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Value of KLH-20 in good condition, zero service

Dingman

Dingman

Do you know where your towel is?
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Value of KLH-20 in good condition, new caps, sealed woofs

I got these in a trade a number of years ago, I've never used them, not even to check that the drivers work. I'll do that before I list an actual FS ad.

I hate using epray, but completed sales for KLH17 & 20 look to be between $61 and about $125.

Probably will need that re-doping I read about and maybe new caps? Cosmetic condition is good (maybe better than that), grills are clean and nearly zero scratches, one small corner chip on the top rear corner of one.

Info and fair sell price would be welcome.
EDIT: comparing pics on the net, I see they are missing the KLH logo's

EDIT02: I have now replaced the caps and in the process of sealing the woofers. I did listen before the work and they sounded pretty good!
 

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Based on the fact that they are very nice cosmetically, I would go ahead with the recap (very simple) and re-doping. Just put some rope caulk behind the woofers when you put them back in. Very nice speakers!

I'm pretty sure the Model 20's did not have the KLH badges, but I may be wrong.
 
KLH logos are repro'd. Redoping is a must. Rather than the rope caulk above, here's how I made gaskets (just did this Saturday so it's fresh in my mind)

I had some leftover toolbox drawer liner from Harbor Freight, I took a cutting board and set the speakers side by side. Placed cutting board on the speaker I wasn't working on, liner on cutting board, and bass driver face down on cutting board/liner. (the wires will reach if you set speakers right next to each other. I was doing this while the driver was out for recap.) Cut circle in liner with X-Acto knife. Push screws through holes in driver basket to mark locations. Then find mixing bowl with right OD to match ID of hole in cabinet. Cut inner part of gasket out. Cut "X" over each marked screw location with X-Acto knife. Put screws through driver basket, new gasket on driver using screws pushed through to hole in place, put fiberglas back in cabinet, reinstall driver. Et voila. Less messy than rope caulk.

The stock gaskets on my 23s were thin white foam. The drawer liner stuff is actually denser than the stock stuff, and easier to work with IMHO. (I had to make new ones for my 24s as there were none at all when I got them.)
 
I'm sure new caps\gasket\re-doping would help the speakers, but I don't think you can really get more money out of the sale, especially enough to cover time + parts.

I'm not saying I wouldn't do that work, it's easy stuff.

Thanks for the tips, and I bet you are right hi*ball, no badges for the 20's.
 
I bought mine for $60 and after recapping, re doping, and adding badges, I sold them for $95 IIRC. So I probably broke even or lost $5-10. Mine were in good condition, but not as good as yours, so you might get $20 or so more than I did (though I'm in the Bay Area CA which is expensive, so maybe not).

I would do the recap, because it's easy and caps are cheap, but it'll cost you $15 or so for the redoping sealant. I'd listen to them after recapping and if they sound pretty good, I'd consider putting them up for sale as is and directing potential buyers to the vintage-at sealant and let them make the decision. Even redoped, they weren't bass monsters by any means. I'm just not sure you'd get a $15 premium for doing the sealing yourself.
 
I think that putting a little work into them would make them a lot easier to sell.

I did a pair of Model 20's and it was very easy.

Most people would rather buy something that has been rebuilt and ready for years of use as opposed to purchasing a project I would think.
 
hi*ball said:
Based on the fact that they are very nice cosmetically, I would go ahead with the recap (very simple) and re-doping. Just put some rope caulk behind the woofers when you put them back in. Very nice speakers!

I'm pretty sure the Model 20's did not have the KLH badges, but I may be wrong.
Click to expand...

Right on all points. Model Twenty speakers came as part of the Model Twenty Phono System and they did not have badges. They also had RCA plugs for speaker input connectors and they use 4 ohm woofers to better match the Model Twenty's amplifier. Other than those differences they are the same as the Model Seventeen.
 
Thanks again - I'll go pull a woofer and check cap (I read there's only one?). I might have one in stock, in the house. There are switches, I'll de-ox those while it's open.

Then I'll hook them up and see how they sound! That's always fun, I haven't heard these before.
 
That's a great thread. I have new caps and doping compound ordered. I'll use some speaker gasket foam I already have from PE rather than that goopy stuff.

I'm not even trying to make money, but if I can get what I paid for them, I'll be happy. If I get extra for the caps\doping, all the better.

Rather than searching ebay for KLF20's, I searched for the 17s. Looks like they are far more popular and command higher prices. Maybe I'll get $100 for these babies, when finished! Whoop!
 
Based on my experiences with a Craigslist set of 23s I bet if you listen to them now, then do "the treatment" and listen again you will find a marked improvement. Both bass and treble seemed rolled off before new caps and surround sealer but afterwards they seem much improved, and sound better the longer I use them. (they're still probably "breaking in" a little.)

Now the 23s when I put the 2nd coat of sealer on if I pushed in a woofer cone it would ooze back slowly, I'm told that that is what you want, it shows that the box is mostly sealed and will act as if it is at audio frequencies. I'm not getting that with the 24s that I'm currently working on, they snap back much more quickly, which says to me I need to open them up and seal the seams of the box somehow as apparently there's a significant leak somewhere. I haven't really listened to them since finishing them, but will tonight, but am guessing that they still will sound a little bass light compared to what they should be (will be hard for me to quantify that as I haven't ever heard any "proper" 24s) because of still not being sealed enough.
 
Well, I've done the service - ordered Dayton caps and so the XO now have all new caps.
Ordered the AR doping compound and have the first coat on and will test after another day of drying. Will apply a second coat if they need it, which I suspect that they will since the first coat I put on was pretty darn thin.
 

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Forgot the pics of the new caps - and I put new gaskets on the woofers, that caulking stuff they used was all hard and broken up, I didn't like that at all.

And rather than using wire nuts, I soldered (using a heat sink on the caps to keep them from getting too hot) the connections and they put heat shrink tubing over the connections. Much better, IMO.
 

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Great job!
And thanks for posting the pics, it encourages folks like me to consider doing the same :thmbsp:

Roger
 
Just doing this today to some 24s... Recapped and redoped last weekend but they still weren't sealed... Just put some duct seal around the plates, the girl is scrubbing the wood on 3 different pairs of speaks for a re-oiling party...

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk
 
My first coat of sealant isn't showing much improvement on the "woofer return test". But it was a really thin coat, and I can see that it didn't seal all the little holes in the surround.
After second coat, if the test still isn't adequate, I'll be pulling these apart and looking\sealing any other possible air transfer points.
 
So, I did have to put two coats of sealant on the woofers, and now they do take a second or two to come back up. They don't pop up anymore.

So, I think the cabinets are tight (although I didn't check the back plate).

Re-capping is done, sealant is done, wiped them down a couple of times with oil. No sanding on the cabinet at all, if I were keeping them, I would give them a light sanding.

No cleaning of the grill fabric, they are darn clean right now.

I've hooked them up, they sound really nice - I'm a bit surprised. Some bass, hard for me to compare coming from Klipsch ChorusII's.

I'm going to keep them in rotation for a week or two and get a good feel for them before they head out.
 

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Doped the cone caps, new tweeter gasket.

Doped the cone caps, new tweeter gasket. I was still getting a pretty quick return on the woofers, even after doing the surrounds twice. Decided to do the caps (thin layer) and replace the tweeter foam gaskets.

Waiting for dope to dry, then I'll listen in a day or two. Unless they sound really, really good, I'll be selling them off.

Looks like alot of 17\20's out there, I see new posts nearly every week. I think $100 might be do-able.

I'd hate to let them go for $60 after the time I've spent on them... but it's ok, part of the process.
 

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Nice job. I was going to mention that you probably want to replace the seal on the tweeter but you beat me to it. The cone cap is a potential leak source too, and KLH sealed them from the factory just like the surrounds. I usually run a bead of caulk around the edge of the crossover plate inside the cabinet too, another good place for an air leak. What did you use for the gasket material? I kind of like that better than the duct seal, seems thinner and more pliable. A hundred bucks is about all they bring around here when all spruced up, but that seems pretty fair. There are zillions of them out there!
 
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