Bulkogi

Thanks. I loved finding those inspection labels inside! Such a cool little time capsule. I think the initial couple of years the Heresy IIs had round speaker wire input / crossover network assemblies and then in 1987 or 88 they became rectangular, so that's another way to determine age. Good luck in your project!

I was wondering if leaving a piece of equipment unused, or seldom used, for extended periods of time might cause certain types of capacitors to dry out or otherwise fall out of spec more quickly than with regular use. Not surprisingly, the question came up in connection with my Heresy II refurbishing project. As I've posted, my H2s were made in 1989 and I purchased them used in 2001. At the time of my purchase, they sounded great. I had A-B compared them to the KLF 20s I owned at the time, and recall the H2s being a bit livelier in the treble and midrange with the KLF 20s having more extended bass and perhaps a somewhat more balanced top end. I liked both very much, but never had room for both. By 2003, I was married and the H2s were on long term loan to my mom. But my mom never really listened to them unless Eunha and I were over and I was in the mood to play something, and over the years their top end became a bit dull and lifeless. Hence my decision to send the crossover networks to Crites for the rebuild service and the decision to give the titanium diaphragms a whirl. Now they sound fantastic again (both with the original tweeter diaphragms and with the Crites replacements). Granted, the H2s are now 32 years old, but I hear from people who purchased even older speakers when they were new and have run them ever since without noticing any loss in performance. Of course that could be the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot not noticing the real change in temperature, but I do wonder if keeping current running through capacitors more regularly might actually prolong their life span?

If I am reading these correctly, it would seem that the Heresys have a far flatter impedance curve than other models, and never dip below 8 ohms. Is that right? Are the Heresy IIs comparable?

Thanks Marvel! Black lacquer is nice. Mine were sold in raw birch but someone stained them before I bought them used. I just sanded them down lightly and applied a few coats of Danish Oil. The only reason I had mine recapped is because the upper frequencies had become noticeably duller and less articulate over the years, but yours might be fine. I get the sense that capacitors fall out of spec somewhat randomly, so if yours are still sounding great, you probably don't need a recap. I noticed the improvement as soon as I installed the reworked networks.

I think it's a personal decision based on your own speakers' performance. In my case, I bought these in 2001 when they were about 12 years old and they sounded great at the time. I had a pair of KLF 20s back then, and the H2s sounded a bit more lively and incisive up top, while the KLFs were a bit more balanced and, of course, stronger in the low end. I've since sold the KLFs, but lately I started to notice that the H2s were sounding dull in the treble. Cymbals, for example, had lost sparkle. Tambourines sounded flat. I'm 55 so I had a far younger friend come over for a listen and he agreed. This time we compared them to my DeVore Super Nines and there was no question the H2s were flat sounding. I think capacitors can fail somewhat randomly. In hindsight, I could have just recapped the crossover networks, and Crites does a great job at that. That alone transformed them back to what I remember hearing when I first go them 20 years ago. But I figured I'd also try Crites's titanium tweeter diaphragms and I liked them so they are still in, at least for now. I agree with your comments about selling them. If I ever do, I will not only disclose the work, but I'll advertise it. I will also offer the original diaphragms in case the buyer wants to swap them back in.

Thanks Travis. Wow, that's an amazing work load. This is no big deal, and thanks for your response.

I'm just following up on this. I sent a message to @Chad but haven't heard back. I don't want to be a pest, and can live with my new moniker, but if it's possible to get my old one back that'd be cool. Again, it was JoshT.

This is actually a one bedroom condo! LOL. But we have a large open space, and my wife is the best.

This is a great read. I really enjoy these types of stories. The Heresys are amazingly flexible speakers. Enjoy!

Boy does this little speaker reward with high end electronics and subwoofers. In this system, they are fed by a Simaudio Moon 280D networked DAC streaming TIDAL via Roon, a Rogue Audio RP-5 tube preamp, and a Conrad Johnson MF2250 amplifier (120 wpc solid state), and supported by two REL T7 subwoofers. The turntable is a VPI Scout with a Dynavector 20x2L. For the nonce, they are standing in for the far costlier DeVORE Fidelity Super Nines and providing gobs of chest punching joy and delightful vocals and huge sound! Yes, I'll go back to the Super Nines, but I'm in no real hurry to do so, as much as I love them. These came from a system with an old NAD 740c receiver and Technics CD changer (my mom's), where they sounded quite good. But they sure do reward with more goodness driving them. Disclaimer: they do have new sonicap capacitors in the crossovers and I'm running them with the Crites titanium tweeter diaphragms (for now) as I described in a post under the Technical/Modifications forum. So, they are modded somewhat. Have your spoiled your Heresys lately? If so, how have you pampered them?

Yep. I told my wife what Roy said, and her joking response was, "Fine! Let's remove the Klipsch labels and replace them with Thayer labels!" (My last name.) But, no. They're still Klipsch to me.

Thank you for your perspective KT88. I certainly would not be able to tell that English isn't your first language! And thank you for your clarification on the capacitors. Attached are before and after pictures.

Precisely!

Absolutely correct with respect to the customized component. The question remains, however, whether a third party component renders the speaker no longer a Klipsch at all. I think it's dogmatic to say it does. A Cornscalla is no longer a Klipsch even though it is inspired by Klipsch. Few people would argue that it is. But a pair of Heresy IIs that (1) have recapped crossover networks that share the same specs as the originals but use different capacitors and (2) have third party tweeter diaphragms is a modified Heresy II. It's modified with some third party components. But it's too much to say that the speakers themselves ain't Klipsch anymore. In my opinion. Of course this is all a matter of opinion and a question of line drawing.

I have followed everyone's responses with interest and, as is often the case, the topic has gone outside of my original questions. That's fine with me. Interesting debates are interesting, including this one! But, as a reminder, my original post was simply a list of four questions. I was not advocating any of them, but simply trying to get some ideas on whether or not I should replace or re-cone the faded and dusty woofers in my 32 year old Heresy IIs. For what it's worth, and based on the on-point advice in this thread, I have decided not to replace or re-cone the original woofers. I am leaving them stock. I've dusted them as best I can with a brush and am going to otherwise leave them as-is and declare the look to be "patina"! 😀 Now, moving beyond my original questions, because others have already: As I posted separately yesterday in my summary of the project, I did only two things to the speakers functionally: 1. I had Crites replace the four original capacitors in the crossover networks with new Sonicap capacitors. The rest of the crossovers are untouched. I did that only because the original ones were 32 years old and I had noticed that the speakers sounded duller and were lacking some presence compared to when I bought them used in 2001. In other words, I did that to bring them back to spec so that they would sound "as good as new." Yes, the Sonicaps are polypropylene and the originals were electrolytic, but my understanding is that they have the exact same values and are not considered a sonic upgrade. In any event, with the original tweeters, they now sound exactly as I remember them sounding when I bought them (at which point they were 12 years old). I cannot solder and this service seemed to be the most logical available step. 2. I did also purchase, and have installed for now, the Crites titanium diaphragms for the tweeters, which absolutely is a modification. No question there. But two things. First, everything else about these speakers is still original. Second, I can always put the phenolic diaphragms back into the tweeters (I am keeping them safe and sound). So far the jury is out but I mostly enjoy the even more lively sound in my system. If Klipsch still sells original phenolic diaphragms for these tweeters, I would certainly consider buying a pair. But to me this is kind of like putting an Edelbrock carburetor and intake manifold on an old 289 mustang, and perhaps also a set of headers. True, it's no longer bone stock original, but it's still a Ford, it's still a Mustang, and it's easily reversible. It is correct to point out that my speakers are no longer original. That is an objective fact. But to say they are no longer Klipsch is not a fact; rather, it's an opinion and it's dogmatic. It's ideology, a purity test, and a bucket of cold water, LOL. YMMV, of course!