(a) Sound is a lot more "open" than before - more air around singers and instruments, more specificity to location of things like cymbals and violins.
(b) Variations in quality of recordings between various CDs and LPs now clearly apparent. Well recorded CDs, in particular, now sound way better than they did before. Poorly recorded CDs sound much more closed in and dead than they did before. I have more poorly recorded CDs than well recorded CDs. This is a bad thing. Most of the newer CDs I've bought, particularly those mastered with the HCDC equipment, sound very good, and sound better with Al's crossovers than they ever did with the original AA crossovers. This is a good thing. A lot of the music I listen to was recorded years ago, I only have it on CD, and these CDs were issued some years back and sound, well, flat and dead with Al's crossovers, largely because they are flat and dead. This is a bad thing. With the old crossovers, they had more zip to them. It was artificial and an artifact of crossovers that were imposing their own sound on the system, but the zip was there, tain't no more. This is, uh, a bad thing? Not sure about that one...
(c) Dynamics and "jump factor" are significantly improved. When someone gives a goodly wack to a drum, I get a much more realistic sense of "WACK" that I got with the old crossovers. This is a VERY good thing.
(d) ALK crossovers allow you to try various taps on the squawker transformer to adjust the relative phase and level of the midrange to the high / low end. This allows you to (1) make subtle changes to dial in the sound of the system to your particular tastes and room environment, and (2) spend endless hours driving yourself nuts asking "Was it better THIS way or THAT way? Let's put it back to 2 - 5... now is it better? Wait, try switching phase with 5 - 2... Hows that sound? Wait, try 5 - 1, adjust level a bit... hows that? Maybe 1 - 5, alter phase between high / mids... what did 2 - 5 sound like again? Sort of like dialing in phase / level of a subwoofer. Endless fiddling due to basic audiophillia nervousa.
(e) I think they're easily the best upgrade yet to my stereo system.
Ray Garrison
I am now using Altec 288 16K squawkers with Altec 805 B horns in my Khorns. The ALK crossover settings are at 0 and 1, which is 13.6 db of attenuation. The 288's have a 1.4" throat and are very lively and open...they sound wonderful. As you know I have tried many drivers and they all beat the stock Klipsch EV's by a mile. I have grown up with Klipschorns. My Father has had them for 30 years and they always sounded edgy. I attribute that to the cheap squawker drivers and horns. With a high quality driver and horn they smooth out even with stock crossovers, but with Al's crossovers they sound unbelievable, couple that with good wire and good tubes...truly superb.
Tube types make a huge difference. I use 6SN7 driver tube. My favorite are KenRad VT-231 and Sylvania VT-231. These are from the 1940’s. My favorite 2A3 are the Sovtek, although Sovtek 6SN7 sound terrible. The Sovtek 2A3 are better in my book to the RCA and the KR’s.
I am absolutely happy with the ALK crossovers; however, I likely need to replace the swamping resistor with a lower value to keep the impedance perfect.
Great job AL; Klipsch should incorporate your crossovers and pay you for them. I love my Klipschorns in spite of some cheap components.
Mark Flaten
I got my ALK crossovers installed in my rear channel La Scalas this evening and are they great! Better detail, better control of the mids and tighter integration of the woofer to squawker transition, transients are crisper and cleaner; a cymbal strike is clearly wood on metal. With the old Type AL xover, there was a "howl" in the , I'm guessing, 500 Hz area that turned out to be most likely a French Horn in "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. I think the bass is stronger, too. The vocalist can readily be heard breathing, now and she sounds to be a couple of feet in front of the speaker. One of the most telling things is the stereo image is more 3 dimensional than I've ever heard from La Scalas! If you've been sitting on the fence, GET OFF and buy a pair of these. I'm using these in a pair of '87s with K-55-M squawkers, even though they were originally designed to work with K-55-Vs. Klipsch, y'all gotta get all over this!
John Albright
Just got Al's X-overs out of customs and unwrapped...my god they are beautiful! I am tempted to mount them on top of my K-horns for everyone to see...too much dust would collect I guess (?)...
Anthony Zorn
Got your cross-overs home last night. Before I even hooked them up I was impressed. The quality and craftsmanship of your work was immediately evident. I showed them to my wife, who doesn't know or much care about my audio system, and laid them side by side with the original networks and even she could see that there was a huge difference in overall quality of the components and assembly. After installing them in the cabinets and hooking them up I was again very impressed. I have never heard the Belles sound so good. Open, airy and with a depth and level of detail that had never been there before. Al, your networks are truly first class and the were definitely worth the wait and the money. I would highly recommend you to anybody considering upgrading to your cross-overs and you may give out my name and e-mail to anyone looking for a reference or recommendation.
Russ Berks