Vintage KLH tweeter help

[Bstable]

I am swimming in KLH tweeters now. I needed a single KLH 23 tweeter and ended up with three, but none match the tweeter in my one good KLH 23 speaker.

I hastily bought (2) KLH 6 tweeters because the ebay ad said they were the same as the 23. They are the tweeters pictured on top. Note that even these two are different in that one has a dimple in the middle of the magnet. They are both light gold in color. Both 4.1 ohms

I then bought a complete driver set for a KLH 5 from the auction site (just to get the tweeter... I have a friend that needs the woofer and maybe one of the midranges) It is on the bottom of the pictures. It is silver in color. 4.5 ohms

The tweeter that I am trying to match is pictured last (still wired and attached) The glue is black. The glue on all the rest is brown.

Very confusing. Can anyone tell which is which so that I can recap and finally enjoy these speakers?


Thanks all in advance.

 

[audiojones]

The answer is here in this thread. The bump out on the rear plate is the sure way to identify the Model Five (etc) tweeter.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=492609

 

[gbroot]

I am swimming in KLH tweeters now. I needed a single KLH 23 tweeter and ended up with three, but none match the tweeter in my one good KLH 23 speaker.

I hastily bought (2) KLH 6 tweeters because the ebay ad said they were the same as the 23. They are the tweeters pictured on top. Note that even these two are different in that one has a dimple in the middle of the magnet. They are both light gold in color. Both 4.1 ohms

I then bought a complete driver set for a KLH 5 from the auction site (just to get the tweeter... I have a friend that needs the woofer and maybe one of the midranges) It is on the bottom of the pictures. It is silver in color. 4.5 ohms

The tweeter that I am trying to match is pictured last (still wired and attached) The glue is black. The glue on all the rest is brown.

Very confusing. Can anyone tell which is which so that I can recap and finally enjoy these speakers?


Thanks all in advance.

If the tweets from the 5's are original, they'll have the black glue. As the thread from Audiojones says Black glue = 5's, 23's, 12's Brown Glue = 6's, 17's,20's and others. FYI, I just replaced the Daytons in my 23's with Solen's to add a little more brightness. Liked the difference so much that I'm pulling the Daytons out of my 5's and also going with Solen's. IMO, the Solen's are an easy answer to compensate for my loss of HF in my hearing.

 

[audiojones]

It's actually a dark brown glue on the Five / Twelve / Twenty-Three tweeter and a light tan colored glue on the Six / Seventeen / Twenty tweeter. However, the most reliable way to tell the difference is by the metal backing plate above the magnet on the tweeter.

The Model Five / Twelve / Twenty-Three tweeter has a thinner plate on the back of the tweeter between the frame and the magnet whereas the Six / Seventeen / Twenty type has a thicker plate in the same location. Look closely at the pic below - the Model Five tweeter is on the left, Model Six on the right.

Note the thinner metal used in the magnet structure of the left tweeter - this indicates the Model Five / Twelve / Twenty-Three tweeter. The Model Six / Seventeen / Twenty tweeter has a thicker structure between the frame and the top of the magnet (as seen in the right example).

The dark brown glue vs. light tan glue is a good indicator when looking at fleabay sales because you usually can't see a good side profile of the tweeter up close. The sure-fire way to tell is by the magnet structure, that's one thing that can't be mistaken or changed.

 

[drewman73]

Bstable,
I passed on a KLH 23 orphan at my local Habitat, I can try it again tomorrow evening and see if they still have it if you need it.

 

[Bstable]

Bstable,
I passed on a KLH 23 orphan at my local Habitat, I can try it again tomorrow evening and see if they still have it if you need it.

Thank you, but I might already have the tweeter I need which is the purpose of this thread.

If you do by chance see that speaker again, I would be currious if it has black glue around the screen.

 

[GD70]

The 6 tweeters have the thicker back plate. I have two spares and just checked.

 

[Bstable]

Thanks everyone for your help. An a big thanks to audiojones for posting the profile pictures.

So it looks like the tweeter I have pictured above (bottom tweet 4.5 ohms) is the correct replacement for my 23s despite having brown glue instead of black? It has the thin magnet.

 

[JohnMac]

While there are some KLH folks here I wonder if someone can ID these tweeters. I pulled them some time ago and can't remember what they came out of. I was thinking model 6s but obviously not. I did have some KLHs with a rather shallow cabinets and some funky striped grill cloths. They read 6.3 ohms so from some 8 ohm speakers. Any ideas?

John

 

[JohnMac]

You know audiojones, they just may be from some ARs. I've had several around here and some got parted out. Thanks.

Speaking of KLH, I picked up a nice pair of 17s at an estate sale yesterday. I had intended to touch-up the cabs and sell them but neither tweeter works. I tested one with a nine volt battery and it seems OK so I guess I'll need replace the caps. If the cabinets were rough I'd probably part them out but they're just too nice for that.

I see that our posts somehow got reversed in order probably while editing.

 

[audiojones]

Thanks everyone for your help. An a big thanks to audiojones for posting the profile pictures.

So it looks like the tweeter I have pictured above (bottom tweet 4.5 ohms) is the correct replacement for my 23s despite having brown glue instead of black? It has the thin magnet.

Yep, thin magnet structure definitely = Five, Twelve and Twenty-Three tweeter (they all have roughly the same 4 ohm impedance). If the adhesive is black it's possible that the tweeter was originally painted black (as some of them are) and the paint was cleaned off at some point. It's also possible that someone repaired the tweeter and re-glued the screen with black adhesive, but I've never seen a KLH tweeter with black glue before. Dark brown adhesive = Five style tweeter and light tan adhesive = Six style tweeter AFAIK, but the magnet is the best way to tell.

While there are some KLH folks here I wonder if someone can ID these tweeters. I pulled them some time ago and can't remember what they came out of. I was thinking model 6s but obviously not. I did have some KLHs with a rather shallow cabinets and some funky striped grill cloths. They read 6.3 ohms so from some 8 ohm speakers. Any ideas?

John

You sure that came from a KLH speaker? It kind of looks like the midrange driver from an AR2ax (same driver was also used as a tweeter in the middle version of the AR2 and the early AR4 non "x" version).

 

[Bstable]

I just noticed in the picture I took of the still mounted tweeter with the black glue...that there is a spot of brown glue at the 7 o clock position. My fingernail confirmed that it is glue. So yes, maybe the screen was removed at some point and reattached with black glue.

 

[audiojones]

I tested one with a nine volt battery and it seems OK so I guess I'll need replace the caps.

Hey John - cool that the tweeter is ok, but a 9 volt battery is way too big for testing drivers and can actually end up damaging them. Use a 1.5 volt battery (like a little penlight battery or similar) or better yet keep a spare cap around (3uf or so should do) and hook the tweeter or midrange up to the speaker terminals of an amp with the cap in line to test it. The 1.5 volt battery test is good for testing the polarity (cone travel direction) of woofers and even then it should be done sparingly.

 

[JohnMac]

Thanks for the tip. I had heard of using a battery for testing but should have done more research first. I made very brief contact for a quick "tic" and hopefully didn't do any damage.

The capacitor method sounds like a safer way to go. I'll test again like that before I order new caps.

John