Recapping my speakers

[David Bright]

Hello, I have KLH Six, KLH 32, and Avid Model 102 and want them recapped. Anyone in the So Cal area that can do this?

 

[thomo57]

Hello, I have KLH Six, KLH 32, and Avid Model 102 and want them recapped. Anyone in the So Cal area that can do this?

I nominate David Bright.
Recapping isn't rocket science.
Have you got or can you use a soldering iron
Replace same with same.

You will get other replies asking what makes you think they need recapping

 

[Beau Geste]

..replace with same value and use MKP caps if is possible...

 

[Porkloin]

What @Thomos57 said. What's the point of vintage speakers if not the opportunity to do a bit of "hands-on" ?

 

[David Bright]

I am not skilled like that to solder . . . .

 

[Porkloin]

I am not skilled like that to solder . . . .

Dave, in the day and age of instant, free information at one's fingertips, you're skilled to do pretty much anything that doesn't require natural NBA/NFL genetics. 9/10ths of your brain is waiting to be tapped.
That being said, we DO tend to function better as a society when we all narrow our skill sets down to specialties. Any of the shops listed below would regard a recap as gravy.

 

[homebrew]

As the old adage goes, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice." It also holds true to soldering. (Although practicing your soldering skills won't get you to Carnegie Hall.)

 

[classic carl]

Hello, I have KLH Six, KLH 32, and Avid Model 102 and want them recapped. Anyone in the So Cal area that can do this?

Expect to pay more than you probably spent for the speakers.

 

[nfafan]

Hi David, what I did on the one pair of speakers I recapped was to cut the wire leads of the old cap as close to the ends of the old cap as possible - I now had plenty of wire left to work with - and wire-nutted the new replacement cap in place. I figured I might end up trying a different value and didnt want a perm solder joint.

As it was, I was happy with the results and left it in place with the wire nuts. I know this isn't the expected convention especially when you have little of the old wire leads remaining to work with, but it worked out for me and wire-nuts were never an issue at 110/120volts AC, so I'm confident it will hold up.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Actually that's not a bad idea, although I would probably solder those joints rather than wire nuts if possible. Easier to solder two wires like that than try to mess with removing solder from complex wound up wire connections or circuit board traces.

If you can wind the leads on the new cap into a little coil (pigtail) using a tack or small nail, you can slip the old wire inside the pigtails on each end and solder. I used to do that on old radios.

It is good to glue down or fasten the new caps especially if they are very large, to minimize vibration. Hot glue works well, or a zip tie.

 

[MCM_Fan]

Hey David, welcome to AudioKarma.

Guys, since we know David is located in So Cal, any chance one of us near him could actually personally help him out. Teaching him how to recap a crossover would let him learn first hand, would get at least one of his projects knocked off his plate for very little cost and have him well on his way to completing the other two.

Unfortunately, I live in Portland, or I'd offer to help. I actually enjoy recapping crossovers. Its one of my favorite types of DIY projects.

Anybody in So Cal willing to give David a hand?

David, if you do decide to do any of this yourself, let us know. I haven't checked the schematics for any of your speakers, but I'd be happy to look them over and recommend some suitable replacement caps at a variety of price points. If your KLHs are anything like my KLH Model 23s, the crossovers will be very simple, inexpensive and relatively easy to rebuild - even for a first timer. Especially if someone steps up and walks you through the process.

 

[homebrew]

Well, I live in San Diego if that would help.

 

[jcamero]

David, I was scared Sh*tless the first time I recapped a pair of speakers. I had zero experience with an iron too. I watched numerous You Tube Videos, found posts, (with pictures here), and went for it! It wasn't to bad after all. Once you get good at recapping speakers, then you will want to learn to re foam, and upgrade binding posts.

 

[z-adamson]

If you pay a pro to do this, plan on paying about $75 per hour, at least, plus parts and a mark up on parts. Plan on buying at least a few hours of labor.

You could also get a couple junker xovers to practice on out of cheapo used speaker cabs from a thrift or a cl seller.

 

[thomo57]

I am not skilled like that to solder . . . .

I'm not skilled at soldering and would baulk at anything requiring some finesse but cutting two wires from a capacitor and then reconnecting another capacitor to those very same wires is very easy.
Twist them together and run a little solder onto them and viola you have recapped a speaker.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Use a little flux on that. When I started out as a loner 12-year-old trying to solder without the Internet to guide me, I didn't know about flux, and the beads of solder just bounced off the joints.

You can probably find a cheap iron, solder and flux all in a kit somewhere. Normally I'd say Radio Shack but alas...

 

[Dingman]

don't be afraid to wire nut them. Wire nuts create a tight mechanical connection and that's what you want.

While solder will pass a signal, and we rely on it all the time, as far as I know, the mechanical connection wire-to-wire is superior.

 

[David Bright]

Will either of these work?

 

[Bob]

all the more reason: your parts costs are rounding errors. the labor costs for all the speakers
could look like a car payment.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Those film caps should work. Just make sure the voltage rating is at least as high as the original. Higher is OK. And at those cheap prices, I would buy more than I needed and test them and choose matched ones. But that's just me. You don't really know the tolerance on those - might be a good idea to check. One thing about buying audio grade ones is you get a good tolerance rating like 5% or even 1%.

Pet peeve: Prices with both a decimal point AND a cents sign. I'm tempted to insist they sell them to me for point five cents and point nine five cents each since that's how they're labeled.