Jareb

They are 1960 Klipschorns and have the 500-5000 crossovers. I've been playing them for 5 years now and nothing has been touched. Crossovers are original and the speakers sound great to me. A friend suggested I have the caps replaced on the crossovers so I contacted Bob, and while I'm having that done, the diaphragms for the K77's will also be changed. I guess there are no diaphragms for the older SAHF K55's, so I'll just continue to use them. They sound great even after 50 years. John

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I'm refinishing and upgrading my 1960 Klipschorns. Bob Crites is going to update the crossovers and install new diaphragms in the K77's. It looks like I am the first person to have these apart based on no marks on any screws or nuts and all the dust and dirt I found in the cabinets. I have attached pictures of the K55's. They are consecutive serial numbers 1053 and 1054. One has "University Loudspeakers" "HF SA" on it and the other is plain. They look identical. Any thoughts and can the diaphragms be replaced on the K55's? John

Thanks for all the info.....I will have to decide whether to paint them black lacquer or maybe go with wood veneer. They are Fir, BTW and not Birch as I had originally thought. John

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I got a pair of 1960 Klipschorns about 5 years ago from a thrift shop. They were originally a raw birch finish. When I got them, they had oak grained Formica over them. I have been playing these for the past 5 years and recently decided to upgrade the crossovers, refinish the cabinets and new grill cloth. I removed the oak formica today and found blotches of black paint and of course formica adhesive. It looks as though the previous owner bought the speakers in raw birch, then decided to paint them black, then changed his mind and had them sanded and covered in the formica. I sanded a small area and the birch will come back nicely although removing the previous deep sanding marks will take some work. I've though about just sanding these and painting them black. To refinish them natural birch would require the most work to get the surface smooth and free of sanding marks. Also thought about wood veneer...expensive and I dont have the tools to do it myself {router etc.} Does anyone have any pictures of refinish work they have done so I can get and idea of the final look. Any suggestions from people who have done this before? Thanks John

Thanks Bob Email on its way to you. John

Thanks Bob- I'll do that! Any suggestions on manufacturer? I just want to get back to baseline with these speakers and listen to them as they should sound. Is Hovland stuff overkill? John

I've been listening to the "thrift store" Klipschorns for a few days now and continue to be impressed with the overall sound. I've read many posts in the archives concerning the need to replace the old crossover networks. They have the K500-5000 networks, which I assume was original to 1960. They look like they have 45 years of crud on them :} I'm somewhat confused as to the differences between ALK and Dean etc replacements and would like some advice on where to go with this conversion. What would be the advantage to using either one and any sound differences or observations are appreciated. Thanks John

I've been listening to the thrift store Klipschorns for a few days and finally decided to look at the woofers. They are both K-33 but different in appearance. 1. Chrome basket with a sticker on the back of a grey magnet cover that is dated 1960 and has an illegible signature. Stamped number 7789. Paper cone has 79377 on it. 2. Black basket with no magnet cover. Sticker on the magnet has 15162 4 ohm 67-98180090 G2 Paper cone has 28 97 451520-2 Both speakers sound great and I can tell no difference between the two, but I am curious as to the date for the black basket one. Anyone able to decode the numbers? Also when you look at the front of the speakers through the opening of the woofer "doors" there is writing on the plywood box in pencil. One is dated April 7, 1960 and the other April 8, 1960. Hope Arkansas with the initials "TC". Who was TC? Thanks John

Like I said in my original post-I had some help from my neighbor so I didnt really search these out. I rarely go to thrift stores and so was just very lucky to have someone set them aside for me. I will get the formica off and put on new grill cloth and wood veneer over the next few months. I'll post some pictures if I can get my hands on a camera. John

Chris, The Siemens are not 10 times BETTER than the 6H23's, but in my experience, this hobby is rarely ten times the bang for ten times the bucks. The Siemens are noticebly better than the Sovteks and Mullards I have tried. No experience with Amperex. Have you checked out "Joes Tube Lore" on the Audioasylum website? If not-its worth reading the section on 6dj8 etc tubes. Go to Audioasylum and top right click on Audio Answers and scroll down to Joes tube lore. Hope this helps John

Dave, LOL- Only temporary corners !! I figure I can use the back of the CG's and the wall to make a sufficient corner just to hear how they might sound in a true corner set up. I wont be chopping up the CG's for the wood though! John