Type A to type AA help needed

Dan2021

Active Member
My dad bought type A crossovers years ago from crites for his late 80’s la scalas. Since then he’s blown out several k77 tweeters. When he originally bought his crites replacement crossovers they didn’t warn him that A crossovers didn’t have tweeter protection, so he found out the hard way. Anyways, he called Michael crites to try and get the parts and a little help but hasn’t got much of a response. Does anyone know what parts he needs to convert his A’s to AA’s or at least the tweeter protection? Any links to parts would be helpful too. Last we did think about selling his A’s and just buying AA’s, but man crites prices have nearly doubled on everything. Crazy expensive now. Any help would be appreciated. Below is a pic of his current crossovers.
 

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My dad bought type A crossovers years ago from crites for his late 80’s la scalas. Since then he’s blown out several k77 tweeters. When he originally bought his crites replacement crossovers they didn’t warn him that A crossovers didn’t have tweeter protection, so he found out the hard way. Anyways, he called Michael crites to try and get the parts and a little help but hasn’t got much of a response. Does anyone know what parts he needs to convert his A’s to AA’s or at least the tweeter protection? Any links to parts would be helpful too. Last we did think about selling his A’s and just buying AA’s, but man crites prices have nearly doubled on everything. Crazy expensive now. Any help would be appreciated. Below is a pic of his current crossovers.
That's unusual. I've always got even more info than I asked for when dealing with Bob or Mike. Mike is sometimes hard to get to talk to but once I do he's always been very helpful.
 
Many of the Crites schematics are posted on ebay along with the crossover kits
 
My dad bought type A crossovers years ago from crites for his late 80’s la scalas. Since then he’s blown out several k77 tweeters. When he originally bought his crites replacement crossovers they didn’t warn him that A crossovers didn’t have tweeter protection, so he found out the hard way. Anyways, he called Michael crites to try and get the parts and a little help but hasn’t got much of a response. Does anyone know what parts he needs to convert his A’s to AA’s or at least the tweeter protection? Any links to parts would be helpful too. Last we did think about selling his A’s and just buying AA’s, but man crites prices have nearly doubled on everything. Crazy expensive now. Any help would be appreciated. Below is a pic of his current crossovers.


The main differences are in the tweeter circuit where the Type A uses a single 2uf capacitor and the Type AA uses (2) 2uf caps, (1) .245uf coil, and the Zener diodes. Those diodes are out there but are quite pricey. When I built a set of AA's from scratch, I didn't use the zener diodes BUT I wasn't running K77's either.

For the money you'll spend on changing to the AA's, you could probably just buy a pair of the Crites CT125 tweeters which are more durable. (no affilliation) Or, just find a pair of Type AA's on e b a y and then sell what you have.

As far as Crites not "warning" him, I don't thing that's really their fault as not everyone blew up tweeters. That would be like going to buy a new Dodge Hellcat and them warning the new owner that the car could kill them if they drove the car too fast. Someone is in control of the throttle.
 

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That's unusual. I've always got even more info than I asked for when dealing with Bob or Mike. Mike is sometimes hard to get to talk to but once I do he's always been very helpful.
Yeah I’m sure he was just busy, we did hear back from him and he’s sending us the parts.
 
Okay so we have the parts on the way. If anyone has a crites type AA crossover, would you mind taking a few good quality pics (maybe even with the wires lifted so we can see exactly where they come and go. We’re slowly figuring it out, but some pics of a crites AA crossover would help us match things up with the schematic and learn how it works.
 
Okay so we have the parts on the way. If anyone has a crites type AA crossover, would you mind taking a few good quality pics (maybe even with the wires lifted so we can see exactly where they come and go. We’re slowly figuring it out, but some pics of a crites AA crossover would help us match things up with the schematic and learn how it works.

Are you using zener diodes or not? If not, just use the diagram above....they are easy. Here's a pair of AA's I built a few years back. It's not that tough.

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Alright we got the AA crossovers finished tonight with several calls to Michael crites. He’s a great guy, was super helpful and got us up and going. The crossovers sound much better than A’s and it’s nice having the tweeter protection. Now it’s nice know how crossovers work. Below are the before and after pics- Last, I highly recommend Michael crites and his products, he’s always there for support and parts when needed.
 

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Probably too late....but two/three comments.

1. I certainly understand trying to keep these as your father heard them
2. Have you ever thought about upgrading them to a 2-way speaker?
3. You can get an active crossover (need 4-channels of amplification), drop the Klipsch 402 or 510 on top and in comparison, make what you're hearing today sound more like a toy speaker.


I'm not bashing on the stock LaScala... I've owned a pair for decades. I've also owned a pair of 402's for a very long time now and have heard them side by side...... it is not a subtle difference (improvement)

Interestingly enough, it was when I was at a Klipsch gathering in Hope, along with 20 other people, one being Bob Crites..... when we heard some of these things side by side and it is he, who I quote (paraphrase) above as saying "Once you've heard these bigger horns, they sort of make the others sound like toy speakers" He was referring to the LaScala at the moment as that is what we were listening to.
 
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