• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Replacement Xovers for Kappa 9

MiamiBoy

MiamiBoy

Active Member
Interesting and very detailed listing on Ebay by company offering replacement crossovers for Kappa 7, 8 and 9's. Anyone ever used these xovers or know of the results? They are very up front in explaining that it will convert a Kappa 9 into a three way speaker. I have recapped both my K9 speakers so when I look closely at their picture of the replacement xovers I see very small capacitors which look like low cost Parts Express Dayton caps. I am not passing judgement because the company seems very legit and they are up front in what they are selling. But how can such a simple xover replace a Kappa 9's xover and sound better?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Infinit...hash=item5648eadeab:m:mjiaMvhZslz7nXxrQylaAxA
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
They look familiar. I think there is a thread about someone trying those a couple years ago. Do not remember the outcome...I'll see if I can locate it.
 
Seems like some serious second-guessing of the original designers' intentions. BTW, the original specs claim -3dB @ 29hz, the chart on this auction show it to be down about 10dB at the same frequency. I believe the circuitry in the K8/K9 crossover has a bit to do with the original's low frequency response.
 
How good can they be, their new crossover crosses the woofers over at 900 Hz, The kappa 7's woofer was crossed over at 800 Hz and most people who had them said that they liked the sound of the kappa 8 much better because of the mid bass driver, I think 900 Hz is way to high for that 12 inch woofer, infinity designed it to be crossed over very low as it was used in all infinitys IRS speakers and was crossed over low at 70 Hz to 130 Hz, their new crossover also starts to cross the mid bass driver over at 900 Hz and ends at 5000 Hz, the mid bass driver doesn't really play that high, infinity designed it to be crossed over from 80 Hz to 700 Hz, I believe infinity knew what they were doing, if I remember correctly infinity designed the kappa drivers to have a limit in their frequency responses and they crossed them over right before their limits, that said,I don't think their new crossover could be as good as they say it is. here is their new crossovers crossover points:

The best design turned out to use a first-order filter (6db/Oct) for the woofers. The mids used a hybrid filter with a second-order filter (12db/Oct) on the low end and first-order filter for the upper end. The tweeters used a forth-order filter (24db/Oct). Crosspoints came out to be about 900Hz and 5KHz. I also added impedance flattening and phase stabilizing conjugate networks for the woofer and midrange sections. Biamping capabilities were maintained in the design.
 
I've seen those before on ebay. Seems interesting but I'm not sure if i'd trust them (unfortunately). I wish a company existed that made brand new crossovers for vintage speakers that guarenteed the same specs as the original. Now wouldn't that be a smart business idea!? ;)
 
You can't get their home page from Ebay so you have Google their name. The co name is D + S Tech Labs located in Ft Lauderdale FL. Very cool company if you dig into their web site and see what they do. Clearly they must know their stuff. The Kappa xovers look like a side hobby of someone there because it looks like a side line.

Of course I have no affiliation.

http://dstechlabs.com/#/home
 
Last edited:
I bought them a few years ago for my kappa 8's. They now reside in my office full of stuff.

While they did make the speaker much easier to drive, and I thought they sounded pretty good. It wasn't the same.

I bought used original crossovers from the bay and instantly heard the detail that was lost. I agree with the Infinity new what they were doing statement.

I still have the original crossovers for my speakers but there torn apart because of my ignorance and need to know inspector gadget thing. Someday when I retire and have more time I'm going to rebuild those as close to original spec as possible and reinstall them.

The eBay crossovers do get used when I'm on a mad scientist adventure experimenting with different speaker combos.
 
yeah, I didnt like reading " we throw the old crossovers out, because they are too hard to repair" the only thing I have ever heard is the electrolytic caps may need to be replaced after many years, just like anything else that has those caps. I dont think the xovers "fail" in a way that this is ever needed. second of all, I have said it before and I will say it again. Kappa 9's are not a defective design because you can't run them on just anything, your amp is at fault if it can't drive them properly.

Interesting note, my huge amp is being repaired right now, all I have is a SAE 200w amp. I pluged the kappa 9's in for a second to see what they would sound like with a lot less power......no wonder there are people who say the highes are shrill and fatiguing..... ....on a 200 watt amp, they do sound bad, it does take alot of power to "calm the semits and maybe even the emit's. they sound 1000x better on the MC 2500, it really is a night and day difference, you would think you heard two different brands if I did that and you were blindfolded. leave the crossovers alone ( except for old out of spec cap replacement) and buy a better amp. you will think you bought new speakers.
 
Regardless of how they sound, for the asking price I`d like to see a more substantial build quality.
Pegboard, really??
 
You simply are not going to get the same fidelity with 2 crossover points blending the mid with the emit.

Secondly, these speakers DO NOT need huge power, period. Do you actually believe the 'designer' doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to stated power requirement? You think it must be a clerical error? Why? There's lots of information here and elsewhere that explains the purpose of low impedance capability in an amp. My 40wpch Grandson of Ampzilla and 80wpch Son of Ampzilla have absolutely no problem driving my Kappa 9s being rated for 2ohms. However ratings are always a bit conservative also. Though I do use a much bigger amp, that has nothing to do with impedance matching. At 2ohms, the Grandson outputs 160 watts, the Son, 250. Those Emits and Semits are anything but shrill. If they are, the amp driving them is seriously clipping.
 
sure you can run any speaker on its lowest required power, but you will not get the full affect o what (any) Kappa 9 speaker can do, also they can damage low powered amps that why THE DESIGNER added the switch on the back that says "extended" amd "normal"., you can run it how you like, but I have heard them on a low powered ams that was not clipping, and a higher powered amp that I cannot get it to clip, and one is night and day better than the other.
 
I suppose the issue is how you rate the power of an amp. They are typically rated at 8 and 4 ohms and apparently some amps can't handle any power at lower impedance. I think a more accurate yardstick is low impedance ability. It's really what matters since it represents current capability and ohm ratings represent current demand. Those little amps I mentioned drive the Kappas to quite loud levels. And from my experience, the efficiency of the Kappas is closer to stated spec than is recognized. Maybe not 100db but more than 90. I have a pair of L65 that bring my LSR&D 300wpch. monos to clipping before the Kappas do.
 
The Kappa 9's dip below 1 ohm in the 30-45hz range when in extended mode. They don't get back above 4 ohms until about 80 hz. That is what kills amps . You need an amp that can handle low impedance loads .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom