My KPT-904 Adventure

ictwoody

I like vintage gear — my preamp is from 2007.
I am starting this thread to show off, er... Document my experiments with my newish to me KPT-904's. I almost had the chance to purchase some of these massive beasts a couple years ago, but the deal never happened. A couple months ago I had the chance to snag a pair for a very good price, so I jumped on them.

These started out as 450 bass bins and then the compression driver and horn were swapped to make them essentially into 904's. I have some EAW horns with them instead of the 510, but that was part of why I got such a good deal. I can buy 510's down the road at cost if I want to give them a try... But the PO and a couple of other guys said they AB's the horns and heard little to no difference. I think the EAWs look a little cooler cause they are bigger. Dumb, but that's how I think.

Talking to Bill Hendrix, who some of you might be familiar with from the Klipsch forums he said that when he did HT installs using 904's that the active crossovers and correction software would always bump the BB's up by 2db and take the horn down by 1-2db. This was compensation for how they come from the factory since they are designed to be behind a screen.

He and Bob Crites spoke and worked out a new set of networks for me which should do the trick. Received them yesterday. See pics. They called the crossover the KPT-904-Bal, for balanced input.

Here's a photo of the room in my new place where the 904's will reside. And also a photo of the Crites crossover networks.

The speakers are apart right now to get repainted to look less "pro audio." Hoping to have them back together and in the room in the next month... Depends on my painters schedule.

Tune in for updates.

- Woody

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Nice space & nice story.

Watchout for what Bill tells you, he's a shifty character....:scratch2: :thmbsp:
 
Nice space & nice story.



Watchout for what Bill tells you, he's a shifty character....:scratch2: :thmbsp:


You think he's shifty... You should meet his son! :) He is passionate about Klipsch, that's for sure. To a fault perhaps? Who knows.

This isn't my reference system, but I think it's gonna still sound quite good. I won't be treating this room a lot... So it'll be very interesting. I just got a very good deal on a Red Wine Audio Signature 16 integrated to run them. The noise floor is very low and I think it'll be a nice pairing.

- Woody

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And here's a before of one of the stripped apart bass bins.

- Woody

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No disrespect meant but I'd reserve judgment on them (for better or worse) as long as that room stays like it is. Those should be some very (very) fine sounding speakers.

I personally think it would be hard to improve on those (yes, I'm a fan of Klipsch too). If those have the K510 horn on top, I'd dare-say that you have one of the better horns from Klipsch, only bettered by the much larger K402.

Disclosure: I have (on a different speaker) both the K510 (atop a LaScala) and a pair of the K402's (atop Jubilee bass bins).
 
I am considering having some steel bases made to attach to the bottom similar to the t-shaped sound anchor stands on Vandersteens. My rationale is that I can have them built in such a way as to easily attach casters to move these around... Even into the 12x18' treated room which is where my reference system will reside. They will definitely be fun to play with.

The 510 might be on my short list to purchase in the spring. It'll be an interesting comparison with the EAW's I have.

- Woody


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I'm not familiar with the Vandersteen stands.... (not that it matters)

That said, if it were me, here's what I'd do.

Build a dolly, much like that in the picture. Build a bit of a lip on the dolly so the speaker sits IN the lip area and will be held in. The next idea was stolen from (I think) the Klipsch site.... but, make the lip a bit deeper so that it acts like a skirt and hides the wheels, looking more like a built in base for the speaker box.

This way you simply sit the speaker onto the platform verses mounting (screwing) anything to the speaker itself.
 
I'm not familiar with the Vandersteen stands.... (not that it matters)

That said, if it were me, here's what I'd do.

Build a dolly, much like that in the picture. Build a bit of a lip on the dolly so the speaker sits IN the lip area and will be held in. The next idea was stolen from (I think) the Klipsch site.... but, make the lip a bit deeper so that it acts like a skirt and hides the wheels, looking more like a built in base for the speaker box.

This way you simply sit the speaker onto the platform verses mounting (screwing) anything to the speaker itself.


I saw your thoughts on these in the other thread... Lots to think about. My idea would use the already existing holes the existing feet mount in. I kinda dig an industrial esthetic, so having the base/stand/cart part exposed I think might be kinda cool.

Here's what the Vandersteen bases look like. T-shaped. So it would be a big 2"x4" piece of steel across the front edge that extended past the left and right edges of the speaker. I'll sand fill them to add mass and the t-shape will allow a little bit of tilt adjustment... And help with the fact that areas of my old floor aren't perfectly flat.

- Woody

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Showing my ignorance... those are the bottoms? Meaning, they would "fall towards the camera" to be in correct position and the speaker would rest upon what is (in the picture) the back side?

I like the idea of 3-point if so.... it will always be stable regardless of your floor. (I'm presuming you know that)
 
Showing my ignorance... those are the bottoms? Meaning, they would "fall towards the camera" to be in correct position and the speaker would rest upon what is (in the picture) the back side?

I like the idea of 3-point if so.... it will always be stable regardless of your floor. (I'm presuming you know that)


Yes, you are correct. I just googled that image since it seemed to show their construction the best. And yes, I agree with you about the 3-point contact... Since my floors are a little wonky (over 100yrs old in spots.)

I have a great steel fab guy and they will probably cost me under $100 to have fab'd up. I have the design in my head... Need to just put pen to paper/computer.

- Woody


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you want to have two spikes one each at the front left and right of the cabinet and the third spike centre back. Best regards Moray James.
 
you want to have two spikes one each at the front left and right of the cabinet and the third spike centre back. Best regards Moray James.


Yup... That's the plan. I think I might have the legs extend out, like outriggers and the back one will be some sort of adjustable foot/spike to adjust tilt. Or maybe only the back one extends out. I want to be able to pop casters off and on to move them... But I do want something more solid for use.

- Woody


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Look what I finally had time to re-assemble today. So glad they aren't just all black now. I think people either love or hate that I had the horn painted orange... But they are already obnoxiously big so who cares! I like it.

Didn't have time to really listen a lot, but a lot of fun so far. I just have them sitting on furniture dollies for the time being for easy moving.

Current setup is MacBook Pro > Schiit Modi2 Uber (or) Teac PD-H600 > Red Wine Audio Signature 16 (with an excellent Amperex 7308 tube) > home brew Canare 4s11 speaker cables > Klipsch's.

- Woody

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Couple more pics. I know you guys love pics.

- Woody

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Thanks that is not a Klipsch part but it is a very good one. You did a real nice job with the speakers they look great and I sure like the orange on the horn especially with the brick. You might want to play with some 25 - 30 PPI open cell foam in the horn throat and the vertical diffraction slot especially if you like to play loud. Best regards Moray James.

current 904's ship with the B&C de-750 on them so I apologize for my error above
 
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You might want to play with some 25 - 30 PPI open cell foam in the horn throat and the vertical diffraction slot especially if you like to play loud.

I actually wondered about something like that. Do you have a good source for some appropriate foam? It would be interesting to play with.

- Woody
 
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