Re-Wiring Klipsch Promedias

[DiamondFire13]

I know that many people have done this and achieved better sound quality. Are there any directions/reccomendations online anywhere?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[MichaelD]

I just got my set of PMs (4.1) a couple of days ago; have only had about an hour to play w/them though That will change this weekend (Huh? Whaaat? I can't HEAR you....)

Anyway, I have a strong car and home audio background, and know for a fact that putting 40watts RMS thru 22 gauge wire isn't the brighest idea. Poor sound quality at best. Also, for a $300 set of speakers, Klipsch should've used push-terminals, like the ones on the sub, for all the satellites as well.

As far as rewiring goes, you (we, actually!) have two options:

1. Get a spool of 16 gauge wire (14 would be better) and four 3.5mm plug terminals from Radio Schmack. Solder the wire to the plugs. Voila, instant new plug/wire assemblies.

2. Run the wire directly inside each speaker, soldering to the main terminals inside.

I like #1 better. Personally, i think the plugs are cheesy, but it is better than having the wires, hard-wired into the speaker, like most pc speaker manufactures do.

Just for grins, check out how I mounted my surrounds! I'm proud of this little piece of work. Check it out Here.

 

[Insane3D]

DiamondFire13:

I did just what MichaelD suggested in #1, except I used 12gauge wire. It works really well, but you need some patience. I would suggest sticking with 16gauge wire because it is alot easier to solder on those small posts in the 3.5mm plug terminals. It is pretty easy, it just takes patience..especially when you are doing two sets..

MichaelD:

Good job on the ceiling mount. How do you like them? Oh wait..new Promedia owner..one sec..


HEY...MICHAELD....HOW ARE THOSE PROMEDIA'S?!?!? CAN YOU HEAR ME??

 

[Zucchini]

these are the directions i followed.. got em off some forum i had to leave off a part to fit wallmount though

Here are the details on how I solved length issues with my ProMedia wires. As well as a NICE upgrade to 16 gauge wire.
Special thanks to cstegawski for most of this solution, seen here - http://www.klipsch.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000603.html
All these products can be found at radioshack.
What you need.
Tools - wire cutters, GOOD electrical tape, two pairs of plyers.
Items to buy at radioshack
A. 16 gauge wire(I used 100 ft Speaker Wire 16 gauge, stranded, white) $16.00
B. Insulated-Crimp Pin Connectors, package of 10 red and blue, #64-3095 $1.50
C. Four 1/8" Solderless Mono Gold Plated Plug with Strain relief. #910-0762 $2.19/each
D. Pack of Insulated-Crimp Ring-Tongue Terminals #64-3117 pack of small ones, not assorted sizes need 8 total. $1.49
Now to get down to business.
Cut wire to length(add a few feet for good measure). Split wires(with shielding attached) from each other about 2" down.
Strip(take off shielding) both wires at one end, about 1/2" down.
Remove red and blue ends of ring tounge terminals. Best achieved by holding ring with on pair plyers and pulling opposite direction on red/blue shield with other pair.
Trim so wire fits and is covered by ring tounge terminals(about 1/8&quot.
Twist exposed wire so all is neatly together.
Insert wire in ring terminal. Crimp ring terminal with plyers. Then flatten ring portion of terminal from the sides. So it is straight instead of round. Light pressure so you don't damage ring.
Take apart mono plug. Remove plastic casing inside plug. Remove strain relief (part that is like a spring) from end by turning bottom portion upside down and pushing it out. Once this is finished, place wires inside bottom portion of plug and pull through, making sure threads are facing striped ends of wire.

Remove screws from plug and attach ringed ends. Make sure you know which one is positive and neg. Positive on inside, neg on outside.
Wrap very small piece of electrical tape around inside post, so the post will not touch each other when compressed.
Then wrap slightly larger piece around outside of plug, below threads but covering posts. Use only enough to cover on time around.
Work bottom piece of plug up to threads, paying attention not to disturb the electrical tape (this is the hardest part).
Screw and you are done with that side.

For the subwoofer ends.
Seperate and strip as above but this time use the Pin Connectors. Blue on Neg Red on Positive. Leave the red and blue ends on these. Crimp and you are done.
This is a wonderful solution and with a couple tries EVERYONE will be able to get it done.

 

[MichaelD]

Insane,

LOL! That was funny!

How in the world did you solder 12 gauge to those tiny little terminals? Talk about patience! You probably had to get the wire and the terminal really hot to get the solder to melt. I'll probably try 14 gauge and see how well it fits. Cool. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Zucchini]

solder? well you can buy solderless plugs.. worked for me kewl setup micheald, hehe, front speakers are a tad close to you though I'm just a wall mount freak.. gotta have em 4+ feet away. my rear ones are like 6-7 feet away ceiling mount is good as long as u never leave your chair

another reason to do it is cord length.. originals are pretty short, hard to hide. with 16guage i think you can get away with up to 25feet per speaker

 

[buck]

MichaelD, nice setup man.
Sure as heck better than paying $89 for those stands.

 

[MichaelD]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the compliments! I scratched my head for quite some time trying to figure out how to get the rears mounted. My bedroom is small, getting freakin' smaller every day. The fact that I keep buying more stuff doesn't help! The idea to mount the surrounds on the ceiling was kind of a given, taking into consideration the layout of my bedroom (10 tons of crap stuffed into a 10 pound bag) How to actually get the speakers up on the ceiling was hard to figure out. It kind of came to me all at once. I was at BestBuy about 15 minutes later, box in arms!

Zucchini,

I figured I'd give your idea a shot and moved the fronts about 15 inches further back. What a difference, especially with tunes! Imaging is better too. Thanks bud!

 

[Zucchini]

heh no prob, its just that many ppl set these speakers too close and then complain about the tweeters etc You see this a lot in klipsch vs ba threads