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What were Chorus cabinets made out of?


wuzzzer

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I have the little cousin to the Chorus, i.e., the Quartet.  I replaced a tweeter diaphragm which requires unscrewing the horn..  The front panel is definitely MDF.  I reinforced the screw holes with superglue because they get crumbly.

 

I expect the back is MDF too though that is conjecture. 

 

The spec sheet for the Chorus says the riser is wood but is otherwise silent on the issues.

 

I'm sure someone here will have first hand information.

 

WMcD

 

 

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OK I would like an answer on this too. I have a set of Chorus I's and the motorboard and back board are plywood as you can see through cutouts. The riser is MDF with wood on both sides. When I tap on this cabinet the sides sure sound like plywood. The guy I bought it from was a fanatic about his speakers and he insisted they were plywood all the way around. Build in 89 and I have SN's if you need them.

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On 3/19/2019 at 5:58 PM, wuzzzer said:

It's my understanding that the veneered areas are MDF and the motorboard and back board are plywood.  Is this correct?

No it is not. The Chorus and Chorus ll are both all MDF. The rear baffle is a real weak spot as it is very large panel and it has zero brace work or stiffening. Some guys who play loud can actually get the rear baffle to slap the back side of the mid drive. This is well worth fixing and it will pay you sonic dividends.

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6 hours ago, moray james said:

No it is not. The Chorus and Chorus ll are both all MDF. The rear baffle is a real weak spot as it is very large panel and it has zero brace work or stiffening. Some guys who play loud can actually get the rear baffle to slap the back side of the mid drive. This is well worth fixing and it will pay you sonic dividends.

You are wrong on this one Moray. I have one in the shop right now I can take pictures of that uses plywood for the back and motor board as is clearly seen in the cutouts. This may change in later versions but to be honest I have not paid attention to the ones I have had in the past.

 

7 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

'MDF or LDF box panels (tops, bottoms and sides), if I remember correctly....I don't believe they ever used any veneered lumbercore plywood for those panels at all!

 

That matches what I see since the riser is MDF with veneer on one side and wood on the other and MDF in between.

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11 minutes ago, Dave A said:

You are wrong on this one Moray. I have one in the shop right now I can take pictures of that uses plywood for the back and motor board as is clearly seen in the cutouts. This may change in later versions but to be honest I have not paid attention to the ones I have had in the past.

 

That matches what I see since the riser is MDF with veneer on one side and wood on the other and MDF in between.

You are correct......all the ones I have rebuilt ....Chorus 2 .....Forte......Forte 2......Quartet......all have plywood back and motor boards

 

George

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This is why I ask...

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223453712666

 

Looks like they changed their description after I sent them a message.  Originally the description emphatically stated that the entire speaker was plywood and there was no MDF to be found anywhere in its construction.

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11 minutes ago, wuzzzer said:

This is why I ask...

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223453712666

 

Looks like they changed their description after I sent them a message.  Originally the description emphatically stated that the entire speaker was plywood and there was no MDF to be found anywhere in its construction.

 

I was fooled at first when I parted out a pair of KG5.5's some years back the MDF has veneer on both sides making it seem like real wood panels I can say for sure the Chorus 1 has a 1" thick plywood motor-board I'm pretty sure the Chorus II does as well but not 100% sure on that. 

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37 minutes ago, wuzzzer said:

This is why I ask...

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223453712666

 

Looks like they changed their description after I sent them a message.  Originally the description emphatically stated that the entire speaker was plywood and there was no MDF to be found anywhere in its construction.

Wuzzzer that was me and I was going on what I had been told and the fact that all the surfaces I could see after disassembly showed plywood in the cutouts and wood every where else. Short of drilling holes to see in the side panel I had no way to test except to tap on them and they all sounded like the same material. I thought I had read here at some time the earliest ones did have all wood so it was part what I could see and verify and part what I thought I had read and what the original owner said. This guy was a real fanatic about these and made sure I had appropriate packing before he let me get them and supervised the loading of them from beginning to end. He seemed to know what he was talking about. I have amended the listing to reflect what has been told here so far and was hoping the historian would know for sure. Unless HDBR is the historian in which case now we know.

  Thanks by the way for making me research this further as I want accurate descriptions.

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5 hours ago, moray james said:

Thank you gentlemen, I stand corrected. My Quartet Forte Forte ll and KLF20 are all MDF, perhaps the larger over size of the Chorus necessitated the switch to ply for the baffles which makes sense.

I thought I remembered the only Quartet I had as being MDF too since I remember thinking how cheesy MDF and screws are when I worked on that set. Really inadequate for that woofer. I have a Forte II out in the shop and I will have to look and see what it has now that I am curious.

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32 minutes ago, Dave A said:

Wuzzzer that was me and I was going on what I had been told and the fact that all the surfaces I could see after disassembly showed plywood in the cutouts and wood every where else. Short of drilling holes to see in the side panel I had no way to test except to tap on them and they all sounded like the same material. I thought I had read here at some time the earliest ones did have all wood so it was part what I could see and verify and part what I thought I had read and what the original owner said. This guy was a real fanatic about these and made sure I had appropriate packing before he let me get them and supervised the loading of them from beginning to end. He seemed to know what he was talking about. I have amended the listing to reflect what has been told here so far and was hoping the historian would know for sure. Unless HDBR is the historian in which case now we know.

  Thanks by the way for making me research this further as I want accurate descriptions.

 

I didn't mean to call anyone out, especially a forum member.  Accurate info is always good though.

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2 minutes ago, wuzzzer said:

 

I didn't mean to call anyone out, especially a forum member.  Accurate info is always good though.

Hey I want to be called out if I am wrong. I don't like it when it happens to me so I do not want to do it to others. Thanks for doing so.

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1 hour ago, jason str said:

You could just google stock Chorus & Chorus II photo's, both are MDF including the front and back.

 

>Link<

 

>link<

I can send you pictures that say these Chorus I's ARE plywood front and back if you wish. Don't really care what Google says compared to what my eyes can see in person.

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post-36834-0-48300000-1441642929_thumb.j

I rebuilt a pair of Chorus I for a fellow forum member several years back. It sure looks like plywood in this photo from the thread - motorboard and even the sides look like plywood. I would have sworn the balance of the cabinet was MDF of some sort as the original cabinets were waterdamaged and flaking like MDF or some type of particle board. BUT I am going by memory and that usually gets me in trouble.

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8 minutes ago, Dave A said:

I can send you pictures that say these Chorus I's ARE plywood front and back if you wish. Don't really care what Google says compared to what my eyes can see in person.

 

Post a picture for the OP, i have no doubt Klipsch used scraps available at the time so not to waste good stock.

 

My point was not to expect plywood where MDF was specified.

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