GD70
Lunatic Member
Just go slow with the power sander or you'll go through the veneer pretty quickly.
Glenn
KLH Twenty Three Restoration-PICS
- Thread starter GD70
- Start date
Just go slow with the power sander or you'll go through the veneer pretty quickly.
Glenn
Good stuff Glen. Just picked up a similar pair of 23's yesterday for the same $20 and they already sound great before the work. This thread is helpful for sure as I am about to embark on the veneer thing. I like the Qwickwood epoxy stuff for the corner rebuilding. Have you tried it? It is like putty and sets up hard so you just then sand it down.
GD70
Lunatic Member
That's cool! You planning to stack them?
I haven't tried Quickwood. Is your intention to repair and build up the corners to then veneer over it?
Glad the thread is helpful.
Glenn
KLH 23 rebuild fun
I recently recapped and refinished some KLH-23's. Thankfully my cabs were in good condition and I only did a few coats of Watcos Danish oil and sanding in between. One technique I read about was to sand and then wipe off the surface at a right angle, driving the wood particles into the voids. This is supposed to give more reflective surface for the light to bounce off. It's looks nice.
One other cool thing I did with the 23's was to test different brands of 4uf capacitors. I cut out the old cap and hooked 3 foot leads (the kind with little clips) out the woofer hole. I re-stuffed the enclosure, installed the woofer and then I was able to swap different 4uf capacitors clipping into the circuit with the leads. I listened to 3 different brands, solen, clarity cap sa and esa and ampohm polypropylene for about 1 month.
I mentioned this because the KLH 23 is a great speaker to do this with since there is only 1 capacitor in the crossover and it's a relatively inexpensive size, 4uf. I also happened to have these diff brands in my stash destined for future speaker projects.
I know I should end with my selection, I chose the ampohm, the clarity cap esa was a close second with the SA also presenting the clarity house sound. Of course then it's removing the woofer and and soldering in the caps.
I do have some speakers with damaged corners, so this thread and the AR3 one definitely gave me the know how to try a repair ---thanks Glen!
I recently recapped and refinished some KLH-23's. Thankfully my cabs were in good condition and I only did a few coats of Watcos Danish oil and sanding in between. One technique I read about was to sand and then wipe off the surface at a right angle, driving the wood particles into the voids. This is supposed to give more reflective surface for the light to bounce off. It's looks nice.
One other cool thing I did with the 23's was to test different brands of 4uf capacitors. I cut out the old cap and hooked 3 foot leads (the kind with little clips) out the woofer hole. I re-stuffed the enclosure, installed the woofer and then I was able to swap different 4uf capacitors clipping into the circuit with the leads. I listened to 3 different brands, solen, clarity cap sa and esa and ampohm polypropylene for about 1 month.
I mentioned this because the KLH 23 is a great speaker to do this with since there is only 1 capacitor in the crossover and it's a relatively inexpensive size, 4uf. I also happened to have these diff brands in my stash destined for future speaker projects.
I know I should end with my selection, I chose the ampohm, the clarity cap esa was a close second with the SA also presenting the clarity house sound. Of course then it's removing the woofer and and soldering in the caps.
I do have some speakers with damaged corners, so this thread and the AR3 one definitely gave me the know how to try a repair ---thanks Glen!
GD70
Lunatic Member
That's a great idea and way to test various caps. What characteristics do the ampohm's have that you liked over the others? I used Dayton's and am very happy with them.
Glad the other threads are helpful. I always find it easier to see what people are describing regarding any kind of repair so I can attempt it myself.
Glenn
I think it is just interesting that you were able to tell a difference between them. I wouldn't know if you could or not and this sort of reinforces the notion about that they do sound different I guess. Had not heard of Ampohm.
Glenn, I used the qwickwood to make a finished corner on one speaker but I found it does not accept stain all that well so now I will only use it under veneer I think and or maybe on a bottom rear corner or something that isn't too important or similar. Great of course for painting.
Glenn, I used the qwickwood to make a finished corner on one speaker but I found it does not accept stain all that well so now I will only use it under veneer I think and or maybe on a bottom rear corner or something that isn't too important or similar. Great of course for painting.
GD70
Lunatic Member
KLH 23 fun
"I think it is just interesting that you were able to tell a difference between them."
Yeah, that's what I was interested to find out, and you can. The differences were noticible, similar to turning tone controls a couple steps. Perhaps I was tailoring it to my system and room. The ampohm had a little more mid, but I was trying to decide between a "sound" I liked better, and each was good.
Cheers
Mark
"I think it is just interesting that you were able to tell a difference between them."
Yeah, that's what I was interested to find out, and you can. The differences were noticible, similar to turning tone controls a couple steps. Perhaps I was tailoring it to my system and room. The ampohm had a little more mid, but I was trying to decide between a "sound" I liked better, and each was good.
Cheers
Mark
GD70
Lunatic Member
GD70
Lunatic Member
The mention of caps burning in has appeared in several recent threads. I've read, and been told, caps burn in emmediately when the juice goes through them. The difference in the sound is your ears adjusting over time.
jamie123
Active Member
ive recently recapped my 23's,i used alcap like for like electrolytic,then tried clarity cap polys,didnt like them so went back to alcaps. ive also rewired them internally and use chord speaker cable externally. altogether with the woofer surround sealing its all made a huge difference.
GD70
Lunatic Member
The re-cap shouldn't take to long. Yeah, work can inter fear with our hobby!
GD70
Lunatic Member
It doesn't take much to bring out the best in these speakers. Great sounding and very easy to work on.
Glenn
GD70
Lunatic Member
Did some work on the front bottom corners. The bottom veneer pieces will be newer veneer, the front and side, older for a better match. Filled the gaps with Z-Poxy. Hope to have these done tonight, then complete the back corners which have been started. This is so much fun!
Glenn
Glenn
nice work Glenn. Looking forward to seeing the completed set!
