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Klipsch Belle clone project. Finished and in new house now


avguytx

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3 hours ago, avguytx said:

 

 

haha...  I don't ever think I've heard that before but I'm going to take it as a compliment!  ;)

 

3 hours ago, avguytx said:

 

 

haha...  I don't ever think I've heard that before but I'm going to take it as a compliment!  ;)

Yes, absolutely! I thought everyone had seen the commercial by now. I love it!

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Haha.  Nope.  Haven't seen that commercial before...that was funny.  It's about time they start coming up with some good commercials like they used to.

 

Well, it's Friday, I'm bored at work changing SAN backup schedules, deleting old backups, etc.,...kind of a quiet Friday after a hectic week.  Sitting here pondering what I need to get done on the speakers this weekend plus the other things that have to be done.  We've got to take the gazebo down this weekend if it doesn't rain to much tomorrow plus I need to mow the yard one last time; mainly because our roof is being replaced Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and they recommended it so they could get all the nails up.  (right...)

 

But really need to get the bases built, veneered, and attached....get the bottoms painted black, woofers mounted and wired, and gasket on doghouse cover panel and screw them on.  Maybe a final "going over" with some sanding before they come in the house and decide on what to finish them in.  And maybe, just maybe, if time allows, get the crossovers put together so I could possibly hear them by Sunday night with the top grill section sitting on top of the bins.  Hoping to get top sections done the following weekend.  Well, that's the plan, anyway , but we all know how that goes.

 

Another thought I've had is that I believe I'm going to sell off the K-55's I have and order some A55-G's to go in these.  Might as well since it's new K-33 woofers, new CT120's and (kind of) new Type AA crossovers going into "new" cabinets.  Might as well have new mids, too.

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Well, I got some work done on the speakers this weekend off and on but didn't take any pictures; I'll try to get some during the week  It was rather hectic at the house with my wife trying to get more of the kitchen cabinets refinished since she jacked them up a couple years back.  :-\  I had to mow the yard one last time for the season as we're getting our roof replaced on Tuesday & Wednesday so we/they needed the grass cut short close to the house so it would be easier to find the nails that will surely make their way all over the yard.  Also had to take the gazebo down for the season which is always fun.

 

But I did get the bases built and veneered...just need to attach the inside glue blocks and then screw them to the bottoms of the bass bins and attacked the 4 feet per side.  Oh, and paint the bottoms black.  Also got 2 of the top section pieces veneered on the top sides and edge veneered the front and sides of it so two more panels to go for the tops.  It was warm and crazy windy on Saturday so I took advantage of that to do the veneering.  It was close to 80 on Saturday until about 4pm or so then the temp dropped 25 degrees over the course of an hour it seemed.  We had winds from 35 to 60mph.  I was watching a section of my privacy fence that's been leaning that I need to dig out for 5 posts, connect to my truck and pull them forward and set some more concrete in them.  Fun.  

 

I also filled in the holes and sanded the original crossover boards so they can be repainted black and attach everything back on.  Yesterday afternoon, I cut some of the 3/4" square red oak pieces and drilled out then attached to the upper side panels to get ready to attach to the tops and bottoms of the "top hat".  They need to be painted black on the inside, too.  I'm finally almost ready to put the terminals on the wires and mount those new woofers in the bass bins.  That's exciting...to me, anyway.  I need another 8 feet of 3/4" square red oak for making the remaining glue blocks for the top sections plus for the bases to attach.

 

I know without pictures, it it's not as appealing but they are definitely getting closer.  I hope to be listening to them before Christmas.  Although, the tree is going to be set up in the corner close to where one of them will be so this will be interesting to see if I can actually get them in there.  Oh well.  Still progress.

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Those fresh new Belles do deserve the new mids that you mentioned above!

The speakers have surpassed the "clone" phase, with what you have noted in this thread, You could probably get an honorary signed numbered set of stickers from someone in Hope through these forums. Heck, if you're that close they could just drop by for the inspection!

That finish you showed a month or so ago with the black grills finished...  I'd sell a lot of my things to get a pair if a Klipsch Belle II came out looking like yours!

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5 hours ago, avguytx said:

Finally getting some work done. Here's a dry fit of the top on one bass bin. I think they'll turn out pretty darn good. 

 

 

 

 

Not sure "pretty darn good" are strong enough words for this, but it is your project, describe it how you like.

They look phenomenal.

 

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Thank you guys...i appreciate it. While they may not be perfect, I call them a labor of love. Ha. 

 

Here's the speaker wires soldered in. Last thing done for the night. Maybe about 2 solid days left to go if I actually had two 9 hour days. Lol. 

20171126_173845-1024x576.jpg

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5 hours ago, JohnJ said:

Those fresh new Belles do deserve the new mids that you mentioned above!

The speakers have surpassed the "clone" phase, with what you have noted in this thread, You could probably get an honorary signed numbered set of stickers from someone in Hope through these forums. Heck, if you're that close they could just drop by for the inspection!

That finish you showed a month or so ago with the black grills finished...  I'd sell a lot of my things to get a pair if a Klipsch Belle II came out looking like yours!

 

Thank you, John. I doubt I'd get an honorary sticker but it's a nice thought and nice of you to say. They might only do that if I put factory mids and tweeters in them. Ha. (Which I can order, but...) ;)

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58 minutes ago, MookieStl said:

Not sure "pretty darn good" are strong enough words for this, but it is your project, describe it how you like.

They look phenomenal.

 

 

Thanks, Mookie. I'm quite proud of them so far. If I ever built another set, I know some things I'd do differently but they'll work. :D

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Another thing I'm curious of for those who own Belles, or have, or just know.  On the top sections, are the top and bottom panels glued and screwed to the side pieces or do they come apart?  Was just curious as I'd thought about not gluing them so if I ever wanted to try something different in the top section, like a 2-way, all I would have to do would be change the smaller side pieces.

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3 hours ago, avguytx said:

Another thing I'm curious of for those who own Belles, or have, or just know.  On the top sections, are the top and bottom panels glued and screwed to the side pieces or do they come apart?  Was just curious as I'd thought about not gluing them so if I ever wanted to try something different in the top section, like a 2-way, all I would have to do would be change the smaller side pieces.

Screws only, no glue.

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Thanks, Ken.  Yeah, that baltic birch has worked out quite well.  And it took pretty much all 3 sheets to do them.  That or I misplaced half a sheet somewhere.  

 

Something I'm going to have to figure out soon is grill cloth for the bottom grills.  If I use  the "new"  black for them, the weave will look different than the tops, if you're close enough to get a good look.  But, to replace the top grill cloth will require pulling a poop load of staples and redoing those to match.  I guess that's not the worst thing ever as I've removed literal tons of staples from grills over the years and recovers them...in home and car audio both.  It's a real pain, but can be done.  Then I think of going to a different color of grill cloth, but, most likely black is the best option for matching the ribbon mahogany veneer.  One more thing to deliberate over.

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I'm sitting here staring at mine and think you can get away with it. the top grill and the bottom grills are on different planes at different angles etc. I doubt anyone would notice. Just do it and see how you feel about it. You should be fine. If it ends up bothering you, get to pulling staples! It is amazing how many they put in there!

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I still think about going to a 2-way version using maybe the K510 with whatever recommended driver goes on it.  But in doing so, I don't want to have to use separate equalization to compensate for doing so.  Is that something that would have to be done going that route?  I remember emailing Bob Crites about using the Fatail Pro HF and horn and he had a passive network that would work with them ready to go.  The K510 horn is 15" x 9" so I would only have to remake the small side panels on the top sections and veneer those thus being able to use the same top and bottom boards.  The height would have to be increased to maybe 9-1/2" or so +/- as to not make them look too different from the stock aesthetics I want to keep.  Going the K510/K69 route keeps them Klipsch design and going the Fatail Pro route saves a lot of money plus not having to go biamp which I don't want to do.  But I won't spend $1500+ on going the K510 route; I'd check with old friends/dealers and see if I can get them for sheet cost.

 

I mean, they "are" clones so I guess it doesn't really matter.  Just pondering again for somewhere down the road.

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