The dude abides

Thank you to everyone for their insightful responses. I too think that the wife and mother-in-law will be thrilled with the outcome provided I'm given the go-ahead. For now I've let sleeping dogs lie while deviously planning my attack. I'll wait until the right moment to spring my ideas on my wife, as I don't think the mother-in-law will have much issue (I hope). In the meantime, a well-developed plan and perhaps a flowchart or a slideshow may be in order.

I'm pretty sure if I went hacking into those speakers the wife might have something to say about it (and it probably wouldn't be "oh that's nice honey" lol). That said, thanks for all the info you guys have supplied. I'm going to continue to source parts and gather information about refnishing these cabs. I think if I give it enough time, the wife will eventually relent and let me do the refurb. These things still sound amazing btw, even if they are 34 years old [Y] It seems like the real decision (for me at least) is whether to try and veneer them myself or let a qualified professional do it.

Thanks! I've already checked out Bob's website and priced some things out. I've determined that the dealer who sold these speakers must have applied a mitred trim to the front that allowed the inclusion of a previously non-existing grill. In addition, from what I gather, originally decorator or designer series CW's did not have painted motorboards at this time either. This puts my mind a bit at ease since that trim is probably beyond saving any way. Now it's just a matter of getting the go-ahead from my wife and mother-in-law to update these bad boys. It seems like a fitting tribute to what would have been my father-in-law. If not, I guess I'll just have to find some other project speakers (Cornscalas anyone?).

Thanks for the response! I'm currently using a Denon AVR-791. I've got it set up to run the Cornwalls as the front main speakers. For listening to music, I just change the settings so run the amp as a 2 channel. I know these will probably sound better on a tube amp, but that's not feasible at the moment. I'll start looking around for information about veneering and check out the possibility of re-doing the crossovers.

First time poster, long time lurker. This is a bit on the long side, but I've included pictures to make it not so bad. Recently, my wife and I have come into posession of a pair of Cornwalls. Luckily, we are technically the 2nd owners of the pair in question. Using the serial number decoder posted elsewhere on the site, I've determined these fine speakers were manufactured in '77. The speakers were purchased in '78 from a small audio shop in Lafayette, IN called Good Vibes for $400 a piece. They weren't originally intended to be sold, as the store used them for display purposes, and according to my mother in-law, they were used primarily to display corner horns. I first came to know these speakers at the tender age of 15, when my future wife moved in next door to me. Her father was the original owner of these speakers, and man did they rock! But, I digress. Unfortunately several years ago, her father passed away, and these speakers were placed into storage (indoors, never outside). Due to this and several moves during this time, they accumulated quite a bit of surface damage; of which I have included several pics. So, after some setup time, I managed to get them to work. They still sound pretty darn good. I'm having problems getting the mid and high EQ to suit my taste, but I figure that will come from tweeking here and there. Anyway, at the very least, these are going to need new grills and new veneer. There is some damage on the front trim pieces which I'm unsure of how to fix. Overall, they need a good cleaning as they are pretty dusty and absolutely reek of cigarette smoke (my wife and I don't smoke but her sister, whose house stored them, does). Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, I guess my question is where do I start? We're really low on cash (in fact at the moment we have none to spend) and due to the obvious sentimental value of these speakers, I would like to treat them with as much reverence as possible. My wife has forbidden me from making any changes yet, since she is still "getting used to them being in the house again," which I totally understand. So, I figured I would come to the experts at all things Klipsch to seek advice about how to do this right. The following are several pictures I've taken of the speakers in question. The nearest I can tell, they were made in '77 and are raw birch. The serial indicates they are designer series, but these both have grills (I'm assuming they were added to protect the drivers). Thanks in advance for any advice/tips.