T-Ram

Pictures???? Bet it sounds great!

Sorry guys! I was taking a nap! :-) Absolutely love mine. Besides looking REALLY COOL ( http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/127026.aspx ) in my decorators, they sound excellent too. With them at the office I rarely get to crank them up, but I am totally pleased with the sound. Running them with my "jerry-rigged" subwoofer ( http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/118652.aspx ) from a set of Pro-Media 2.1's that died and they are more than adequate, even when I come in on the weekend and can give them a true workout.

Thank you! The patterns really do jump out. I've got the one original pie and I also purchased two of the new pies. I'm still debating whether to hold out for another vintage pie or put the new ones on. Once again, anybody got a single vintage "pie" they are willing to part with? [] As others have said, very beautiful work. If I may make a suggestion, I would make a small template and route a small rectangle where the binding posts are located, and place the plate on the inside of the cabinet, to recess those posts. Love that sapele. Bruce I would recommend following Bruce's suggestion on the binding posts. I understand the concept, but unless I am going to use strictly banana plugs I can see nothing but frustration in trying to secure bare wire or pins if I did this unless I went with a considerably larger plate so there could be room to manuver. Am I completely wrong? Or are my fingers that much bigger than everyone else's? I'm a pretty big guy, but have never thought of my hands as particularly large and I have had trouble with other recessed binding posts. Oh and by the way......thank you to all for the comments. Not sure if I have individually thanked everyone! Tony

Beautiful work!!!! Absolutely "prettified" pair!!! Funny thing is that your final comment (above) was very accurate. But.... aside from the "I'll never do that again" implication, by taccomplishing what turned out to be a very complex and time consuming "operation" was, as the Master Charge commercial says..... Priceless!!! I really appreciate that. Did not mean to imply that I was upset about it or anything and I in no way feel negative about what I have ended up with..............but you have definitely nailed my feelings with............Priceless!

Thank you! Sorry if I misunderstood something that Bob had told me. I understood him to say that Eminence was the manufacturer of the K-22 that was in my 1975 Heresy pair. Did not mean to imply more than that.[]

Thank you! The veneer was purchased from http://www.veneersupplies.com/ . It was a "lot" of sapele pommele raw veneer that I particularly like the pattern of. I had it paper backed on 10 mil paper and ended up with two sheets just shy of 48" wide and over 96" long. It was a lot more veneer than I needed for the speakers, but I will use what is left for other projects. Probably used just over a third of each sheet for each speaker. Both from what I considered the "bottom" of each sheet so the grain patterns were very similiar as they were from the same part of the original piece of wood. I used the Better-Bond Heat Lock glue described here. http://www.veneersupplies.com/images/brochure-heatlock.jpg Instructions for use are here. http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/iron-on-veneering.htm I used two different methods for trimming. Tested both methods on scraps that I played with before starting on the cabinets. Found that for cutting across the grain, what worked for me was this: http://www.veneersupplies.com/product_info.php?cPath=86_37&products_id=2824 Be sure to buy extra blades as you want the edge as sharp as possible. I flipped and / or changed the blade after every cut. During my testing I discovered that I could get away with using a router and a flush trimming bit when going with the grain. Only had one little place that had any tear-out. This was also with a brand new (very sharp) bit. Bought a bit that had a 1" cutting surface and adjusted the depth after every cut so I was always cutting with a sharp surface. Best suggestion I could give anyone about this is to do your homework before you start on your cabinets. Pick your veneer then work with some scrap pieces or other small projects to see how it will behave. Try different methods of trimming. This veneer allowed me to use the router for alot of the cuts. Buy a decent iron. I started with a $10 Wal-Mart special. Surface was a little rough and it did not heat evenly so I took it back. Bought a $30 Hamilton Beach with a large stainless bottom and had no more problems in that area. Don't use too much glue. First piece that I actually put on one of the speakers was a bottom piece. Had the glue a little too heavy and got some ripples when it dried. Actually left it to remind me of that. It's the bottom! Nobody but me ( and now all of you ) will ever know that it is there![] And lastly, unless you are an already experienced woodworker with most of these tools already in your shop....................don't go in to this thinking you are going to be saving any money. What we are doing is saving speakers, not money! Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of doing this! It was my first time ever working with veneer. First ever speaker "rehab"! And I LOVE what I have ended up with and will probably have them for the rest of my life, BUT................if I had known going in what I was going to be spending I probably would not have taken this on. I have not, and will not be adding everything up, but I have no doubt that the bottom line would be just shy of the neighborhood of buying a new pair of Heresy III's. Some of that cost can be spread out over many future projects, but the out of pocket for this project really kicked the "play" budget right out the window! []

If you ask really nice.................. [] .................. I'll mail you the fuse and cap from mine. I had much bigger issues than that and my plate amp now is just sealing the hole it is in. Using a different amp with that sub. Get me at: tony.clinton then the thing that represents at cbre.com

Thank you! I am really pleased with the woofers. Not 100% sure, but I think mine was the first order for these K-22 replacements that he just got in from Eminence, the original manufacturer of the K-22. He said he had been working with them for quite some time on this model. Wire is in-wall rated ( CL2 or CL3, I can't remember ) Monster 14/2 that I had part of a 500 ft spool left from the home theater install. It, the "cable pants" from parts express, and the red and black heat shrink along with 4% silver solder and the spades made for some fairly nice inside cables. AND, it all sounds GREAT by the way!

Link to the album so I don't have to keep hitting picture by picture. http://www.flickr.com/photos/41009735@N03/sets/72157622725008025/ Thank you all! Tony

Thank you! Camera is really old and every time I tried for really close-up, even with macro function, the grain really got blotchy. I've got a boatload of pictures left to post. Hopefully some of them will be satisfactory. Maybe this one?

Reflection off the top of the cabinets. New heavy duty binding posts visible on the back. Terminal strip on Crites re-built crossovers.

Back panels ready to be re-attached. Original labels are now inside the cabinet.

Ready for the re-install of dirvers and crossovers.

To start with, let me say THANK YOU to all who post here! I never would have tried this without seeing all of the fine work that can be done. I really have a new appreciation of those who take the time to document their work with photos and nice narratives. I quickly found out that I was not patient enough to even attempt this. I sincerely apologize as I have benefited so much from seeing the processes displayed here and elsewhere. My hats off and the highest respect to those who are able to do this! I started with a pretty beat up pair of totally original 1975 HWOs. One had a hole punched through the woofer and one was missing the "pie" badge. Soneone had attempted a refinish previously and the walnut was really thin in places, gouges in places, bottom corners beat up, water damage on bottom of one speaker, etc. As mentioned in a previous thread, I knew I would have to totally reveneer these. Always loved the look of the Decorators and these were the perfect candidates for a conversion. The veneer is Sapele Pommelle. First coat of danish oil was watco red mahogony thinned down with about 1 part red to 3 parts natural. After that, all was watco natural. Wet sanded with danish oil up to 2500 grit, then waxed with Rennaisance Wax. Feels like a piece of glass. This was my first ever attempt at veneer and it is not easy, but it is not rocket science either. More pics to follow.

Link to what I did with one. Bad picture ( sorry ) and it's at my office or I'd try to get better photo for you. It is of solid Oak. 110V fan on top and filtered air intakes low on each side. http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/118652.aspx