Redpackman

Thanks for the tip, Moray. What, if some damping material is to be used, would you recommend, some sort of fiber-fill, like they use in pillows? I assume that's totally safe. I assume too that leaving the fiberglass or rock wool in sealed speaker cabinets is OK ( AR, KLH, Advent etc. etc.).

Thanks for the postings. I find it interesting too, from your pictures to see all the fluff packed around the mid's. I assume that's done for a definite purpose. Was that the way Beta engineered it, or did you choose to do it that way to tame down the mid a bit? Your woofer and mine look like they're from the same "family" however. Any idea who made them for Beta? Thanks again for the work in posting this. The crossovers are WAY different than what I have, obviously.

I can imagine, IF Beta Sound was sued or threatened with legal action it would be a pretty painful experience and memory for anyone who had a lot of emotional and/or financial investment in Beta, particularly if it brought about Beta's demise. On the one hand, it does appear that Beta's designs were quite similar to Klipsch's. And yet, from what I've been told, Klipsch didn't design the speakers but rather created the cabinets and crossovers and then turned to others for speakers to fill their cabinets (E.V., Atlas? et al). So what made Klipsch a Klipsch weren't "Klipsch drivers" but their cabinetry and electronics coupled with other suppliers' quality components. So I can see the argument that Beta might have had that their cabinet was not designed like K's (look at the porting in the Beta 045 that the Heresy didn't have for instance). Look at the foam covering the front. Why can't they do their thing too, without being harassed out of business by Klipsch? Then there's the crossover. I've sent photos of the crossover in my 045 and nobody says it's anything like a Klipsch. In fact that's been one of the greatest mysteries of all, whether this cross over is indeed a Beta or some third party's creation. Some have said it looks like some quality components while others have said it looked like some audio-electronic experiment gone awry. Now that I've got it wired up, thanks to some help from another Forum member, it sounds great. Could you post a picture of your Beta 045 crossover? I'd love to see if it looks anything like mine.

Thank you for that post. It has been very valuable to me. I can understand your statement that the Beta speakers outperform the Heresy. These things can really sing!

Found some drivers. Thanks for the offers.

Well, that's confusing. Your speakers seem to have the same tweeter and mid arrangement as my speakers. But the woofer arrangement and cabinet construction are totally different but both, I presume have a 12" woofer. I don't know what to make of it. Your woofers are totally recessed while mine are, as you can see from my picture below, on the same plane as the tweet and mid. What are the dimensions of your cabinet? According to the information another kind forum member posted http://www.pinterest.com/pin/379428337328520863/ The dimensions of the Beta 045 are roughly 17" x 14" x 25" which is what my speakers are. The dimensions of the Beta 050 are roughly 17" x 17 " x 41" The dimensions of the Beta 100 are roughly 25" x 21" x 41" It was that information that convinced me that what I had was a Beta Sound model 045, but after looking at your pictures, I'm not sure anymore. I suppose Beta could have had two or more different configurations of their model 045. OR the information noted above in the pintrerest piece is simply wrong data. That wouldn't be the first time that a reference magazine got the info wrong. What do you suggest is the solution?

Update, with some help elsewhere on this site about proper hook up, I got the speakers going. They sound great to my ears. Lots of bass, strong mid and pretty crisp highs. The tweets are some Klipsch K-77M's (the square variety). I got some PRV D250ph-S1 [http://www.prvaudio.com/d250ph-s.html] for the mids as they fit the specs pretty well. It has the original 12" woofer. Not sure it's origin. To my ears they sound really good.

Yes, all the components are labelled, and according to my <cheap> capacitor tester, they are well within specs (5%). You just can't see the number in the pictures. Looking at the FIRST picture in (upper left), the two large, wax "yankee candle" caps on the right are 27 uf. The two cardboard tube caps in the upper left at the top of the picture are 8 uf. The one at the upper right is 4 uf. The yellow cap in the center is 2 uf. All the inductors have continuity. I have no way of "testing" them with my limited knowledge. I presume they are measured in "henrys" or something like that, but since they're just wound wire, I'm, perhaps stupidly assuming that they either have continuity and work or don't. They range from .9 to 1 ohm. All the resistors are 10 ohm and are within specs. You can see markings on all of them, that I checked off one by one listing the actual readings for the caps and inductors? I'm sure what matters is not the values of all these components but the circuitry. I do not have the technical ability to redraw that in any understandable form. All I know is that both crossovers are identical to each other in the way they are connected/laid out. I'm assuming that these were the original crossover designs from Beta Sound in the 70's. Once I got the connections cleaned up they sound good to my ears.

Hats off to Arash!! I hooked up the speakers today according to the diagram he gave me above and everything worked very, very well. Thank you so very much for the help. Though I'm open to other suggestions this seems to be the correct way to hook up the cross-over in a Beta Sound model 045 speaker system. BTW they sound great! These things are clearly modeled after some of the Klipsch speakers. Some have called them "Baby Cornwalls" I've got Klipsch K-77M's in as the tweeters, and that's what was in the originals. I've subbed another midrange and have, I believe the original 12" woofer. Very, very nice sound. They're probably the same size as the Heresy, but have, I've been told, better bass, due to the porting built into the speaker. It's probably called a "Baby Cornwall" because two of the three original drivers, the K-77 and K-55's were the same and the woofer was downsized from the Cornwall's 15" to the Beta's 12", but both speakers have been ported, unlike the Heresy. I've seen some comments from people wondering why Klipsch didn't sue Beta because of the similarities between the Heresy and the Beta 045. Whatever, they sound great!

I have a project going with a NON-Klipsch speaker that used K-77's as the tweeters. All I have now is a cut out 1 3/4" H x 4 1/4" W, (the top cut out in the picture) which I presume but don't know is the size that would fit the K-77. At any rate, the tweeter horn and the driver are both missing from this project. So I need to get replacement horns and drivers. Funds are limited. I'm sure I could get wonderful tweets for $$$ but I can't afford that. Two questions: Does/did anyone but Klipsch make a horn that would fit the opening I have described above? With some economy in mind, if the horn you recommend is installed, what driver would you recommend coupling with it? Thank you for your replies.

VERY helpful, and logical. Thank you for the responses. Anyone else care to weigh in? New opinions are welcome!!

This is a crossover from a Beta Sound model 045 speaker I got off Craigslist last week. The problem is that the crossover was disconnected from the speaker and I have no clue as to how to hook it up to the three speakers: two horns (tweet and mid) and then to the 12" woofer. Nor do I know which of the terminals is to be connected to the amp. Any input would be appreciated. If any of you have a Beta Sound 045 and would be willing to send me a picture of your hook up that would be marvelous. I've tested all the components and all are within specs. The end wires of some of the coils had a little corrosion and weren't conducting as well as they ought, but I cleaned them up and they're conducting fine right now.

I'm starting a restoration project and need the above mids and tweets. If you have some for a reasonable price, even if not working, get in touch with me and make an offer. I have the horns for the K-55 mids, but not the drivers. I have neither the horns or the drivers for the K-77's. If you have these items and they're not working, I'm OK with that and am willing to repair them myself. Shoot me a good price and we'll see what we can work out. Thanks for taking a look!

OK, more information. In doing some research I found this listing which was very helpful: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/379428337328520863/ Apparently, what I have is a Beta Sound model 045. It fits the description in the article perfectly. As you can see, however, from the pictures I sent, the crossover is completely disconnected and it's not labelled. I have no clue how to hook it up to the components when and if I get some. Anyone have a schematic for the crossover for the Beta Sound model 045? :-) I went through the x-over tonight with a VOM meter and a cap checker and all the components check out. One of the caps was a little high and should be replaced, but all the others were in pretty good shape, well within 10% tolerances. Continuity is there from point to point too. So, this thing should work, if I knew how to hook it up. Listing at $730 a pair in '77, this sounds like it had some production values in it that merit a listen if I can get her going again. No, it's no Cornwall, but it probably sounds pretty nice. We'll see.

From what I know, these were produced by Beta Sound Incorporated. Obviously inspired by Klipsch products - Heresy - Cornwall etc. I'll try to attach some pictures too. The woofers are 12". The mid and tweet are meant to be the same as the K-55 and K-77. As you can see, I have the mid horns but not the driver (the horns are stamped "BETA" on them and appear to be metal), I have no horns or drivers for the tweet. The crossover is as pictured too and doesn't work. I'm going to check out the caps. With the resistors it looks like someone's "Rube Goldberg" project, but I'm told the other components there look to be pretty good quality. Any help is appreciated.