Klipsch Chorus I Upgrades

[Will2225]

I recently picked up a pair of Chorus I speakers that I've started to modify and I wanted to share some thoughts on the upgrades so far and ask what else might be done. So far I've upgraded the tweeter diaphragms with Crites titanium ones, recapped the crossovers with sonicaps, and added port tubes to the front that are about four or five inches long. The titanium tweeter diaphragms are a must. They definitely add clarity and reach higher then before. Recapping the crossovers was actually very easy once I realized that I could trim the leads off the old capacitors, wrap the old leads with the new ones and then sodder. I would definitely recommend doing it this way if you're a beginner like me. I refurbished some Heresy II speakers before with Bob crites completed crossovers instead of recapping them myself. While it's easier to buy the assembled crossovers I really do think it's such a better bargain to recap them yourselves. I did one chorus speaker at a time and noticed a big difference between them. Also a hiss that was noticeable in one of the speakers tweeters went away completely. The port tubes were a very pleasant surprise for me. I initially tried making some temp tubes out of thick paper stock 7inch long as recommended but I found the bass was overpowering and the mid-range too receded for my liking. All in all I'm very happy with the speakers, although they are huge! I'll add some photos to show the condition they're in. Also, are there any more modifications I could do? I'm curious about how far I can improve these speakers and if anyone has any opinions on the chorus I speakers compared to other vintage Klipsch.

 

[RJBarton]

Nice.

 

[Will2225]

 

[Bugetnirvana]

I did the caps and titanium diaphragms on my quartets as well. I agree they are excellent upgrades. Just curious, how would you describe the difference the port tubes made? As far as further upgrades you might consider some additional bracing to stiffen up the cabs. I waited on a pair of Chorus 1's that were up for sale locally and the next day they were gone. I wish I would have jumped on them.

 

[Will2225]

I did the caps and titanium diaphragms on my quartets as well. I agree they are excellent upgrades. Just curious, how would you describe the difference the port tubes made? As far as further upgrades you might consider some additional bracing to stiffen up the cabs. I waited on a pair of Chorus 1's that were up for sale locally and the next day they were gone. I wish I would have jumped on them.

The Port tubes definitely add more bass and the speakers dig a little deeper with them. I found without the added port tubes the bass was good but not great. Now I really don't need to use my subwoofer for most of the music I listen to. I bought these for $630 locally. It's tough to tell from reading online if that's really a good price. I've seen prices range from 400 to 900 locally on Craigslist, and considering these are in great shape I think I did pretty well.

 

[tubetime]

You may want to check you woofers for sag. I rotated mine 180 degrees about a year ago.

 

[moray james]

You may want to check you woofers for sag. I rotated mine 180 degrees about a year ago.

don't check just do it, every ten years is a good time, you can see how your gaskets are holding out (and replace when necessary) and tighten up your spade connectors and add a tooth pick or two with some white glue to all the screw holes to make sure the screws stay snug.

 

[Will2225]

don't check just do it, every ten years is a good time, you can see how your gaskets are holding out (and replace when necessary) and tighten up your spade connectors and add a tooth pick or two with some white glue to all the screw holes to make sure the screws stay snug.

I never thought to check the woofers for sagging. They seem to be in really good shape but I'll rotate them anyways. The gaskets seem to be in great shape so I think I'll leave them for now. I'm wondering if anyone knows if there's a good option to upgrade the diaphragms in the mid horn. Also is there a thread that explains how to add more internal bracing?

 

[moray james]

I never thought to check the woofers for sagging. They seem to be in really good shape but I'll rotate them anyways. The gaskets seem to be in great shape so I think I'll leave them for now. I'm wondering if anyone knows if there's a good option to upgrade the diaphragms in the mid horn. Also is there a thread that explains how to add more internal bracing?

Bob Crites has a mid driver diaphragm which is phenolic and imo it is a better sounding phenolic diaphragm than the stock Klipsch phenolic diaphragm. That said I feel that the ti mid diaphragm made only by Klipsch and sold only through Simply Speakers is by far the best sounding option.Below are photos of the inside of my Quartet all braces are 33/4" ply cut 2" wide mounted on the narrow edge. Stringers can also be 3/4"x2". Install a horizontal brace wbove the woofer and between the mid horn and the tweeter and also above the passive. minimal material optimum stiffness.

 

[Will2225]

Bob Crites has a mid driver diaphragm which is phenolic and imo it is a better sounding phenolic diaphragm than the stock Klipsch phenolic diaphragm. That said I feel that the ti mid diaphragm made only by Klipsch and sold only through Simply Speakers is by far the best sounding option.Below are photos of the inside of my Quartet all braces are 33/4" ply cut 2" wide mounted on the narrow edge. Stringers can also be 3/4"x2". Install a horizontal brace wbove the woofer and between the mid horn and the tweeter and also above the passive. minimal material optimum stiffness.

Thanks for the details on adding bracing to the cabinet. It looks like it might be a bit more involved than I'm able to do myself but I'm going to consider it. I'm having trouble figuring out which is the right titanium mid diaphragm on simply speakers. Could you post a link for the right ones?

 

[Bugetnirvana]

I saw a thread (dont recall what thread exactly) where a member asked about upgrading the Mid diaphragms and Bob chimed in and stated that changing the diaphragms to titanium on the tweeters works out fine but doing it on the mids would necessitate adjustments in the crossover network to make things correct again. After changing out some of my tweeters and comparing I can believe it. They seem to operate on another plateau.

 

[moray james]

I saw a thread (dont recall what thread exactly) where a member asked about upgrading the Mid diaphragms and Bob chimed in and stated that changing the diaphragms to titanium on the tweeters works out fine but doing it on the mids would necessitate adjustments in the crossover network to make things correct again. After changing out some of my tweeters and comparing I can believe it. They seem to operate on another plateau.

Bob will tell you that he agrees with Klipsch and he uses an additional small high frequency filter you can tag on to your network I have installed around eight sets of ti mid diaphragms and I don't hear the need nor do I like the way Klipsch does it. That said I do modifications to all my klipsch drives including the compression drives and I damp them internally with F11 acoustical felt and dynamat. Never the less you can install a set of ti mid diaphragms and play them really loud all day for a month and you should smooth them out a lot then you can decide if you want to try the networks or not, there is no reason that the networks must be used to protect the driver it is simply a balance issue. So my suggestion is to burn them in well and then weigh your options. If you want to try modifying the drivers you can look at that them but if you don't have any experience doing that I would recommend you leave them stock and try the network. I have speakers with and without the network so I know what they sound like and both ways will work. This will turn into a situation where you need to add the filter or you won't depending on your hearing preference. Give simply speaker a call they will sort out the numbers. The ti mid diaphragm make a much larger impact than the ti tweeter diaphragms do in my opinion (do both tweeter and mid). Hope this helps.

 

[Will2225]

Bob will tell you that he agrees with Klipsch and he uses an additional small high frequency filter you can tag on to your network I have installed around eight sets of ti mid diaphragms and I don't hear the need no do I like the way Klipsch does it. That said I do modifications to all my klipsch drives including the compression drives and I damp them internally with Fll acoustical felt and dynamat. Never the less you can install a st of ti mid diaphragm play them really lout all day foe a month and you should smooth them out a lot then you can decide if you want to try the networks or not there is no reason that they must be used to protect the driver it is simply a balance issue. So my suggestion is to burn them in well and then weigh your options. If you want to try modifying the drivers you can look at that them bu if you don't have any experience doing that I would recommend you leave them stock and try the network. I have speakers with and without the network so I know what they sound like and both ways will work. This will turn into a situation where you need to add the filter or you won't depending on your hearing preference. Give simply speaker a call they will sort out the numbers. The ti mid diaphragm make a much larger impact than the ti tweeter diaphragms do in my opinion (do both tweeter and mid). Hope this helps.

That's very helpful to know. I'm surprised that the mid diagraphm upgrade makes such a big difference. I loved the change the titanium tweeter diaphragms made so I'll definitely have to give simply speakers a call and figure out which is the right part/cost.

 

[moray james]

That's very helpful to know. I'm surprised that the mid diagraphm upgrade makes such a big difference. I loved the change the titanium tweeter diaphragms made so I'll definitely have to give simply speakers a call and figure out which is the right part/cost.

I fail to understand why you are surprised that the ti mid diaphragm makes a larger impact than the tweeter diaphragm. The tweeter functions above 6KHz and up this is all harmonics it reproduces zero fundamentals just harmonics the mid diaphragm covers all your fundamental frequencies. As PWK said "we live in the midrange". What more could I say?

 

[Bugetnirvana]

Bob will tell you that he agrees with Klipsch and he uses an additional small high frequency filter you can tag on to your network I have installed around eight sets of ti mid diaphragms and I don't hear the need nor do I like the way Klipsch does it. That said I do modifications to all my klipsch drives including the compression drives and I damp them internally with F11 acoustical felt and dynamat. Never the less you can install a set of ti mid diaphragms and play them really loud all day for a month and you should smooth them out a lot then you can decide if you want to try the networks or not, there is no reason that the networks must be used to protect the driver it is simply a balance issue. So my suggestion is to burn them in well and then weigh your options. If you want to try modifying the drivers you can look at that them but if you don't have any experience doing that I would recommend you leave them stock and try the network. I have speakers with and without the network so I know what they sound like and both ways will work. This will turn into a situation where you need to add the filter or you won't depending on your hearing preference. Give simply speaker a call they will sort out the numbers. The ti mid diaphragm make a much larger impact than the ti tweeter diaphragms do in my opinion (do both tweeter and mid). Hope this helps.

Interesting. So the improvement with titanium for high frequencies is pretty obvious, they are more light and crisp and reach higher. But how do they enhance the mids? Smoother I expect. ?? Ive never heard them in midrange horns. And what's up with the diaphragm switch on the Heresy IV's from ti to whatever material it is they are using now?

 

[Will2225]

I fail to understand why you are surprised that the ti mid diaphragm makes a larger impact than the tweeter diaphragm. The tweeter functions above 6KHz and up this is all harmonics it reproduces zero fundamentals just harmonics the mid diaphragm covers all your fundamental frequencies. As PWK said "we live in the midrange". What more could I say?

You make a very good point. I guess I was surprised because I thought I had read that not everyone likes the titanium mid-range diagraphm over the phenolic. I must have been mistaken though. Thank you for the advice.

 

[moray james]

You make a very good point. I guess I was surprised because I thought I had read that not everyone likes the titanium mid-range diaphragm over the phenolic. I must have been mistaken though. Thank you for the advice.

ti has a lower structural resonance than aluminum does around 8.5KHz and some folks can't stand it but fortunately the number is relatively small. Ti does not work harden and aluminum does so if you slap a ti diaphragm into a phase plug it is usually not a big deal do that with aluminum and it will either crack and or shatter on the spot or it will later as the metal hardens. that was what drove manufacturers to ti in the first place fewer replacements but aluminum is a better sounding material.
Some of the plastic resins are very well behaved and self damp and they don't have cracking issues.. Phenolic has a nice smooth sound if you like it don't bother to switch. You can play louder with the ti and Aluminum diaphragms than with the phenolic ones.

 

[Chorus1fan]

https://community.klipsch.com/index...orus-1-build-thread-port-modsbracing-testing/

Maybe some of this info will help. I ever end up with another pair, I would do EXACTLY the same thing...

 

[CPRaudio]

Resurrecting an older thread but would the OP mind stating what floor pads you are using. From the pics They are black and quite large; I am rehabbing some Chorus I and need some. Thanks.

 

[Swokie63]

Resurrecting an older thread but would the OP mind stating what floor pads you are using. From the pics They are black and quite large; I am rehabbing some Chorus I and need some. Thanks.

that was the first thing I noticed when looking at the pics.. Iso Acoustics has large pucks for big speakers..
But it seems that they were used more for tilting the Chorus's up, rather than isolating them from the wood floor.. (none under the rear of the spkrs)..