10 September 2017

Klipsch Chorus + JBL L200 =

Lots has happened in the past couple months.
Before the dust settled,
it felt best to kick it up and whip out a quickee project.
Car, bike, amp, speaker...
Let's pick the least important on the list!
Years ago we scored some Klipsch Chorus speakers.
I tried to like them.
They had no bass.
Specs quoted 45 hz,
and cranking to get low notes
made the mids and highs too blaring.
I studied up,
and found that the drivers needed a bigger cabinet.
The lack of space choked the big 15" woofer.
It felt meant to be to find some pirated
JBL L200 cabinets,
a volume roughly 1200 cubic inches higher.
Sadly the JBL drivers were worth more in higher end models.
Likewise,
the same Chorus drivers are used in the bigger Cornwall box,
creating a much more balanced sound.
You're not a hot rodder if ya can't tear up
a perfect stock item and make it better.
The Chorus k-48-k woofer is a monster.
A commercial grade 15" woofer with a huge magnet,
that basically needed a bigger carburetor.
We mocked up the woofer in the cab
and noticed an immediate difference.
Time to cut and paste.
The change was so easy,
it seemed the engineers planned for a future swap.
They learned from the ford and chevy guys.
Side by side there was no going back.
The wife liked the slanted front,
and they breathed bass in the room.
It was tougher to cut up the JBL's,
but not really.
The 2-way L200's have a splintered following,
and are commonly modified with a tweeter,
and a 3-way crossover.
This makes them comparable to the L300 summit,
which are triple the going price,
although they'll never be real L300's.
Measure, cut, file, clean.
My wood handiwork was rushed and sloppy,
only you readers will ever know!
The JBL recipe was exactly the opposite of Klipsch.
JBL uses veneered sawdust wood-mdf,
and really high quality drivers.
Klipsch used real birch plywood,
and borderline sufficient drivers.
There's a huge cult following for both,
it's borderline ridiculous to read forum know it alls.
Funny enough the swap is usually the exact opposite,
JBL drivers in Klipsch boxes!
I rushed the project a few hours after work for about a week,
and wow it was so worth it.
The bass goes down easily to the mid-30hz range,
necessary for the grateful dead Phil bombs.
Next will be some grills
 and maybe those trippy lens shade covers,
and a front paint would be nice.
They sound so good it will be hard to take them apart again!
TP

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