edwardre

Aaaaarrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh........I hate this attachment scheme. Now the 'before' is after the 'after'. Trying again.....

....and here's the after. As in after 1 sheet of 3/4" Walnut ply.

You be the judge.... My rear surround project. This is the before.....

Strange too is that the listing says 'ships worldwide' in one place, under 'shipping' it says 'free' (in the USA), and in the actual listing it says 'If you win we will set up a time for you to come get the speakers.' So what's the deal? Compounding the confusion, I wrote the guy to ask if indeed shipping is free. His response: "Yeah, exactly. No charge to ship. I am going to have Captian Kirk beam them to you." Subsequent requests for re-clarification have gone unanswered. Talk about a few cards short.....

My '74 Belle came with a mid-horn that's stamped 'K-500'.

"What mid-horn does the Belle use? " Tom, my Belles use Altec 511b's. Is the K-505 a 500hz horn like the K-400 is a 400hz horn? What is the '05' designation? I'm pretty sure that the horn that originally came with my '74 belle was a 400hz horn. It's in the garage now....I'll check it out tonight and verify.....

Tom - you are correct....no riser on my center Belle because it makes the speaker stick up just a wee bit too far when I have the screen configured for 1.85 ratio flicks....I have a couple of sticks layed down for stability so's the speaker doesn't rock to and fro on the woofer hatch. Outstanding work on the 'not so steller' prints!!! I was hurried when I took the measurements and admittedly did not cross check the sums of the individual measurements to verify that indeed they totaled the whole. Sorry. I should however have some breathing room this weekend to revisit my measurements and will post any glaring probs next week. Have a great 4th of July weekend everybody!!! Regards.

Like Steve above, I too went the Parkland Plastics route. So did my father. We are both extremely pleased with the results. The benefit is that you can create a screen with the dimensions that are to your liking rather than be forced to utilyze a 'canned' size. For me, the screen size was roughly 10ft x 5ft. You cannot get a piece this size at home depot, but if you call them they will be delighted to send you anything you need....they are aware of the use of their 'shower wall' material for home theatre use. I think my piece came to about $60 2 years ago. The reflective quality (gain) is about 1.5. PP is fairly highly regarded as a 'do-it-yourself solution. See attached pic.....

Tom - yes, they are fuzzy - in fact, they are in my opinion....crappola...Also, you asked for a pic of the bottom of a Belle in one string, forgot which so it is attached here. Enjoy! WRT the plans, the measurements are all there. I had hoped to redraw 'proper' like, but have to admit to myself that I will in all likelyhood, not get around to it any time soon. Maybe there is a forum member who can take the 'rough' drawings and produce something a bit easier to read? I have sent several copies out to those who have requested. If you haven't received yours yet, I am still sending!

Hi Tom, the plate is a medium sized rectangle roughly 1/2 the area of the inside of the riser. I'll snap a pic tonight (if I get the chance!!) and post tomorrow here. The riser is a 4 strip of wood with mitred corners affair with a piece of wood in each corner to lend structural support.

Yup...the DA-3555-21 (from Wendell Fabrics) is definately virtually identical to the original Klipsch Heritage black cloth. I ordered 4 yards and used it to re-cloth both rear surround Khorns and a pair of Belles. With 3 yards to spare. Wendell charges $16/yd, but the 'yard' is actually 2 yards wide. They also sent me 5 yds and charged me for 4. However, the shipping and handling was in my opinion, way out of line. 4 yards cost me $103 and change. Since the fabric should have totaled $64, there was almost $40 in S&H. But, like I said, the match was exact so I am pleased and have enough to last me forever!!

Hi folks, I have to apologize for the 'less than steller' service. Work has been just bustling lately. I also have several Klipsch projects going on at once at home...I know, I know....excuses....excuses.... I sent Tom the preliminary plans, they are kind of tough to read hence the desire to remeasure and reverify the measurements. I need to have the Belle plans part wrapped up tonight as I am expecting delivery of a SVS sub today, and really want to test it out with the whole HT intact....so....once again, I hope to have things done and ready for posting tomorrow. Apologies once again...

Tom - you are of course correct regarding the numerous classics 'as yet to be released on DVD', hence the necessity to own a LD player. But you'd have to be a really serious movie buff.....IMHO....to put up with the drawbacks of LD in general. I thought I was really serious, that's why I got one and went to the trouble of setup etc.....but I found I wasn't as serious as I thought as the LD sat unused for a long time before being disconnected and tossed into storage. I found the pq to be 'grainey' in general, of course some flicks were worse than others...largely dependent upon the transfer. Another kind of weird thing was that there seemed to be greater equivelent of sonic 'dynamic range' in the picture....like the whites were ultra white and the blacks were....ultra black....did you get this impression at all? BTW - I noticed that there were some negative comments directed at you Tom in another thread. From my perspective I cannot disagree more. You have been extremely helpful throughout the past few years both here and on AA. You contributions to this and other forums have been tremendous. Thank you very much.

Oooops!! Wrong pic. Here's the new Khorn project pic!!! So Sorry.......

Hi Chris Robinson! Whatcha been up to?" Glad to hear you are still enjoying your verts. Been reveneering and cabinet constructing a pair of 1953 Khorns. Almost finished. The attached pic shows one that is a type-B and one that is a type-C. The tops are just set in place and there is no oil on the walnut yet, but you can get the idea. When complete they will both be type-B's (like the one on the left). Hopefully, when complete they will match the custom 1954's I got from my dad which are still the front mains as well as match the center Belle that I retrofitted with all mid-50's components. Anyway...glad to see your still around. Sorry to disrupt the 'theme' of this post!

I tried the LD scene about a year and a half ago. Found it to be noisy and hot, with resolution a distant second to DVD's. Not worth the bother considering how far along DVD's have come, IMHO. Now I have 2 Pioneer LD players under the house collecting dust.

and one showing the black front with the window for the projector image to shoot through.....(excuse the mess, the HT room is in a perpetual state of 'rebuild')...........

another.....

Sure.....my situation is a little different though. My rear center is 'deeper' as well as has a 'taller collar' to accomodate a front projector. This mid-section serves to house the projector as well as to mask escaping light and to muffle fan noise. I have it so that the front can be changed out - walnut to match the rest of the speaker or black with a window for the projector to shoot through. The fact that the speaker cabinet is deeper does not change the internal dimensions of the bass box, there is an inner back wall that is actually to spec. The drawings I have are for a stock sized Belle. Here's the first pic, a couple more to follow......

Tom - so sorry....I have updated my email address in the 'profile'. Been out of touch since Feb until just recently due to an unfortunate automobile accident....just recently getting back on my feet and re-learning how to walk. Like many others, I will never take good health for granted anymore!! I have found the plans that I used as a starting point for making my rear center Belle clone. They were actually given to me by another forum member - K2DX. In any event, I've been cleaning up the prints somewhat - verifying all the measurements by 'mildly' disassembling my factory Belle. I hear and agree with what Gil has to say about not being exactly accurate......but when it comes right down to it, for me personally I want to build something that is for all intents and purposes, an exact match. If for nothing else but to simply be able to discount the physical dimensions as a possible cause if I think something sounds amiss afterwards. Please bear with me for another day or so until I complete the process of verifying. Hope to have things wrapped up by tomorrow afternoon and sent out to those who have requested so that you all can get busy this weekend!!

Hi Tom....yup, got your PM.....it'll take me a couple of days to rustle up the plans then I'll send them to you along with any notations I can think of. "Yes", that is what I meant, looking at the plans and answering my own questions by measuring the factory Belle....you know how it is with plans, they are 2D for a 3D world. I can assure you that you will have questions, if you do, just send me your questions and I'll confirm measurements, take pics, or whatever it takes.

I built a Belle to match my 'factory' '74 Belle center to use as a rear center. Piece of cake if you have a decent table saw and some woodworking aptitude. Cuts were very straightforward. I have several sets of Belle plans, but what worked best for me was to use the plans then verify the measurements again to make sure. Took about 2 weeks as I only had an hour or so after work to work on it. Need plans? I believe that I have the originals stowed somewhere....they are cryptic but with them and additional 'just to make sure' measurements you too should have no trouble. I'll root around for the plans, if you are interested, shoot me a PM and I will send you what I have.

Here's mine. Quick specs: Front mains: 1954 Factory Custom Klipschorns Front Center: 1984 Belle 'retrofitted' with all 1954 components Rear Surrounds: 1953 Type-C Klipschorns Rear Center: Klipsch Belle 'retrofitted' with all mid-1950's components Subwoofer: Just purchased yesterday (yipee!!) and awaiting delivery of a SVS 20-39PC+ (to replace KSW200) Receiver: Denon 3802 DVD's: Denon 1600 (DVD-A), Sony DVP-755N (SACD), V,Inc Bravo D1 (DVI Video) CD: Onkyo Model 702 Furman AR1215 Power Regulator Projector: Infocus LP350 Screen: 10ft x 5ft Parkland Plastics. Sliding side panels and bottom 'curtain' to size for 2.35 or 1.85 aspect ratios. Room size: 20ft x 20ft. Vaulted. Slab foundation.

Just received yesterday my 4 yards of Wendell Fabrics DA-3555-21. As far as I'm concerned, it is an exact match of the original heritage black grille cloth. I suppose you might be able to identify slight differences if you start to count individual threads as I started to do, but suffice to say that from a distance of say....6 inches or farther, you will not be able to visualize any difference at all. The color of the 'black' was the exact same color of black as my existing grille cloth, so there is no need to worry that one black is slightly 'grayer' or 'browner' than you existing heritage black cloth. I am very very picky when it comes to matching. Shipping from Wendell was pleasantly timely. I ordered on 6/4 (Friday) and received on 6/8 (Tues). Price was very reasonable, $16/yd and the 'yards' are 6 feet wide. The only complaint would be that the shipping seemed to be pricey.....like about $30 plus they stabbed me $10 for 'handling'. The total price for 4 yards ended up being $103 and some change, but clearly I have enough now to last me forever!!

.....or cut off the top and bottom flanges......