Bought Pair of Beat Up Heresy II's for $150. Now What?

[Overreseached]

Less than a month ago, I owned no Klipsch products. Then at an estate sale, I bought a pair of 1979 Klipsch Heresy HWO's for $200. They sound and with an application of Watco Rejuvenating Oil look great. Answering a Craiglist ad brought in two 1995 Heresy II's for $150. They are not in so great condition (see photo). Also, the one pictured has an issue with its woofer.

I tried using the working HII as a center. However, I own a rear-projection Mitisubishi WS-65513 HDTV. If I place it on the floor in front of the TV, it throws off electromagnetic interference even not plugged in. I'm afraid to place the HII on top of the TV due to its weight. So, I have some questions:

1. If I want to restore the black finish, is it simply a matter of getting a spray can? I tried searching for "Restore Black Finish" and didn't find anything.

2. If I decided to remove the paint and apply a stain, can I get close to a WO finish like my H1s or is it a different wood?

3. I don't want to buy the HIII upgrade kits yet. Is the Crites CW1228 a direct replacement for the K-24-K or is it better.

I like reading the forums and may hotrod my speakers someday (I'll deal with the caps at some point).

[Guest " "]

oil based paint put on with a fine roller would be better than spray....mix the oaint with 15% acetone so it soaks in........rustoluem is a good oil base. water base will peel.

[Overreseached]

Thanks for the tip. I also discovered that the previous owner drilled through the back for mounting holes. What can I use to fill them? Some suggestions:

Bondo
Titebond
Liquid Nails
Caulk

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[dtel]

Welcome

Wood putty is probably the cheapest way if it's just a few holes.

[angusruler]

use drywall mud. sands to be almost invisible.

[Panacea Engineering]

Both of those are subject to vibrations, shrinkage....that is why "Most" of us use Bondo, as it actually bonds to the wood and does not shrink.

JMO

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Te speakers look pretty good (as in no chunks of wood missing). You can make them look really nice very cheaply.

Strip the cabs, then sand like crazy with an orbital sander. It will not take very long. Maybe a few hours to do both. Then stain and finish with linseed oil or use Deft if you don't want an oil finish. Both are really easy to work with.

When you order the woofer, go ahead and get new caps. They are really ceap for Heresys (if I remember right, you need 4 2 uf caps total).

[moray james]

You could do a little work on the inside too. Best regards Moray James.

http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/162426.aspx

[Overreseached]

Update: Turned out the speaker that was thought to have a blown woofer simply had the positive and negative wires reversed. When these were connected properly, the speaker turned out to be OK. So, now I'm using the HII's as my rears connected via a Rockfish Wireless Speaker kit (the cheap one). So far, it has plenty of power. This will give me more time to figure out what I want to do.

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Glad to hear about the woofer but kind of let down. You can have these looking really nice for the price of some sanding discs, a pint of stain and some linseed oil.

I expected to see some beautiful refinished speakers.

[Overreseached]

It will happen at some point. Although, I might keep them black to match the stock tag.

You must understand that month ago I was running a system using little Onkyo surrounds as my front and rear speakers. Now, I have have a pair of H1s as my fronts and a pair of H2s as my backs. It's like going from a Honda Civic to a used 1967 Ford Mustang (or Chevy Camaro or Dodge Challenger). I can restore both pairs to stock or hot rod them (Bob Crites or in the case of the HII the HIII kit). The options are many. The thing is, both pairs sound good as is (although connecting the H2s with the Rockfish kit is like using Regular gas in a Ferrari).

Now, I'm doing Google searches for an Academy or a KLF-C7 along with a SVS sub or if I can find one another SKW-530 to run as a pair. And, who knows what might happen if I find a pair of cheap Cornwalls or heaven forbid Klipschorns (more for the size than anything else).

I think I'm having a Klipschiption fit.

[moray james]

have you tried the H2's as your front speakers? Best regards Moray James.

[Overreseached]

I haven't tried the H2's as the fronts yet because I might like them better than the H1's and then I'd have to refinish them because they would be more visible and then I might feel the need to get the HIII upgrade kit and it never ends!

I should simply send my paycheck to Arkansas and let Hope and Bob Crites fight over it.

[moray james]

you could just get a set of CT125 from Bob Crites they sound as good to me as a K79 I have all three (K77, K79 and CT125) and the K79 and CT125 sound excellent, that and the crossover are the main differences between a Heresy and a Heresy2. The H3 is to me head and shoulders the best Heresy of the lot (I have them too). I hope this is of interest. Best regards Moray James.

[Overreseached]

Yes, it is of interest. Thank you so much for your help. There are many things I need to do. I need to buy some Bondo (or Minwax High Performance Wood Filler) to fill the screw holes in the back of H2s. At the moment I'm storing up info to see what I wish to do.

The thing is, I was always thinking I'd go with Bowers and Wilkins when I had the money to get good speakers. Instead, I've fallen into two pairs of great speakers for about $400. With B&W, you must buy new speakers to get additional performance. With Klipsch Heritage speakers, you can upgrade the speakers, horns, crossovers, and cabinets. I am beginning to get the outlines of a plan:

1. Fill the holes in the H2 and get them repainted (or do it myself).

2. Replace the capacitors and the midrange gaskets on the Heresys.

3. Get the H3 kit for the H2s.

4. Hope I don't find some Belles or LaScalas at an estate sale that will start the whole process again (or maybe hope that I do).