshHrn

ClpshHrn

Active Member
My dad over the past 22 years has accumulated a respectable collection of audio equipment. This is great news for me. I, a 17 year old boy, live in the basement of a house we just moved too. One of the speakers he has is a pair of Klipsch Klf 20. These things are paired with a carver tfm 35 which gets them singing. After listening for a while it becomes very apparent that the left speaker has a bad tweeter the shrieks in pain with any power. My question is whether or not a crites upgrade is a must when I replace the tweeter.

Another thing is that the same speaker has bad baffles so when there is a lot of bass I can hear holes in the cabinet. My main thing is that I don't wanna tear these things apart without messing up royally. I just want to get some advice from everyone here. Thanks
 
KLF speakers are known to have the glue come loose over time so it's very likely this is what you are hearing. I've never owned a pair, but it seems like it should be fairly easy to pry open once you find a good spot. I would definitely check Klipsch forums for more information before going ahead. You may need to unscrew the woofers and get access/leverage from inside the cabinet. As for the tweeter, it's possible Klipsch also has replacements available. Otherwise search Bob Crites as he may have what you need.
 
No, you won't wow with the change in diaphragms. You should notice the change. Over longer listening sessions and with the right material, you'll find less ear fatigue and smoother high end.
That's been my experience. And for $30 each? No brainer, IMO.
Guess what - I just found a spare pair of new Ti's in my basement, from a few years ago. And I probably just live down the street from you. I could have saved you shipping. :)
 
Dingman said:
No, you won't wow with the change in diaphragms. You should notice the change. Over longer listening sessions and with the right material, you'll find less ear fatigue and smoother high end.
That's been my experience. And for $30 each? No brainer, IMO.
Guess what - I just found a spare pair of new Ti's in my basement, from a few years ago. And I probably just live down the street from you. I could have saved you shipping. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the offer. I do hope I notice a difference though. Just by chance do you also use the ti diaphragms for the mids? I might pull the trigger on those too, but I want to make sure they are worth the money.
 
I do not have the mid Ti's. I'd like to get a set tho. From what I've read, they should fill in nicely - but of course, the result of these changes can be subjective.

Ya, I think you'll notice a change - but it won't be dramatic, nor should it be.
 
Dingman said:
I do not have the mid Ti's. I'd like to get a set tho. From what I've read, they should fill in nicely - but of course, the result of these changes can be subjective.

Ya, I think you'll notice a change - but it won't be dramatic, nor should it be.
Click to expand...
I'm just skeptical because there wasn't anything necessarily wrong with the klf mid diaphragms. I'm assuming if you got the ti mid diaphragms and a crites crossover it would take advantage of it off the increase in range.
 
I wouldn't bother with the Ti mids, you have to modify the crossover to use them. The Ti tweeter diaphrams are quite an upgrade over the stock poly (plastic) ones.
 
A quote from Bob Crites, "This Ti diaphragm goes higher than the original phenolic, so is always used with a mid-range band-pass circuit in the crossovers that use it from the factory." I personally have found the mid-range change to the Ti beneficial and consider it an upgrade in my room, with my speakers, in surround sound, listening to movies and tv, with audyssey correction, with my ears. Your room, usage, equipment, ears, and budget my not agree. Oh yeah, and don't forget you will not get a return of investment either, no one pays overprice for these kinds of "upgrades", so if you plan to sell, you take the loss. To sell, you would need to convert back to stock and sell the parts for less then you paid to someone else looking to do the same thing.
 
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I have a pair of KLF20s. Did the Crites tweeter upgrade and also fixed the front and rear baffles. I knew they would need fixing when I purchased them. it is a job. You have to carefully tap/hammer out the boards. Some of the glue will still be solid so expect some delam of the baffles in a few places. You then have to clean up the KLF20 Brace.jpg lue with chisel/scraper etc. Many also suggest installing more cabinet braces, especially between the 2 woofers. Then glue. I used gorilla urethane.. bad bad news at it will always expand more than you expect and make a total mess. Use normal wood glue...
 
I too have just purchased a pair of the KLF-20's in the light oak. No separation on them yet, will cross that bridge when I come to it. I have also ordered the titanium tweeter replacements and the crossover rebuild kit. Should be on the way this week. I didn't get the mid diaphragm replacement.

That said, how did your project go? Have you got everything installed and how does it sound.

I have been running RF3 II's and really liked them. I am still getting used to the sound of the KLF-20's at this point. I know the KLF-20 are supposed to be a superior speaker, but I think I still like or at least am used to the sound of the RF3. We'll see if the new caps and diaphragms make the difference.
 
Dingman said:
I do not have the mid Ti's. I'd like to get a set tho. From what I've read, they should fill in nicely - but of course, the result of these changes can be subjective.

Ya, I think you'll notice a change - but it won't be dramatic, nor should it be.
Click to expand...

As far as the mids go....I've had the stock, titanium, Bob's phenolic and the A-55-G mid drivers (phenolic diaphrams).

The A-55-G's with the phenolic diaphrams were by far the best sounding. The titanium just didn't integrate well. For the price, I was happy with Bob's phenolic mids but like I said....the A-55-G'S win by a large margin. Cleaner, smoother and fuller sounding.

I have these in the 30's. If they are available for the 20's, definitely go for it.
 
smokinone said:
I too have just purchased a pair of the KLF-20's in the light oak. No separation on them yet, will cross that bridge when I come to it. I have also ordered the titanium tweeter replacements and the crossover rebuild kit. Should be on the way this week. I didn't get the mid diaphragm replacement.

That said, how did your project go? Have you got everything installed and how does it sound.

I have been running RF3 II's and really liked them. I am still getting used to the sound of the KLF-20's at this point. I know the KLF-20 are supposed to be a superior speaker, but I think I still like or at least am used to the sound of the RF3. We'll see if the new caps and diaphragms make the difference.
Click to expand...
I have only replaced the tweeters and they took the speakers to another level in terms of clarity and smoothness on the high end. Worthy purchase
 
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