Chris Robinson Posted September 5, 2001 Share Posted September 5, 2001 Hey guys, has anyone attempted this project before? I've got the cloth from Klipsch and would like to swap the existing black cloth on my Belle center channel for the brown weave that's in my old Cornwalls. Besides, the black cloth on the LF section of the Belle is stained and needs to be replaced anyway. Talked briefly with Trey Cannon @ Klipsch; he just whistled and said that it's a BIG job. He verbally walked me through it, and I caught about half of it (while furiously jotting notes). I would imagine that it's like putting in a car stereo ... in theory it should take an hour, in practice it takes a whole weekend and 8 trips to The Shack If anyone's done this, please share the wisdom you gained from the process! I would be very appreciative. Many thanks. Chris ------------------ Klipsch 1968 ALK Cornwall "II"s (LF/RF) ALK Belle Klipsch (Center) Klipsch Heresy (RR/LR) Klipsch KSW-12 sub Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Cornwalls) Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Heresy's) McIntosh MC-30 (driving Belle) Denon AVR-4800 Toshiba SD-3109 DVD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted September 5, 2001 Share Posted September 5, 2001 Chris, If you haven't already, check your eMail.. Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 Chris, Looks like we will be doing just the opposite. I am going to need to replace the cane cloth in my Belle for the black cloth. This will be a future project for me. Let me know how it goes. Maybe we should have just traded speakers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted September 6, 2001 Author Share Posted September 6, 2001 Jmon, the other approach would be just to swap the grills themselves. However, I've got all this fabric already and kind of need to get it done asap. I'm getting a little coaching from one of the posters in June, and I suspect he might post the procedure after we're done so others may benefit ... Thanks. Chris PS -- Al, haven't checked work email yet so I'll do that shortly. Thanks in advance for your always-valued input. ------------------ Klipsch 1968 ALK Cornwall "II"s (LF/RF) ALK Belle Klipsch (Center) Klipsch Heresy (RR/LR) Klipsch KSW-12 sub Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Cornwalls) Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Heresy's) McIntosh MC-30 (driving Belle) Denon AVR-4800 Toshiba SD-3109 DVD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted September 7, 2001 Share Posted September 7, 2001 Chris, Any tips you can share would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted September 7, 2001 Author Share Posted September 7, 2001 Hey everybody, it's done and it went very well. I'm attaching the instructions from "my new best friend", Ed. They were a big help. Then I'll add a footnote with some closing commentary. First, Ed's instructions: Top Section: First thing I did was to disconnect the drivers from the network so that the wires are just hanging. Then, unscrew the screw that holds the rear mid-horn mount to the base board. This should isolate everything in the upper cavity from the base board of the upper cavity. Next, remove the 4 nuts along the bottom of the side panels. On mine, there are 2 on the left side and 2 on the right. Once these are removed, you should be able to lift the top assembly (top board, sides and front) off the base board of the upper cavity. The whole kit-n-kabootle should just lift off leaving only the network mounted to the baseboard and the woofer wire coming through a hole in the base. You should now be able to remove the wood side panels and the wood top piece, leaving the grill section with the two speakers mounted. As I recall, I left the speakers mounted throughout the re-skinning operation. Now the fun part. There are about a million staples holding the grill cloth on. Klipsch must hold stock in Swingline or something. I just sat there on the floor and picked them out one by one with a set of small curved nose pliers and a thin small flat blade screwdriver. It was very tedious. Finally, I got the old cloth off then stapled the new on. I lined up the cloth with the straight top edge of the assembly and put a fairly tight stretch on. I double and in the corners, triple stapled. The Klipsch grillcloth is sort of a loose weave so I guess I can see the reasoning for all thise staples. I also took care to fold the inner corners crisply like a Christmas package. I tried not to rush and tried to take care to make it look good and I must admit, it looks very good. Now I'm wishing I took picture with the digital camera as I did it.....certainly before and after pictures would have been nice. Also, it would be of benefit to have someone assist. That way, one could stretch and hold the cloth in place whilst the other manned the staple gun. After completing the 'reclothing', reassemble in reverse order. Or, if you're going to do the bass bin at this time while you've already got it halfway disassembled, proceed as follows: LF Section: Remove the bottom of the top section from the bass bin by unscrewing the 10 or 12 screws that hold it to the wood 'seperating ring', then remove that ring from the bass section by removing the attaching screws. Turn the unit over and remove the 'base riser'. You should now be able to access the screws that hold each of the 4 grillcloth panels in, 2 in the top, 2 in the bottom per panel. As I recall, they are all identical so remembering which goes where is not an issue. I removed them all and reclothed then replaced them all rather than one by one. I also started to pick staples out of these but quit after the first one (I think I was getting carpel tunnel affliction) and instead opted to simply make 4 replacement panels since I have a table saw. As the originals were, I too sprayed these replacements black prior to stretching fabric. In any event, by now you can clearly see the end of the road. Reassemble all in reverse order, hook up the network and enjoy! My footnote (excerpt of email to Ed): Ed, well subsequent to my earlier email this morning, it's a wrap! After fumbling with the pliers and tiny screwdrivers to pry off the staples, I extrapolated that I'd spent upwards of 10 hours removing staples. Certainly that would be the CORRECT way of doing it, but my toddler has different feelings about how I manage my time. I basically used a razor blade and carefully excised the grill cloth, leaving the old staples in place. Then, as you instructed, re-clothed the panels making sure the corners were tight and clean. The power stapler really helped to get them nailed down (and quickly). I then did the upper HF section, which was more time consuming, but each of the lower panels took about 15 minutes (1 hour total), and the HF section took about 20 minutes. Reassembly of the whole unit took about 20 minutes. Here are the photos of the finished product and what the kitchen looked like in progress All in all, it's not factory-level quality, but I'd be hard-pressed to find someone who could spot the difference without a tip-off. I really like the brown grills; goes nicely with the Cornwalls and will blend better with the birch wall cabinets and oak floors! Chris If anybody wants pictures of the work in process, please email me. The files are too large to upload (> 200K). ------------------ Klipsch 1968 ALK Cornwall "II"s (LF/RF) ALK Belle Klipsch (Center) Klipsch Heresy (RR/LR) Klipsch KSW-12 sub Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Cornwalls) Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Heresy's) McIntosh MC-30 (driving Belle) Denon AVR-4800 Toshiba SD-3109 DVD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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