Klipsch Chorus II Restoration

[-reverb-]

I've been reading each of your updates, thanks for sharing.

My ChorusII were also a little beat up when I purchased, but nothing like yours.

And you have them looking great and I have no doubt they will sound great as well.

Heh, your major roadblock is WAF, sounds like she is pretty well settled. Har.

I know... looks like I'm gonna have to buy her a car or something.

Can't wait to get on the second one now that I have all this new-found knowledge

Did you fix your's up Dingman or just let them lie for now and enjoy the tunes?

 

[-reverb-]

Branded!

Well, maybe I didn't take the worst cab first. Take a look at the top of Chorus #2. If you look carefully at the lower left corner, what is that the shape of??

Yep, it's an Iron. Someone either set a hot iron on this cab -OR- used the cab as an ironing board

Branded Chorus II's ~! If they ever are stolen, I should be able to pick them out in a line-up.

I showed the wife and she said, "Why not? They are big enough to iron on". *sigh* - these are never going to last in the house.

I sanded and used Barkeeper's Friend to try and fade the iron burn and the hexagonal plant (?) ring. Made several passes, alternating between the two steps.

They are still visible, along with the deep scratches. It is what it is.

As Biggles said, you can only do so much.

#1 is back together and in the house! I am driving it with a Scott 299B. The amp is only 21 watts, the volume is on 1 and it is filling the room! Damn these things are efficient!

Bass? I'll answer the way Rolls-Royce use the specify their horsepower ratings: "Very Adequate" :thmbsp:

 

[-reverb-]

Here's a little better look at the scratches that are left on the top. Pretty nasty.

There are 2 coats of Danish Oil on them now.

I didn't anticipate them darkening-up so much.

I am torn what to do. I sanded and bleached several times on this area. I don't want to burn through veneer again. I am leaning towards just letting it be. I can never get them back to like-new condition.

For what it's worth, the mark from the Iron is much better.

On a non-wood topic, I soaked the grills (yeah for plastic frames) in the tub with some Woolite but there were some marks on the fabric that just would not come off. Didn't want to replace the grills so I figured I would give this Fabric "paint" a shot. A little spendy at about $8 a can but looks to be just what was needed.

 

[Schmidlapper]

You should be proud of what your doing there with those Chorus IIs. I am very fortunate that my wife has accepted my speakers into our living room, see photo. That is a rather large Klipsch center speaker under the TV as well. That is my wife there on the LazyBoy, she is a peach. I'm rooting for ya.

 

[drbiggles]

Hay,

Warriors! Think of it this way, where would they have been without your tender ministrations? They're a great pair to test your mettle against, hone your skills. Besides, how would you feel if you were working on a pair of museum quality speakers? I'd be shaking in my boots, scared to make any progress at all. Who knows, someone may pop by who's jaw drops and just has to have them. Sell them off, make a few bucks and jump in to another project. Another will fill the void soon, they always do.

Biggles

 

[-reverb-]

There has been a crack in the armor.....

I have Chorus #1 in the house hooked-up to the Scott 299B. Wife walks by and says "those are huge.... but I like the way they sound". They may find a home here after all.

Can't wait to get the other one back together.

Listening to the piano solo on SRV's Riviera Paradise will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement folks. :thmbsp:

 

[drbiggles]

Yeah, see. Wives don't generally see and hear what we do in our minds when we drag these "treasures" home. Congratulations!

Biggles

 

[JesusChrysler]

Outstanding work.

My II's are black.

Bleah.


Sound pretty frickin' awesome though.

Good luck with the wife. Mine tolerates but does not understand. ..





Matt

 

[-reverb-]

Outstanding work.

My II's are black.

Bleah.

Sound pretty frickin' awesome though.

Good luck with the wife. Mine tolerates but does not understand. ..




Matt

Thanks Matt. I am impressed so far - and that's just in MONO!

"tolerates but does not understand." that is true of most of our relationship.

Have you done any upgrades to yours? I am looking at the Titanium diaphragms for the tweets if I keep them. Schmidlapper says they are well work the price of admission.

 

[JesusChrysler]

All I have done is add weight to the passives....
Me likey the bass.
I hear Crites Crites Crites so eventually I'll get them...




Matt

 

[-reverb-]

You should be proud of what your doing there with those Chorus IIs. I am very fortunate that my wife has accepted my speakers into our living room, see photo. That is a rather large Klipsch center speaker under the TV as well. That is my wife there on the LazyBoy, she is a peach. I'm rooting for ya.

I hear ya Bud. An understanding (or at least tolerating) wife makes it much easier.

I think mine is turning around. I had the one playing this afternoon while I was in the dining room and she was in the kitchen. I had to go outside and do a few things so I turned everything off. She said "I was enjoying that, could you put it back on?"

Hehehehe.... maybe it's all going to work out after all

 

[-reverb-]

Besides, how would you feel if you were working on a pair of museum quality speakers? I'd be shaking in my boots, scared to make any progress at all. Who knows, someone may pop by who's jaw drops and just has to have them. Sell them off, make a few bucks and jump in to another project. Another will fill the void soon, they always do.

Biggles

Good point. I was even a bit nervous working on these.

Not sure if they are going to be for sale unless someone is very persistent.

I look at most of my gear in 2 ways.

First: I like it. I like to listen to it. I like to restore it and work on it.

Secondly: I see it a little like a savings account. If I hit a rough spot, I got a few items I could unload and buy some groceries or pay a bill or two. Plus I get to enjoy it until then

My dad collects firearms... I collect vintage audio gear. They sound much nicer than "Bang!" too.

 

[Dingman]

I know... looks like I'm gonna have to buy her a car or something.

Can't wait to get on the second one now that I have all this new-found knowledge

Did you fix your's up Dingman or just let them lie for now and enjoy the tunes?

I did fix mine up. They were purchased in a "batch" - local CL, the ChorusII, a pair of ForteII and an Academy. All were scratched and dinged, the ForteII being the worst.

So yes, I did work on them. I also sanded mine down, but being an amateur, I only sanded and cleaned with Murphy's soap. I didn't really like the soap, I think your process with the bleaching is what I should have done.

But they weren't nearly as bad as yours, that last set of pics are pretty impressive for the range of stains, scratches and... LMAO (seriously, I LOL'd) the image of the iron. If those were my speakers, I would only have cleaned the "iron speaker" so the I could show people the iron. Heh, I'm still chuckling. But you did a good job, can barely see the iron now.

On mine, after soaping, mine got lemon oil and really, mine are dark also. I'd prefer a little lighter. I've tried to take a few pics, but the camera is crap. I'll try again tomorrow. But being dark, they match the old cabinet my gear is in, so it's not all bad. And my risers are in great shape compared to yours.. eek!

I did put in Crites XO and Ti tweets. All my Klipsch get the TI at minimum, agreed that the return is way above the cost.

My room sucks and so that may be one reason I don't like the ChorusII as much as a pair of KLF-20's I have, but the KLF's are also modified and highly braced. But the Chorus are great sounding - just a little boomy in that room. The high's and mid's are fantastic... just finished listening to some of the new remastered Zeppelin - man, I can hear ever vibration of each guitar - amazing when a system comes together. I'm glad you're enjoying yours as well.

Keep us posted on the integration into the house. :beer:

 

[-reverb-]

I did fix mine up. They were purchased in a "batch" - local CL, the ChorusII, a pair of ForteII and an Academy. All were scratched and dinged, the ForteII being the worst.

Dang! Ya'll got some pretty sweet CL deals in Iowa when you can pick-up all that cool gear at one time! I keep hearing really good things about the Forte's. Go lower, smaller footprint etc. I have my eye out for a pair of them now.

I did put in Crites XO and Ti tweets. All my Klipsch get the TI at minimum, agreed that the return is way above the cost.

I think I am going to have to pop for the Ti tweets. I had read that you could get Ti mids too but they came from Klipsch. I had them on the phone the other day and they said "No. We don't have those anymore". Never seen them in the aftermarket either??

Not ready to pony-up the dough for the full replacement XO's right now - a recap will have to do. I'm sure the air-core inductors do tighten-up the bass though... maybe someday.

Keep us posted on the integration into the house. :beer:

You bet! I hope to put another coat of Danish Oil on Monday and assemble #2 on Tuesday. Can't wait!

 

[Dr. Morbius]

Reverb, looks like a great job on the restoration. The Danish oil looks great. :thmbsp:

 

[-reverb-]

Thanks Dr. Morbius. It's been a fun adventure. These things are so large, I have used and entire can of Danish Oil. Had to go to Lowe's today and procure another can

Couple of more coats on #2 and we will be ready for final assembly.

Boy, do they sound sweet on tubes.

 

[drbiggles]

Dang, which reminds me. I still don't have a working stereo tube setup, yet. I've been hammering on the Sansuis, 2 applications of oil in the last 6 days. Also making progress with the Wharfedale Super 12's. Man, I gotta lot of projects going at once.

Time for a nap!

Biggles

 

[-reverb-]

Dang, which reminds me. I still don't have a working stereo tube setup, yet. I've been hammering on the Sansuis, 2 applications of oil in the last 6 days. Also making progress with the Wharfedale Super 12's. Man, I gotta lot of projects going at once.

Time for a nap!

Biggles

I lucked-up on this Scott 299B. It was not a scroe, but reasonable at 2 Ben Franklin's. I haven't had to do anything except Deox it (4 times!) to get the crud out of the pots. Cosmetically it isn't perfect but presentable.

I know according to physics "watts are watts" but there is something else at play with tubes. Sooooooo smooth and warm.

 

[Schmidlapper]

Did you ever get the part from Klipsch you had been waiting on? The efficiency of these Chorus IIs makes them especially good working with tube power. I got my step daughter a pair of the Pioneer BS-22 L/R that are considered a very good sounding book shelf so I tried them on my 6v6 push pull Magnavox putting out around 4 watts and I had to crank it up to get even close to a similar loudness. The Pioneers do sound very good especially for what they cost, but as my wife said the Klipsch sound as if the band is playing right in the room with us.

 

[derekva]

I lucked-up on this Scott 299B. It was not a scroe, but reasonable at 2 Ben Franklin's. I haven't had to do anything except Deox it (4 times!) to get the crud out of the pots. Cosmetically it isn't perfect but presentable.

I know according to physics "watts are watts" but there is something else at play with tubes. Sooooooo smooth and warm.

Best recap that puppy (and check all your power / bias resistors) ASAP before you have a very expensive magic smoke event.

(seriously, if you toast an output transformer, you'll be crying in your beer)

-D