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“New” KLH Model 17s

mrswakka

mrswakka

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
We got another pair of KLH speakers the other day. Drove to Las Vegas to pick them up. A couple hours each way. They had been for sale for a couple weeks. My husband called the owner and offered him half of what he was asking, and since nobody had ever called once about them he agreed.
They sounded a little off when I hooked them up, just like our Model 23s. But over the last couple days they have loosened up and they sound very good now. A very mellow sound to them. Our friend @lqpete11 is recapping our Model 23s now and will be doing these at some point I’m sure.
Really getting a soft spot for these KLH speakers…
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I agree, these are really nice for their size. I've recapped mine and did the sealer on the woofer surrounds, I'm always impressed with their sound. Definitely recap the crossover and do the sealer if they are dry. The sealer is available from Vintage AR on eBay. I'm currently restoring a pair of KLH 6's and used 2 coats of the sealer on the surrounds.
 
milanomike said:
I agree, these are really nice for their size. I've recapped mine and did the sealer on the woofer surrounds, I'm always impressed with their sound. Definitely recap the crossover and do the sealer if they are dry. The sealer is available from Vintage AR on eBay. I'm currently restoring a pair of KLH 6's and used 2 coats of the sealer on the surrounds.
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I’ve searched on ebay and I haven’t been able to locate Vintage AR.
 
I found vintage ar but no surround sealer.
AK member royc has been mentioned as a source for the correct sealer.
 
goodolpg said:
I found vintage ar but no surround sealer.
AK member royc has been mentioned as a source for the correct sealer.
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From past posts here, my understanding of this is that RoyC developed and tested the dope referred to here. He makes it in batches, it's a long process, and there are times it's unavailable. I don't see it on fleabay either. I would contact RoyC here and ask if he has any these days. I bought mine from him some time ago.
 
alteclipsch said:
From past posts here, my understanding of this is that RoyC developed and tested the dope referred to here. He makes it in batches, it's a long process, and there are times it's unavailable. I don't see it on fleabay either. I would contact RoyC here and ask if he has any these days. I bought mine from him some time ago.
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That's why I said I couldn't find it on ebay and was figuring the OP would try PM'ing Roy since I mentioned him as a source.
One thing I did wonder, is it one of those products that suppliers don't/won't ship to colder areas in the winter.
 
Vintage AR Parts and Service: https://www.ebay.com/usr/vintage-ar

Doesn't seem to have any at the moment, but should in near future, maybe send message. I have ordered a couple of times from him. Seems like the right stuff, don't know if Roy C and him are the same or partners in this.
 
The 23 is an outstanding speaker, and recapping is cheap since there is only one cap. Resealing the woofer has a big effect - it should be routine.
 
milanomike said:
Vintage AR Parts and Service: https://www.ebay.com/usr/vintage-ar

Doesn't seem to have any at the moment, but should in near future, maybe send message. I have ordered a couple of times from him. Seems like the right stuff, don't know if Roy C and him are the same or partners in this.
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I’ve sent RoyC a message, we’ll see what happens. Lots of threads on this subject. Some fairly heated.
 
ScottieMuñoz said:
As far as Henry Kloss Koh I warned you like a dope fiend don't go close to the needle it's too tempting 4 years ago I started off with an early side of model sixes and a 32 and today I own every single set up to the model 38 with the only exceptions being 1 2 3 7 and and the nine every single site has been refurbished up to expect and I love the opportunity to showcase them at some point one of the best collections I can ever imagine. If anybody can help me acquire a 123 7 I know you at least two of my kids that's obviously just kidding.

I must say however that my Model 12 is not legitimate so to speak I built it from spec using a Model 5 woofer which everyone believes to be the correct one however as many have pointed out very few have pointed out the Model 12 woofer is let's put it this way the magnet size of the Model 12 woofer difference is size is accurate as is the model 6 is to the model 5.

I've seen pictures I'm not positive that the woofer in the Model 12 is not one of the woofers in the 12 or 3 but I could be wrong and there are Google's of Trades I'd love to make to ever get my hands on any of the above.

I've been inside the Crossovers of every single Koh speaker other than the four I mentioned if anyone has any questions every single said I own has been recapped and resistors replaced I sorely wish the Opie had not hired out someone to little replace one single capacitor which is the only cap and the crossover for the model 23 which is also the epitome of less-is- more with a bulk of the collection one single 8 UF that's all there is.

I do have doubles of some of the more rare ones including the model 30 33, 38 every set of Model 8 sneakers I have all of the four and a half inch small models in.

In the end my results tomorrow 5 if it was maybe half a cubic foot bigger or if it had the Model 12 over we would never see you speaking about the model or the the ar3a would be a footnote to the Klh 5. if in fact the KLH 5 was half a cubic foot bigger and had the Model 12 woofer because the only thing preventing it from being better than to the 3a today is about 3 Hertz.

Continually searching for a set of Model 12 Contour boxes.

I'm happy to answer any and all questions concerning any of the strange happenstance has that occurred in those amazing 12 years I love to share thank you
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Impressive collection. Really difficult reading this because of the lack of punctuation and many spelling/grammar issues. Not to offend, but it would be easier with proper typing.
 
When I had a Darlington power pac let go and blow apart my new to me KLH 6s I want a different route than finding a replacement woofer: I had Mike at Neal's Speaker Repair in Colfax CA rebuild them with modern foam. He used his 3D printer and Advent foam to make the best sounding 6s I have ever heard. He loves Kloss stuff and had some it before.

The first thing I noticed is how much faster they are than they were before. Modern foam allows for faster response and one can really hear the difference.

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Unless the original (and VERY durable) surrounds need replacing, which really only happens through physical trauma, they shouldn't be replaced. Properly treated with the correct sealer, they are fast, accurate, and require maintenance only every 30 years or so. My personal opinion and my personal view on keeping OEM when possible, and realizing Bodyblue had no choice (and I'd love to hear his Sixes).
 
alteclipsch said:
Unless the original (and VERY durable) surrounds need replacing, which really only happens through physical trauma, they shouldn't be replaced. Properly treated with the correct sealer, they are fast, accurate, and require maintenance only every 30 years or so. My personal opinion and my personal view on keeping OEM when possible, and realizing Bodyblue had no choice (and I'd love to hear his Sixes).
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I agree and I would have never had them rebuilt as long as they were working properly. I am very much in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" side of the aisle. But, the difference in sound is pretty incredible. The sixes sounded great before, but the bit of extra speed of the woofer makes them sound much more like a modern speaker.......fairly close to Kloss' OLAs.

On the 17s, I had a set that was recapped and the surrounds re-doped. I liked but did not love them. They were a great jazz speaker but the lack of bass finally meant they were moved on. While I had them, I found a cherry set of Realistic Optimus 1 (Radio Shacks response to the KLH 17) and recapped them and it ended up I like the Realistics better (dont kill me), mainly because they had better bass than the 17s. Kloss was a stone cold audio genius and I love my KLH 6s and OLAs.

Oh, on both my sixes and OLAs I hated the nasty off white grill cloth. I ordered some reproduction guitar amp cloth and used it for both sets and ending up loving it.

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ScottieMuñoz said:
I wholeheartedly disagree I believe the cloth surround woofers ( all kloss klh!!)( foam was around, AR switched...kloss did not...)

Nevermind, the man originally designed it! The sq is better, has much lower and faster sub 60hz frequencies, and again...well that's the way the (25 ish) damn speaker(s) were designed. I'm a 40 yr old purist but not a Biblical purest but still cloth surround klh is the only way to go...it tops foam any day.


The ar-3/earky 3a cl9th surround woofer is specd 2hz lower than the later foam.

I've never heard an Acoustic Research woofer that went lower than the equivalent foam.

-scottie
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Well you need to hear what the Sixes can do with modern foam, you might change your mind if you could. When Kloss founded Advent and created the Advent Loudspeaker he went with foam instead of cloth for many reasons. And the Advents go lower than the Sixes (not just because of the foam surrounds). Technology advances and speaker designers used it for a reason. It is not perfect of course and it was surpass by modern surrounds.

Speaker tech has always been moving and evolving. I dont care for the move to small boxes with subs, that is why I only use that type of system in my HT setup. All of my other three systems use vintage bookshelf type units. Marantz Imperial 6s, OLAs, KLH 6, Nova 7Bs, Nova 8Bs, Polk Monitor 10Bs are some of what I listen to all the time. So I do have a good idea of what sounds like what. All sound different and I love all of them.
 
I certainly did not want to come off as high and mighty or criticizing your abilities. And I do understand the challenges some folks face. Voice to text is a challenge in itself, so please understand my "criticism" as only a preference for solid grammer and spelling.

As to your analogy of KLH 12 woofer to the 5 woofer being like the 5 is to the 6, that is spot on. I'd only add that the 23 to the 6 is the same analogy (same woofer as the 5). And the 23 blows the 6 away in every respect, IMO.
 
ScottieMuñoz said:
What would you say your impressions are on your model 6 in terms of low in frequency response most curious if you have the means as in a second set of sixes...to AB them.
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I do not have another set of Sixes to A/B them with. I did not notice them going any deeper than they did before, the big difference was, as I said, the speed of the bass.

ScottieMuñoz said:
so we're doing with two things the "quickness" or "fastness" of foam versus cloth versus the low end frequency response. I wish I can simply tell you my own testing shows the cloth surpasses phone but in terms of being faster that's a little bit harder to test isn't it.... I mean most acoustic suspension woofers in general are can I ask you if you had a lot of experience with the model 6 prior to having the phone replace the cloth?
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I had a set of 17s but the Sixes I did not have very long.
 
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