Pak323 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Hi all, I have just acquired my first pair of Hersey HBR with xxxUxxx serial numbers indicating 1980 production. From the previous owner I purchased from I was told that the crossover have been upgraded to V.1 (no idea what that means). The cabinets are in very good shape tho they have been refinished with a top coat of semi gross vanish. Unfortunately, the vanished seem to have run down to the top portion of the black face board (see pic). Being a newbie to Klipsch Hersey, I am hoping to find some help/info here. Specifically I like to know (1) what kind of upgrade is with the crossover (see pics)? (2) any suggestions as to refinishing the front black board? Many thanks in advance. Pak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 It aint a klipsch upgrade , but a DIY with aftermarket parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak323 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Thank you 001. From a little more reseach it seems that it is not uncommon some Hersey owners choose to put in similar crossover kits. Are these after market kits meant to improve on the original corssovers or just to repair broken original crossovers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 it's OO1 , some people think ( myth ) that the older inductors , wiring ,caps require replacement , while the Original klipsch 40 year old parts actually test better on specs versus new 3rd party parts that do not match klipsch specs , the result is a speaker that no longer sounds like a klipsch speaker . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave MacKay Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Capacitors can deteriorate with age. A common symptom of a bad capacitor would be if it leaks or if the case is bulging. Other components, such as inductors tend not to be affected by the passage of time. Consequently, it is common to have to replace capacitors on older crossovers. Good capacitors can be had from many sources. @001 is a proponent of ones sold by JEM, but less expensive caps and caps with better specs are available. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 it's OO1 , klipsch supplied capacitors are recommended by klipsch , sold by klipsch , and used by klipsch in all their new speakers , klipsch make these products available to Forum members who wish to restore their crossovers at an affordable price . .@JEM Performance https://jemperformanceaudio.com/capacitor-kits - klipsch capacitors restore the original klipsch sound in older crossovers without requiring to replace additional parts regardless of whether the networks are 40-45-50 years old . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 8 hours ago, OO1 said: it's OO1 , some people think ( myth ) that the older inductors , wiring ,caps require replacement , while the Original klipsch 40 year old parts actually test better on specs versus new 3rd party parts that do not match klipsch specs , the result is a speaker that no longer sounds like a klipsch speaker . 12 minutes ago, OO1 said: it's OO1 , klipsch supplied capacitors are recommended by klipsch , sold by klipsch , and used by klipsch in all their new speakers , klipsch does not market these products for profit but rather as a service to Forum members who wish to restore their old crossovers at an affordable price .@JEM Performance https://jemperformanceaudio.com/capacitor-kits - klipsch capacitors restore the original klipsch sound in older crossovers without requiring to replace any additional parts regardless of whether the networks are 40-45-50 years old . Klipsch, with a capital K. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Hi Pak, welcome to the forum. 14 hours ago, Pak323 said: Being a newbie to Klipsch Hersey, I am hoping to find some help/info here. Specifically I like to know (1) what kind of upgrade is with the crossover (see pics)? (2) any suggestions as to refinishing the front black board? Many thanks in advance. Pak There will be help here, though there might be some delayed responses due to some might not see your questions very quickly. It is to your advantage to study to know who is who. As far as your crossovers, those are not stock Klipsch networks. They are your speakers and I won't tell you what to do, but if they were mine, I would leave them as they are. The workmanship looks fine. I can't read what brand the parts are, but they look okay from the picture. The sound-deadening material is not stock either. A lot of us have used similar material. Can you tell if the material is sticking to the horn with an adhesive or are the black bands the only thing holding the material on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC39693 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 @Pak323 a few questions; 1 - did you purchase from original owner and person who made the changes? Where did you purchase them, you didn’t list a location. 2 - do the speakers sound good to you? Regardless of “parts” debate your ears are really all that matter. 3 - did the speakers come with grills hence the varnish on the motor board can be aesthetically managed? 4 - is the motor board varnish affecting the sound? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak323 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Thank you all for the responses. @MC39693 I haven't hooked them up yet tho I have a brief listen at the seller's house at purchase time. I think the seller bought them from someone who did the crossover mod. located in Estern Canada. both come with the original grill in very good shape but I tend to display and listen with grill off. I think I am going to mask and send down the area with vanish and repaint the motor board. Will report om sound quality when I am done with the cosmetic. By the way, can someone tell me why the mid range is wrapped in white cloth/felt material ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak323 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 @Woofers and Tweeters THank you for your reply. The damping material on the mid range is held together with the black elastic straps. The transformer stampd 3636. see pics below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Some people dampen horns to reduce “ringing” on older metal horns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC39693 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 @Pak323 sir, I am the original owner and modifier of those speakers, the original documentation is in 1980 Heresy under the Ask the Historian section. I owned them for 42 years. After the thread I note above, I made three rounds of modifications. I’ll honour the current requirements of this forum and will not mention third party items specifically but here is the gist of the changes, 1 - being raw birch HBR from the factory, I stained them light oak and several coats of clear Varathane in 1980. The smears on the motor board I do not recall, but perhaps I am the culprit although I’ll check for photos of the motor board before they left my house. I am pleased to hear you have the original grills and badges as they were in excellent condition when I sold the speakers in Sept, 2023. Be very careful in sanding the motor board, you should remove the drivers so they don’t get dust in them. Otherwise you’ll need to do a very good job of masking them all before sanding. You can look up the type of black paint Klipsch used when you touch up the sanding. 2 - I cleaned the internal cabinet, sealed all seams and lined with 1/8 inch neoprene using velcro dots to hold in place. I also put neoprene on the back hatch ledge I believe, to help make it air tight. I read everything I could on this and other forums about crossovers at 40 years of age and decided to change the E crossovers out. I used quality parts within my budget. At the time I made the crossover, the current JEM direction was not in place. If you want details on the pieces I selected, PM me and we can discuss. I am ok with a soldering iron, functional not a Michaelangelo. At this time I replaced the back panel terminal blocks with 5 way binding posts. The old capacitors were in good shape and within spec for capacitance but I don’t have an ESR meter so can’t speak to that attribute. The capacitors I selected were well researched, excellent reviews and within budget, aka not $500 each! I used the best solid core inductor I could find, not wanting to switch to a large air core. I purchased a new auto transformer with similar specs to the original. These didn’t have to be done but I wanted to do the whole crossover. The new crossovers brought the speakers back to what I remembered as to original sound, I fully acknowledge builder’s bias and weak sound memory of 40 years prior! 3 - The last Change was to internal wiring as I found some light corrosion on soldered connections on the tweeter. So I changed out all the wiring taking into consideration what I felt was suitable for each specific driver. I wrapped the K-700 horn in adhesive backed felt, the black is simple electrical tape for which I apologize but I wanted a second adhesive. I used tie wraps in other applications and was not pleased with the result. All the drivers were original. All tested within specs, but I did not run any frequency checks. All notions of sound quality are “my ears” and totally subjective. i hope that answered your questions, send a PM if you would like more details . Imagine my surprise when I saw your post and the speakers I once owned. I sold them in Sept 2023 in Victoria BC after I purchased other speakers about which I will remain silent. MC 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 23 minutes ago, Pak323 said: @Woofers and Tweeters THank you for your reply. The damping material on the mid range is held together with the black elastic straps. The transformer stampd 3636. see pics below. Thanks for the closeup pictures. I have no idea how much you gave for those speakers, but you got burned. Sell them to me and save yourself some frustration. JK Those look great, real keepers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 12 minutes ago, MC39693 said: I made three rounds of modifications. They look great. The parts are not low-budget, nor is your work. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak323 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 @MC39693 It is amaazing how this forum can connect people all over the universe. Will PM sometimes. @wuzzzer & @Woofers and Tweeters Thank you so much! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 15 hours ago, OO1 said: it's OO1 , some people think ( myth ) that the older inductors , wiring ,caps require replacement , For years, people have tried to get you to stop posting false information and criticizing other people's work. There is a reason that Klipsch, by way of JEM, sells new capacitors and complete crossovers and it's not because of a myth. This type of condescension is killing this forum which used to be an excellent forum for Klipsch enthusiasts and for people to get great advice. Don't you have some LaScala, Khorn, and Heresy or some other project to work on or listen to? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC39693 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 @Pak323 best wishes with the speakers. When they left my care, the sound quality was very good. I don’t come around too often, so don’t get discouraged if I don’t answer a PM promptly. I will say from the pictures you posted, the outside of the cabinets were in better shape when I sold them, the internals look consistent with what I recall. @Woofers and Tweeters, you are too kind… these speakers were the ones I learned on thanks to the many contributors on this forum. MC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 2 minutes ago, MC39693 said: @Woofers and Tweeters, you are too kind… MC Just telling the truth the best that I can. 3 minutes ago, MC39693 said: these speakers were the ones I learned on thanks to the many contributors on this Lucky you. My first ones were on Heresy II, the ones in which the whole networks are on the little round terminal caps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC39693 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Which is why I liked V1. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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