TDL Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 (edited) Hi All. This is my first post. I just purchased a pair of 1953 Mahagony Klipschorns - SN 426 (July 24 1953) and SN 490 (Aug 24 1953). I'm really excited. I knew little about the technical details of these, but thanks to these forums, I've learned a lot. Thanks to all the members who have contributed. I'll try not to repeat any questions that have already been answered. First, I'd like to ask the historian if there is any history available for these specific Khorns. Second, does anyone know what kind/color of paint to use if I want to touch up the edges. Its pretty obvious what needs work in the pictures I'll post. It's a very dark brown. I'd also like to get some member opinions. I intend these speakers to be my daily drivers, so I want the best sound quality. However, I also want to make sure I can return them to stock condition as they currently are. My plan is to: Change tweeters to Jensen RP302 and keep the originals. Keep the University Mid drivers Change the July Khorn to a 103-LX2 woofer to match the August one. Swap crossovers with new ones and store (or display) the originals. Thoughts? -T Edited March 22 by TDL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDL Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Non-Klipsch modifications are discouraged and not up for discussion on the forum. There is a company called JEM Performance Audio and also forum member @Deang who are Klipsch authorized to rebuild crossovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Dean's email dgwescott@gmail.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 JEM sells capacitor kits to those who want to DIY. I repair, recap, and build. I maintain my own Klipsch OEM inventory of parts. Some pictures of the networks would be helpful. You might consider leaving them intact, and just letting me build some replacements. Thanks, Dean 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDL Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 1 hour ago, wuzzzer said: Non-Klipsch modifications are discouraged and not up for discussion on the forum. There is a company called JEM Performance Audio and also forum member @Deang who are Klipsch authorized to rebuild crossovers. Sorry for braking etiquette. I guess most of the posts I've read were older... Anyway, I've already ordered some crossover replacements and will keep the originals as they are. I won't discuss details here per the rules, and I will keep JEM and Dean in mind for future needs or if these don't work out. I'm happy to post some pictures of the original crossovers when I have them out of the speakers if anyone is interested. I'm also still curious if there is any history available. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Well Jim will likely have something to say about the history. And welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 8 minutes ago, TDL said: Sorry for braking etiquette. I guess most of the posts I've read were older... Anyway, I've already ordered some crossover replacements and will keep the originals as they are. I won't discuss details here per the rules, and I will keep JEM and Dean in mind for future needs or if these don't work out. I'm happy to post some pictures of the original crossovers when I have them out of the speakers if anyone is interested. I'm also still curious if there is any history available. It's definitely a newer change to the forum. Previously modifications, upgrades, etc were discussed quite a bit but things kind of got out of hand, arguing, etc and since Klipsch themselves own this forum they decided to shut down that kind of discussion. Definitely stick around, there's tons to learn here and it's pretty awesome that you have a couple great examples of very early Klipsch history! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDL Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 10 hours ago, wuzzzer said: It's definitely a newer change to the forum. Previously modifications, upgrades, etc were discussed quite a bit but things kind of got out of hand, arguing, etc and since Klipsch themselves own this forum they decided to shut down that kind of discussion. Definitely stick around, there's tons to learn here and it's pretty awesome that you have a couple great examples of very early Klipsch history! Makes sense. There's nothing better than adults arguing over subjective opinions :). I'm happy to stick around and learn about the history. I also want to do my part to preserve it. Actually, preservation was one of my main goals in posting here. I wanted to make sure that anything I do to the speakers is both reversible and consistent with PWK's philosophy - I know there were some supply chain limitations in the 1950s that may have led Paul to settle on using a "sad" part, so maybe he'd have built it a little differently if it were possible? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRH Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 426 shipped to K.L.A Labs. 490 went to Sterling Radio Products Co. of Houston. 426 had the Stephens P-52 LX woofer, University SAHF mid, and University 4401 tweeter. 490 had the same mid and tweet, but with a Stephens 103 LX2 woofer. Interesting that both shipments included a Rebel. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDL Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 8 minutes ago, JRH said: 426 shipped to K.L.A Labs. 490 went to Sterling Radio Products Co. of Houston. 426 had the Stephens P-52 LX woofer, University SAHF mid, and University 4401 tweeter. 490 had the same mid and tweet, but with a Stephens 103 LX2 woofer. Interesting that both shipments included a Rebel. Thanks for the info. The drivers in these now are just as described and I believe original. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDL Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 As promised, pictures of the original crossovers. From what I can gather, they're K500/5000 with 15uf (3x5 in parallel) and 1uf capacitors and 5MH, 5MH, 0.5MH inductors. Seems to match the schematic that was floating around on the forums a while back. 16ohm input. The one from SN 490 (August 1953) has a replacement 1uf capacitor (I have the original). It's too big, but it works. Otherwise, they may be all original. They work, but the sound quality and coherence seem to ebb and flow, which I'm betting is from old caps. Simple things like a single instrument or voice sound great, but they start to sound messy when the music gets more complicated. Regardless, given their age, I'm impressed to get anything at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDL Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Just now, TDL said: As promised, pictures of the original crossovers. From what I can gather, they're K500/5000 with 15uf (3x5 in parallel) and 1uf capacitors and 5MH, 5MH, 0.5MH inductors. Seems to match the schematic that was floating around on the forums a while back. 16ohm input. The one from SN 490 (August 1953) has a replacement 1uf capacitor (I have the original). It's too big, but it works. Otherwise, they may be all original. They work, but the sound quality and coherence seem to ebb and flow, which I'm betting is from old caps. Simple things like a single instrument or voice sound great, but they start to sound messy when the music gets more complicated. Regardless, given their age, I'm impressed to get anything at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 I would definitely think given their age that new networks are in order, but keep the originals as you stated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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