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What to do with 79 Heresy I


SBirmo

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I've rescued a 79 Heresy Walnut pair. They have not been loved lately and were painted black at one point. Id like to use them and have them close to the way they were originally.

 

What will be the most likely issues from a working/sound standpoint? What will I most likely need to test/replace?

 

What suggestions for aesthetics? I will want to strip the paint. They even painted the tan grills black. I guess I could flip the fabric over? - but the badges are gone. I am just looking for any suggestions so I don't miss anything.

 

 

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Edited by SBirmo
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If they're are tags on the back, can you take a pic and post it? It will give the guys here a lot better idea of the original finish and the best way to strip them. I will yield to them, they have done nothing but given me great advice and help in my restorations. 

And welcome to the forum

 

Mark

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Hey SBirmo, what do you think of their sound? I have a Gen 1 Heresy pair and I have not upgraded anything but they sound pretty good as is. If you are leaning towards upgrading I have heard great things from the addition of Bob Crites crossovers, tweeters etc. They don't look too bad from the pics so unless they really bother you...

 

Tim

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Unless you are going to be doing some critical listening with these, with a very good source, good source material and a nice amp, I would recommend simply replacing the crossover capacitors with Dayton Audio Precision caps from Parts Express, and leaving the tweeters, mids and woofers alone (other than a good cleaning).  Take the fabric off the grills, and get new fabric from Bob Crites or another source.  Turning the fabric over will not look good.

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You should listen to them for a bit. If they sound dull, replace the caps. I prefer polypropylene film and foil caps and that is likely all they need. The caps don't age that well, but if the speakers have been played regularly, the caps might be just fine.

I've noticed that lining the opening through the motorboard and perhaps the last bit of the horn's mouth with self adhesive felt smooths the sound of both tweeter and squeaker horns.

If your tweeters have round, AlNiCo, magnets, you can increase their upper HF response by changing to square magnet K-77-Ms or another tweeter.

Other than that, on the floor, near a wall and " crank it up!"

Edited by John Albright
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I've refinished numerous cabinets over the years.  I typically sand them down a bit to remove the existing finish and any scratches.  I will then use a water-based stain and polyeurathane to seal.  There are even some stains with a sealer mixed in with the stain.  A lot of people prefer not to use polyeurathane to seal them, but will use tung oil.  When I do you poly to seal, I will apply multiple layers and sand in between layers going up in grit each time.  Maybe starting off at 80-120 g for the first sanding and by the last, I will use 400 g or higher.

 

I would recommend Crites for audio upgrades and if you want original grill cloth. If you want to go custom, Parts Express has some options. 

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Not sure if Bob is going to stock the tan grill cloth, I think he only has the #17 black. Tan may even mean they were cain. But he is the guy to go to if you just want to "freshen up" the networks. 20-years was usually the limit for those caps.

You may even want to consider sanding them down and getting new walnut veneer and seal that with lacquer for an original finish.

Edited by Mighty Favog
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Well the labels say walnut laq. so that paint should come off unless the person sanded them first. Try some stripper on a small spot see what happens. But you may have to re-veneer them. Look up heresy mods there are a lot on the forum....sealing the back panel....re-enforcing the back panel....putting in Crite tweeters...I could go on and on. Welcome to the forum you will spend hours reading and learning before you do anything to them. What do you have to power those ? Rick

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Nice find.

Stripping them would be best. Refinish them as you like.

You could get everything you need for the inners from Bob ...if necessary.

I agree with the others.....only change whats necessary.

 

Nice little project.....let us know how things are going from time to time

 

G.E.M.

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Thanks to you all. What a great forum. I am really excited to get going with this project. These speakers have been in my family their entire life. My brother saved up and bought them when he was 16 and I was only 8. I was always enamored with them (probably because I was not allowed to touch them). Fast forward many years and he had passed them on to his grown boys who didn't really appreciate what they were getting. They moved them around numerous times - and probably painted them. When my nephew asked if I wanted my brother's "old stereo" stuff, I wasn't sure if the speakers still existed. He said the speakers he had in storage were black and didn't have any markings on them - so I was expecting they had sent the good speakers to a landfill years ago and replaced with something they thought was an improvement. I went to pick up the "old stuff" and I ended up with some late 70's components and much to my surprise - the Heresy speakers. 

 

I will post pictures of the project as I make some progress. Thank you for all the responses.

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Right now, I only plan on replacing the caps, refinishing back to original walnut and recovering the grills. I may have to go to a black grill instead of the original cane fabric as I don't seem to see that anywhere.

 

I would ask about the sealing or reinforcing the back panel? Is this for some sound improvement?

 

One back panel only has 2 screws. Would anyone know the proper replacement?

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If you take the backs off, you might as well (this part is FREE), loosen the screws on the crossover networks, and re-tighten. The insides will be pretty clean as they are sealed boxes, but there can still be tarnish on the terminals.

 

Bruce

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My Heresy's are the 1.5 version, from 1983. I purchased the cap rebuild kit from Crites and did them one at a time. After doing the first one I tried them side by side and could easily hear the difference, At first I didn't like the rebuilt networks but after a few hours they smoothed out and now sound fantastic. I sealed the back with thin foam weatherstripping from the hardware store.

 

BillWojo

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  • 2 weeks later...

Progress Update - no progress. I bought everything to refinish these and just thought I should test them to make sure they worked before I went to a lot of effort to make them look good. I hooked them up to an old Luxman L-5 and an old TEAC CD player and that is all. I've listened to them daily in my new man cave and I haven't had the desire to turn them off for refinishing.

 

I am wondering how to best tell if the caps really do need replacing. The sound is quite good as they stand.

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