Heresy speaker: Identify the wood/duplicate the cabinet

[K85Horn]

I found a single Heresy speaker on the curb and am thinking of building a matching cabinet so that I can acquire the other parts to make an identical speaker .

 

The serial number is  #154Y XXX with a Type E-2 Crossover.

 

My brother can do the precision cutting of the wood where he works.

 

I will need to supply the wood and am inquiring to see if anyone out there may be able to give me the information I need to buy the wood (I am located in Ontario in Canada).

 

This will be my first cabinet building project and I suspect it should be straight forward as the Heresy cabinet I have uses butt joints.

 

If anyone out there has built a Heresy cabinet from scratch, that will be great to read about your experience!

 

 

[JohnA]

Great Find!  That is a high quality void-free plywood with birch veneer as the outer layer. 

 

 

[K85Horn]

1 hour ago, John Albright said:

Great Find!  That is a high quality void-free plywood with birch veneer as the outer layer. 

 

 

 

I didn't realize there is a veneer on the cabinet and that will make it a much harder task to build a matching cabinet.

 

I have a post in the Garage section looking for a single speaker or cabinet like mine.

 

Thanks for the information.

[djk]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Single-Klipsch-Heresy-empty-cabinet-in-good-condition-/112480189454?hash=item1a30577c0e:g:PwcAAOSwrfVZPuf5

 

[K85Horn]

1 minute ago, djk said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Single-Klipsch-Heresy-empty-cabinet-in-good-condition-/112480189454?hash=item1a30577c0e:g:PwcAAOSwrfVZPuf5

 

 

I contacted the seller a couple of days ago through ebay asking if he would ship to Canada and he did not reply.

[J M O N]

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/ele/6172694875.html

 

[K85Horn]

57 minutes ago, JMON said:

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/ele/6172694875.html

 

I contacted the seller a few days ago asking if he would ship to Canada and no reply.

 

Those cabinets are very nice!

[HDBRbuilder]

Well, I have built a few HBRs over the years (times ten thousand or so!)

 

Cabinet-grade 3/4" birch plywood will work just fine.  Note that today's birch-veneered plywood has MUCH THINNER veneer on it than what was used on your single HBR at the time it was originally built.  So be careful sanding it prior to finishing it, because thinner veneer means it can stand less sanding before you end up sanding THROUGH the veneer.

 

Also, when cutting the side panels to length, increase the dimension for the length by about 1/16" of an inch, and when you assemble the cabinet use your fingers to "feel" the the side panels extend past the plane of the bottom and top panels "by a hair".  That way you can putty any voids in the edge plys of the ends of the side panels and sand them down flush with the planes of the top and bottom panels.

 

Glue blocks should be cut from 3/4" cabinet grade plywood, at 3/4" thickness width.  The length of the LONG glue blocks should be approximately 1/16" shorter then the interior dimension of the side of the box.  That way when you install them,  you can divide the excess space at each end equally...in ordet to have a tiny bit of space for the caulking to get into to hold it in place when you caulk the corners after the glue blocks are installed.  The short glue blocks should be cut to have the same thing in being under length, but you have to consider the thickness of the long blocks into the equation...so that they have about 1/32" or less at each end for the same caulking reasons.  If the caulk does not have a way to anchor itself, it will fall out over time...the tiny space at each end of the glue blocks (1/32" or less) allows the caulk to anchor itself so that it will not fall out over time.

 

After assembling the side and top/bottom panels, be sure to pay attention to which way the plies run on the glue blocks when you install them.  For the front perimeter glue blocks, the plies of the glue blocks should be facing the front and rear.   For the rear perimeter glue blocks, the veneered edges of the blocks should be facing front and rear.  This is because staples do better driving up into/between the plys for attaching the motorboard, and because screws grip better when going through the veneer and all the plys when installing the back panel.  Staples used are 1/4" X 1-1/8".  Finishing nails used to attaching side panels to top and bottom are 1-1/2".  Use five nails to attach the sides along the top edge to the top panels and ths same for the bottom edges...evenly spaced.

 

The drop-in front panel should NOT be a tight fit, it needs to be a bit loose on its fit and it needs to be cut PERFECTLY square (as do the rest of the panels for the box!).  Befoe you install it, be sure to use a putty knife and some latex caulk to seal where the glue blocks have gaps at their ends on both the front and rear of the box.  When you install the motorboard front panel, glue up the glue blocks it will attach to, drop it into the front of the speaker box, and if you are right-handed, stick your left hand fingers through the tweeter hole while using that thumb to apply pressure to the top panel, and pull the front panel up to the inside top panel...then "eyeball" each side of the top of the front panel at the top INSIDE corners and divide the excess distance on each side equally...then use the staples or brads to attach the front at its top edge to the glue blocks underneath it....do the same thing using the woofer hole at the bottom...to center-up the front panel, then staple or brad it at the bottom end...then the "box" will be squared-up...and you can run the fastener gun down each side to finish up the motor-board installation.

 

That is how they were built originally.  BE SURE TO DRILL THE PILOT HOLES FOR installation of the horn lenses and woofer prior to motor-board installation.

 

I could knock out assembly of one HBR box in around 2 minutes (or less)...so you should be able to do it in under 10 minutes...just saying.  My best advice is: Don't let the glue set-up before you finish the assembly!

[K85Horn]

5 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

Well, I have built a few HBRs over the years (times ten thousand or so!)

 

Cabinet-grade 3/4" birch plywood will work just fine.  Note that today's birch-veneered plywood has MUCH THINNER veneer on it than what was used on your single HBR at the time it was originally built.  So be careful sanding it prior to finishing it, because thinner veneer means it can stand less sanding before you end up sanding THROUGH the veneer.

 

Also, when cutting the side panels to length, increase the dimension for the length by about 1/16" of an inch, and when you assemble the cabinet use your fingers to "feel" the the side panels extend past the plane of the bottom and top panels "by a hair".  That way you can putty any voids in the edge plys of the ends of the side panels and sand them down flush with the planes of the top and bottom panels.

 

Glue blocks should be cut from 3/4" cabinet grade plywood, at 3/4" thickness width.  The length of the LONG glue blocks should be approximately 1/16" shorter then the interior dimension of the side of the box.  That way when you install them,  you can divide the excess space at each end equally...in ordet to have a tiny bit of space for the caulking to get into to hold it in place when you caulk the corners after the glue blocks are installed.  The short glue blocks should be cut to have the same thing in being under length, but you have to consider the thickness of the long blocks into the equation...so that they have about 1/32" or less at each end for the same caulking reasons.  If the caulk does not have a way to anchor itself, it will fall out over time...the tiny space at each end of the glue blocks (1/32" or less) allows the caulk to anchor itself so that it will not fall out over time.

 

After assembling the side and top/bottom panels, be sure to pay attention to which way the plies run on the glue blocks when you install them.  For the front perimeter glue blocks, the plies of the glue blocks should be facing the front and rear.   For the rear perimeter glue blocks, the veneered edges of the blocks should be facing front and rear.  This is because staples do better driving up into/between the plys for attaching the motorboard, and because screws grip better when going through the veneer and all the plys when installing the back panel.  Staples used are 1/4" X 1-1/8".  Finishing nails used to attaching side panels to top and bottom are 1-1/2".  Use five nails to attach the sides along the top edge to the top panels and ths same for the bottom edges...evenly spaced.

 

The drop-in front panel should NOT be a tight fit, it needs to be a bit loose on its fit and it needs to be cut PERFECTLY square (as do the rest of the panels for the box!).  Befoe you install it, be sure to use a putty knife and some latex caulk to seal where the glue blocks have gaps at their ends on both the front and rear of the box.  When you install the motorboard front panel, glue up the glue blocks it will attach to, drop it into the front of the speaker box, and if you are right-handed, stick your left hand fingers through the tweeter hole while using that thumb to apply pressure to the top panel, and pull the front panel up to the inside top panel...then "eyeball" each side of the top of the front panel at the top INSIDE corners and divide the excess distance on each side equally...then use the staples or brads to attach the front at its top edge to the glue blocks underneath it....do the same thing using the woofer hole at the bottom...to center-up the front panel, then staple or brad it at the bottom end...then the "box" will be squared-up...and you can run the fastener gun down each side to finish up the motor-board installation.

 

That is how they were built originally.  BE SURE TO DRILL THE PILOT HOLES FOR installation of the horn lenses and woofer prior to motor-board installation.

 

I could knock out assembly of one HBR box in around 2 minutes (or less)...so you should be able to do it in under 10 minutes...just saying.  My best advice is: Don't let the glue set-up before you finish the assembly!

 

Much appreciate this detailed information HDBRbuilder!!!

 

If I build the cabinet, how difficult will it be to source the matching mid-range horn and square magnet woofer (I have a picture in the original post and the serial  #154Y XXX) ?

 

I already have some spare tweeters and the Type E-2 crossover should be straight forward to duplicate.

 

[avguytx]

What about just selling off the one you have and buying a pair that's complete? Would save you a lot of time and effort. 

 

...of course, that coming from someone who has all the parts to build a pair of Belies. But, Heresies are more plentiful the Belles. Ha. Or just build a pair of cabinets so they match. Just a thought. 

[HDBRbuilder]

2 hours ago, K85Horn said:

 

Much appreciate this detailed information HDBRbuilder!!!

 

If I build the cabinet, how difficult will it be to source the matching mid-range horn and square magnet woofer (I have a picture in the original post and the serial  #154Y XXX) ?

 

I already have some spare tweeters and the Type E-2 crossover should be straight forward to duplicate.

 

Look on ebay for those parts...lots of Heresys have gotten gutted for parts which are sold on ebay.

[K85Horn]

16 hours ago, avguytx said:

What about just selling off the one you have and buying a pair that's complete? Would save you a lot of time and effort. 

 

...of course, that coming from someone who has all the parts to build a pair of Belies. But, Heresies are more plentiful the Belles. Ha. Or just build a pair of cabinets so they match. Just a thought. 

 

Selling the Heresy is an option of course but I like the idea of finding or building another matching Heresy for the one I found on the curb.

 

Seeing the build quality of the Heresy and its restored potential reminds me of restoring a vintage automobile or motorcycle.