Darryl Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 So for 25 or so years up until a couple of years ago I enjoyed buying and selling lots of hifi gear just to try things out and see how different pieces sounded when mixed and matched. Guitaring took over and I sold most of my hifi equipment. To be honest I was a bit over having a room full of clutter too. Recently I set up the system that I held on to, a Linn Classik and Linn Keilidh speakers. This isn't the most hifi of hifi systems, obviously, but I really enjoy listening to music on it and it's simple and basic. Old habits die hard though. However instead of buying something else to try out I decided to make the most of what I had. Some speaker upgrades were called for. I've ordered a couple of Hiquphon tweeters that are the common upgrades to some Linn speakers. They are currently winging their way across the pond. I'll post again when they've been changed. In the meantime I thought I'd upgrade the capacitors in the crossover. I've done this a few times in the past and haven't really noticed much of a difference, but for a low cost it would give me something to do!. The job went surprisingly well considering ease of access and my limited experience. I chose to replace the capacitors with the crossover board hanging by the internal speaker cables just outside of the bottom woofer hole rather than desolder the speaker wires. That was going to be a last resort. Fortunately it didn't come to that and turned out to be an easy job. It made quite a difference to the sound. Easily noticeable. Like the proverbial lifting of blanket from speakers. It went so well I'm considering upgrading the resistors next, although I'm led to believe that won't make much difference if anything. However for the limited cost involved it's probably worth a go I reckon. Before and after pics attached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 If I change the 2.2 ohm resistors to either 2 ohm or 2.4 ohm how much will that matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al.M Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 AFAIK the resistors don’t need changing they last nearly for ever unless damaged. 0.2 ohm difference probably would be audible but the ones in there are cheap ones though sound OK but hi end ones will sound about 10-20% better if they are in the signal path (not going from positive to negative wire) to be audible especially on the tweeters. Below is apparently the crossover circuit diagram to find where things are in the signal path 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedgod66 Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Just wondering how the tweeter upgrades went ? Worth the money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 @speedgod66 apologies I didn't see your post until now. The tweeter upgrade was worth the money, yes. As was the cap upgrade. I've just taken them apart again and clipped R1 to reduce the treble output by 1db. They were a bit bright and I've been meaning to do that for a while now. I still very much enjoy the Classik/Keilidh system, even though it's not the highest of hifi. I can listen to anything on it. Not just girl and guitar, the type of stuff you hear on all high end demonstrations (well, unless it's some weird drum track). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Jones Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 Another thing you can try is a bit of felt around the tweeter. Cut a hole for the tweeter and stick it to the baffle with double sided tape. The felt I'm using on my speakers (DIY build) I got from my local auto trimmer, he gave me an offcut for free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 Cheers Warren, I'd forgotten about that tweak. I'll try it out sometime soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWormald Posted November 30, 2021 Share Posted November 30, 2021 Have you thought about contacting Dr Rod Crawford of Legend Acoustics? He was instrumental in the design of the Linn Kaber speakers, a precursor of the Keilidh, and may have some ideas. I found him most approachable when seeking help for my Kabers. p.s. I haven't checked online for what's suggested for the Keilidhs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted November 30, 2021 Author Share Posted November 30, 2021 (edited) I haven't Greg, no. I'm pretty sure he used to be a member on here, maybe still is. Edited November 30, 2021 by Darryl spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhschill Posted April 10, 2023 Share Posted April 10, 2023 Hi - just to add to this topic. I have a pair of 1st generation passive Keilidh speakers and first upgraded the tweeters with the Hiquphons 3 years ago. The change was amazing - really unboxed the Keilidh sound. Based on this post I have just recapped the crossover. So many thanks for the pictures and descriptions which are super helpful. I am over exaggerating in that I have recapped one speaker because one of the caps was missing in the delivery so I have only been able to do one speaker. This allows me (using mono recordings and my balance control) to do a normal vs recapped comparison and the difference is extremely significant - lifting a layer of cotton wool and making the Keilidhs sound amazing. The tweeters made the biggest difference as this removes the boxed in sound but the recapping completes the job. I probably overspent on the caps and bought ClarityCap CSAs which cost around EUR 70 for both speakers . Having now spent EUR 350 on 30 year old speakers they sound like new speakers to me and I am very happy. Don’t sell your Keilidhs - upgrade them and you will be amazed. One more Keilidh-tastic point which I learned in my journey - below serial number 15.000 the phase is wrong on the speakers due to the crossover PCBs being wrongly printed !! Learned this from the invaluable Linn loudspeaker service manual from 1997. For a 2 speaker set up it is irrelevant but for a multi-channel 5.1 etc it is deadly as your Keilidhs will be out of phase with the rest of the system. I wondered why my 5.1 sounded so weird. Well that is now solved ! The poor quality of the OEM capacitors and crossover board does seem to show how little Linn cared about the passive set up of their speakers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted April 10, 2023 Author Share Posted April 10, 2023 (edited) Nice to hear Neil. I still have the Keilidhs and am still enjoying them. The only other change I've made since the tweeter and crossover upgrade is installing Isoacoustics Gaia 3 footers. Another worthwhile improvement. Edited April 11, 2023 by Darryl wrong name! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolster Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 Nostalgia kicks in. I had a pair of Keilidhs for years in an all Linn system (all second hand). Still think about how wonderful they sounded. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Did you have the active ones with a couple of LK100s? Someone in Perth was selling them some years ago but I can't remember who. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhschill Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 Interesting on the Gaias - first time I have heard about them in relation to Keilidhs. I have a similar hard floor so I will give them a try once I have fully absorbed the recap upgrade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Will be interested to hear how you get on Neil. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolster Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 11 hours ago, Darryl said: Did you have the active ones with a couple of LK100s? Someone in Perth was selling them some years ago but I can't remember who. I did indeed, Darryl but the power amps were 140s from memory. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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