Tweeters for a KLH 6?

cnh

I would not say that those KLH tweeters are particularly "fragile". My favorite used Vinyl emporium, just down the street, has been running a pair of KLH speakers at full tilt off various Harman Kardon integrateds since it was opened over 30 year ago! And they're still pumping out the tunes. Admittedly they're not 6s but probably 17s (same tweeters).

I'd like to see some "modern" tweeters take that kind of beating 9-6 PM, six days a week for 30+ years!

Of course I don't doubt that you may have a problem on your hands. Nothing is indestructible.

cnh

gmjungbluth

Mhardy - I'll take a look in the front screen to see if there's anything causing a buzz - good idea!

I'm thinking about trying a pair of phenolic ring tweeter repros from Parts Express - they have a drop-in that is supposed to be a direct replacement for vintage tweeters. From the reviews people rave about them, including a few who have put them in KLHs. The cost for a pair is the same as one OEM tweeter from ebay so I may take the plunge. If it doesn't work I can always put them into a pair of Realistic Nova 6 I have laying around.

mhardy6647 wrote: »

:-(

Dang, sorry about that.

I didn't test it extensively, just made sure it worked. Check for dust/crud in between the cone and the front screen, maybe?
PM me if you wish to renew/continue tweeter discussions!

rromeo923

gmjungbluth wrote: »

Mhardy - I'll take a look in the front screen to see if there's anything causing a buzz - good idea!

I'm thinking about trying a pair of phenolic ring tweeter repros from Parts Express - they have a drop-in that is supposed to be a direct replacement for vintage tweeters. From the reviews people rave about them, including a few who have put them in KLHs. The cost for a pair is the same as one OEM tweeter from ebay so I may take the plunge. If it doesn't work I can always put them into a pair of Realistic Nova 6 I have laying around.

George,

Let me know how those Parts Express tweeters work out. I am interested in hearing about that.

gmjungbluth

Will do. When they're in I'll have you over for another demo! Perhaps I'm getting too ambitious, but I was planning to put in a massive Parts Express order for capacitors and resistors for the Polk 7s and 5s in my HT system, those Realistic Novas, and perhaps some others along with the tweets. I should have a lot of work to do!

rromeo923 wrote: »

George,

Let me know how those Parts Express tweeters work out. I am interested in hearing about that.

gmjungbluth

I finally got around to putting the replacement tweeter in my KLH 6. I ordered the parts about 2 weeks ago. The new tweeter is about the same size as the old one but the surrounding flange is much smaller, meaning it would not fit onto the original tweeter hole without falling in to the cabinet. I cut a piece of plywood out using the non-functional tweeter flange as a guide and screwed the new tweeter into it, and screwed the wood into the cabinet face using the original screw holes. Everything now is tight. The only difference is that the new tweeter sits about 1 cm or so farther forward than the old tweeter. I do not know if this will introduce any phase problems or not - time will tell.

I just tested the new setup and everything seems to be working fine. Frequency response is fine throughout the spectrum. Using test tones and some music, I could not hear a difference between the new and original tweeter speakers - perhaps the new tweeter is a little louder, maybe not. They are so close that any difference could be psychological. In any case the same sweet sound is still there.

The only problem I've encountered now is that the grille won't affix to the velcro - the edge of my wooden flange gets in the way. not much of a problem right now as the grilles will still set in the cabinets.

I think when I get some more time I'll do the other speaker with the replacement tweeter to have them both the same. I'll keep the original tweeter just in case.

rromeo923 wrote: »

George,

Let me know how those Parts Express tweeters work out. I am interested in hearing about that.

emmdeebee

gmjungbluth - I know it's be awhile but can you direct me to the part you ordered on PartsExpress? I have a pair of KLH Six speakers with both tweeters out and I would like to restore them to compare to a set of Boston Acoustics A60's I have. I also have a pair of A/D/S M12's but unfortunately I need to repair 3 of the 4 woofers in those is (quoted $240 through Richard So for that job). I would rather drop a small amount and get these Six's going so I can experience the warm goodness of them. Anyway, are these the parts: http://www.parts-express.com/phenolic-ring-tweeter-8-ohm--270-252

pitdogg2

Those would be them.

cnh

KLH 6s will BLOW out the bottom end of B.A. A60s which don't really put out much bass to begin with but are a solid bookie from the B.A. of that era.

You'd probably have to move up to a BA A100 to be in the KLH 6 class?

I'm not familiar with the M12s but google images shows them to be a big tower-so I'd expect decent bass there? But I'd suspect that those were made after the ADS "peak" years?

cnh

gmjungbluth

emmdeebee, those are the correct tweeters from Parts Express.

I think you'll like them. I honestly could fine no sound difference between those and the original KLH tweeters when I tested.

I recently A/B'd my KLH6s with a pair of KLH 20s I now have, which use the same tweeter the 6s did. I found that the 6s were a little more laid back and detailed, the 20's a little 'hotter' but that could have been due to the difference in cabinet size or capacity burn-in as well (the 20s were just recapped, have like 1 hour of playing time in them).

I posted the results of that test on my blog:

http://silverfacestereo.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/update-ab-klh-20-vs-klh-6/

The KLH 6 saga:

http://silverfacestereo.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/klh-model-6/

Also, I think that the A60s and KLH 6s are in different leagues - the Boston tweeter is much more modern sounding that the KLH tweeter. The speakers definitely have different characters.

sbp

I know this is an old thread; but i believe it's appropriate to ask here:

I note that parts express has a second Phenolic Ring Tweeter that (literally) on the surface appears to be a better match: https://www.parts-express.com/rt-6-2-phenolic-ring-tweeter-with-grill-8-ohm--279-462

Like the KLH tweeters, this one has an integrated grill. I was disappointed to see that it has the same diameter as the one listed earlier here -- so it has the same mounting problem. But still, the grill was there for a reason, and so this is a better copy, physically and functionally.

Except that I noticed just before I was about to place the order:
1. that the frequency response of this tweeter is listed as 6kHz-20kHz; the tweeter mentioned earlier in this thread is listed as 2kHz-15kHz.
2. The resonant frequency of this tweeter is listed as 4077Hz; that of the grill-less tweeter is listed as 1,084Hz.

There is a difference in impedance as well, although in our case that is not signifgicant.

btw -- How can a tweeter resonate at a frequency outside its frequency range. Perhaps it just means that the speaker will never resonate.

In any case, i would be using it to restore a KLH Model 33 that has DTS (Dead Tweeter Syndrome), and the crossover pt of that speaker is 1500Hz. So suddenly that grill seems like a distraction, no? I cannot have hole from 1.5-6kHz,
Can I?

But I don't like the high-end frequency response of the original tweeter ending at 15kHz. The newer one, ending at 20kHz, seems to be a happier ending, no?

Now I'm 56, so i prob won't be hearing anything above 15kHz anyway. But i do want children and dogs to enjoy the quality of sound as well.

I guess the conclusion is to avoid the newer one (with the grille); and be aware of the mising high frequencies on the older one.

thoughts?

-scott