So I’ve been considering what to do with my spare Keilidhs. I really don’t want to sell them as they’ve been upgrade with Hiquophon tweeters and Monacor drivers. My original plan was to put them in the spare bedroom and buy an Atom to drive them. However, for some time I’ve had a dream of converting them to actives with a pair of Hypex plate amps.
Now I’ve read a few DIY threads where some have done this with other speakers with good results. Now, the cost of doing this is minimal compared to buying even a used Atom. My thoughts are thinking about using a Primare NP5 as a source as the Hypex amps have digital inputs which I believe can be set to share a source plugged into one amp with the other.
Now the only real questions in my mind are whether to go 2 way or 3 way and the power required. As my Keilidhs were previously driven by 135s which I think were 75w, I think I can go for the lower powered options which I think are 125w per driver. The mid price range is 250w which is more likely what I’d choose. The crossovers can be configured via free software.
I’ve not come across anyone who has done this with Keilidhs so would be interested in any experiences in this area. I realise that this is pretty niche so any interest in this thread will come as a pleasant surprise.
Hi sorry Kabers and Keltiks was my area of knowledge.via good old fashioned analogue xovers via naim or linn.
On this occasion I would say allot of effort for minimum improvement . A good power amp and making sure the passive xover is working perfect would be my way.
If you have a nice pair of Keilidhs then my sincere advice is to not do anything that will involve surgery to them in any way. They are great speakers. Leave well alone and just enjoy them as Linn intended.
It will always be better with an active solution if you do get go completely bananas. You can correct digitally and not with components in the crossover as the speaker will have even lower sensitivity.
I get what everyone is saying and it makes total sense but I’m thinking it would be fun for me to do and keep the footprint down in the spare room. If I keep them I’ll have to store them somewhere. If I choose to take them back to passive I’d probably just buy another pair on eBay, maybe the later spec fully veneered versions although I can’t really see that happening.
Something to ponder on over the next few weeks. I have a new car on the way so I’ll get that out of the way and come back to this then. Maybe give the old router a clean and service
In terms of balance, Keilidhs sound better with Naim.
I recently tried mine active with pair of serviced Klouts and serviced aktiv cards. The presentation improved as you’d expect, but didn’t really cut through the midrange like a Naim amp does, so they still sounded quite ‘shut in’ - only you could hear this more clearly.
Passive Nait 50, XS3 and vintage 12/SNAPS/160 and 42-5/110 all worked better imo.
As @Keltik suggested, a Majik 6100 would help provide some Naim-like transparency but you’d probably get bored and start looking at your phone or just have a nice nap
