1980 manufacturer of Heritage woofers?

[Bonzo]

I have a pair of 1980 Belle's and was curious as to which company likely made the woofers? Eminence, CTS, EV or ????. Just curious and I really don't want to open them up to check. The serial numbers are 3U547 and 8. Thanks

[ClaudeJ1]

K-33 E stands for Eminence. CTS was 60's I think. I had K-33 P with square magnets, may have been CTS of Paducah, but not sure. Been Eminence for a LONG time.

[Budman]

i agree with Claude its probaly a K-33 E my 1980 Heresys have E's

P was in the 70's ( Paducah, KY )

B ( Brownsville, TX )

Edited December 15, 2013 by Budman

[Bonzo]

Thanks guys, that's kind of what I figured but wasn't sure.

[Fjd]

The information related to Belle speakers from the link below also supports K-33-E (Eminence).

4. BELLE KLIPSCH:

1971: Belle Klipsch was introduced as a more elegant or finished version of the La Scala. Component designations were: Woofer K-33-P (CTS, Paducah KY), Midrange K-500 horn and K-55-V driver (Atlas), Tweeter K-77 (Electrovoice).

July 1971: The Type AA crossover network was introduced featuring Zener diode tweeter protection.

1974: K-56 mid-range driver (Electrovoice 1828) is used for a short period as a temporary replacement as the supply of K-55-V drivers was interrupted.

1975: Transition to The K-33-B Woofer (CTS Brownsville TX)

1975? - 1979: K-33-E (Eminence) and the K-33-B were used interchangeably.

1979: The Eminence K-33-E woofer is used exclusively

Feb 1983: The Type-AB crossover network was introduced incorporating steeper filter slopes for enhanced tweeter protection and smoother response in the crossover regions.

Oct 1983: The Type AB-2 network was introduced to accommodate the new K-55-M mid-range driver. This Electrovoice sourced driver was essentially the same as the previous K-55-V with a smoother response.

2000: Electrovoice ceases production of the K-77-M and K-55-M tweeter and mid-range drivers. The search for replacement drivers and the acquisition of the EV tooling is sought. Very limited production of a few pairs occurs at the end of 2000 and the early months of 2001 using existing part stocks

May 2001: The Atlas PD-5VH (Current version of the previous K-55-V) is modified slightly and christened the K-55-X. The various components of the K-77-M tweeter are either retooled or sourced from the new owners of the tooling and assembled by a third party. This variant of the tweeter is designated the K-77-F. An entirely new network (AB-3) was created to accommodate these driver changes. Fusing is eliminated in favor of a polyswitch for tweeter protection. A metal input panel with binding posts in a bi-wire configuration replaced the traditional screw type barrier block.

Late 2005 - Early 2006: The Belle Klipsch is phased out of production as parts are used up.

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/93433-klipsch-heritage-codes-reference-data-v2-8-may-2008/?hl=%2Bklipsch+%2Bserial+%2Bnumber+%2Bdate

[Bonzo]

Great info. and timeline fjd, thank you.