Hello all. I am in the process of down sizing my life and am ready to let a pair of speakers go. I am going back and forth between the KLF-20(stock) and the KLF-10(upgraded crossover similar to Bob Crites). The reciever is a Marantz 8500 and my center is a KLF-10 modified for horizontal placement. No sub. As I A/B the speakers the 20s have a slightly better presence? to them, mabey more air?. The 10s have a much better low end even a lower volumes. I am surprised at this since the 20s woofers are crossed over at a much lower frequency and would think it would benifit the bass. It is quite noticable and I am wondering if it is due to the crossover upgrade, primarially the low pass inductor. My question is for anybody who has upgraded their crossover with a Bob Crites style, what is the impact on the lower end.

 Thanks for the help!

I'm picking up a pair of KLF-20s this weekend and I'll be rebuilding the crossover to original specs, but I will be using higher quality parts. I rebuilt the crossovers on a pair of Tangent 500s and the difference was immediately noticeable with better clarity and tighter/well controlled bass. I only used Solen and ERO caps which I consider lower-high end caps. I also braced up the cabinets and lined the cabs and braces with carpeting foam. The cabinets were totally dead when you slapped them on the sides instead of sounding like a drum as they did before. I got alot of positive comments from that pair of speakers. I'd like to know what others have done with the KLF-20s that has worked well for them also. Thanks.

 Larry D.

  I guess I did not answer your question and I really can't since I have not worked with the KLF-20, but when I did upgrade the crossovers in my Tangents, the bass did become more pronounced......definitely louder. I think it was due to the better quality parts allowing more of the signal/power to pass through to the woofer. I forgot to mention that I did install 14 gauge air core copper coils and replaced all the wiring with heavier OFC wire. ALL the crossover parts were replaced with higher quality components and it made a shocking difference.

L.D.

I wish that I could A/B stock 20s and 20s with the upgraded crossover. I have read many posts and although most say the new xover is a great upgrade, others say not so much. I could put a couple of hundred into the 20s and still not have the 10s bass. Almost everyone seems to think that Bob Crites new tweeter is the most bang for the buck so I could just upgrade the tweets on the 10s. That sounds like the only way to know for sure you will enjoy your money spent. If others care to way in, please do!

I have a pair of Forte II's that I did the crites upgrade on.  I didn't notice more bass, but I did notice an increase in impact and clarity.  In general I've read that this is because of the caps.  You could search through the old posts, but I seem to remember one where crites said that he hadn't seen an inductor go bad?

 I wonder if you're getting more bass out of the port because the woofers are covering a larger frequency range?  Just a guess...

I would figure that with the woofers being cut of at a much lower freq and with dual ports for the 20s vs a single for the 10s, it should not lag behind in the bass department. I am thinking that it might just be that the 20 might just run "hotter" in the mids and highs so that maybe the bass level is justed tuned to a different (lesser)output at any particular volume than the 10s. But I will say I just don't feel it is volume, I feel it is also presence and impact. The bass on the 10s sounds more balanced to the high end and more energetic or available, almost more punch over boom.

 Based on the 20s rep I feel crazy leaning towards keeping the 10s, but I need to trust my own ears and maybe not drink anymore Kool Aid. Also it may also be a pride/ego thing to say the apparent lesser of the two is more to my liking. I will certainly sleep on this one!

Crossover performance can be huge.

Though I like Bob Crites upgrades especially the tweeters, I feel if you want more you have to go further than Bob's work as I have.

See Larry's KLF20 thread for my comments and picture with links.