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I bought four KLF-30's a while ago for a decent price . To my disappointment the cabinets appear to vibrate when they are played loud. I was wondering if there is a good fix to this beings the cabinets are obviously not made heavy enough to accomodate force from the drivers.

The other thing is the cabinets are a little rough and the grills need new fabric and wondered if anyone has refinished one and if anyone has applied new fabric on speaker grills. If so could you maybe give me some pointers as well.

Thanks

Tracy

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Hello Tracy, I don't have a remedy for your 30's. Someone here will offer advice to you soon however. Just wanted to take a moment to Welcome you to the Klipsch forum. A place full of audio knowledge (sometimes too much, :) ) Good people and good conversation...

Rock on ♪ ♫ ♪

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The way I have fixed the vibration, among other folks here, is to thin some titebond II with water (very small amount of water) and pour it into the grove around the front and back panel. You can do this several times and you will never know the glue is in there though the panel will be locked since the glue is stronger than the cabinet. Others take apart the cabinet and use things like construction adhesive. No need with the tightbond. As for the grills, there is no real easy way to do this unless you are good with spray glue. I tried on mine and the grill cloth eventually loosened. Perhaps you can find a good spray glue, removing the old cloth, clean the frame, put the new glue on it, and stretch new fabric. It is actually that simple though the frame needs to be clean and glue needs to be better than what I used. :( Parts Express has a similar black fabric.

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The way I have fixed the vibration, among other folks here, is to thin some titebond II with water (very small amount of water) and pour it into the grove around the front and back panel. You can do this several times and you will never know the glue is in there though the panel will be locked since the glue is stronger than the cabinet. Others take apart the cabinet and use things like construction adhesive. No need with the tightbond. As for the grills, there is no real easy way to do this unless you are good with spray glue. I tried on mine and the grill cloth eventually loosened. Perhaps you can find a good spray glue, removing the old cloth, clean the frame, put the new glue on it, and stretch new fabric. It is actually that simple though the frame needs to be clean and glue needs to be better than what I used. :( Parts Express has a similar black fabric.

Hey i will try that my friend, thanks for the tip!!

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Welcome to the forum Christina. This is a timely post as I have just been working all weekend on my KLF 20's. I had a vibrating front baffle. I did an extensive repair where I removed the baffles, front and back on one speaker and only the front on the other because the back was on tight. I used 3/4 x 3/4" wood strips around the opening where the baffles mate to the box to effectively quadruple the mating surface area. I also added a lot of bracing. My speakers had lateral bracing in two spots and I added front to back bracing in those areas plus below the lower woofer. It is still a work in progress as i have the braces glued in but the front baffles are still off. There have been a few write ups with detailed pictures on this process. If you google Klipsch klf cabinet you will surely find a few examples. I will report back when everything is finished.

This is a time consuming and extensive fix. I am sure others may be able to offer more abbreviated versions that may be of help.

I just reread your post and noticed the refinishing question as well. I am going to tackle this as soon as the weather warms up enough. I would like some refinishing tips as well for these speakers.

Edited by Klipschtastic
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titebond is a goood option if you dont want/need to take the front & rear boards off. i suggest using something called gorilla glue, it is an amazingly strong glue & when used per the directions on the bottle, it actually creeps & expands into areas you couldnt get it into. basically you just spray or dribble a little bit of water into the seams then apply the glue & let sit, it will find its way into the seams & seal everything up permantly. its stronger than the mdf wood itself & should fix any rattles you have.

as for the grilles, its worth a try with new fabric but as mentioned, you need to find some good glue. i suggest 3M spray on adhesive for fabrics. its very good & when applied correctly it should hold light duty speaker fabric no problem. its available at any auto parts store or even on amazon.

good luck with teh repairs!

Edited by klipschfancf4
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The problem with the above suggested fixes is that the front and rear baffle of the KLF speakers is laminated with melamine on both sides.. This is the source of the whole problem with speakers. Nothing will stick to melamine very well. So the front and rear baffles were bonded into the cabinets with a custom designed hot melt adhesive. The hot melt was good enough to hold the baffles in place as the cabinets were solid. Problem was the manufacturer of the hot melt adhesive made a bad batch of adhesive and it did not hold the baffles and let go. Klipsch had to sue (and won) and replace a lot of KLF.

So the problem with the fix is this nothing really sticks to melamine and not much will stick to the hot melt adhesive that is in the speaker either. The true repair involves removing the baffles and the adhesive and the melamine. Then you can reassemble with white glue which is stronger than the wood and your cabinets will never have any air leaks or rattles ever. More work yes but it is better than new. Trying to repair a "fixed" pair of KLF would be a lot more work than doing it right in the first place.

Just so that you know I have not found one single adhesive that is designed and sold as a being able to make a structural bond to melamine. There may be some that might come close (strong enough) like a few CA adhesives but you don't want to be buying those as they cost a fortune and you sure don't want to be using them as they are a real health hazard. The other major problem is the joint here is melamine to composite wood so they would be of no help even if they bonded well to melamine. There are no construction adhesives or sealants which are recommended and sold as adhesives for use on melamine.

I have rebuilt two sets of KLF20 and in both cases I removed the baffles (all four) and used a Dremel tool with a 3/4" drum sanding attachment the melamine comes off quickly. Then you have to scrape the hot melt off of the wood and then you can glue them all back together as I said better than new. It's not really that much work. Best regards Moray James.

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This is good information, Moray. Thank you. Quick question ... I've bought my 30's brand new in the late 90's and have never noticed problems with vibration, rattling, etc., and they've been through a cross country move back in '02. Have I just been lucky or did Klipsch fix the problem at some point?? Thanks and best regards to you, too!! Chuck

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good points moray. however i have used the gorilla glue on a set of MTX brand speakers & they seem to be the exact same mdf material inside as the klipsch klf & kg series. is this melamine colored? or any other way to identify it? from what i could tell the mdf of klipsch speakers is the same as most other home or car speaker mdf boxes, & the gorilla glue worked perfectly for me.

on the mtx's i fixed, not only were the front & rear baffle boards lose, but the top & side panels were seperated from the rest. the speaker fell from about 4ft high while playing & actually came apart on the top & sides. mtx speakers have a channel cleared out with a router & the corresponding board fits tightly into it, kind of a tounge & groove joint, which is the same as klipsch baffle boards if i'm not mistaken.

for the cost & effort involved, gorilla glue is the best option IMO, without getting into disassembly & sanding as you mentioned above. if you havent used the gorilla glue, it is incredibly strong & seems to stick to anyting it touches, even plastic, so im sure it would be sufficient for melamine too. but of course its up to the OP as to which approach is best for their speakers & abilities.

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If there is a slot between the back and/or front and the side panels as I described, then there wasn't a material problem that the glue didn't stick but a lack of gluing when the cabinet build occured.

Melamine may be a secondary problem but if you don't use enough glue, you loose either way.

With the titebond II on it 4 years ago, mine have gone 1400 miles two ways on rough roads in the back of a pick up truck bouncing around on terrible highways, no issues. The gorilla glue in the slot would likely work just as well.

If yours are falling off, just take them off and redo them, roughing up the surfaces and using the appropriate amount of glue.

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if you have KLF speakers then you will have melamine on the baffles inside and out it is a textured surface finish which has a semigloss sheen. Urethane adhesives will not bond well enough to melamine to be considered structural. Fixes are to me a real crap shoot. You might get by with one but if not it just makes the real repair a serious pain in the behind. I would rather do it right. Besides if you remove the baffles (front and rear) then it makes installing real brace work a breeze. Don't forget to remove any melamine on the baffles where you want to install brace work. Best regards Moray James.

Not trying to be an *** here but if you can actually find a printed recommendation for the use of any kind of adhesive you like specifically for melamine please post it. I will bet you a nickel you cannot find one for melamine which is intended as structural. You may find some which stick similar to the hot melt but that is a poor option when you can simply remove the melamine and use white glue to rebuild the cabinets to a much stronger than new condition.

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Not trying to be an *** here but if you can actually find a printed recommendation for the use of any kind of adhesive you like specifically for melamine please post it

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020012/18703/Titebond-Melamine-Glue-16--oz.aspx?keyword=&refcode=10INGOPB&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CP3Fmq6LrL0CFa1j7AodUQQAUQ

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cecaa: looks like you are a nickel richer!

moray: i agree with your concerns about bonding melamine, however the true "structural" integrity is not really an issue here, the speakers arent supporting hundreds of pounds or part of a true "structure." the owner is simply trying to stop vibrations that only occur at extremely high volume levels, more of a pressure/vibration type situation vs structural, & even then, the cabinets are ported so the pressure is minimal.

again, i agree taking them apart is best but most average speaker owners dont have that ability or the means to do that properly. i feel that the titebond glue or gorilla glue would be more than sufficient at rebonding the baffle boards to stop any vibration that might happen on very bass heavy music for a few mninutes at a time. gorilla glue worked excellent at bonding my completely seperated mtx's. & they do have that semi gloss black coating.

also chances are this is only on one of the boards, usually the rear. if needed you can also add some 1" blocks in the corners & nail or screw them as well as glue to add extra strength.

Edited by klipschfancf4
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cecaa: looks like you are a nickel richer!

moray: i agree with your concerns about bonding melamine, however the true "structural" integrity is not really an issue here, the speakers arent supporting hundreds of pounds or part of a true "structure." the owner is simply trying to stop vibrations that only occur at extremely high volume levels, more of a pressure/vibration type situation vs structural, & even then, the cabinets are ported so the pressure is minimal.

again, i agree taking them apart is best but most average speaker owners dont have that ability or the means to do that properly. i feel that the titebond glue or gorilla glue would be more than sufficient at rebonding the baffle boards to stop any vibration that might happen on very bass heavy music for a few mninutes at a time. gorilla glue worked excellent at bonding my completely seperated mtx's. & they do have that semi gloss black coating.

also chances are this is only on one of the boards, usually the rear. if needed you can also add some 1" blocks in the corners & nail or screw them as well as glue to add extra strength.

Agreed. If your structural integrity is as such you can use the titebond or gorilla glue method, why not. If your speaker is that tight, you are likely going to introduce more pain and integrity issues by beating it apart. Now if it is very loose or some have even said the board falls out, definitely do it Moray's way. BTW are we sure the coating is melamine? If it is, the Titebond Melamine glue Cecaa850 mentions can be used the same way as Titebond II, utilizing a slight thinning.

All I know is I want to get the backs off my KLF-30s now and they aren't coming off even with just Titebond II.

And yes, tearing apart the cabinets and getting down to bare MDF is always best, if they come apart that easily.

CECAA850
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I know Titebond has a Melamine specific adhesive, but don't have any experience with it.

Good luck with your repair.

Would like to know about that. Melamine is available with paper backing with that it can be laminated with regular adhesives so watch out for. Thanks for posting. Best regards Moray James.

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Hey everybody,

All of your input and ideas have been extremely helpful. I will say this though, I'm kind of disappointed in this design and would of returned them if I bought them new. They should of left the cabinets more robust like the Chorus II's, Fortes or the older Cornwalls (My first choice was Chorus II's but could not find anyone near Iowa that had any) and I think they would of been okay but I guess that would of made them really heavy to handle. Regardless, the rear panels appear to be just a little loose in the corners because when I apply pressure in the that particular area the vibration goes away. I plan to take all the drivers out and re-do the cabinets anyway so I will see how secure they are once I have them open. I may plan on selling all 4 of them once I am done restoring them and look for a walnut stained pair of Chorus II's , that is if I am fortunate enough to find someone less than 8 hours away.

Maybe give me the ideas of the best tools to use in case I have to knock the panels out or I may just go with option 2 as well, not sure at the point , just want them fixed is all.

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