Malcolm

No help with fixing the mess you have now... But, you might want to get a UPS if this computer is so critical. And you might want to grade to a later version of Windows that isn't as likely to have similar problems.

The Heresys with the CTS or Eminence alnico woofers will give you the least problems around a TV set. Retrofitting a newer Heresy just consists of unmounting the old innards and mounting the new ones. Everything may change, certainly the woofer and network, the squawker driver and maybe horn if it is not a K-55-V on a K-700, and the tweeter if it is not alnico. But it is no big deal. The holes in the motor boards are the same size. Seems to me it would be easier to just replace the whole speaker, though. You can always sell the old one. Don't know how a TV will fair with the even earlier ones with an EV SP12B for the woofer. It isn't the fact that the magnetic material is alnico that makes these things better around TVs. It is the design of the magnet circuit. The ones with what looks like at D shaped piece of steel wrapped over the pole piece, possibly with aluminum filler plates on either side, are the ones that work well. Some other alnico designs, like the ones with big round ring magnet assemblies, are just as bad as any of the ferrite designs around TVs. Bucking magnets may be an equally effective and less trouble. Degaussing can remove residual magnetism on the shadow mask caused by moving a magnet too close to it, and therefore fix the corresponding image problem. But it will not do a thing for the effect on the CRT's electron beam of the magnetic field of the speaker itself. You will still have a problem with the picture. All you can do is shield the speaker, shield the TV, change the relative positions of the TV and speaker, or use a bucking magnet to change the shape of the magnetic field.

If the transformer failed, it is possible other components failed short and caused it. Unless you like diagnosing and fixing electronic gear, I would suggest you either replace the amp or the speaker. IIWY I would call Klipsch tech support.

I had some 1984s. IIRC I have seen one or two pairs of 1985s. Just be aware that those manufacturered from sometime in 1983 on have a different squawker driver than the earlier ones (K-52-H or K-53-K v. K-55-V) and sound a bit different.

The finish you wind up with can only be as good as the substrate you lay the finish down on.

You can get an indirect idea by measuring sensitivity. To find out the true exent of demagnetization you would have to measure with a gaussmeter and compare the result to the original strength. You have to place the probe of the gauss meter in the gap. Not a problem for a K77 because the diaphragm is easily replaceable. More of a problem for a woofer. And of course, you need to know the original strength.

There you go, something to keep you mind off what your daughter is up to....

Heresy, Heresy II or Heresy III IMHO makes no difference, as long as you keep them all the same flavor. If you have a preference for the sound of one, go for it. Although I have Heresys, I don't really have a preference one way or the other. They all sound good, just a little different from each other. Whichever you choose, you will need a good subwoofer. Heresy is 3 dB down by about 65 Hz. Heresy II and III are not much different. If you have really good hearing, the better high end response of a Heresy II or III could be to advantage. Of course, BEC's tweeter upgrade is an option for the Heresy.

I am with Dr. Bill on this. Thermostatically controlled soldering stations are sweet. But the most useful thing for me is good 40 W iron. The right tip for the job makes a big difference. And when I need more heat propane is the way to go. I actually have some real heat sinks I picked up years ago. They clip on leads, etc, have a lot of mass, and work much better than aligator clips. FWIW more components have probably been damaged by someone using too small an iron than too big an iron. With a small iron, the junction takes forever to get up to the temperature necessary to melt the solder while the heat drains away to other areas and lift traces, bubbles insulation, and does other damage.

I have 5 Heresys and a decent sub in a room of roughly similar size. Works fine. My rear speakers are not on the back wall, but behind and pointed toward the seating area at the same level as the rest of the speakers. The three identical speakers in the front make for truly seamless panning. As long as your screens are acoustically transparent you shouldn't have a problem. Only caveat I have is to avoid mixing Heresys with K-52-H or K-53-K squawker drivers with ones with K-55-V drivers. They sound a little different and the difference is right in the range where your ear is the most sensitive. Its enough to annoy me although some others say they cannot hear a difference. You might want to go with all Alnico, or all ferrite, magnets on the tweeters.

A Brown Soun

Uh, don't grab the pointy end. I did that once and won't do it again.

Wasn't referring to serial numbers stamped in the wood, but the lack of serial numbers on the labels. Could have faded, I guess. But does not seem so. Squawker, or should I say tweeter, driver doesn't appear to be similar to the University SA-HF or MA-25 squawker drivers used by Klipsch in the 50s, nor to the 4401 tweeter. I think this is a completely different beast.

Interesting... These aren't the same as the ones built for surround use in theaters. They were just standard theater black Heresys without the tweeter and with the appropriate network modifications. Woofer is indeed an EV SP12B variant as would be appropriate for the early 60s. Don't think the squawker is EV, maybe Jensen or another make. Could be something someone cobbled together themselves. Klipsch sold components at one time. Squawker may not even be from Klipsch, although seller says it is a K66, which I have never heard of. But that doesn't mean there wasn't one. Lack of a serial number may also be an indication. OTOH color coded zip cord to squawker is as would be expected. Cabinet is right. Looks like the only difference from a early Heresy cabinet is the motor board. It is big enough to fit a K700 horn and K77 tweeter on. Signature of Portus Gilley looks authentic and is appropriate for the timeframe. Don't know if Andy would know any more. I think this was from well before he worked there. All in all, I would say that this is just another of the many variants that Klipsch made over the years trying to find the right product for the market.

My guess is that you are going to see similar increases in everything made out of copper. Copper prices are at an all time high because of the booming world economy. The metal value of many countries' coinage is now higher than the face value of the coins. Even in the United States, where the one cent piece is copper plated zinc, the cost of production exceeds the face value. And it is not just copper. Steel went up like crazy over the last few years. So did cement.

FWIW the metallized film capacitors in late Heresys probably haven't deteriorated noticeably. So they are probably working pretty much like the day they were installed. You may still want to replace them with your favorite "audiophile" brand however.

Heresy IIs sound different than Heresys. They have different squawker drivers and tweeters.

If you need to remove shellac, you can do it with alcohol and 400 grit sand paper. But you really don't need to remove it if it is sound. Just sand so that the new finish will adhere to the old one. You don't have to worry about the shellac failing under the new finish. Shellac is sometimes used to seal old finishes that tend to blead before refinishing with whatever top coat you like.

Not sure what is meant by coherency, but one reason to replace the woofer in a Heresy is to be able to play louder, not lower, before the woofer reaches its physical or thermal limits. IIRC earlier woofers had Xmax of about 2.5mm and later ones had Xmax of about 4 mm. A K24 will get you that without having to resort to something not from Klipsch.

Not to knock PWK, but the use of the same tweeters and squawker drivers for all the models in the Heritage line was no brilliant move. It was the only way to get them to sound similar with off the shelf parts. And it certainly wasn't always economical. The Heresy didn't need the same efficiency in the squawker and tweeter as the rest of the line. Hence the move to the K-52-H and K-53-K squawker driver in the last of the Heresys and the introduction of the Heresy II compete with MDF cabinet, all in a move to cut costs to make product competitive in its niche. As far as the differences in design of the bass sections (horn loaded, ported, sealed) go, PWK was an engineer. He used what looked like it would work well enough for the job. But note that he wasn't always successful. Remeber the Shorthorn?

FWIW you are not going to go significantly lower with the same efficiency in the Heresy box.

No Heresy had a 4 ohm woofer. The early ones had 16 ohm woofers, the later ones had 8 ohm woofers. The K-24 is a good replacement for an 8 ohm K-22. Are you sure that your current woofers are not K-22-EF? Sometimes the ink smears and makes it hard to read. If so, they were manufactured by Eminence and there is a chance you can get them reconed.

As I said, I use Solen Fastcaps. You can find them online at many places including here. The 33 uF cap is connected just the way the current one is on the E2 network. Place on the board is up to you. You speaker is a Heresy manufactured toward the end of the run, approx. 1983. Somebody who knows where the date table is can tell you precisely. It has a different squawker driver than earlier models. Yours has a K-52-H, earlier ones had a K-55-V and used a type E network. The K-52-H is functionally identical to the K-53-K used in the last of the Heresys and in the Heresy IIs. The only difference is that the K-52-H screws onto a K700 metal horn, and the K-53-K bolts onto a K701 plastic horn. You should use a K-52-H or K-53-K for its twin because the K-55-V sounds different than the K-52-H or K-53-K. Or you could go with K-55-Vs in both speakers. Then you just remove the 33 uF cap from the E2 network to turn it into an E.

You definitely want to replace the yellow 2 uF caps on that crossover. Somebody replaced the originals. You can see the screw holes where they were mounted. There has been a lot of discussion on this site about what the best capacitors are. You can find it in the archives. FWIW I use Solen Fastcaps. They are metallized polypropylene. I would use the same for the 33 uF cap. Just about anything is better than the electrolytic used on the E2. It was chosen because it is cheap and small. But there is plenty of room to mount a 33 uF polypropylene cap on that board. Both networks should have the same brand caps in equivalent locations.

Type E network has an autotransformer, an inductor (looks like a transformer but with fewer connections), and two 2 uF capacitors. Type E2 is identical with the exception of a 33 uF electrolytic capacitor connected across the woofer. If the caps on your E2 are metal cans of some sort, they have almost certainly been replaced. Klipsch was using metallized foil caps in the Heresys when the E2 was current. The ones I have seen were all rectangular shaped with feet for mounting to the board. But there could be others. You don't want to replace an E2 with an E. The networks differ because of the difference in woofers and squawker drivers. You can convert an E to an E2, however, simply by adding the 33 uF capacitor.