Linn Keilidh Tweeter Upgrade

I upgraded my trusty, active Keilidhds with new tweeters and as others said: Transformational! Not only did the high frequencies become much more pleasant but what really surprised me was the increase in defined punch in the low range. The better high-frequency response obviously influences the perception of the boom as well as that of the zing. The result is the best Keilidh I ever heard anywhere. Good electronics (Linn AV5125 in my case), activation and this tweeter really transform it into a Super-Kelidh.

Having managed to blow up the tweeters in my 30 year old Keilidhs I was forced to look at repair options. The upgrade to the OW 1-92 tweeter seemed the obvious solution. I few email exchanges with Willy confirmed the faulty tweeters and the upgrade kit was ordered. The upgrade of the capacitors and tweeters was straight forward and the improvement in sound over the original 015/1 tweeters is immense. Its like I have a new pair of speakers.

Installing the tweeters and crossover caps was a piece of cake and was accomplished in just over an hour and a half. They replaced the original 15/1 tweeters in my Keilidhs and sounded pretty good out of the box. I’ve now been listening to them for 4 months and the sound has been transformed. Everything has improved and I look forward to each session more and more. Seriously considering purchasing the mid/bass driver upgrade. I think I’d need to spend thousands to find a new speaker to match the quality of the Keilidhs now.

I installed these in Jan 22 - writing this review in Dec. The upgrade was prompted by failure of one of the original Linn SPK015/1 tweeters. Eventually decided to spend the cash and upgrade. I also changed the crossovers to Audyn CAP Q4s bypassed with Mundorf MCap EVO Oil (tweeters) and Monacor MKP (woofers). Resistors were changed for Mundorf M-Resist 5W. All at a relatively modest £44ish. This was with the pragmatic advice of Willy who commented not to go crazy with esoteric caps. I'm driving them from a ND5XS2 + NAP250 with Alps based attenuator. I'm hugely pleased with the result - this has breathed new life into the speakers - really enjoying the musical presentation. Highly recommended.

I purchased the tweeter and crossover upgrade to bring more treble precision and cleanliness into my Keilidhs, which had the first generation tweeter 15/1 (with the metal grill) installed.
Installation was a bit difficult due to the original Linn solder being stubborn and my soldering skills being rusty. The first crossover upgrade took me three hours...the upgrade of the complete second speaker took me less then one.
Of course, blind AB-testing is impossible, but the upgrade to sound quality came out far better than I had hoped. It is as if the treble now reaches further up with more space and improved clearity, detail and whatnot.
The only negative change I have noticed is in line with Edwards review, in that the sound is more present and less laid back, especially for "S" sounds, where a slight sibilance is introduced in my system. (bi-amped via Marantz SR6011)

Summing up, I think this upgrade kit would even be a good deal for 400ish pounds. For less that 300 it's an excellent steal.

Many thanks for this great kit Will!