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Repair beat up LSI cabinets


Dave A

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I bought four consecutive numbered LSI's yesterday. These are beat up and need some repair which includes restoring smashed in corners and beat up dog house points. Is a structural filler two part epoxy the best way to fill in chunks missing? What ever I do I want these repairs to be permanent and not subject to falling off under shock and to be as durable as the original baltic birch was.  The other consideration was fiberglass and resin. I am thinking of sanding these down and painting them black.

 Spent some time looking for aluminum trim pieces like the Klipsch LSI's came with and no luck. Leaning towards preserving the original finish though with no trim and painted black. Pictures sometime later today.

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Congrats on picking up 4 LSI's.  You've got a big job ahead of you restoring those but it will be worth it. 

 

Here's an excellent thread,   @mustang guy did an unbelievable job on these.  I've seen them, they look great.

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/152257-badly-beat-up-lascala-restoration-completed/&

 

Consult with @jimjimbo and @MookieStlwho have both done extensive and great looking restorations with LSI's.

 

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2 hours ago, Dave A said:

I bought four consecutive numbered LSI's yesterday. These are beat up and need some repair which includes restoring smashed in corners and beat up dog house points. Is a structural filler two part epoxy the best way to fill in chunks missing? What ever I do I want these repairs to be permanent and not subject to falling off under shock and to be as durable as the original baltic birch was.  The other consideration was fiberglass and resin. I am thinking of sanding these down and painting them black.

 Spent some time looking for aluminum trim pieces like the Klipsch LSI's came with and no luck. Leaning towards preserving the original finish though with no trim and painted black. Pictures sometime later today.

I have used Bondo and Duratex with great success.

 

 

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Bondo works fine. Duratex is an excellent finish. 

 

What else do you need? I have Aluminium trim for the trapezoidal tops and 2 K55V drivers They’re yours if you promise to post photos of the rebuild!! 

 

Also so have a pair of front motor boards for the top sections. 

 

Good luck. Wear a mask when you’re sanding. 😃

 

Cincy

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I took a serious look today and two may be salvageable and two not. Severely beat in on the corners and wood pulled apart in places. A real testament to the enduring quality of Baltic Birch over that worthless alternative MDF. These all actually sounded decent even though they were used as soccer balls.  I have pondered the idea of building La Scalas out of 1" Baltic Birch and this might be the time to do it. If I do I will probably extend the sides to give better protection to the dog house point and make the top section taller so I can flush mount the mid and have space to perhaps use the larger MAHL tweeter since there are so many more options there.

 The bases on these have been slid across floors and whatever so much they have been abraded to just over half the original thickness in places.

 

  I will try the structural epoxy fix on one and see how it does. Even though they have some historical value they are mostly a fine example of why you don't hire gorillas for stage hands. I will check your post out tonight Jimbo.

 

  Thanks for the generous offer Cincy but parts I have plenty of.

 

  On the other hand I continued on to Bowling Green where I picked up a set of KP-301'II's and while dirty and screws rusty these things were hardly ever used. The last version of 301's had exponential tweeters with Ti diaphragms, the Eminence 2002 Ti diaphragm mid and they sound really nice.

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… just looking here and noticed your system profile (Double Stack Three Way MCM 1900) and I'll swear, I don't know where I get these idea's, but would like to offer one that popped up under my hat... I don't have a name for it, but just the thought of the La Scala fronts' is cool enough, so picture two of them, cut the right side off of one, the left side off the other, then cut the back off a third one, for the middle and clamp them all together, turn the horn around in the middle one.... there's a few tweaks involved lol, but nothing that couldn't be contained in an aluminum angle iron frame with wheels....

the fourth one... could be the one left over for your initial repair fix 'em up deal, then when fixed up, it'd cover the cost spent on all 4 to begin with.... so the other three are project material (on wheels)… just a thought

 

Edit add-on --> Yes, cut the back off the middle one, so the K33 is to the front, when mounted in reverse between the left and right (put a black grill cloth over it) and your 3 LS-BR will slightly resemble an extreme modified MCM 3x3

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I think heart transplants will be in order. Deciding what type of body I want to put them in. Something I have been considering for a while is buying busted speakers with good drivers and then making cabinets the right way with 1" Baltic and seeing if there is a market for all Klipsch components in a better same design box. Wont cost much to find out with the pile-o-parts here.

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10 hours ago, windashine said:

… just looking here and noticed your system profile (Double Stack Three Way MCM 1900) and I'll swear, I don't know where I get these idea's, but would like to offer one that popped up under my hat... I don't have a name for it, but just the thought of the La Scala fronts' is cool enough, so picture two of them, cut the right side off of one, the left side off the other, then cut the back off a third one, for the middle and clamp them all together, turn the horn around in the middle one.... there's a few tweaks involved lol, but nothing that couldn't be contained in an aluminum angle iron frame with wheels....

the fourth one... could be the one left over for your initial repair fix 'em up deal, then when fixed up, it'd cover the cost spent on all 4 to begin with.... so the other three are project material (on wheels)… just a thought

 

Edit add-on --> Yes, cut the back off the middle one, so the K33 is to the front, when mounted in reverse between the left and right (put a black grill cloth over it) and your 3 LS-BR will slightly resemble an extreme modified MCM 3x3

Ahhhh, hmmm, no I think is the rational answer.

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