440Films

I lightly refinished my Heresy's. They were a little dinged up but not bad enough to re-veneer them. The original veneer was fairly thick. I didn't sand them down too much except for the top of one that had a planter on it at one point. Their was a green circle of mold. I sanded it down as far as I could before I could tell the veneer was getting dangerously thin. I had a piece of Oak veneer that matched the Walnut so I used it in some places to patch. Not a perfect solution but it worked out. I was trying to keep as much of the patena as possible. I give them an 8 out of 10 now. I do have experience with refinishing but was afraid to take the plunge of veneering on my Heresy's. If your cabinets are in good shape you could get to the raw wood. A little stain and maybe boiled linseed oil or tung oil and those Cornwalls will be looking good!

Fisher approves.

HDBRbuilder mentioned in an old post that sometimes cabinets that didn't have attractive grain or had flaws were candidates for a black finish. Their was a hole in top of the speaker. I'm sure it was filled at some time but their it was. I used some wood filler, a little paint and a #2 pencil to camoflauge it. I think it can pass as a knot now. The top has become the bottom.

After some testing I found that Varathane Light Cherry Stain matched the Walnut Oil of my Heresy's.

I sanded them up a bit. The veneer on the Academys was much thinner than the Heresy's and the front was paper thin.

I used lacquer thinner to remove the old paint. It needs to soak in just for a minute. Single 0 steal wool worked great but my rubber gloves were too thin. It ate through 5 pairs.

I bought a black Academy that had some scratches and wanted it to some what match my Walnut Oil Heresy's.

Colterphoto, What did you do with the old Binding Posts? Did you remove them or leave them be?

I have read a lot of posts here on the Forum that people use them. I got 2 pairs and was not impressed. The are too small to use with my spades and it did not seem as if a banana would go that deep. Also the build quality didn't feel that great. I'm considering installing new binding posts to my Heresys.

Thanks for your help Colterphoto, and happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

I have an Academy I just purchased. I am removing the components inside to start a refinish project and I pulled out 2 layers of foam insulation. I wanted to know if it's supposed to be in there or was it stock that way? Thanks.

I had 7.1 for years and it was cool for movies mastered in 7.1, very enveloping soundfield. For 5.1 mastered material it seemed to matrix too much information to only the rears especially the film score. I have a Yamaha RX-V2600. Currently my HT room doesn't allow me to have a proper 7.1. Although I don't miss it if I had the option I would probably return to 7,1. It just sounds cool to say. You said you have subs across the room, do you mean left to right or front to back?

I got the Heresy's back on the stands last night. They were sorely missed. The are all cleaned up and look great. Currently 3 more (Center, Rears) won't fit in the living room. The surrounds I have are dipole and work well although they are not Klipsch. I will be looking to replace them with Klipsch dipoles in the future. I think I have an Academy in my future...

Thanks for the awesome responses. Cal Blacksmith, I may have to take you up on that. The Heresy's are going back on to the stands tonight.

I have restored many furniture pieces. I have found that patience always pays off. I started using Tung Oil 2 years ago and new I had found the perfect substance. Polyutherane can be streaky and hard to work with. I am leary now of any product that states one application is all that's needed.

I have been a Home Theater enthusiasts for quite a while long before I had any real money to do so. Thankfully I read the best advice years ago which is to be patient and build your system. Over the years I have amassed enough equipment to have two dedicated home theaters in our house. I have fallen in to the “Tweak” camp once or twice but having a father that is an electrical engineer has helped me stay grounded. Although I custom build my speaker wires and interconnects his statement “Wire is Wire” always keeps me and my ears in perspective. Two years ago my boss was cleaning out his garage and offered me two speakers. I delayed. This Christmas he cleaned his garage once more and again offered me the speakers. I asked what kind they were and he told me they were Klipsch Heresy's. His father had given the speakers to him when he traded up The Heritage ladder to La Scala's and my boss had been bringing the Heresy's along in his life for almost 20 years. 4 cities, 2 continents, many garages. The following Monday he brought in the speakers. They were a little dinged up but over all, they were in good shape. I Google'd “Klipsch Heresy” 21,000 hits. I have owned Klipsch Speakers before and truly love horn tweeters specifically for movie soundtracks. The speakers sat in my garage for two weeks before I set them up in the HT on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I didn't really have plans for them but I wanted to check them out. I placed them on 24” Lovan speaker stands. They looked way too big to be up there but I prefer speaker tweeters and mids at ear level. My silver with rhodium plating spade connectors (I know, I know Dad, wire is wire) fit under the two tiny screws on the back. The volume was low but I could hear I was getting sound. Time to turn it up. I checked the guide and Ratatouille was on in HD, easy choice. I turned the volume up, Holy F#%K'in S#&T! I sat their grinning for a while... The wife came home. She made a comment and asked a question. First, “those speakers look ridiculous up there.” Second, “why are you grinning?” I told her that these were our new speakers. She sat down next to me and got on her laptop. 5 minutes later I could see she was looking up at the movie. She was grinning. “Those speakers sound awesome.” She said. “I know babe” I replied. “I usually don't notice any difference when you do your little speaker things but Wow!” “I know babe” I replied. The Heresy's are currently in the garage again but this time they are getting a nice little refresh to the cabinets. The old speakers (custom built crossovers with high end Vifa drivers) are back on the stands which is cementing my new path down the Klipsch Heritage trail. I am anxiously awaiting their return. The weather is cold here in Southern California and 7 coats of Tung oil can take its time. I am very thankful that my boss is a pack rat, my wife is cool and that I have this thread. In the last week I have had emails from Chris Munson (popbumper) and Bob Crites who informed me that my speakers were the 637th and 638th Heresy's made in 1978. He also told me that my speakers were probably built by Adam Barr. Totally cool. I look forward to years of posts and enjoying my home theater even more thanks to my Heresy's.