JoeRiff

A closer look reveals that the tweeter has been given the same treatment. Very interesting, was this done by Klipsch as a designated center speaker model or done by the owner?

I saw this pic in an Ebay auction, and I didn't know what to make of it? It appears to have two magnet structures piggy-backed on one another. Was this common and what was the purpose? http://cgi.ebay.com/Klipsch-Belle-speaker-center-like-Klipschorn-Bell_W0QQitemZ200049164686QQihZ010QQcategoryZ116197QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item200049164686

I think pretty much everyone on this forum now owns the Maxell poster. Some have also spent $150 on a frame for it.

Helluva good deal! I paid $1250 for mine and they had to be refinished!

My dad was lucky enough to take a personal tour of the Klipsch plant - probably around 1983. It was set up by the local Klipsch dealer that sold him his La Scalas. Somehow my dad ended up walking past Paul's office. My dad invited himself in and had a photo taken of him shaking hands with PWK, which he still carries in his wallet to this day.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> He also got a pair of cool Klipsch satin embroidered Varsity jackets that he still has hanging in the closet. Not sure if they make those anymore?

"Try to avoid buying during tax refund season....sellers can hold out on the price and get a sale easier than during the back to school thru Christmass buying season. " Excellent advise, prices really spike at that time of year. I bought a pair of "beater Belles" for $1200 from a local guy on Ebay and completely refinished them and replaced almost all of the walnut edgebanding. It was a LOT of work to tear them apart and refinish each peice, but they look almost like new now. I was really amazed how well they turned out. My brother has a pair of LaScalas, and I think my Belles look much nicer. However, both sound almost identical and I wouldn't be disappointed with either.

A lot of forum members really like Al's Trachorn. It's a bit pricey, but if you're starting from scratch it may be worth considering.

My brother has a chance to buy a pair of La Scala's locally for $1000. From what I know they are Birch w/ grilles from around 1980. The owner has finished them a dark walnut color, and they don't look bad. I would rate them about 8 to 8.5 out of 10. They have original drivers and crossovers. Do you guys think $1000 is a fair price? I was thinking maybe a little bit lower sounded about right. Any thoughts?

Just got mine today. It took well over a week, but the price was right. A very nice poster, indeed. Has anyone found a standard frame that fits this unusual size?

I had to check them out. They are actually finished with a clear varnish or lacquer. Not sure what it is, but the burn probably came from a candle as there is wax running down the front of the speaker (easily chipped off). Is there a dye or paint you can use to color the grilles black? They sound awesome compared to his old center, but that Heresy really looks out of place sitting up on top of the TV.

I sent an e-mail as well. I'd love to have one of those posters. Here's hoping they have a few left!

Colter, what type of finish did you use to get such a warm color with Black Walnut? It doesn't look grey or black really at all. This is a real problem I'm having trying to get any new Black Walnut veneer to match the stuff already on my speakers.

I just snagged the last roll in Bay City, MI. There was a kid standing there looking at all the speaker wires and I went around him and snagged it from under his nose. Yoink!! Looks like good quality stuff, especially for $9.97.

I did find one good link in a thread: http://www.dcchomes.com/WalnutKhorn.html The gentleman achieved what I would consider an acceptable match, however, he opted to change his veneer completely in the end. I couldn't help but notice that the Minwax stain in the picture is water-based and he mentions mixing it with Watco Teak oil. Later in the thread he mentions having a problem with blotchiness. Not too difficult to figure out what went wrong there. To his credit, it looks like he did extremely suberb work with the veneer, though. I also e-mailed Klipsch customer service, but have not yet received a response. I don't know if they'll be able to help me or not. Hopefully they can provide some direction.

I've noticed on several Walnut Klipsch speakers including my Belles and my father's Khorns that the walnut Klipsch uses has a very light brown almost orange hue to it like I've not seen before. At first I thought it was the BLO in the wood changing color with age, but my Belles were Lacquered and they still have the same hue to them. When I stripped them down, I noticed the color was still there in the bare wood. I'm considering re-veneering a small section of one of my Belles and I'm having trouble finding any pieces of veneer that match the stuff Klipsch uses. Most of what I find is darker and greyer. Some have suggested English Walnut, but it still does not quite have that orange hue to it. Has anyone had any luck finding a stain that will make common walnut match up to the walnut used by Klipsch?

I assume you mean these? http://cgi.ebay.com/Belle-Klipsch-Speaker-Systems-2-each_W0QQitemZ9741339820QQihZ008QQcategoryZ61378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem In by book, anything less than $1400/pair would be a very sweet price. The auction mentions water rings and scratches, but it's hard to make anything out. Another pair recently went for $1125, but needed some veneer work done. Hard to tell with on-line photos, but they appear in pretty good shape.

I love it when it looks like somebody spent more on their audio rack than I did on my entire system.

I've been doing a complete refinish on a pair of Belles for about a month now. It's a lot more work than I ever imagined, but it's amazing how good they're looking compared to when I started. I've replaced most of the banding on my speakers, but color matching wasn't as big of a problem for me, due to the fact that I completely stripped my speakers down. #1 how can I match up the oak stain? Matching wood color can be a lot of work. If you did not start staining yet, you would have a couple of options. It sounds like you've already put some stain on, so your options are now more limited. I would suggest that you consider going over it with a slightly darker stain. You also need to consider that the wood will look darker once you topcoat it with a polyurethane or what-have-you. If you have some extra banding to play with, stain it to match what you have on your speakers. Next, take the piece down to a local Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. Grab a couple different colors of stain that you think might work and ask the person at the counter to apply some of each color over what you have. Make sure you mark which color is which. Take it home and see how it matches your speakers. It would be easier if you could bring in a small piece of what you are trying to match, but I don't think there are any pieces you could easily take off of the Corns, as you could with Belles or Khorns. Your best bet would be to find a local paint shop that custom mixes stain by hand. I don't mean a hardware store or home center, but a real paint shop. If you can bring in a piece of what you're staining and a piece of what you want to match up with, they should be able to match it dead nuts. I used to work in a paint store in college, and the guy who mixed our stains was amazing at this. You may have to pay $15 a quart, but its well worth it. #2 can I use some oak colored wood putty to fill in the little dings and such? Certainly. You have to be careful with putty vs. filler. Most wood filler is sandable and can be a finish can be put over the top. Putty, however, does not completely harden. You cannot sand it or put a finish over the top of it. #3 Can I lightly sand the entire cabinets in say 600 grade sandpaper and go over them in some satin poly? What type of finish is on the speaker right now oiled, lacquered? You may want to try a chemical stripper on them. It's nasty stuff to work with, but it does the job well. Your speakers will take a light sanding, but be careful not to go through the veneer, which is actually pretty thick on these speakers. If you sand, you may also end up with some spots darker than others. Satin poly is a nice finish. Many on this board like Watco, myself included. Minwax and Watco also both make a "wipe-on" poly which works very nicely.

Wow, for four grand the speakers even incorporate the vaunted "whizzer cone" technology made famous by AC Delco. I can see they spared no expense to please even the most discerning ear with this design.

I have one Belle Klipsch completely disassembled, stripped, sanded and prepped. I am ready to finish, but I am having a difficult time picking a color. As I have said in previous posts, I plan on using Watco Danish Oil. Originally, I planned on using the Natural, but now I am thinking about maybe a little bit of color wouldn't be bad. I'm thinking about the Fruitwood color, which has a hint of red/brown to it. Has anyone had any experience using Fruitwood on walnut? Im really looking for something light. The reason I have decided to switch to something with a little bit of color is that the different sections of this speaker are different hues. It's amazing that Klipsch had this much color variety on one speaker. To tell you the truth, I really didn't notice it until I took the speaker apart and stripped it down piece by piece. All on one speaker, the top piece is a dark brown, the sides are a golden brown and the riser is a dark reddish brown. My other dilemma is that I ordered some Band-it walnut veneer edge-banding and it appears to be a darker brown/grey - more like the top piece of the speaker. However, it will be going up near the more golden portion of the speaker on the front of the doghouse. I think having the black grilles may help off-set the color. The original banding was split and some is chipped badly. It has to be replaced. Does anyone think I will have trouble blending it in? Any tips?

OK, now I have an additional problem to add. The first few pieces I did were done with RAP, a locally meth-choloride based product. They looked fantastic. The other pieces, including the main top piece, I did with a Kleen Strip brand Meth-Chloride based stripper. This, much to my chagrin, has a left a nice streaky frosting look on the wood. I figured that it must be just smeared finish/residue so I put on a few more coats. DOH!!! Turns out what it was doing was bleaching out the pores of the walnut. If I sand will I end up with dark and light spots? I tried wiping paint thinner on the wood in an effort to get the white out. It looked fantastic while the wood was still wet with thinner, but the frosty look returned a few hours later once the thinner had evaporated. My uncle said that with an oiled finish, you may not even notice the white look, but he's also seen it nearly ruin some darker finishes. Anybody have any experience with this problem? He suggested that I could probably sand it out or work it with some #000 steel wool, but I would have to be careful. He also said it would take a lot of work to get the entire piece even looking. He also suggested wetting a rag with water and simply trying to wash it away, which I will try next. Do you think the whiteness will show through the finish or should I start sanding?

I've read a few threads on here about refinishing, and some people have given their speakers a light sanding to remove any small scratches and imperfections. I've also talked to a few people who recommend against it. I've got one Belle disassembled and stripped down with a chemical stripper. The original lacquer came off very easily using some Meth-Chlor stripper with some steel wool and a plastic scraper. I must admit it looks better than I thought it would consider how many scratches it had. However, there are still some small scratches and imperfections that are visible. I spoke with my uncle who does a lot of wood working, as a matter of fact he does it for a living. He told me not to sand it unless the scratches were very noticeable because they will blend in when I apply my oil finish. He also said that sanding will make some parts of the wood lighter and while leaving others darker, which will make obtaining an even finish more difficult. What are some opinions from forum members on sanding? I know you can't take off much if you do sand, being it is veneer. I plan on finishing it with Watco. I'm looking for a light color and am thinking about just using the Natural. I found a thread on here where someone used the Cherry, and it looked nice. However, I don't want to go that dark. Has anyone on here tried any of the other colors?

Thanks for the tips guys, but unfortunately none of the above suggestions worked. First I tried applying WD40 3 times per evening for three nights, no improvement. I also tried the bolt cutter idea, no dice. These things must be rusted up good inside. Needless to say, between the needle nose and the bolt cutters, the threads are pretty well shot. Tonight, I get out the cutting wheel and off with their heads!

Ok guys, at this point it looks like I'm pretty much talking to myself, but I'll post just the same. I managed to get the rusty headed screws out fine, but now I've got a much bigger problem. Each side piece in the top section is held down by two bolts with a nut on them. It looks like the head of the bolt is under the board, as the threaded end points up. One nut on each side will not come off because the bolt simply spins with the nut when you try to loosen it. Any tips on how I can get these off? It's really pissing me off that just two tiny nuts are all that stand between me and really getting this project going. Is there any easy way to fix this? I don't want to try cutting it off with a wheel. How about trying an easy-out? Any ideas? I've tried having some one lift up the speaker by the board to try and put some pressure on it, no luck. I've also tried gripping the bolt with a pair needle nose to no avail.

OK, I did some digging on the forum, and found a pic by Al K in a thread about moding Belles. I assume those two screws on top to the right of the spacer are the one's I'm looking for? I hope so, because I really don't want to disassemble the bass bin. I'm going to try taking a brass bristle brush to the rusty screw heads (those would be the same screws that Al has popped up out of bottom board of the top section)