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Wanted: Grille(s) for RB-5 original series


Curmudgeon

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Looking for an original series RB-5 grille in good condition. I'm open to getting one with broken pegs as long as the posts, frame and cloth are in good condition. If I need to buy a pair I'm OK with that, too.

I recently bought a pair of RB-5's and despite the seller double-boxing them the grilles were damaged in shipping. One grille just has a couple of broken pegs that I can repair but the other grille got crushed at the bottom breaking off the posts and breaking the frame in several places. I called Klipsch - there's no replacements available and they don't have anything that can be modded to fit.

This may be a long shot but perhaps a forum member has one or knows who does. I couldn't find a part # or any identifiers on them but the image below shows what they look like. Thanks!

RB 5 grilles

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I plan on drilling into the posts and using either steel roll pins or shanked machine screws (with the heads cut off) as pegs. I'm surprised Klipsch used hollow pegs as they're rather flimsy and easily broken. Crazy glue should be fine for repairing breaks/cracks in the frame itself but I think the only way to permanently fix broken pegs is a more mechanical approach. I've got a drill press so I stand a chance at getting the holes drilled straight and if needed I can tap threads into the plastic posts. I'm stuck waiting for a FedEx rep to come inspect the damage so I can't attempt a repair yet.

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There are plastic glues that come as a two part process, each half is used on separate pieces of the broken plastic. A chemical reaction causes molecular bonding, it works very well and is relatively inexpensive at approx $3-6.

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Those grilles are pretty brittle. Although putting something in more solid sounds good, I'd be afraid of it splitting when you try to drill it. If they don't sit just right they'll rattle at high volumes too.

The right glue should should make them good as new. I know there's some great plastic ones out there. I was curious if there was a specific brand someone has used for that and recommends.

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There was a suggested fix for the suggested grill pegs in the past which I had also come up with many years ago with good results. All you need to do is find a small round head screw whose head will fit snugly inside the peg holes in the speaker, then simply screw the screws into the peg holes on the grill. You just have to get them in the right amount and presto, the screws now become your grill pegs and they will hold the grill on very snug. If I can find the post that shows a picture I'll add it here.

Edit: Found it, here it is:

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/147060-klipsch-rsw15/?hl=screw#entry1670953

By the way, I do have RB-5 grills that are in perfect condition that I'd be willing to sell, but they would be expensive -- because they would come with near perfect RB-5 speakers mounted to them! :)

Edited by JMON
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Not sure here but if you havnt contacted klipsch parts try that. Along the way then message gtact on ebay. He may not know everything he has although i have pm'd him with a few special needs and he has both dug stuff up and turned me away. Its surely worth a shot.

gtact on ebay out of canada. best of luck. we'll surely be watching out. heck there just fine without grilles just dust from time to time. If you do find them update so we dont buy some and end up stuck...

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Those grilles are pretty brittle. Although putting something in more solid sounds good, I'd be afraid of it splitting when you try to drill it. If they don't sit just right they'll rattle at high volumes too.

The right glue should should make them good as new. I know there's some great plastic ones out there. I was curious if there was a specific brand someone has used for that and recommends.

I'm not sure what brand I used, either Gorilla or 3M I think. Either way they are all pretty much the same composition. Ironically I used it to repair an RB-5's tweeter magnet that had broken during shipping. It's still holding great years later and those things are not light, relatively speaking of course, but particularly as compared to the pegs/grilles themselves.

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Update: still looking for a RB-5 grille. FedEx settled with the seller and he has reimbursed me for the broken grilles. If someone trips over one (or 2) let me know.

I found some black 6-32 machine screws with small round heads, tapped the post holes, installed the screws and this appears to be a good permanent repair for one grille. I did Super Glue the frame on the other grille together (about 15 broken pieces!) and repaired it so the grille looks OK from the outside. It has just enough strength to stay on the speaker and not come apart but the first time someone bumps it I expect that one or more of the numerous glue joints will fail. It's at best a temporary repair (AKA time bomb).

I called Klipsch again and found out that they do still have some SB-3 grilles available. This is a viable option as cheric verified that they fit RB-5's but the logos and appearance are different so it requires buying a pair. I'll keep the want ad up for a while as I prefer to obtain a correct RB-5 grille (if possible) but may have to punt to SB-3 grilles if nothing comes up.

:emotion-55: Repair Hint: to protect the grille fabric from glue I used Reynolds Non-Stick foil. It's easy to cut into shape, thin enough to shove between the fabric and frame but glue doesn't stick to it. I didn't want to open the can of worms in re-doing the grille fabric so I gave this stuff a try and it works. The wife keeps it around as it's good for making nachos so melted cheese doesn't weld itself to the pan.

Edited by Curmudgeon
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