John Pearlman Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Hi I'm restoring a set of La Scalas and I have a few questions: 1) I took the cast lens off the tweeter to paint it. However, upon doing so I broke the glue joint between the back of the "bullet" in the lens and the plastic piece which holds the diaphragm. I'm sure someone here has taken one of these tweeters apart before and knows what I am talking about; its kind of hard to explain. The question is should I reglue this and if so what should I use? Epoxy? Jb Weld? 2) Crossovers: Since I am restoring these cosmetically I would also like to restore the crossover somehow. It is an AA. An ALK unit is out of the question budget wise, so what would be a good alternative? Should I recap it with the same value caps or leave it alone? What about the inductors, any recommended upgrades? Should I build a completely new crossover with the same value parts? I am assuming the inductors are OK; they can't really degrade I guess. 3) The woofers on these were replaced with JBL's from the mid 90's, I believe the number is something like E-135-8, I can check later. I think the stock K-33 is 4ohm, whereas these woofers are 8 ohm. Should I sell the new ones on Ebay and pick up some K 33's? I know the La Scalas don't have the lowest bass response but would replacing with the stock woofer help? When I got the speakers home and tested them they seemed OK so what do you Klipsch guru's recommend? Thanks for your input John P.S. You guys have a great board here; its a treasure trove of information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tofu Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 jbl's from the mid 90's? are those the scalas from the guy in jersey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 OK 1. Contact Bob Crites (BEC) about your tweeter 2. Al just dropped the prices on his universal A repalcements. I use them in my La Scala's they make a huge difference. 3. I would get K 33's either from Klipsch or Bob Crites they are about $130 ish/ ea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearlman Posted November 12, 2005 Author Share Posted November 12, 2005 Yeah, actually I bought them off a guy in West Orange from Craigslist, don't remember his name and I've deleted our e-mails. As for the tweeter, did I break it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 John, I don't know what glue joint you could be talking about. The horn is held on by 4 screws passing through the magnet assembly and threaded into the horn. Is this a K-77 tweeter you are talking about? Bob Crites bobcrites@centurytel.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tofu Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Yeah, actually I bought them off a guy in West Orange from Craigslist, don't remember his name and I've deleted our e-mails. As for the tweeter, did I break it? well, that's going to be quite the restoration project. can't wait to see what they look like when you're done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 There are four drops of a hard acrylic type adhesive between the horn and the plastic piece. You have to break this bond to remove the horn. I just clean off the old adhesive, I have never replaced it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearlman Posted November 13, 2005 Author Share Posted November 13, 2005 Yes, four drops of adhesive are what I am talking about. Thank you very much, I KNEW someone here had taken one of these apart before. OK, I feel better now. Tofu, Yes, they are quite the restoration but I only paid $400 so I don't mind. I was contemplating building a pair before I saw these so I snapped them up. It doesn't matter anyway; incidentially I sold a Carver TF 35 to a gentleman from Craigslist for $400 about a week before so the money wasn't really in the bank or anything, it was just in my pocket burnin' a hole through my trousers. I have about 25 hours in them already; new veneer on the sides, cone and "floor" of the cone as well as new 2" riser bases built for both. However, I still have to start on the other speaker. So its going to be a long project but it will be worth it. I will trim out the front with 3/8" oak and build a grille for the horns. I am also building grills for the bass bin. I am actually using a method I have used in the past; construction adhesive and 4x8 sheets of 1/4" birch veneer plywood from the depot. So my costs are low and the wood will be durable. I scoffed at this too until I finished about 10 sets of speakers like this with no ill results. I'm only spending $50 for two sheets and the construction adhesive so I'm happy and I have plenty of lead to weigh the pieces down with. I wil post some pics later today of the progress. I have a lot of blood sweat and tears in these already; I had to carry them down 8 flights of stairs to get them out of the building because the guy's freight elevator was broken. When he came down the stairs my first impression was "biker" and I thought he lived in the building. But when I walked up with him (the whole time I'm thinking how the hell am I going to get these out of here at 130 lbs/piece) I arrived at a beautiful cabinetmaker's shop that was in no way indicative of his appearance (no I'm not being stereotypical and don't have anything against bikers but you just don't expect to find a fine woodworking shop at the top of a bombed out old factory when you are led up the stairs by an heaily adorned gentleman) But all in all I am very happy, the guy was extremely nice (I just rememberd his name is John like me) and I have a new project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearlman Posted November 13, 2005 Author Share Posted November 13, 2005 Pics of them sanded an ready for "veneer", new base at the bottom=#1 "Veneer" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 I wish the ones I'm working on looked half as good. I'm curious to see the final results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Well, the first thing, the tweeters don't come apart, except for overhaul. Be exceedingly gentle with them expecially putting them back together. If the diaphragms don't have tinsel leads, consider replacements that do. Those have a 10 watt continuous rating. Type AA networks are good ones. I'd replace the caps with polypropylene film and foil caps, like Hovlands, of the same values. Replace the woofer inductor with a Solen perfect-lay inductor of at least 16 gauge, You can save money with metalized film caps like Solens, or similar, from Parts Express. Put Dynamat, or rope caulk all over the squawker horn. Consider getting a set of Z-brackets from Klipsch to flush mount your tweeters. *If* your squawkers have the 9kHz "bounce" in response, you could insert a "P-trap" between the driver and the crossover and kill that. Search for "P-trap" and use djk's version. If the woofers are JBL 2226H, keep them. Otherwise get a pair of K-33s and eBay the others. The correct woofer is 4 ohms. The bass horn makes the woofer impedance rise to 6+ ohms and that is what the crossover expects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 That JBL number doesn't sound quite right. I've attached a sheet with the E and G series T/S parameters (along with some other JBLs) There is a G-135-8 that might actually work okay, if that is what they really are. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Probably an E130 or an E140. I'd keep 'em, either way. They are musical instrument (organ) speakers. DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearlman Posted November 23, 2005 Author Share Posted November 23, 2005 Hi I checked the number, it is the G-135-8 woofer. You said this is OK; I checked the specs and they seem close but some are way off. I'll probably run with these for a while and get the K33's at a later date. In any event, they seem like much nicer drivers than the K33 but than again if the specs aren't correct the speaker will still sound bad no matter how nice the driver is. Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 I believe I said 'might' sound or work okay. You have nothing to lose by trying them. The JBLs are better built drivers than the klispch, but that doesn't mean they would necessarily be 'okay'. You will just have to try them and see how balanced the sound is from bass to treble. I see I also uploaded the wrong page of the JBL drivers. Try this one. The specs are pretty far off. The xmax is awful compared to the K33. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 1) I wouldn't worry about the tweeter glue 2) I second John A's advice on the x-overs... but I would be prone to build them on a new board... so you can have the "originals" if anyone asks. You'd have to transfer the transformers though.... 3) I'd put K33's, just for the sake of it selling yours should cover the cost anyways ROb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearlman Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 Hi First off Happy Thanksgiving. Secondly, thank you for the advice. I'm going to definitely rebuild the xovers and perhaps flush mount the tweeters. However, the k33's will have to come sometime down the road. I checked Ebay and the last G135-8 I saw only went for somewhere around $40. This seems like a bargain to me for a really nice 15" woofer but than again something is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. I'll have some updated pictures later today I hope of the speakers; the one I am working on currently is coming along quite nicely. Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktate Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 In the picture it looks like a hole in the bass bin by the dog house with a dowel in it,,,,why is it there...ouch...Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearlman Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 Yeah that is just a bondo drip, someone drilled a hole previously to get some monster cable into the woofer chamber and drilled it in the wrong spot. It's all filled up now. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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