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KP 320s - just got em, now what to do with em?


Jon B

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I just traded a Yamaha receiver for a pair of KP 320's and I'm on the fence when it comes to what to do with them. I have a pair of KP-301's that I will be installing a new pair of Crites Chorus crossovers into tomorrow night that are keepers!  So I really don't need another pair of pro speakers in my garage because I am already refurbishing 3 sets of speakers (assorted brands) and this is the 4th set.

 

These speakers have spent decades doing the DJ thing with a Klipsch 2 x 15 woofer cabinet (I will purchase that this weekend) and the mileage on them shows!

 

The Good and the Bad

GOOD - They seem to work fine, all drivers work, and are intact. I suspect the crossovers are original because I got them from the original owner that never messed with them.

BAD - The cases have seen some rough treatment, the fuse holders are all loose and should be replaced, the woofer covers are definitely not original, and the trim and bumpers are pretty much done. I pulled off the back plate to look at the connections and there was no gasket. So I bet they are leaking all over. Which means the prior owner doesn't really understand passive radiators. 

 

When it comes to this pair of speakers - I'm in it for the money. I really don't like them all that much and I am very happy with my 301's lighting up my workspace for years to come. So what do I do with them I guess is the question. Should I:

Fix them up a little and flip them?

Part them out?

Use the parts for a build project? And if so, what is possible?

Completely restore them to sell?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Jon B

 

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While i can give no answers in detail, there are others on this forum with more experience on that, i think it would help a lot to see some pictures of what You got. That way one can give better advice to You.

Good luck with Your project!

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On 10/6/2020 at 12:02 AM, AndreG. said:

While i can give no answers in detail, there are others on this forum with more experience on that, i think it would help a lot to see some pictures of what You got. That way one can give better advice to You.

Good luck with Your project!

 

I'll get some pictures this weekend and post them. I assure you, they are not very attractive, but I can fix that!

 

My only question is - is it worth it to spend the time and money to make them pretty and 100% restored? Compared to my new Crites Chorus equipped 301's these 320's sound like a pair of 80's Fisher speakers LOL. Well, maybe not THAT bad, just not terribly appealing to me is all and I do plan on moving then along without any major updates like a new cross over or driver replacements. In the end I got them to sell so I can work on other audio projects.

 

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That depends - soundwise, it could be as simple as just re-capping the crossovers to make them sound better again.

The problem with restoring them 100%, at least for me, would be, i probably wouldn´t want to part with them. after having spent that much time and energy...

For You, the better you can make them, the higher the price can be, You ask for them.

 

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On ‎10‎/‎5‎/‎2020 at 11:55 PM, Jon B said:

When it comes to this pair of speakers - I'm in it for the money. I really don't like them all that much and I am very happy with my 301's lighting up my workspace for years to come. So what do I do with them I guess is the question. Should I:

Fix them up a little and flip them?

Part them out?

Use the parts for a build project? And if so, what is possible?

Completely restore them to sell?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Jon B

 

Here's a few questions that might help you answer some of your own; do you have spare time to work on these speakers? If so, how much is your time worth? And a big factor for me, do you enjoy fixing up speakers?

 

I recently restored a pair of 301-II cabinets and it probably took me 10 hours or so total spread out over about a week and they really weren't in that bad of shape. If you have the free time and enjoy working on / restoring speakers I'd say have at it otherwise sell as is let the new owner restore them to their liking.

 

By the way would like to hear your impressions of the 301's with the Chorus crossovers after you get a chance to listen to them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You asked for pictures.....here are the pictures.

One from the front, and one with a woofer removed to get a picture of the crossover inside, with one showing the crossover number.

 

Like I said, they are rough, but I have the time, patience, and ability to restore them if they are worth the effort. But I am sure I will not keep them, because I don't need them, and I need the money for other speaker projects.

Thanks

 

 

 

KP320.jpg

KP320.1.jpg

KP320.2.jpg

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On 10/10/2020 at 6:54 AM, jjptkd said:

Here's a few questions that might help you answer some of your own; do you have spare time to work on these speakers? If so, how much is your time worth? And a big factor for me, do you enjoy fixing up speakers?

 

I recently restored a pair of 301-II cabinets and it probably took me 10 hours or so total spread out over about a week and they really weren't in that bad of shape. If you have the free time and enjoy working on / restoring speakers I'd say have at it otherwise sell as is let the new owner restore them to their liking.

 

By the way would like to hear your impressions of the 301's with the Chorus crossovers after you get a chance to listen to them.

 

The answers to the questions would be, Yes, I consider this my hobby so my time is my own to invest, and Yes.

 

As for my impressions of my 301's with the Crites Chorus crossovers.....I absolutely adore them! The texture and detail they produce is astounding. When Mr Klipsch said that he built speakers to accurately reproduce sound he was telling the God's honest truth! The 301's darn near make me drool after the CX upgrade because they sound so good to me. I just sit in front of them and time almost stands still and I am serious about that. I just start clicking through tracks I have listened to for decades and I lose track of time because I get lost in the experience. To me, the tracks now sound like the artists, producers, and engineers intended them to sound. And they seem fresh and new to me because of the clarity and detail. As a former musician I can clearly hear every instrument and the notes from each. Back in the day when we were learning to cover other people's songs, these speakers would have made that task quite simple because each part is now plain as day! Just this evening I was listening to a couple Doobie Brothers songs that I got tired of years ago and said to myself, wow this song has a banjo in it - never heard that before. And on another I heard a steel guitar plain as day and did not realize it was in the track until tonight. They have changed my listening experience in my workshop!

 

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1 hour ago, Jon B said:

You asked for pictures.....here are the pictures.

pk , so what is your location ,  one thing you can do , is post an FOR SALE ad in the GARAGE SALE section , and with you City -State , and asking price  these speakers should sell

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22 hours ago, RandyH000 said:

pk , so what is your location ,  one thing you can do , is post an FOR SALE ad in the GARAGE SALE section , and with you City -State , and asking price  these speakers should sell

 

I'm in Southern Cal.

 

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I may consider covering them with the fuzzy stuff that deals with blemishes and the finish all at once. My 301's has that covering and it is pretty clean. Opinions? I then want to replace the corner and edge bumpers, binding posts, and fuse holders. That will be it for the cabinets. Then I need to refresh the crossovers with new caps, test the drivers and repair or replace where required, then seal the cases for the passive radiator and then they will be for sale.

 

I'm not a 2 way speaker fan, but I'm sure there are some folks out there that will love them - hopefully in Southern California.

 

Sound like a plan?

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There is room to add a tweeter on the cabinet , and the KP3.2 Crossover can be modified to add a tweeter for a 3 way speaker----plus there is a down firing 12 inch passive woofer -Duratex paint would be the ideal finishing touch -

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Good to see you Randy, and I really love your shuttle pic. There was so much incredible tech in that machine for it's time!

 

True story, I routinely sold shuttle maintainers from Palmdale Ca old school MFM hard drives back "in the day" for their bench test systems because they were that old and could not be re-engineered unless the equipment they serviced was also changed.  So they left them alone and sourced spares from computer refurbishers like myself back in those days. It seems like a lifetime ago now.

 

That's a great suggestion. Unfortunately I am definitely not going to keep these speakers, so mods are probably off the table. And I like my 301's in my garage workshop far too much to replace them, plus I don't really need another pair of pro speakers for the house. So the 320's will be leaving my workshop once I finish up with them. I would love to sand and coat them with Duratex, but there are some serious chips and gouges that would need to be filled for satisfactory finish. I would think that filling would be a disservice to the next owner because I have no doubt it would not stay, or at least crack and eventually ruin the finish. Have you had a different experience with Duratex? Isn't that a textured coat that dries hard (inflexible). There's nothing worse than buying a classic car with a beautiful finish only to find it is full of filler when it loosens up and ruins the beautiful finish. Been there, done that - I use a magnet to test for filler on classic prospects now LOL.

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Here is Duratex  -it is a black weatherproof coating used on all Pro series speakers , whether via  Roller or a brush - the Spray Gun gives the nicest fine texture -

 

 

  Pro speakers are repaired with Bondo or a  resin type Filler , then sanded , and repainted with Duratex , I added 2 videos to show you how they paint and refinish commercial speakers whether new or repaired cabinets -

 

 

 

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On 10/24/2020 at 2:04 PM, Jon B said:

I may consider covering them with the fuzzy stuff that deals with blemishes and the finish all at once

 

I know a lot of folks who would not mind having duratex painted speakers in their homes... the finish can be excellent.

 

Rat fur coverings are just the opposite.

 

Randy is correct, clean and use Bondo, a bit of prep and a Duratex finish can seriously have them looking like new speakers.

 

These are only rated down to 49Hz...

 

Bruce

 

KP-320_.pdf

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22 hours ago, Marvel said:

 

I know a lot of folks who would not mind having duratex painted speakers in their homes... the finish can be excellent.

 

Rat fur coverings are just the opposite.

 

Randy is correct, clean and use Bondo, a bit of prep and a Duratex finish can seriously have them looking like new speakers.

 

These are only rated down to 49Hz...

 

Bruce

 

KP-320_.pdf 1.07 MB · 0 downloads

 

It takes a bit of work, but the results can be GREAT with a little care...

 

 

Then there is what these cabinets turned into...

 

FH_1s.thumb.jpg.b335d91e7582892316d284d6a2dbc4de.jpg

 

 

 

Where there is a will, there is a way!

 

 

 

 

 

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I have had a couple sets of these and curious to know how much do you have in them. For part out the K-48 woofer in good shape will bring good money but the rest will not.  IF a set cam up real cheap near me I would probably just get them for the woofers. I did not like how they sounded enough to bother trying to fix up any more. Those 301's though are well worth fixing up especially the earlier cloth grilled ones.

 

  Why did you replace the original crossovers rather then just recapping them on the 301's?  You just took a 200 watt speaker and turned it into a 100 watt speaker and I can assure you that the original pro crossovers when recapped sound as good as the Chorus ones do and you have much more headroom on the OEM 301 crossover.

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On 10/24/2020 at 4:09 PM, RandyH000 said:

Here is Duratex  on new Cornwall IV motorboard and the rear of the cabinet -----it is a black weatherproof coating used on all Pro series speakers , whether via  Roller or a brush - the Spray Gun gives the nicest fine texture -

 

 

  Pro speakers are repaired with Bondo or a  resin type Filler , then sanded , and repainted with Duratex , I added 2 videos to show you how they paint and refinish commercial speakers whether new or repaired cabinets -

 

https://f072605def1c9a5ef179-a0bc3fbf1884fc0965506ae2b946e1cd.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/product-images/Klipsch_Cornwall_IV_in-acorner.jpg

 

That is a good video on duratex and something I have considered trying.

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