Tony Boone Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 In my previous post someone suggested I have the woofers repaired as opposed to buying new replacement K33s from Klipsch. Is there an advantage to having these repaired over replacing them? They've been reconned twice that I've been told about. I thought just replacing them with new woofers altogether would be better. Yes? No? The cabinets are the raw birch many have come to know and love. I'm going to have them refinished but I was given an option of making them "pro" by having them sprayed with what is essentially the material for truch bed liners. I'm leaning toward having a wood worker refinish them to their original glory but would like to hear what you all think of the "pro" black spray route which would pretty much alleviate any future necessity for cabinet maintenance. I know with many of my vintage guitars the older they are the sweeter the wood gets. Is this true of the La Scala birch cabinets? My goal is the best possible sound. Again, thank you for your advice and expertise in advance, Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Since the original woofers have been reconed twice already and have seen heavy use in a tavern I would spend the $200 to purchase new ones without a doubt. The reconing cost would be at least 75% of what the new ones cost. If you are going to have these Cornwalls in a home setting I would personally prefer having a nice wood finish as opposed to the rough and rugged look. The maintenance on an oiled wood finish is minimal, or you could have them poly'd and then all you would have to do is dust them on occassion. I would get the NEW woofers, and refinish them to a beautiful wood finish with a stain to match your decor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Boone Posted May 2, 2003 Author Share Posted May 2, 2003 ---------------- On 5/2/2003 12:16:53 PM Frzninvt wrote: Since the original woofers have been reconed twice already and have seen heavy use in a tavern I would spend the $200 to purchase new ones without a doubt. The reconing cost would be at least 75% of what the new ones cost. If you are going to have these Cornwalls in a home setting I would personally prefer having a nice wood finish as opposed to the rough and rugged look. The maintenance on an oiled wood finish is minimal, or you could have them poly'd and then all you would have to do is dust them on occassion. I would get the NEW woofers, and refinish them to a beautiful wood finish with a stain to match your decor. ---------------- Thank you for your reply. Regarding the woofers that's what I was thinking. Just didn't know if there was something special about using the original pieces. Russ in parts told me that "The engineers had determined that the K33 was the replacement for the original equipment." This led me to believe that maybe replacing them with the K33s would somehow compromise the original sound. (I'm generally pretty anal retentive about originality with these vintage La Scalas. They aren't signed by PWK but he may have touched them. lol) Since this is my first pair of real Klipsch speakers I'm on the bottom of the learning curve. Will do the refinishing route and enjoy the pretty wood. Thanks again Frzninvt! Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Reconing is still a good option for repairing your woofers, or normally would be. However, multiple reconing signifies extreme abuse. Watch for other problems. Aesthetics are up to you, but bed liner would not be allowed in MY house. A speaker is not a music producer like a guitar. The cabinet should not contribute to the sound, so if it were to "sweeten" with age, it would be undesireable. After they are running properly and before refinishing, play some Kate Bush, Loreena McKennett and Celine Dion to see if you hear ringing or overhang in the mids (or can feel a vibration in the horn that coincides with an undesireable tone). If you do, consider damping the squawker horn, we have discussed it at length. Play Seal and see if the male voices are boomy and check the sides of the bass horn for vibrations when you hear undesireable sounds. If so, you may want to brace the bass horn as shown below: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3019459149&category=14980 http://www.hps4000.com/pages/525_.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Boone Posted May 2, 2003 Author Share Posted May 2, 2003 ---------------- On 5/2/2003 12:34:21 PM John Albright wrote: Reconing is still a good option for repairing your woofers, or normally would be. However, multiple reconing signifies extreme abuse. Watch for other problems.---------------- They were in a local college hang out for the last 25 years. For several of the last few years they weren't even using them. Just hanging from the ceiling. Anyway, they were using an inexpensive consumer "receiver" to drive them with and I suspect that someone over did it with that piece of junk and damaged the woofers. The squakers and the one functioning tweeter sound really good, at least what I can hear through the muddled bass. I'll get the woofers repaired or replaced along with the tweeter diaphragm and then do an initial days long evaluation for further repairs or mods. I'm still happy that I have them and am looking forward to the awesome sound I know they are capable of. Can hardly wait! Regards, Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Greetings: It would seem that whoever did the re-coning may not have done a proper job. There is a small place in Rochester, NY (no affiliation) named "The Speaker Place" that does an excellent job. www.speakerparts.com, (585) 424-3680. As for cabinet finish oil, lacquer, poly, or tung oil. Anything else would be a terror. I've refinished guitars, finished furniture and I cannot say that using liner finish would do anything but damage the sound and the value. Re-coninig or replacing is one thing, but also keep in mind the odor. I hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Guitars sound "sweeter" with age due to slight variations in the resonance of the strings/body/pickups. The wood type, construction, and age all figure into this and provide a coloration of the sound; this is why performers use various tube types and guitar types to get the "sound" the want for a particular song (example: Eddie Van Halen and his famous "brown sound"). Most of this is the interaction of the body/neck and the pickups. This is why a Les Paul sounds so different from a Fender Stratocaster. Speakers on the otherhand do not necessarily (and normally don't) rely on wood resonance to get a particular "sound" as they are designed to be accurate reproducers of sound, not producers of sound. The speaker manufacturer wanting to provide accurate audio reproduction would not want a varying color added to the sound due to the age of the wood; this would be a negative effect. So, the best solution to the finishing issue to provide the best sound would most likely be to get a high quality or DIY natural finish to the wood and enjoy the beauty. Good Luck and happy listening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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