Project - Klipsch KLF-20 Speaker Repair / Rebuild with Bob Crites Upgrades
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Rebuilt my speakers to fix the manufacturers "loose baffle board issues", further reinforced them with additional bracing, and upgraded to high end crossovers and tweeters for better sound.
these speakers are great and worth the time to do some upgrades. They will last for as long as you want them too...or as long as you have the room! I have the 20s and same center for the last 15yrs
Hey Thomas, nice to hear from another KLF owner with the same rockin' setup. Oddly enough my last pair of floor standers (Infinity) eventually wound up being placed curbside after 20 yrs. from too much wear and tear and also my cat peed on the corner of one. I bought the KLF L/C/R used just a few years ago with the intention of getting speakers I wouldn't have to replace ever again that would also really pound unlike the last pair I owned. These are the speakers I should have bought 15 years ago!
@@diymakerdan
Great upgrade for sure. These speakers are lifetime keepers
Find the matching surround speakers if you are interested. I think ksp6 or something like that.
When I got my 20s I had the same loose back panel. But I was in college...so I drilled many (like 100 in each soeaker) 1/16 holes at an angle in the back where it attaches to the sides through the stock glue.
Then I ran a very thick bead of construction adhesive along the edge. Let it sit a few days and the back panel feels like a rock to this day!
@@thomasnew8606 That was probably the old PL400 construction adhesive. The PL400 today is not the same. It even smells different.
Thank you so much for your video!!! I just bought a pair of this speakers for $90 dls, and when I crack up the volume they make a rattling around, I was thinking the speakers where damaged. I and going to remove the speakers and reglue the cabinets again from the inside. Thanks again!!
Use your hand and apply pressure to the baffles and cabinet with it turned up. If it is a cabinet vibration you should be able to pinpiont it by pressing down on the offending area. Otherwise may be a damaged driver. I have even had the dust cones come loose on one of my woofers causing a weird rattle at certain frequencies only when cranked up while watching a movie. That was a simple fix. Pulled it off and re-glued it back on. Good luck!
90 bucks is a great deal wow👍
Awesome job bro, your craftsmanship is superb. How much did the total rebuild or upgrade cost you roughly $1,200 did you say ? I have had my pair of 20's paired with the Klipsh C7 Ctr since 1995 and other my guys have CerwinVega, JBL, Bose with the cubes, but my system sets itself apart based on the detail of my speakers.
Thanks Larry! The 20's I bought for $700 used in mint shape. Upgrades from Crites (tweeters and x-over) about $375 shipped. Rebuild materials: the extra wood, screws, glue and silicone about $125. So in essence, $500 to do both plus your time to do this if you already have a pair. Upgrading the C7 (tweeters and x-over too) was about $150 in parts shipped and was very easy to do.
6:12 *holy SHIT look at those magnets!* for a 10 inch speaker those are some MEAN BUSINESS sized magnets, those woofers must really not fuck around!
Did you keep the dimensions of all the wood pieces you added? I want to know how much air space you reduced the cabinets by. This changes the mechanical properties for the woofers. Did you notice any sound differences?
Yes, they sound much better now that the flubby baffle rattles are no more. The slightly reduced volume may throw off the port tuning a few Hz but not enough for me to notice or bother with it.
How much volume did this take away from the cabinet? Did it affect sound?
Great video, thanks. Looking to do same for my 2001 KLF-20s and C7 as well. Curious, what receiver do you drive these with and what are your rear surrounds?
An old Sony ES receiver with some Infinity in wall surrounds.
I actually cant find klf20's or 30' at a decent price but found 10" replacement drivers for $80ea. Now I'm thinking with the help of bob, why not make my own from scratch.
At least then you wouldn't have to rebuild them over again :) Bob's awesome, best resource for all things Klipsch.
Can I ask where you found the replacement drivers at that price. Got a set of these for£100 and want to play with the speakers and experiment with the box design
Great video, I love my 30's! A little confused though: you said you upgraded the tweeters to titanium diaphragms on the 30's, but that you also upgraded the tweeter on the C7. Isn't the "tweeter" on the actually a match to the mid on on the 30's? So now they're not actually going to be matched? Am I wrong on this?
The upper horn in my 20's utilize the same tweeter diaphragm as the center horn in the C7. Same should apply to your 30's too. The plastic horn is just shaped different on the C7 not the driver itself.
@@diymakerdan Ohhhhh! Well thank you for clearing up my assumption!
What are those made of? Plywood with veneer? My Epic CF-4's need some work.
The cabinets do have a veneer, but I believe it is thicker than the paper thin veneer that peels off of cheap speakers. Baffles are press board like MDF, the cabinet is either the same or made from plywood (not sure).
I've got a pair of KLF-20's, and the upper woofer on one of the speakers is rattling when playing frequencies below 100hz. Direct replacements for the K-1036-K woofer are scarce. Anyone know a good drop in substitute? I'm pretty sure it's the driver, and not the cabinet coming unglued on mine. The bottom woofer is fine, as are the other two in the other speaker.
Pretty sure? Be 100% for sure as flabby baffles can sound like a bad driver. Re-coning the woofer is another option if that's causing the issue.
@@diymakerdan I took the suspect driver out of the cabinet (but left the wires connected) and played one of the youtube bass test tone links, and it rattled until it got over 90 hz. Are there recone kits for the K-1036-K or close enough? I prefer to drop in a new driver, if there's a suitable substitute available. Although, I have fixed several speakers that needed new foam surrounds successfully, and they're still going strong (the rear subs in my Trans Am and drivers in a Klipsch 4.1 PC system). I could probably manage a full rebuild, if the parts are available.
Try asking Bob at crites.com if you haven't already.
@@MD-tl5zf Not sure why I didn't see this post earlier but that is a most excellent comment. I completely forgot that I myself had this very same problem too with one of the Klipsch dust caps a year or so ago. While initially being hard to detect the source of the buzzing, which only occurred during a movie with the HT fully cranked up (low frequency spaceship motoring sound), it was a simple fix to remedy.
I have a pair there not hocked up how much are they worth and what year are they ?
A set of 20's is probably worth $500-$900 stock depending on condition and demand in your area. More than likely made in the late 90's, I believe the year of production is coded right in the middle of the serial number on the back label.
DIY Maker Dan I also have a KSW 15
Sweet.
@@diymakerdan these are literally the best speakers I have ever heard. They can pound the high wattage out with no problem & ask for more
I have a pair of EXACTLY these & the horn tweeter in 1 stopped working. I didnt even know those could blow
I recommend the titanium dome replacements from Bob Crites so you can upgrade and repair them in the same swoop.
I had to fix mine KLF30's
Thats a common issue but once you fix them, ooo boy
2 pairs of 30's? Lol Nice! :)
DIY Maker Dan yes 😁
A pair of klf10 and klf20
I am big on Klipsch
I don't suppose you have a blueprint for the upgrades you made. I have a set of 10's that I bought years ago. They have this exact problem. I would love to do as you did. But I am not nearly as handy as you are with this kind of stuff lol.
Sorry, this was before I started videotaping projects. Best I can tell you it's more persistence than anything. Baffles are tough to remove a little at a time with a paint scraper. The inner bracing I cut a peice at a time for proper fit. Used 1x1/4 screws so they would not poke though the exterior. Would also haven't been easier removing the inner melamine surface with a planer by farming that out since I don't own one. All in it was a out a 30hr project I think most could do as long as you have the patience to do so.
Excellent video! I have a pair of KG 5.5s that are coming unglued and I came on here seeing if theres any bracing mods I can do while im in there. This video has it all! I already did Bob's upgraded tweeters a few years back, I'll definitely be doing the crossovers also.
Just the video I needed. Thanks.
I'm probably too late here but I have KLF 20s that I have reglued and braced a few years back. Now I'm wondering if I should do the Crites crossovers. I believe the previous owner di the titanium tweeter upgrade. A few years ago I ordered some Crites midrange drivers but after installing i preferred the ones that were already in my speakers. That makes me wonder if the PO also upgraded the mids to titanium as well. I need to take them out and take a pic and post it on the forums I suppose.
I did the crossovers as I was aiming on getting the best sound reproduction possible with this set of speakers (ones I'll probably keep for the rest of my life). Somewhat hard to say without a true A/B test but I'd like to say going off of ear memory they did improve the overall sound a bit, just not a night and day difference. My mids are stock and sound fine to me too. Only thing I would consider changing is the tweets once again if Crites offered a silk dome version of it.
What materials did you use, size screws, size of runners, steps to reassemble, etc..
I have the Klf 10s bought them new in 1996, I also have the c7 center, they all have Bob Crites crossovers and tweeters. Thought you modifications were brilliant. Great work.
3/4" Pine square stock (really 11/16") that is wood glued and screwed around the inside with 1-1/4" drywall screws. That leaves a tad shy of 1/4" room so the drywall screws will not pierce the outside of the cabinet. Caution has to be taken not to drill them too deep, and may be better to do the final tightening turns by hand to play it safe. For the baffles I used silicone instead of wood glue in case there was any slight unevenness from strip mining the melamine layer via a router. Just like the stringers around the inside the baffles are also reverse screwed into them from the inside by reaching through the woofer holes to fasten. It really helped that I pre-drilled the holes in the stringers before putting the baffles on to make that step painless. In a nutshell, the baffles are screwed to the stringers and the stringers are screwed to the cabinet itself. When I knock on the cabinet it is now noticeably deader sounding than before. Fingers crossed your 10's don't have the same flubby baffle sickness. KLF's with the Crites upgrades are really hard to beat for the money invested.
@@diymakerdan Thanks, that helps a lot!
Great job. What’s the best glue to use on the baffles?
I used regular carpenters glue which should be sufficient enough.
Did you glue and screw the front speaker (motor board) to the braces and sides? Looks like it would be hard to use drill for fastening screws once back board is on. thanks
The stringers are glued and screwed to the outer cabinet shell and then motor boards glued and screwed to that. The slim 3/8" factory edge only gets glued. The front baffle must go on first upon reassembly. Stringers were pre-drilled where all the screws would go beforehand. I then used an offset screwdriver (Skewdriver) to reach through the holes in the front to secure the screws for the rear baffle.
@@diymakerdan Thanks, working on mine now. I decided to use 1 inch thick Baltic birch ply for all sides except front. Going to be heavy!
Dan, looking for another klf project?
I take it you have a pair that needs bracing?
Would love a walk through on measurements. And size screws you used. Also specs on those crossovers.
The bracing I cut as went along, screws are 1-1/4", and the X-overs are from crites.com
@@diymakerdan Thank you very much.
When you took the plastic circles of the speakers was there a sylicone glue on them to hold them on ? I bought a center C7 and a plastic ring fell off the woofer. Sylicones was used to hold it on. The screw heads were sticking up. Maybe that ring was not suppose to come off.
Just glue it back on. I recommend using ShoeGoo for that. See ua-cam.com/video/yu8algbF878/v-deo.html
@@diymakerdan thanks. Im going to look at a pair of KLF20's today. They are asking $800.00. Damn these speakers are getting expensive ! Another pair i was going to look at sold for $950.00.
If these were food they'd be 2x lol. Took me a year constantly looking to find the right pair (really wanted 30's) but 20's in EC+ for $700 OTD got me.
@@diymakerdan I bought the KLF20's today. He wouldnt budge on the $800. Said one lady was trying to get him to ship them to Oklahoma. They were just listed last night.
Still a good score. They'll pair perfectly with your C7 and will rock the house. That seller stinks of bs though. The shipping cost alone for the pair would be stupid money. He smelled you wanted them.