Reasons Why This Is Technical/Restoration Section

[MicroMara]

Times change, members in a forum come and go. The "old" rooted members have just experienced other times, it is not " verboten " to modify old Klipsch speakers, it may just not be communicated publicly in this forum. You all make @Chief bonehead the bogeyman , I see it differently .

 

Klipsch is since about a year a brand of VOXX distribution company Premium Audio Co. So Premium Audio also determines the ways of distribution channels as well as the marketing of Klipsch products. Decisions and market goals will be made at Premium Audio Co. Klipsch has to achieve them, because hundreds of jobs depend on them, families have to live on them.

 

 

Finally, there is no manufacturer of loudspeakers on the world market that allows it in their own forums their products to modify.

 

The restoration of original Klipsch speakers is another matter as far as you can still get the original Klipsch parts or Klipsch certified spare parts.

 

So..where is the problem ?

[chuckears]

There are a couple of Klipsch groups on FB - the Vintage Klipsch is a good place for a wide range of posts about older models, and it is a more open forum for discussion about mods,etc.

I understand why a company would want to narrow the focus to restoring and maintaining, rather than modifying their product beyond their original specs and intentions.  They pay for this space, and others setting up shop here to sell their own version of Klipsch is understandably problematic.

[Audible Nectar]

Klipsch wants all non-Klipsch mods and aftermarket off the forum - period. "The "mods" forum isn't the "mods" forum, it's "restorations" now. AK and other places are where these types are hanging out. Klipsch has edited portions of posts as well as whole threads not in compliance.

[Travis In Austin]

15 minutes ago, Deang said:

With so many places on the Internet to discuss modifications to audio equipment and loudspeakers, it really made no sense to me why people were melting down over the change. 

Money and/or ego? 
 

I think you have posted here that there is another variable. A change in the popularity of other types of platforms, like Facebook that distorts the perception unless you are active in all of them.

[Deang]

 

1 hour ago, Travis In Austin said:

… so that maybe this thread can provide guidance to others in the future…

I would remove a few non-relevant posts and pin it. 

[Bill W.]

A few people here know me, though many do not, as I have been a sporadic poster since the early years of the forum. My perspective on this is as follows:

 

Years ago, there was a prevalent viewpoint among many forum members that Klipsch had not maintained its focus on the heritage models, limited R&D investment, few updates, just continuing to build each of these models as they had been for many years. The company’s focus was on other product lines that it had created for market segments that were growing.

 

The first several years of the forum were like “ Must See TV” that you would tune in for daily, as the collection of members was quite knowledgeable, passionate, and opinionated. I learned a great deal from many of the members who participated in the lengthy debates and discussions as they occurred.

Some of that forum activity back then revolved around what could or should be done to bring vintage Klipsch speakers up to something like “state of the art” performance. Rightly or wrongly, these debates spilled over into what should be considered for current production Heritage models. Back then, the forum was wide open, like the Wild West.

 

In my view, many of these forum conversations came to exist because there was little confidence at that time that Klipsch would actually undertake the effort to update the existing Heritage models. This probably played a role in the development of a cottage industry to support the experiments that some enthusiasts were engaging in to modify their own speakers.

 

What actually happened in recent years is truly remarkable... Every single model of Heritage has been thoroughly updated with excellent acoustical results. The Cornwall and the Forte were brought back to market and are better than ever. The Jubilee, a long-shot dream if there ever was one is now a reality. Truly amazing! If you haven’t heard it yet, you owe it to yourself to do so.

 

The point I am making is that the categories of discussions that are now closed don’t seem relevant as they once were, I much prefer seeing Klipsch step up to the plate and hit it out of the park with the advances in their Heritage products than revisiting the past when we were lamenting the lack of attention to these same models.

 

Kudos to Roy Delgado, Klipsch and the Corporate leadership for getting it right.

 

With much respect,

Bill 

 

[LoudTrombone]

On 4/19/2023 at 11:28 PM, Bill W. said:

A few people here know me, though many do not, as I have been a sporadic poster since the early years of the forum. My perspective on this is as follows:

 

Years ago, there was a prevalent viewpoint among many forum members that Klipsch had not maintained its focus on the heritage models, limited R&D investment, few updates, just continuing to build each of these models as they had been for many years. The company’s focus was on other product lines that it had created for market segments that were growing.

 

The first several years of the forum were like “ Must See TV” that you would tune in for daily, as the collection of members was quite knowledgeable, passionate, and opinionated. I learned a great deal from many of the members who participated in the lengthy debates and discussions as they occurred.

Some of that forum activity back then revolved around what could or should be done to bring vintage Klipsch speakers up to something like “state of the art” performance. Rightly or wrongly, these debates spilled over into what should be considered for current production Heritage models. Back then, the forum was wide open, like the Wild West.

 

In my view, many of these forum conversations came to exist because there was little confidence at that time that Klipsch would actually undertake the effort to update the existing Heritage models. This probably played a role in the development of a cottage industry to support the experiments that some enthusiasts were engaging in to modify their own speakers.

 

What actually happened in recent years is truly remarkable... Every single model of Heritage has been thoroughly updated with excellent acoustical results. The Cornwall and the Forte were brought back to market and are better than ever. The Jubilee, a long-shot dream if there ever was one is now a reality. Truly amazing! If you haven’t heard it yet, you owe it to yourself to do so.

 

The point I am making is that the categories of discussions that are now closed don’t seem relevant as they once were, I much prefer seeing Klipsch step up to the plate and hit it out of the park with the advances in their Heritage products than revisiting the past when we were lamenting the lack of attention to these same models.

 

Kudos to Roy Delgado, Klipsch and the Corporate leadership for getting it right.

 

With much respect,

Bill 

 

 

I too think this is absolutely true. And I would further point out, which may be a matter of stating the obvious to those in the know within the company, that recent market trends have great favored the Heritage line with a re-discovery by a new market of buyers of these fine speakers. Although I generally can't afford these latest models (which was also a problem for me when I was younger) the price points are aimed at a market segment that can afford them and also reflect the hand built American made quality of them which has become a rarity these days. 

Now how about a updated modern refresh of the awesome Quartet?

Ken

[Travis In Austin]

18 hours ago, pnort said:

So are you going to remove the Super Heresy thread for example? And how about the cabinet refinishing discussions? Unathorized modifications?

Not planning on removing any older DIY, upgrade threads, I’m planning on trying to move those all to an archived section where they will be available to view but not respond to (it creates confusion as to what’s currently allowed, what isn’t). That’s a project for a different day. 

 

There isn’t any problem at all with refinishing or cabinet repair topics.  There have been several since this thread was posted and pinned. 

18 hours ago, pnort said:

 

But now its forbidden to mention his resource for Klipsch products? I'm disappointed in your narrow-minded attitude change for whatever reason. I don't think Paul Klipsch would be pleased.

Yes. Unfortunately it became a game with some to respond to any post about a set of older speakers to slip in a comment about capacitors or networks from 3rd party vendors. These responses had nothing whatsoever to do with the original posts. This was after Klipsch went to considerable time and expense to develop, test, measure kits for many of the Heritage networks and keeping the original sound along with approving an authorized supplier of those kits and an authorized rebuilder. 
 

Unfortunately, several attempts to quell the “games” of slipping in unsolicited gratuitous recommendations for 3rd party products failed.  It was just simply easier to prohibit discussion about non-approved 3rd party vendors on Klipsch’s Forum. 
 

You are absolutely correct, PWK would not be pleased, but not in the sense you mean. The historical record is clear (documents, letters, Dope From Hope articles, etc.) that PWK would have gone ballistic about vendors claiming to have “improved” balancing network designs, capacitor kits that “meet factory specs”, offered build your own speaker kits that used the name of two of this trademarked speakers and many other examples. In short, he would have never allowed a speaker manufacturer/competitor’s speakers to be discussed or their notions of what an upgrade or improvement might be to his designs. 
 

PWK designed, measured/tested his own upgrades and offered them. Nothing he offered in terms of an update/improvement/upgrade came without a detailed explanation of the engineering and testing that led to the change, and what the results of the changes were.

 

Klipsch continues with this upgrade philosophy as seen with the recent Forte III to IV kits. I think you will see even more upgrades coming from Klipsch. 
 

If people want to pursue a different path on what they do with their speakers that’s fine. Do it on the DIY platforms. 
 

if people have inherited or purchased an older set of speakers they want to restore to original, they are most welcome to post here and they will get the help to accomplish that.

 

I’m sorry to hear of your disappointment, so I have provided some of the background to help shed some light on the decision.