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

Without knowing what kind of finish is currently on the wood it is going to be next to impossible to make suggestions. Also, unless they are a very light oil finish or just raw wood, I very seriously doubt you are going to find anything to just "darken" them without stripping, sanding, staining and finishing. Just my $0.02!

There are several threads in this sub-forum that discuss these problems and some possible solutions. Search is your friend! [8-|]

I really appreciate all of the input and links to great information. I found a lot of Sapele Pommele that would be enough for this project and really looks quite nice. It would be enough to practice with (a lot) and still have plenty available for the Heresys. If I go this route I will cut my own edge banding as the lot should be enough to make almost two complete 4 x 8 paperbacked sheets. If anyone feels this is too ambitious for a beginner, please weigh in with your opinion, suggestions etc. Even though I am impatient, I really want these to turn out nice! Tony

Thanks to all. Great information! I will try to get some pictures of the process when I get more decisions made. Tony

Hello All! I have looked through a bunch of the posts and seen some really stunning work here. Some that is truly amazing! I recently acquired a pair of 1975 Heresys in oiled walnut that I am in the process of upgrading and refinishing. They are serial numbers 17N226 & 17N231. I was just wondering what the prevailing thoughts are about going to a different veneer or should they stay as original as possible? I realize this is totally a subjective thing and I will probably never resell these if they end up sounding anywhere near as good as my1986 Heresy II's. I have sanded them down lightly with 220 grit and have not been able to remove all the scratches I was hoping to. I'm scared to sand much more because I have already sanded through in places. It is almost as if they had been previously sanded and refinished once ( or more times ) before. EXTREMELY thin walnut that was left on there. Due to this and some peeling veneer over what looks to be very light water damage on the bottom of one of the cabinets, I have decided that they will both receive a total new veneer job. What's left to decide is: Will I try to do this myself? I am fairly comfortable around wood though I have never attempted veneer before. Will I go back with Walnuit and an oiled finish or on to something more exotic? All opinions are welcomed. The crossovers, mids and tweets are already back from Crites just waiting on me to decide where to go with the cabinets. Also, If I decide to try it myself, any suggestions or problems verneering over existing veneer that I should know about? Thank you, Tony

Budunski, Far from a pro at this, but there are indeed three (what appear to be identical) boards inside. One each for left, right and then sub. Sub is easily identifiable as the output wires run directly from that board to the subwoofer itself. The other two, in a different location and side by side, I don't know of a way to distinguish between left and right except to remove the fuses from those boards one at a time and see when your "Right" signal is lost. Then the other one is "Left". I assume you have checked the fuses on each of those boards? From what I have read here in the past, Left channel not working usually turns out to be a faulty connection in the DIN plug going from the control pod to the amp. A user named "mister_clean" offers the service to repair/replace this faulty connector. I think he used to offer for sale a do it yourself kit to make same repair. Comments have all been positive. Hope this helps! Tony

If you hit it hard emought to break the connector off the cable, it is possible that you have internal damage as well. Maybe not. The connector can be replaced by splicing as you described. I think it is mister_clean that offers the service to do this for you. All comments have been positive. He also offers the connectors for sale if I remember correctly.

Just another option for your perusal! Sorry, but it is only about $40 cheaper! Probably no Klipsch warranty though. http://jr.partsearch.com/Part/Klipsch+Audio+Technologies/Klipsch/119511/New.aspx?ModelMfgName=Klipsch+Audio+Technologies&ModelBrandName=Klipsch&ModelNumber=SUB12

Not totally worthless at all! There are several on here who work on these. Also, Klipsch does repair these for a flat rate plus shipping! See this link for what I did with mine! http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/118652.aspx

Welcome aboard! If you search "2.1" in this forum you will find alot of troubleshooting advice for these. Please confirm what you mean by the "preamp connection"? If you are referring to the DIN plug that goes into the plate amp on the subwoofer, it is HIGHLY likely that you need to replace, or have replaced, the DIN donnector on the end of that cable. At least one member here does this repair and also sells the connector for those with the ablilty and wishing to do it themsleves. I think I also remember reading about others who have replaced this connector with a PS2 keyboard or mouse connector. If you are a do it yourself type, there are many threads here detailing how that connector can be replaced. You can also buy the whole control pod from Klipsch when they have it in stock. Good luck! T