Jefferson6599 Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 I have been a Klipsch fan about 25 years and recently jumped into the vintage game with solid state receivers and and broke out my turn table and vinyl from the late 70's and 80's. Putting together a 2 channel set up and testing out various speakers I came across a set of CF-3, advertised as v1 and at a reasonable price, but I should have paid more attention and questioned the guy when he was willing to meet me half way. So I ended up with v2, and with a bad woofer for $575. If they were v1 and no issues it would have been a great price, now I have a 100 lb. paper weight and I'm realizing replacements aren't easy to come by. So if anyone has a woofer they are willing to part with or has a lead on one for sale, I would appreciate it. Always been a trusting person, and every once in a while I am let down because of it, but I still hold onto the belief that most people are decent... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 There are posts in the Alerts section here about parts on ebay. Good fortune. @Jefferson6599 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 6 minutes ago, billybob said: There are posts in the Alerts section here about parts on ebay. Good fortune. @Jefferson6599 Make that facebook. The second post says he has CF-3 parts also: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 Meanwhile, as is usually what the terms are. If you didn't have the opportunity to demo, would think buying v2 represented as v1 and, an undisclosed non working woofer, enough just to inform seller about. Not that anything would come of it. Could ask him if he had purchased a replacement. Tactfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff. Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 Silly question? Did you take an ohmmeter to the woofer? Reason I ask is I once bought a "defective" pair of RB-61s from Best Buy for 50 bucks only to get home and find the tweeter wires were not connected internally. I had already sourced out the tweeters too prior to opening them up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 Thanks, was going to say, check out connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefferson6599 Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 21 hours ago, geoff. said: Silly question? Did you take an ohmmeter to the woofer? Reason I ask is I once bought a "defective" pair of RB-61s from Best Buy for 50 bucks only to get home and find the tweeter wires were not connected internally. I had already sourced out the tweeters too prior to opening them up. That's a little out of my scope of expertise. I called my electronics guys but he didn't seem too interested in looking at them. Looking for a someone locally for repairs is getting harder. Its a dying business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefferson6599 Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 22 hours ago, billybob said: Make that facebook. The second post says he has CF-3 parts also: I reached out to that guy already, and he has CF-4 woofers, 12". The CF-3 post was a mistake. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefferson6599 Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 I have taken the woofer out to inspect it and visually it looks good. Dust cap isn't lose and there isn't visible any damage. It had a good connection. The only other thing I was thinking was taking one of the good ones and plugging it into the other speaker to make sure it wasn't a crossover or wire issue. Any of you you technical audiophiles live in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area and want to help out a member. LOL. And I did reach out to seller and politely offered to drive 2.5 hours to return them and get a refund, less than what I originally paid to cover his cost of meeting me the first time. He never responded. I am going to try one more time, just because I will be in his area next week for work, but I am not expecting anything. Since there are others on here that were in need, I might part them out in attempt to recover some of my loss. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Yes, any multimeter working to conduct the very simplest. continuity / ohm's test all of 15 seconds. But yes, glad you are doing a further troubleshooting. A woofer could pop up in the least expected time. Hope so for the sake of those pair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 get an Ohm meter , set it to Ohms on the dial and read the DCR , if the DCR is identical with both woofers there is nothing wrong with the woofer , 2nd step swap the woofer positions , if the woofer is bad , the problem will follow , if the woofer is ok , the issue is wiring / a loose or bad connectors BTW 575$ for a pair of CF-4 is peanuts even if all 4 woofers were shot , these speakers are in the 2k$ range , whether V1 or V2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyErnie Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Also, gently push the woofers in, see if they move freely or if there's a scratching sound. If there's not noise and the voice coils measure good with the meter, the woofer is probably fine. I'd think there has to be a shop within 45 minutes of you that could change a voice coil. Had to do that with my CF2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefferson6599 Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 3 hours ago, OO1 said: get an Ohm meter , set it to Ohms on the dial and read the DCR , if the DCR is identical with both woofers there is nothing wrong with the woofer , 2nd step swap the woofer positions , if the woofer is bad , the problem will follow , if the woofer is ok , the issue is wiring / a loose or bad connectors BTW 575$ for a pair of CF-4 is peanuts even if all 4 woofers were shot , these speakers are in the 2k$ range , whether V1 or V2 They are CF-3's, not CF-4's. From what I have seen the CF-3 v1. command a lot more than the v2 or v3. I was looking at a pair of Vintage Forte's, but these came up for 1/2 as much and I wanted to check them out. I think I am just going to splurge next year on a new pair of Forte IV or Hersey's for my 2 channel set up. I started with a pair of R-51M's and a Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub and the bookshelf's paired with the sub sounded really good. Just wanted to get something else to put the R-51M's and sub back into my 7.2 channel set up. The 2 channel is just for nostalgia and listening to vinyl. I will eventually upgrade to a big vintage Pioneer or Marantz or Sansui. I started small 2 or 3 years ago and keep getting bigger receivers. Started at 15WPC with a small Sony STR-6036a , then a Pioneer sx780, at 45WPC, now a Kenwood KR-7400 at 63 WPC. Next one will be 100WPC ++ I was trying to keep it all vintage, but I think Vintage speakers are the toughest to find in good shape and then harder to do anything with if there is a problem. Started with a pair of Original Advent Loudspeakers, but one didn't have the original Masonite woofer, thought I would pick up a used one and never came across anything reasonable, I paid $20 for them and turned around and sold them for $20 to a guy that was in the same situation. I wasn't looking to make a killing and ask $150 for the woofer. I do this for fun and I'm not trying to make a profit. I might list the 3 good woofers I have for a $150 each to try to get most of money back on these. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 CF-3 for 575$ is still a great deal ,even 1 woofer is defective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyErnie Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 I think getting mine (CF2) fixed was about $80, totally worth the effort. Can't remember the name of the place in Florida that does a lot of mail-in speaker repair. Their prices were good. Might be able to dig that up at "work" this week. Or, heck, maybe I'll just keep cruising the forum and it'll pop up in another thread: Speaker Exchange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloceleste Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avguytx Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 I currently own v1 CF-3's and have owned v3's and v2's. I can tell you from personal experience that there's not some hugacious difference between them all like some seem to make out. Truth be told, I believe the v2's sounded every bit as good, if not better, than the v1's. The first set I owned were the v3's and really regretted it when I sold them. Go buy a cheap DMM somewhere and check resistance on them or do like you said and switch woofers around. It's only 4 screws each and a little time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 34 minutes ago, DirtyErnie said: I think getting mine (CF2) fixed was about $80, totally worth the effort. Can't remember the name of the place in Florida that does a lot of mail-in speaker repair. Their prices were good. Might be able to dig that up at "work" this week. Or, heck, maybe I'll just keep cruising the forum and it'll pop up in another thread: Speaker Exchange. Maybe "simply speakers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 Yes would check it out. You seem like a Klipsch owner, which are not easily defeated. Dang, you just got them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefferson6599 Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 14 hours ago, DirtyErnie said: I think getting mine (CF2) fixed was about $80, totally worth the effort. Can't remember the name of the place in Florida that does a lot of mail-in speaker repair. Their prices were good. Might be able to dig that up at "work" this week. Or, heck, maybe I'll just keep cruising the forum and it'll pop up in another thread: Speaker Exchange. Already spoke with Melissa from Speaker Exchange. Nothing they could do. Tried a place in California but they are never open and haven't responded to voicemail or email. Nothing at Simply speakers, but they were the ones that recommended Speaker Exchange and the place in Cali. I will try the other place other place listed above this week. I did switch some woofers around last night and oddly enough it sounds better. Still hear it a little, but is not as bad. I pulled the crossovers out and checked all the connections. On a side note how much power are you guys feeding these things? I first fell in love with Klipsch for two reasons, I am hard rock/metal fan and paired with the fact they were always more efficient than the other brands I looked at in their price range and just didn't require a ton of power to make them rock it a match made in heaven. My first 5.1 channel receiver was a Yamaha that put out 75 WPC and it was enough to drive the reference series back in 1999. I'm throwing 110 WPC at those same speakers today and they sound the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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