ryansupak

After more listening, "difficult" tracks sound good and well-mastered ones sound great. Think this is a winner. Thanks again for pointing that out. rs

Yeah, about 1.5kHz "blows my head off" in the default setting. This is a good compromise. rs

I tried a few different combinations. I think I prefer squawker at (-12) and tweeter at (-3). A few small peaks remain to clean up with the Room EQ but all in all an improvement. rs

Thanks, I'll check it out. (I have to carry a room EQ in my rig regardless but of course the less you have to use it the better.) I was also considering some kind of felt in front of the horns but will try this 1st... rs

Hi, thanks! There is no sealer on my grills at all. I actually ended up sealing one of them with Momentive Silicon Sealant (one of my go-to materials). About the old vs new crossover: there is a *massive* increase in the top end. It actually hurts me to listen at "pre-crossover" power levels. My wife (a musician also) walked in and the expression on her face confirmed what I suspected. To get the sound I'm going for, for DJing (an extremely mellow, bass-heavy sound with sweet and gentle highs), I'm going to use 2 stages of treble attenuation: a White 4700 EQ in the amp rack in addition to the vintage passive mastering EQ that accompanies my UREI mixer. rs

To take the grill out you'd have to dismantle most of the front baffle and then rebuild it. I plan on sanding it and coating it with some light machine oil instead. rs

Got new rear panels built tonight (3/4" Birch Plywood from my favorite lumber store in Houston: Stahlman Lumber), and I didn't have the heart not to at least use 2 coats of Duratex on the bottom of the boxes where there was actually some bare wood. Between that and 2 coats on the front, back and sides of the new panels, I went through about a pint (one little plastic bag) of Duratex. I applied it with a brush despite the instructions, going for kind of a "linen finish" which works nicely with the "weathered" look of the speakers. New adhesive stencils will be ready tomorrow. I sent a local sign place a PDF at actual size (downloaded from Klipsch) and they're generating them for $5 a pop. (I tried some reproduction badges but basically they clash with the rest of the project since they look new and everything else looks old.) I'm treating the boxes to brand-new Penn Elcom jumbo rubber feet, and all-new marine-grade screws. In the end they will still look well-loved (that's my style), but mechanically and electronically they'll be better than new (also my style). rs

Thanks for that tip. I may grind down the corners on these since I like the look of the metal ones but I may go with those instead. rs

Sanded and did some sealing/structural repairs. Encountered lots of bondo, house paint, and (definitely) glued-on back panels. This might be "heresy" (get it?! BWAHAHAHAHA!) but I think I might use a little wood stain and several layers of Zinsser Shellac and go for the "Truth In Materials" look. (The metal corners that I'm considering are, of course, not original but they'll do a lot to protect the corners, which are all quite worn.)

New HIE crossover caps and mounting kit from Crites. Also picked up two new woofers from him. The midrange gaskets look good...I'm going to leave the midrange and tweeters alone for now. rs

Yeah, planning on using one of my favorite substances in the world to fill the holes: Durham's Water Paste. (There's also a gap in the box near one of the pole mounts.) I've rebuilt half a barn roof with that stuff

2 pints of Duratex on the way from speakerhardware.com. According to Duratex's technical document, you can add a small amount of water to the paint and that will reduce the texture slightly. I'm going to test that out first, to see if that achieves the desired effect. rs

DuraTex...a-ha. Thanks. Not cheap but I'm still gonna go with it I think, considering I may as well do it right if I'm going to do it at all. rs

And yes, I'm thinking it might be some kind of 2-part stuff like Polane. I'm gonna go with Rustoleum Appliance Paint in the rattle can I think, though

That answers it. It must be paint then since there's no metal trim. Thanks once again for your help. rs