Speaker upgrade


Good morning all, hope everyone is well.

My planned HIFI change for 2023 is a change in loudspeakers. My top contenders are JBL L100, Klipsch Forte IV or Corwall IV’s, another couple I am very interested in are the Volit Razz, and possibly the Paradigm F80.

System consists of Rogue RP-1, Rogue Atlas Mag III, Line Magnetic CD-24, MOFI Master deck and Master tracker.

Room is an untreated living room 15x15, hardwood with thick throw rug and lightly furnished.

I have listened to the Klipsch and the Paradigm, enjoyed them both. They are different animals as one would imagine.

I listen to mostly Jazz, Rock and "American Roots" (not modern country).

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xdoyle3433

Showing 3 responses by waytoomuchstuff

@doyle3433

The fact that you have Klipsch on your prefered list indicates to me (at least), that you value high efficiency and, perhaps, have some level emotiional attachment to the brand and/or vintage American nameplates. All valid reasons for choosing what to place in front of you in your listening space.

I’m not sure how adventurous you are, but if you’re leaning in the direction of Klipsch, please note there are significant sonic improvements to be gained with some simple upgrades/tweaks. If you love the Klipsch, but would like a bit more "polite British loudspeaker" flavor to them, you can have both. There’s plenty of info out there if you are interested. We’ve been doing Klipsch mods for decades and the gains can be pretty spectacular.

I agree with @glennewdick that it’s hard to beat the sound quality of high efficiency speakers at lower volume levels. Having some simblance of dynamic range, detail, and bandwidth at levels just above the threshold of hearing is sight to behold. Just substitute ears for eyeballs and you’ll get the idea.

Related to the internals: We’ve drilled down pretty deep into speaker guts for a while now. Admiittedly, our experience gets off a few exits before six figure monoliths, but we’ve universally found that when more money is invested in parts (including cabling), sound quality improvements range from incremental to <insert expletive here>. I’d also like to note that there are other factors, such as cable termination methods, that matter -- a lot. Applying "tweaks" to a speaker that you consider a masterpiece in it’s factory form may result in the speaker more endearing to you. Or, it may not. It will sound "different". Whether you’ve made it sound "better" or just painted a mustache on the Mona Lisa is highly subjective.

@grislybutter 

At the end of OPs opening comments was a request inviting comments and suggestions.  I was responding to that request.

My "comment" was that IF the OP was leaning towards the Klipsch but wanted a little different sonic character, then there is a pathway to get there.  For starters, $10 worth of Dynamat on horn bodies goes a long way to improve the warmth, focus, and detail of the speakers.  Sonic gains can be made while keeping all major factory installed components intact with other simple "mods."  Selectively replacing factory crossover components is actually #4 on our list of recommended upgrades.  Custom, hand-built crossovers is pretty far down our list, but highly recommended if there's enough headroom in the budget for them.

@grislybutter

Excellent question. I retired in 2016 as a Klipsch dealer. About a year before my retirement, Klipsch was attaching a rubberized material to the front of the horn bodies in their Reference Series speakers. So, it looks like someone there was paying attention to this. I haven’t kept up with Klipsch after 2016. Might be worth looking into in my spare time to see if horn body dampening made its way into the current Heritage lineup.