# Help with modifying a surround sound speaker



## vincepon (Mar 12, 2013)

I am new to this forum and I have no experience with speaker building. I hope someone here can help answer my questions. 

I have a pair of Klipsch S-2 surround sound speakers rated at 8ohms with one forward facing 5.25” woofer and two 1” horned tweeters at each side facing 45 degrees outward. I want to add an additional matching woofer to create something similar to the Klipsch KS-525. So the question is will the crossover be able to accommodate the additional woofer without modification. Will I sacrifice sound quality? Any possible risk of damaging my system? Am I doing something crazy?


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Welcome to HTS!

Unfortunately I would not recommend simply adding a 2nd woofer. The as-built crossover won't be intended for that so you likely woudn't get good sounding results, you could also risk creating a low impedance load that could overload your amplifier.

Have you tried searching around the internet for mods to Klipsch surrounds? Usually we like to DIY fresh designs, successfully modifiying commercially made speakers is much heard of. With the amount of work it would take to do right you may as well start from scratch.


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

As fusseli said, you would need to redesign the crossover to add another sub driver to the current speaker. You would likely need to house it in it's own enclosure as well.


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## vincepon (Mar 12, 2013)

Thanks. I am planning to build a larger enclosure for this setup.


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## fbov (Aug 28, 2008)

You have these, yes?
http://www.klipsch.com/s-2-surround-speaker
and want to make them look like? 
http://www.klipsch.com/ks-525-thx-surround-speakers-pair

The barriers are many, but first and foremost, doubling up on woofers either halves or doubles their impedence, shifting the crossover frequency up or down by a factor of two. Next is the relative location of drivers... all new box, obviously... 

If you got the KS 525 XO circuit and the drivers are identical, it's possible, just not likelly to be cheaper than buying them whole to begin with. Otherwise you're doing something crazy. 

Now, I can see a lot of opportunity to make a better speaker than the Klipsch's, as their primary advantages are efficiency and efficiency, and I find the tradeoffs they make to achieve that efficiency to be sonically undesirable to my ears. Your ears may vary. That you're listening to a dual-tweeter surround is somewhat surprising until I recall my youth - if it made sound, I used it. 

That said, you can improve their bass response by adding a sub... and most active (amplified) subs have all the crossover filters you need built into them. A DIY sub is a great first build, too, as every HT sounds better with one, and you'll get a far larger improvement in low frequency response that what you've proposed. 

HAve fun,
Frank


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## vincepon (Mar 12, 2013)

Frank, thank you for your wisdom. This was very educational.


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