I am new to Klipsch speakers with the recent purchase of a pair of KG4s from the original owner. I am a bit of an audiophile in that I have listened to music on AR speakers (4x. 2ax, 3a) my whole life and used to listen to a wide variety of music quite a lot. I am approaching 70 and my hearing is definitely not what it used to be. I mention this to put my story in a little perspective. My saga with the KG4s is that I listened to them for a while in their unmodified form with a Pioneer Elite DV48 CD/SACD player and a Sherwood 4109 receiver. They sounded very nice, though a little harsh in the high end. A-B ing with my AR2ax they were very comparable in character with the KG4 being a little more "forward" in terms of sound stage. I had read about the Crites mods and they sounded reasonable to me. I actually began by upgrading my amp to a Yamaha A S-500 just because I found one locally at a very good price. I was amazed at how much difference that made in terms of the dynamics and sound stage. Best word that I can think of is more "punch". Percussive sounds were all more defined and clean. There was still some noticeable harshness in the highs. Next, I redid the caps of the crossover with the Crites series 2 (Dayton) caps. I did not perceive any difference in sound from the cap replacement. So, I suppose my originals were still in spec. Next I did the tweeter swap. This did not change the character of the speaker but, I believe that it did take what I had perceived of as harshness. The highs seem to extend as far and the speakers presence is the same. The highs just hold together without breaking apart. My test for this is a recent recording of the Beethoven violin sonatas by Mutter. The combination of solo violin and piano really reveals any anomalies. The tweeter upgrade was noticeable on these recordings. Very clean on the attack of the piano and the bowing of the violin. I also tested on some female vocal tracks that i know very well and I am very pleased at how clean they sound. The sound is not night and day changed. That is good, as far as I am concerned. Are these speakers fatiguing to listen too? I would say, perhaps, if you are used to easy listening kind of background music. These speakers demand your attention just as serious music does. That may not be for everyone. Overall, I am very happy with these speakers and hope that my aging ears have some more years to enjoy them. BTW. has anyone done actual measurements of these tweeters compared to the originals? I seem to remember seeing something from Crites but, cannot put my finger on it.
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