Fixing HD-BR Cabinet

[lifeisjort]

Sooo, my worst nightmare just happened. After looking for a nice set of Heresy Decorators for months and finally finding a pair, UPS completely dropped the ball on the packing & shipping, and now one of my cabinets is wrecked.

 

There were supposed to be styrofoam boards placed over the fronts (and all other sides of the speakers) and then that was to get bubble wrapped and boxed, but instead they just shoved paper into the fronts and bubble wrapped around the speakers and just threw them into some shoddy reused boxes (one of which is missing a whole chunk of the box!). This resulted in a broken/snapped off horn on one speaker (and hopefully no other damage from it rolling around inside the cabinet…TBD), and a woofer and horn getting pushed into the cabinet on the other speaker…which cracked the wood open all along the cutouts where the woofer and horn were bolted in.

 

Is this salvageable without consequences? If so, what would you recommend to fix this? I’m not a woodworking expert, but I do have some friends who are in that realm. I’m not worried about replacing internal components because I know that can be done rather easily, but I’m real worried about saving this cabinet after my long hunt for some unfinished decorators in good shape!

[Peter P.]

First, I'd put the drivers back in place and trace the location with a magic marker on the inside of the cabinet.

That will make it easier to position the drivers later on.

 

Then I'd use wood glue and clamps to squeeze the wood back together. After all, that's how plywood layers are

assembled. A sheet of wax paper between the clamps and the wood should prevent the clamps from sticking.

Be careful about getting the glue on the pretty side of the cabinet.

 

You may have to repair just the damage around one hole at a time.

 

Fill the existing screw holes with wood putty.

 

Re-drill and mount everything. You should be fine.

[lifeisjort]

@Peter P. do I need to be careful about resurfacing the woofer/horn surrounds pretty carefully so everything is super flush when remounted? I’m worried about somehow compromising the sound quality in the repair process. Not at all an expert on any of this stuff, so just wanna make sure that it gets done right! Thanks for at least giving me some hope that not all is lost! 🥲

[Peter P.]

2 hours ago, lifeisjort said:

@Peter P. do I need to be careful about resurfacing the woofer/horn surrounds pretty carefully so everything is super flush when remounted? I’m worried about somehow compromising the sound quality in the repair process. Not at all an expert on any of this stuff, so just wanna make sure that it gets done right! Thanks for at least giving me some hope that not all is lost! 🥲

Are you referring to the gasket material? I think so because the driver surrounds have nothing to do with the mounting to the "motor board".

 

I would buy gasketing material and verify the speaker basket contacts the entire circumference of the opening.

 

But first try clamping the damaged area down and see if it meets the same thickness as an undamaged area. You don't need fancy calipers to do that; you can use a pair of vise grips or an adjustable wrench as your caliper. That will give you a good clue as to whether you're going to have issues. After that you can apply the glue and clamp down.

 

Just place the speaker against the unfinished, ungasketed opening and confirm there is no rocking. Then apply the tape. You can always sand down a high spot, or apply additional layers of tape.

 

You  know, as a last resort you can always try to mount the drivers to the FRONT of the motor board. While not an original restoration, no one will know with the grills on and I'm sure they'll sound fine. I'd still glue down the damaged areas though.

[Peter P.]

Just now, Peter P. said:

Are you referring to the gasket material? I think so because the driver surrounds have nothing to do with the mounting to the "motor board".

 

I would buy gasketing material and verify the speaker basket contacts the entire circumference of the opening.

 

But first try clamping the damaged area down and see if it meets the same thickness as an undamaged area. You don't need fancy calipers to do that; you can use a pair of vise grips or an adjustable wrench as your caliper. That will give you a good clue as to whether you're going to have issues. After that you can apply the glue and clamp down.

 

Just place the speaker against the unfinished, ungasketed opening and confirm there is no rocking. Then apply the tape. You can always sand down a high spot, or apply additional layers of tape.

 

You know, as a last resort, you can always mount the drivers to the FRONT of the motor board. While not an original restoration, it will still look good and perform just fine.

 

[lifeisjort]

@Peter P. Hmm what gasket…? There is currently no gasket anywhere between the woofers and the cabinets. They were just bolted straight into the wood?

 

Also there is no grill for these unfortunately… they’re decorators! So definitely can’t flip em around or it’ll be real ugly on the outside.

[John Warren]

On 8/26/2024 at 1:30 AM, lifeisjort said:

Also there is no grill for these unfortunately… they’re decorators! So definitely can’t flip em around or it’ll be real ugly on the outside.

 

Paint or veneer.  

[lifeisjort]

On 9/1/2024 at 2:14 PM, John Warren said:

 

Paint or veneer.  

I don’t want to paint them or veneer them, unfortunately. I specifically wanted the raw birch look.

[John Warren]

Raw birch veneer.

[Bacek]

On 8/25/2024 at 8:59 AM, lifeisjort said:

There were supposed to be styrofoam boards placed over the fronts (and all other sides of the speakers) and then that was to get bubble wrapped and boxed, but instead they just shoved paper into the fronts and bubble wrapped around the speakers and just threw them into some shoddy reused boxes (one of which is missing a whole chunk of the box!). This resulted in a broken/snapped off horn on one speaker (and hopefully no other damage from it rolling around inside the cabinet…TBD), and a woofer and horn getting pushed into the cabinet on the other speaker…which cracked the wood open all along the cutouts where the woofer and horn were bolted in.

Not sure that adding styrofoam board and bit of bubble wrapping would helped anyway. This package was treated really brutal way (dropped form high altitude) . I would fill the complain. Was it insured? 

[JohnA]

I would not attempt to repair those cabinets. 

 

Have you filed a damage claim with UPS?  Do before any time limit expires. 

 

I would take the damaged cabinet(s) to a good cabinet shop and ask them to duplicate it in void-free baltic birch.  Send UPS the bill. 

 

I would also talk to Atlas Sound about the K-55-Vs to see if they think the impact shock damaged the drivers.  Send UPS that bill, too.  Did the woofer diaphragms survive?  They can be reconed and I'll bet the cones can still be had from Klipsch or Eminence.  Send ..... 

 

This is pretty sad and one of my fears when shipping audio gear. 

[John Warren]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:03 PM, JohnA said:

I would not attempt to repair those cabinets. 

 

Have you filed a damage claim with UPS?  Do before any time limit expires. 

 

I would take the damaged cabinet(s) to a good cabinet shop and ask them to duplicate it in void-free baltic birch.  Send UPS the bill. 

 

I would also talk to Atlas Sound about the K-55-Vs to see if they think the impact shock damaged the drivers.  Send UPS that bill, too.  Did the woofer diaphragms survive?  They can be reconed and I'll bet the cones can still be had from Klipsch or Eminence.  Send ..... 

 

This is pretty sad and one of my fears when shipping audio gear. 

 

[John Warren]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:03 PM, JohnA said:

I would take the damaged cabinet(s) to a good cabinet shop and ask them to duplicate it in void-free Baltic birch. 

 

Prices for 3/4" 13-ply B/BB 5'x5' sheet are about $90/sheet in my area.  B/BB needs either veneer or paint.