KLS3 - Rehash

[Brian]

Greg and James were at my house yesterday listening to my KLS3's, Greg brought his along for a comparision. It was interesting because these speakers are not identical, mine are the KLS3 MKII Gold while Greg uses the original version that doesn't use the HD3P treble unit.

It is a huge understatement to say that Greg's KLS3's are much better than mine, so I have some work to do, but now I know what can be achieved I know what I'm looking for. If anybody is using these speakers and you aren't totally happy, well it could be that you can get more from them with a bit of effort.

The speakers are now in bits, the drivers back in the boxes and I'm using Mission 780's for the time being. The first thing I need to do is once again look at the internal carpet felt. Following advice from Greg when I first bought these speakers I changed the rubbish that was already in there to natural carpet felt. Turns out I've put too much in there. I'll post a photo when I can find the lead to connect my camera to the PC and embarrass myself by showing you all how much excess carpet felt I had in these speakers. I'm seriously considering lifting my lounge carpet and replacing the current stuff with the excess I've just removed from the cabinets!!

My room is 22' x 11'10", I have the speakers 10" from the wall which is a solid type and painted. This distance from the wall is what is domestically acceptable, I can't bring them out any further. The bass booms. A lot.

As well as removing a load of felt I am going to block the rear port and use the 2 ports on the front. This work is already underway as I write, the ports are blocked and the glue is setting. I've reopened the two ports in the front, all I need are 4 tubes of 38mm internal diameter ( 40mm hole ) x 85mm long. I'm hoping IPL will come through on that one.

Once I've done these things I'll assess the speakers again. If I find they are still not as good as I now know they can be the next stage will be to use the standard treble unit in place of the HD3P. The crossover design is completely different for all 3 drivers when using the standard treble unit, in the original design the bass driver in particular is doing less work than it is now in my build.

A very, very big thanks to Greg and James for taking the time and trouble to help me with this.

Brian

[Black Stuart]

Brian,
I've heard Greg's and Andrew Ivimey's and these are excellant speakers, well worth persevering with. As to 'she who must be obeyed' this is truly a tough nut to crack. If you try to hustle them 'in the nicest possible way' they know what your up to before you've even got into your stride and I'm afraid no one can help you with that.

There really is only one answer and it requires money and re-location ie. - build a new home with his and hers rooms - it is the only viable solution but is available to very few - I hope to get lucky sometime this year, in getting started down this road.

Black Stuart

[pre65]

Brian-while trying to compare my KLS3 with my Adire HE10 i had the KLS3 a bit further into the room than usual and to be honest they "improved" a little.
i have never considered my bass "boomy" even with a transistor amp.

one thing i did notice with both speakers was how my old QED A240cd amp sounded with quality front ends.not up to Quad 11 or 300b se but better than i remember.(its been in the "study" system for 10 years !)


Philip

[Brian]

Here is the embarrassing picture of the amount of felt I removed from just one of the speakers.....


Felt Removed


If anyone has Avalon Sunset by Van Morrison, try track 7 for any bass boom. Greg and/or James can tell you how bad this was through my KLS3's.

Cheers

Brian

[Brian]

Ok, speakers are now rehashed and working much better.

The ports are now on the front and the crossovers are changed to the original design for the KLS3Gold rather than the MKII.

The overwhelming bass that's been a problem to me for ages has now gone almost completely, so a bit of minor tweaking of the internal carpet felt will get me to where I want to be with these speakers.

Brian

[pre65]

Hi-glad to hear you have got the KLS3 to your liking.
i know Peter is not keen on 3-way speakers but these really are very good when made right.

Philip

[mickm]

Brian,
Is track seven The same as side two, track one (i.e. 'When will I ever learn') on the LP?
I've just put my 206's into aTQWL, and am testing at the moment. That LP is full of slow low base on just about every track.
Regards,
mick.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by mickm

Brian,
Is track seven The same as side two, track one (i.e. 'When will I ever learn') on the LP?
I've just put my 206's into aTQWL, and am testing at the moment. That LP is full of slow low base on just about every track.
Regards,
mick.

Mick

That's the track.

I know it's that type of album, but it wasn't 'slow' that was bad, that's how it is now and it sounds fine 'cos I think that's how it's meant to be.

It was reverberating throughout the entire room even at moderate volume levels. It had to be heard to be believed....honest. It wasn't good.

Brian

[mickm]

Hi, Brian,
I know what you mean about the bass filling the room like that. I have had 'hot spots' in the room sometimes when the stuffing is not right. In general I like to err on the sparse side with wadding and stuff it in till it sounds right. Another pair of ears is handy for an unbiased opinion. It would be nice to have a spectrum annaliser sometimes.
I remember seeing the KLS3 on the old site. It seems to be a very highly regarded design on this BB, which is usually a good reccomendation.
Regards,
Mick.