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Klipsch kg 4.5 replacement

Zach Nelson

Zach Nelson

How deep is this rabbit hole?
I'm considering replacing my Klipsch kg 4.5's with some else. I would like to stay in the same price range. Something that is more well rounded. These kg4.5's just have muddy low end. Everything else about them is great. Ideas? Maybe a three way instead of a two way speaker.
 
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Zach Nelson said:
I'm considering replacing my Klipsch kg 4.5's with some else. I would like to stay in the same price range. Something that is more well rounded. These kg4.5's just have muddy low end. Everything else about them is great. Ideas? Maybe a three way instead of a two way speaker.
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Klipsch Forte, Chorus II.
 
You need to define your price range. Are you talking the cost of KG 4.5 new or current used market? I recently got a pair of KG 4.5, black, for around $240, including upgrades. Unless you find a score, it will be hard to find something better than the KG 4.5 for that amount.

Alternatively, have you rebuilt or upgraded the crossover? The woofer has a second order filter with an iron core inductor and a 33 uF electrolytic cap. It is worthwhile to replace the e-cap with a film. And replacing an iron core inductor with an air core inductor helps a lot with the bass. Crites sells an upgraded crossover for the KG 4.5.
 
RTally said:
You need to define your price range. Are you talking the cost of KG 4.5 new or current used market? I recently got a pair of KG 4.5, black, for around $240, including upgrades. Unless you find a score, it will be hard to find something better than the KG 4.5 for that amount.

Alternatively, have you rebuilt or upgraded the crossover? The woofer has a second order filter with an iron core inductor and a 33 uF electrolytic cap. It is worthwhile to replace the e-cap with a film. And replacing an iron core inductor with an air core inductor helps a lot with the bass. Crites sells an upgraded crossover for the KG 4.5.
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You think putting $200 into these would really make that much of a difference? I have done the crites tweeters, and that helped a ton.
 
Zach Nelson said:
You think putting $200 into these would really make that much of a difference? I have done the crites tweeters, and that helped a ton.
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I have no idea. It is your ears that need to be happy. I have the Crites diaphragms and I recapped the crossovers myself. I like the way my KGs sound.

Since you are not happy with the way your KGs sound, I think your options include:

1) play around with positioning of the speakers. Bass is funny, sometimes, with nodes and such.

2) recap the crossovers, either yourself or by buying the Crites crossovers

3) buy other speakers, equal to or better than what you have. Expect to pay upwards of $400 for used, better SQ speakers.
 
I’ve never owned the KG4.5 but I did own the smaller KG3.5. The only mod I ever did to them was put Dynamat Xtreme on the back of the horns and the woofer spokes. I prefer a 2-way over a 3-way for the simple fact that there’s only one crossover frequency. Of course there’s other criteria that have to be met in the design in order to have good results but that’s another topic. I don’t know how your speakers are set up in regards to nearby boundaries but I would first try repositioning them and/or some room treatment. Also you may want to try temporarily plugging up the ports with a towel or socks or whatever else you can find that will fit in there snug. Careful not to break the port. You’ll lose a little efficiency at/near the tuning frequency but the transients would be quicker. If you like how they sound then you can always find a better way to plug the ports while still being reversible. A test plug that’s used for plumbing would probably work good. You could always use an equalizer to cut back the offending frequencies too. Don’t give up on them just yet because one thing you’ll miss for sure if you buy different brand speakers is the efficiency of the Klipsch. Good luck.
 
Grab a pair of Lii Audio F15's and mount open baffle on MDF. Would sound great and not cost too much.... Whether you've the space is the question.
 
Zach Nelson said:
That is far from the same price range.
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I've known Forte and Chorus speakers to sell very low and I've seen folks trying to sell their KG___speakers for stupid money so no, they aren't "far from the same price range." Not only that but if the OP really wants to upgrade the sound he/she will have to kick out some dough.
 
"Crites tweeters" does that mean you changed the entire tweeter out or just the diaphragms?

Replacing old caps can actually improve bass performance. The 33 uf cap mentioned above in the woofer circuit may be affecting things.

You could do a recap for a LOT less than $200 if you can solder in new caps yourself. The inductor is a bit more tricky to do freelance as you'd need to match DC resistance on it. If Crites sells just the inductor upgrade that would be a way to go. But the caps are easy peasy.
 
toxcrusadr said:
"Crites tweeters" does that mean you changed the entire tweeter out or just the diaphragms?

Replacing old caps can actually improve bass performance. The 33 uf cap mentioned above in the woofer circuit may be affecting things.

You could do a recap for a LOT less than $200 if you can solder in new caps yourself. The inductor is a bit more tricky to do freelance as you'd need to match DC resistance on it. If Crites sells just the inductor upgrade that would be a way to go. But the caps are easy peasy.
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Yes I did the diaphragms. I did them on my regular kg4's first and couldn't believe the improvement, do shortly after I did the kg4.5's
 
Have you heard the Klipsch KG4? I mean if you like everything about the KG 4.5 except the low end, the KG4 uses a passive radiator instead of a port. I own a pair of KG4, and I keep them specifically because of their bass.
 
I guess one question would are you wedded to Klipsch? Have you tried other types of speakers? I had a pair of kg4s for years and had a love/hate relationship with them. Often large speakers from audiophile companies that are less popularly known than Klipsch go for a small fraction of their original cost on cl. Perhaps you could audition some in your price range.
 
Zach Nelson said:
I'm considering replacing my Klipsch kg 4.5's with some else. I would like to stay in the same price range. Something that is more well rounded. These kg4.5's just have muddy low end. Everything else about them is great. Ideas? Maybe a three way instead of a two way speaker.
Click to expand...

What is your price range? I'd look at the RP-600M. Or corresponding floor model if you want towers. The KG and RB line had a recessed midrange, which is why I think you're considering 3-way. The new RP line is a big improvement. Vintage ADS are good options. I've had L520's, L710's, and have listened to L810's. You could also look for some DCM timeframes or time windows.
 
I recently did the Crites diaphragms on my KG 5.2s. I am convinced something happened to the original phenolics in their past. I had been disappointed in the sound but the new diaphragms brought the upper end alive and now the tweeter and woofers are blending like a properly designed speaker. I checked when I pulled the tweeters and they were wired in right.

Playing with speaker placement can have a big impact on bass. I have several vintage receivers and an old Yamaha amp and some have boomier low ends than others, often speaker shifts of 6" to a foot forward, back, or to the sides can have a very noticeable effect. Closer to the wall tends to emphasize the bottom end more, forward usually brings it down.

You can have boom if you are really exciting a room mode. I had an apartment in Connecticut that had a living room very close to being square and my initial speaker placement when a bass guitar or other instrument hit a certain note it was like I got punched. There is some room mode plotting software you can use to help pick good speaker locations, used one of them and some experimentation and neutralized the boom. Depending on the room modes you can have boom and and potentially deader spots if speakers are in the wrong position relative to the listener. That was an exception I can usually just move each one in a similar way within a foot radius and usually find an acceptable bottom end after a few attempts based on the perceived changes the other shifts made.
 
dly66 said:
I recently did the Crites diaphragms on my KG 5.2s. I am convinced something happened to the original phenolics in their past. I had been disappointed in the sound but the new diaphragms brought the upper end alive and now the tweeter and woofers are blending like a properly designed speaker. I checked when I pulled the tweeters and they were wired in right.
Click to expand...

I had my 4.2's from new, never abused them, and had the same startling effect when installing the titaniums. The upper end came alive. I don't know if the phenolics age, or they were just not that great in the first place, but they don't have to be abused, overdriven, stored in a saltwater cave, or anything else for this to happen. :dunno: I sure liked them in '91 when I picked them out so who knows.
 
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