Klipsch H700: removing front baffle

[tlann]

Hey everyone, I have a pair of Klipsch H700s that I absolutely love, but they’re the early versions where the grilles aren’t removable. And though my son is only two and a half weeks old, I’ve begun to realize that it won’t be that long before he’s grabbing and touching the speakers as he toddles by — a friend’s 11-month old did that recently, and I realized I’m going to have to figure some stuff out about my setup.

Luckily, I actually have some substitute non-original woofers that came loaded in the speakers when I bought them (as chronicled in this thread). I’ve since replaced those with some K-22s, but they honestly sounded pretty good, so I’m thinking of popping them back in so that, if worse comes to worst, the dust caps that get imprinted with the shape of a cute little toddler fist aren’t the Klipsch-branded woofers that I have come to value.

I’d also like to make some replacement grilles that I could put on during the toddler stage. That way, if anything gets damaged, the original / all-Klipsch speakers that I love will still be fine — I could just put the old grilles back on and swap the K-22s back in.

All that said, here is my question: does anyone know if removing the braces/frame pieces on the inside of an H700 would make it possible to then remove the entire front baffle? (Obviously the horns and woofer would also have to be removed.) My idea is to just remove the baffle (which the grille cloth is stapled to), make a new replacement baffle, and then make some replacement grilles.

Here is a picture of the inside, where you can see the small pieces of wood that seemingly are screwed into the backside of the baffle — is this the only thing holding the baffles in place? Is there any reason I should not unscrew these pieces?

Thanks for any wisdom/insight!

—Taylor

 

[Gigantic]

the motorboard is glued and stapled to the rest of the cabinet in later models. I'd be surprised if that's not glued as well.

 

[tlann]

the motorboard is glued and stapled to the rest of the cabinet in later models. I'd be surprised if that's not glued as well.

Hmmm, that complicates things a little. I don’t really want to tear things apart too much.

Maybe a better option would be to just build new cabinets…they wouldn’t need to be aesthetically perfect, since the point of them would mainly be to withstand some abuse.

I’m tempted to make some Super Heresy adjustments if I’m building entirely new cabinets anyway, but I don’t want to modify my Type C crossover, which I recapped in the spring and really enjoy in its original/refurbished state. Plus, doing the super heresy mods would require me to buy new woofers, and spending a bunch of money wasn’t the original goal of this particular project…

 

[Gigantic]

My first pair of Super Heresy were a pair of 1971 H700. I made rear panels for the ports so I didn’t mar the originals.

I converted the type c networks to type E, however. That said, I liked them so much that I thought they’d be better with beefier cabinets, so I made another pair, using 3/4” Baltic birch. I got new motor boards from Crites. The tweeter cutout is slightly smaller on the Crites boards, but @Daveintn makes sMAHLs sized for them if you go that route. After i built my second pair, I sold the H700 for a grand, so basically my super Heresy were free with a few hundred bonus bucks.

 

[tlann]

I got new motor boards from Crites.

If you don’t mind me asking, do you recall the ballpark price that new motor boards ran you? I don’t see them on the Crites website.

 

[Invidiosulus]

I believe on that model the grill cloth is wrapped and stapled to the motor board itself, the motor board is screwed in place and should be removable.

I would try loosening the screws and giving it a solid tap to see if it comes loose.

 

[Gigantic]

If you don’t mind me asking, do you recall the ballpark price that new motor boards ran you? I don’t see them on the Crites website.

If I recall correctly, they were $95. At the rate I charge for carpentry, I could barely get my router templates set up for that much, let alone make them, so it was a no brainer. It’s always worthwhile to give them a call, their customer service is outstanding.

 

[ClaudeJ1]

If I recall correctly, they were $95. At the rate I charge for carpentry, I could barely get my router templates set up for that much, let alone make them, so it was a no brainer. It’s always worthwhile to give them a call, their customer service is outstanding.

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