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KLH speakers

TWantiques

TWantiques

AK Member
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At a garage sale this past weekend I bought a pair of bookshelf speakers that I wasn't familiar with. They are KLH model 33's. When I got home I did an AK search to see what I could learn about them and, while I found plenty on KLH, there was no mention of model 33's. They are two way with a port and cloth surrounds. Cabinets are actually pretty nice, no gouges and a refinish would make them like new.

Kinda funny: the seller also had two other pair of speakers for sale. A pair of Thrusters and a tall, thin, very light weight pair of Sony's. :thumbsdn: Both of which were priced higher than the KLH's. After I bought the KLH's I got to talking with her and asked how she came up with her pricing. She said "the ones you bought were the heaviest so I made them the cheapest". :D

I haven't hooked them up yet but will in the next few days. I didn't hear them but the owner was using them and had to disconnect them after I bought them. Anybody have a pair? What do you think of them? Any ideas on what it might take to restore them? What kind of power are they going to need to sound their best?

Terry

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Nice grab - and I love the look of those.

Those should prove easy to restore -- I just used some of that wood restore finish on the KLH 105's I just bought. It's called Howard's Restor-A-Finish (walnut), just wipe it on and then wipe it off. The grilles can be recovered with new fabric. You could upgrade the binding posts to heavy duty modern ones as well.

What is that curious hatch pattern of glue (?) on the woofer?
:thmbsp:
 
MaxSeven said:
Those should prove easy to restore -- I just used some of that wood restore finish on the KLH 105's I just bought. It's called Howard's Restor-A-Finish (walnut), just wipe it on and then wipe it off....
:thmbsp:
Click to expand...

I use the same product, and for best results, I'd work the surface of the wood a little first. Depending upon the depth of the marks/scratches, i.e. ring marks vs deep scratches, I use a rougher to finer progression of sandpaper/emory paper/ steel wool to even out the imperfections. For those watermarks, 220 fine/400 emory/fine steel wool should be perfect. Chase with some tack cloth, and then break out the Restor-A-Finish in the proper shade. Wipe it on, wipe it off, let dry overnight, and then hit it with some Liquid Gold...

Presto!...:thmbsp:
 
Aquired a recent aversion to portedness. Yesterday got my first KLH, the Seven, which is Acoustic Suspension.

Nice to have a wire mesh keeping the bats out of your tuned port...

Yep, I have a AR-4x with funny patterns like that too.

Compare to modern ultra-high-end ScanSpeak Revelators' laser-cut spiral etchings on the cones.

So KLH is a 'research and development' concern and McIntosh is a 'laboratory'. Soundlab, SAE, AR of course. Who else?
 
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Susurus said:
Aquired a recent aversion to portedness. Yesterday got my first KLH, the Seven, which is Acoustic Suspension.

Nice to have a wire mesh keeping the bats out of your tuned port...

Yep, I have a AR-4x with funny patterns like that too.

Compare to modern ultra-high-end ScanSpeak Revelators' laser-cut spiral etchings on the cones.

So KLH is a 'research and development' concern and McIntosh is a 'laboratory'. Soundlab, SAE, AR of course. Who else?
Click to expand...

How you liking the Seven's? Mine have never done it for me. I like the Twenty's much more...:dunno:

Maybe I should try biamping them....:scratch2:
 
I like it fine. Just recognize what it is and the limits.

Sevens are gonna need a whole lot more power, first. Second, they are not nearfield imagers--no horizontal twin drivers are. So listen way back. That means even more power...:smoke:

I like dedicated midranges, so it's at a disadvantage there.

Sensitive to component matching. Sansui G-series sounds darn good with it, Yammis not so much.

I suspect its best use may be bass reinforcement--instead of bi-amping just detach the HF drivers and place a set of 17s on top!
 
analog addict said:
How you liking the Seven's? Mine have never done it for me. I like the Twenty's much more...:dunno:

Maybe I should try biamping them....:scratch2:
Click to expand...

I just consider my Seven's a 'Super Six' bigger box & twice the tweet . . .

Mine are low serial number, and I *think* one woofer has a slight rub - on jazz, acoustic & classical it's not noticeable, but on heavier stuff it audible . .

I prefer my 6's as stand-alone 'bookshelf' speakers compared to the 7's, but to get my KLH fix on, its all about the KLH open baffle line arrays :thmbsp:

that being said,I have yet to recap my Model Fives or Twelves, and I have yet to hear a pair of Nines . . . :scratch2:
 
I worked for a KLH dealer in the early 1970s. I recall that the Model 33 was basically a KLH Model 17 with a port and some tweeks- the bass was more pronounced, but not as smooth. Many customers liked them for this quality and for the cabinet design and grill cloth color, as they looked somewhat like the Model 5.

There was an earlier comment about the Model 9, a full range electrostatic speaker. The sound radiated from the front and back, and with orchestral or classical music, they were awesome! It was easy to overdrive the bass with rock music or with excessive use of the bass tone control, but they were quite a conversation piece. Unfortuantly, they were very expensive and I'm sure a working pair would bring a premium price today.
 
I used to have a set of those. The cabs are great, and can be refinished to look nice if you sand down and refinish with Tung oil. Soundwise, I thought they were just "OK" - even after a recap, the highs on the ones I had were too laid back for my ears. Had I known about Ewave when I had them I might have went that route. In any case, nice find. Here's a pic of the ones I used to have:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=65865&d=1193190734
 
This thread is from a year ago!! But I must say, I have a pair, and I like 'em :banana: I can only give them an average listening rating, but the build quality is superb.....
 
Thirty Three Minus One......

I recently acquired a pair of KLH Model Thirty Two speakers, at a thrift, for chump change.

Thirty two = 8" woofer, three inch tweeter opening, tweet covered by yellow fuzzy stuff and chicken wire. Cabinets are sealed.

Mine have a really cool grille cloth......it's kind of a linen-look, but it's the color of chocolate milk.Your grilles look very similar, but I can't see much texture in your photos....course you can't see texture in my pix, cause there AIN'T ANY!!! &%^$#@*&^% digital cameras....still gotta get one that works....

Ahem... anyway, the speakers sound very good, very mellow and pleasant...I have no shortage of treble response on mine, I'm thinking no recap necessary...

I really enjoy mine, hope you enjoy yours....willhowl:yes:

P.S. I know its an old thread, I just jumped on cause it was easy.....
 
I've got Model 5s. They are great. They are built so well and heavy. I would have to agree with the fact that certain amps of practically the same amperage will sound completely different, one not so good and one great. I'm glad the G series Sanuis were mentioned I have G5000 I have yet to try with them. I hope it has enough power.
 
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