Cohoangler

The link is for a BBC/David Attenborough documentary on African lions. So what does that have to do with Klipsch speakers?! Run the video in the link below until the 18-second mark. Then hit pause (paws?) at exactly 18 seconds. Tell me what you see. And then run the video to the 40-second mark. What is your response? Here's mine: Mr. Klipsch, your product failed the "Lion Test". You need more base response! LOL! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQHwkN_VQQM

If I were to guess, I'd say it's white ash. White ash is known for a very straight grain, which makes it great for baseball bats and tennis rackets. The straight grain on those cabinets look like ash to me.

It is hearing fatigue or is it acute irritation? I ask because I was having issues with the mid-range on my Heresy II's being too "bright",which caused hearing fatigue if I listened to them for too long. A friend suggested removing the grills and taping a single piece of paper towel over the front of the mid-range, and then replacing the grills. I did, and wow what a difference! The brightness was gone, and so was the hearing fatigue. I can now listen to my Heresy II's for hours without any problems. Give it a try.... Can't hurt, it's a really cheap fix, and it's easily reversed if it doesn't work.

Thanks for the pics. A couple observations….. They cleaned up beautifully! Nicely done. The pic of the bottom panel indicates it’s oak. As I see it, the grain and the pores say ‘oak’, but you might get other opinions. But if I’m right, the remainder of the cabinet is also oak. But the riser is not. I’m not sure what it is, but if you can push your fingernail into it, and leave an indent, it’s likely pine or other softwood. My guess is the risers are pine. The passive woofer might rebound if you just remove it, and gently press it back into shape from the back side. I’ve done this with other woofers. But I’m not sure if you can get to it. Just be careful if you do. If all else fails, passive woofers aren’t that expensive to replace. The crossover looks to be in great shape. But I would still recommend replacing the capacitors (the three yellow things plus the round green thing). Check with Bob. While you’re at it, consider upgrading the wiring to the components. 18 gauge speaker wire works great! Easy stuff all around. Good luck!

Thanks for the responses. However, I'm rather surprised that some Klipsch speakers (kg's) could have oak, walnut or cherry under the black paint. Any of those types of wood would still look terrific even with an imperfection (especially walnut!). I would NEVER consider painting over walnut veneer. Perhaps I'm just partial to wood grain, even if it's not perfect. Next time, I will take note of the labels to see if it indicates the type of wood under the black paint. Thanks for the tip!

Count your many blessings. My wife is not at all impressed with my high end stereo stuff. She doesn't like those big, boxy speakers. When I was working on my Hersey II's last week, she remarked "Why don't you just get a pair of little Bose speakers? They're easier to handle....". The resulting heart attack rendered me helpless for several hours. I have since recovered, but life at home may never be the same. But I'll forgive her......

As we all know, some of the cabinets on vintage Klipsch speakers were painted black. I know PWK didn’t use cheap wood, so presumably the wood underneath the paint was reasonably high quality (although perhaps not mahogany or walnut or zebrawood). So why didn’t they just leave them unfinished? (I realized some were unfinished. In fact, my Hersey II cabinets were unfinished birch when I bought them new in 1989). The reason I ask is because I found a pair of kg 4’s a few months back for really cheap. I didn’t buy them because the cabinets were in poor shape. They were black, but the finish was chipped, scratched, faded, and water-stained. It was only after seeing several speaker rehab projects on this website did I realize that by stripping off the black paint, the underlying wood might be quite good. (Perhaps unfinished birch!) So even if the finish is poor, an old pair of vintage Klipsch speakers might be rehabbed back to respectability. So if I were to strip off the black paint from a pair of vintage Klipsch speakers, what type of wood am I most likely to find?

Another set of Klipsch speakers found at a Goodwill store! That's my favorite place to find great stuff at a bargain. And for just $20!!! Well played! It gives me hope that I can someday find something like Forte's, or Chorus, or Quartet's. I've only found a couple pair of kg's (kg 4 and kg 3.2). From your pics, it appears you're in Texas. That would explain the mold. Anytime I've been in the Lone Star State, the heat and humidity were impressive. And oppressive..... Best of luck cleaning and rebuilding those. I would recommend new crossovers, and likely new titanium diaphragms on the tweeter. Bob Crites website can help with that. I'm anxious to see the pics, as you go along. Best of luck, and thanks for sharing!

Budman - Klipsch did put date stamps on their crossovers. See the pic of my Heresy II crossover (rebuilt). In the upper left corner, the date stamps reads APR 04 1988. I bought these speakers (new) in mid 1989.

Sorry for your loss. Great story though. I had to chuckle at the thought of a single-wide with four KHorns. Wow! That's dedication, and a little bit crazy. But in a good way....

You are correct. When I took the pic, I wasn't quite finished with the project. I wasn't confident my re-built crossovers were going to function properly (due to my lack of soldering skills), so I did not re-solder the input posts or re-glue the caps, until I re-installed the crossover and tested it. If it didn't work correctly, I wanted to be able to disassemble it fairly easily. I took the pic before I did the final testing. Fortunately, everything works great! In fact, the speakers sound unbelievable. Over the weekend, I listened to some CD's that I've played hundreds of times, and I was hearing things I've never heard before. The level of "detail" in the sound is beyond anything I would have thought possible. Even my teenagers noticed a huge jump in sound quality (but my wife is still unimpressed with my high-end stereo equipment, but that's another story.......). My Heresy II's were terrific speakers before the re-build, but now they're phenomenal! Thanks again for the folks on this BB for their advice and encouragement.

I'm trying to squeeze as much information as I can from the back label on my Heresy II's. From the information I've gleaned from this website, it appears that my speakers are Heresy (although they are in fact Hersey II's), they are unfinished birch, the serial numbers are sequential, they were made in 1988, and were tested by Judy Clayton. Can anyone else tell me what other information can be obtained from the label?

Thanks to all who helped with advice and guidance on my crossover rebuild project for my Heresy II's. I'm not sure I could have done this without the advice and encouragement from the folks on this BB, including Bob Crites. And to top it all off, the new crossovers work perfectly! Miracles never cease! And my speakers sound better than brand new. Thanks again. Here is the old (top) and the new (bottom). New caps plus new wiring to the speaker components (18 gauge speaker wire from Monster cable)

You now what they are. Here's is a bit more background. Hersey I's were made in the late 1970's to the mid 1980's. There is also Heresy II (late 1980's to mid 1990's, and Hersey III (mid 1990's to the present). The differences between models is primarily the quality of the components, including the crossovers. As many folks have already stated, you should consider upgrading the crossovers and the tweeter diaphragms. I'm in the process of upgrading my Heresy II's with both components. The improved performance of the speakers is startling. You will be impressed. For more information on crossover replacement for a Heresy II, check out the technical/modification forum on this BB, specifically this thread (shameless): Good luck!