rplace Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Hey everyone, I typically hang out in the HT form but figured here was a better place for this question. I have an older pair of heresys that had a bad for lack of a better term midrange. It sounded like a wet blanket was over the speaker. Tweeter and woofer sounded fine as did all three pieces of the other speaker. I opened it up to look inside and found the magnet was actually loose from the rest of thedriver, I think you call it that. As you can tell I am not the most adept at the innards of a speaker. Anyway the horn attaches to the thing that has tightly wound wires in it and concave shape. I can see these wires only because the magnet is unglued. I know there is a diaphragm somewhere in the mix so maybe that is it. Back to the problem and my fix. The magnet came unglued from the rest of the contraption that was bolted to the horn. Being magnetic it was very hard to get it perfectly centered while using some A/B epoxy to try and put it back in place. Eventually this worked but still the sound was less then stellar. So I went looking for another midrange. I could not find any that matched my particular type. K52H and 575216 was in blue ink on the back of the magnet. I saw and purchased these on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5742300955&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT Thinking that if I got two of the same type I could swap them both out and all should be well in Heresy land. The look of the driver was identical to mine, not like some I have seen was a gray housing around it. So I get the replacements and the horns wont bolt into the cabinet. The actual horn is a tad larger and wont fit between the woofer and tweeter. Also of note these new horns are some sort of plastic and say 701. My originals are heavy, metal, and say 700. So to make it all work I unbolted the stuff and swapped it out. I now have my newly purchased good stuff bolted to my old metal horns. It sounds decent to memuch better then the original one with loose magnet. Also of interest is that on my original set up there were all sorts of separate things once unbolted like a cone shaped gizmo and cork gaskets. The plastic k53-R versions were much more one-piece-ish. So have I Frankenstein-ed my speakers? Are the purists crawling in their skin? Do I have any concerns for the full range of sound? Are different components meant to work all as one and I am now screwed? Is one horn material preferred over another? For what it is worth the crossovers say E on them in red, but then there is a number 2 stamped on them (not in red but stamped into the metal plate). I have seen mention of E2 crossovers and seen them on ebay that are all red. Maybe I have a heresy set that was made during some transition period??? I probably should have asked these questions before purchase but what is done is done. I bet serial numbers would help; I will post them later as I am not where the speakers are right now. Sorry for the long rambling post and lack of technical vocabulary. Please let me know any and all thoughts on this. Thanks a ton, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Rich, I see you've been a naughty boy! Not nice to take stuff apart if'n ya don't know how to put it back together. Your K52's may be salvageable by Bob Crites, see Modifications forum. Also for advice on possible modifications to crossover network (maybe the K53's are more efficient than K52's and you just need to use another junction point on xover board), I don't know, but look for DeanG on Modification network for help on those as well. You probably have not butchered your speaker too badly, but they are no longer original components (a no-no) and possibly worse than original (wherein we will sent the Klipsch Police round to your place). From an elementary standpoint, look at it this way, you still have Heresy Horns and Heresy mid drivers (the grey thingy in the back that the wires hook up to). So the crossover frequencies and probably the same and the efficiency is probably not off by more than 3 dB. DOES IT SOUND BETTER TO YOU? would be the main question. If it were me, I'd leave it if I liked it, or try to get back to normal if not. But please post on Modifications forum and see what our resident engineers say. Or call Klipsch and talk to one of the three Steves or Trey. But don't ever try that again! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Thanks for the quick reply. I cant really say if I like them better. I never heard them correctly before. I purchased form a forum member who said they were working fine when he shipped them. I guess the magnet got jarred loose in transit as the one sounded terrible as soon as I hooked it up. I did have a brief back and forth with Bob C. but he did not have the right diaphragm for me. Very nice and helpful guy, given my lack of knowledge about all things internal to a speaker. I was in the process of finishing up my HT when I bought them, so naturally I was anxious to round out my line up. Probably should have taken more time in getting them done right, but I read so much about modifying various speakers with different crossovers and the like figured the worse that could happen was that I would be out my time and money. I gave them a good work out with 2 channel music over the weekend and was quite happy. Then put my Chorus back in place and thought, hmmmm maybe these Heresys are just not quite right. I know it is not reasonable to expect the same sound out of two totally different speakers, but I just melted when I heard my Chorus hooked back up. The heresys really rock for such a small package and think they will find a place in my HT for surrounds or possible 2 channel in a different room. Just second guessing my decision to change them from original and wondering if I did anything to help or hurt the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Put the speaker down and put your hands on the top of your held and interlock your fingers. Walk backward toward the sound of my voice. Far enough, now keeping your hands as commanded, kneel and cross one foot over the other. You have been charged with attemting to create a Heresy 1.5. The plastic horn lenses are Heresy II, the metal Heresy. That accounts for the change in material. While not optimal, the speaker can work, though the sound will not be a Heresy or Heresy II. Keep checking the board if you wish to restore to original. Al K., the Audiokid, DeanG they are known for their clinics. They can help your "fix." Good luck and you may resume a normal position with the above warning. Thank You. dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 They are your Heresys and you fixed them. No problem. That broken magnet assembly was probably unrepairable anyhow. You have no one to please but yourself. When the Klipsch Police come, get a sound lawyer and plead no contest with an explaination. In my opinion the Police have no business in what you do in the privacy of your own listening room. Rick EDIT: Actually Win, rplace probably started with Heresy 1.5s like my '84s. rplace what year are your Heresys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Dodger.....according to audiokid I've procured a late model Heresy and it has a K-53 mid-range with the 701 plastic horn set up. I don't know squat about any of the guts of any of these but apparently some of the Heresys did use the plastic horns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 This sounds like the situation with my Cornwall parts and the K57 mid driver and B3 xover. Klipsch apparantly experimented on the production room floor and/or used up parts until they ran out, so there are a few 'bastardized' (sorry Amy) units floating around that came that way from the factory. Like no one can explain when CWII came about or why/when Klipsch made Vertical Cornwalls. My theory was that every alternate Thursday unless it was raining, they changed over and made verticals. So your K52/plastic horn units could be the Heresy 1.5 like people are talking about. They possibly still had K52's, ran out of metal horns, new horns came in, but the K53 hadn't come about yet. Just a little Arkansas factory efficiency, I guess. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 ---------------- On 2/7/2005 11:40:41 AM 3dzapper wrote: They are your Heresys and you fixed them. No problem. That broken magnet assembly was probably unrepairable anyhow. You have no one to please but yourself. When the Klipsch Police come, get a sound lawyer and plead no contest with an explaination. In my opinion the Police have no business in what you do in the privacy of your own listening room. Rick EDIT: Actually Win, rplace probably started with Heresy 1.5s like my '84s. rplace what year are your Heresys? ---------------- 132X223 - from the decoder that I have, the x would be 1982 for my Heresys. rplace if you don't know the year post the serial numbers. What sounded odd in rplace's explanation, was the length of the horns purchased. That would mean his original with metal horns, the horns were on the back, what was bought sounds like (odd how we use the term "sounds like") horns meant to be mounted from the front. That decoder notes for Cornwalls, though. But by what Oscarsear noted from Audiokid, a case of use what's handy. They have not been butchered. I'd be interested in hearing them. Win 3D gave you SOUND advice. EDIT: It sounds like he had original metal horns mounted from the back. His purchase was of the plastic which mount from the front. That was my reason for the humour 1.5. Oscarsear: You are absolutely correct. It took a re-read to catch what was and what is. I wonder if the x-overs would be different. DEAN! Thanks. Enjoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 "That would mean his original with metal horns, the horns were on the back, what was bought sounds like (odd how we use the term "sounds like") horns meant to be mounted from the front." Bingo!!!!!! What's curious is the ceramic K-52 drivers mounted on K-700 metal horns. Klipsch must have had some adapter plates made until they ran out of K-700s and switched production over to the K-701s. The K-52/3s bolt directly to the 701s. "It just gets curiouser and curiouser." Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Heading home, will get you the serial numbers soon. I do recall an X in the middle of the numbers and to clear things up the mids were/are mounted from the back. The new replacement horns are plastic 701s and would not fit. I simply removed the "junk" (please tell me correct terms for said junk) on the back of the horn with 4 screws and bolted the new junk on. Metal horns had metal cone thingie and other parts seperate, plastic ones seemed to have that all built in one piece of the plastic. I now have metal horns and associated cone/etc. with auction "junk" mounted on them. Same size and bolt pattern. Are my one good and one bad old drivers worth anything? Are the plastic horns worth anything? Thanks for the info and education...I really appreciate it. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 'Junk' is the actual midrange driver consisting of magnet assembly, diaphram with voice coil (the little dome thingy with metal windings attached) and the throat (the tapered front part that attached to the horn. Keep the horns, someone here will want them, maybe me. Some members are building Cornwall cabinets for center channel speakers and the K53/K701 combination is a close match to the K55/K601 from a Cornwall. If the price is right, you could easily sell them on the Modifications forum. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Thanks for the info on the right name for the parts, Michael. I got the serial numbers they are 139X407 and 139X544 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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