Need help restoring KLH towers

[Rudy2]

Hello,
I am a newbie so hope this isn't an old topic. I would like to restore my old KLH tower speakers. They are called "Research Ten" model. The 12" woofers are disintegrating and the domed mid-range are sometimes crackly. They used to be excellent sounding so I think it is worth the effort. Where can I find replacement speakers that are affordable and at least equal in performance to the originals? I can send pics if anyone would like to see what I am dealing with. Thanks in advance.

Randy

[This Guy]

First take out the drivers and see if it has any specs on it. You want to know the sensitivity. Give me a price range to work with as well. I find it very unlikely KLH will have replacement parts for these speakers if they are old. Cause the KLH twenty years ago is almost a completely different company today. A great site for replacements is partsexpress.com which is the site I will look for drivers for you. If you have the phone number for KLH, i guess it wouldn't hurt to call and ask them.

-Joey

[poneal]

I agree with ThisGuy. If you want to match the sound closely to what it was before you need to get the specs. Another option is to take out the drivers and send them in for refoaming and testing. There was a post some time ago about a person who has done the refoam and testing and was very pleased with the results. I think madison sound does refoaming.

[Geoffcin]

Hello,
I am a newbie so hope this isn't an old topic. I would like to restore my old KLH tower speakers. They are called "Research Ten" model. The 12" woofers are disintegrating and the domed mid-range are sometimes crackly. They used to be excellent sounding so I think it is worth the effort. Where can I find replacement speakers that are affordable and at least equal in performance to the originals? I can send pics if anyone would like to see what I am dealing with. Thanks in advance.

Randy

Hi Randy, there's a guy in New Hampshire that can help you. His company is;

http://www.humanspeakers.com/

He's very reasonable, and is a magician at refurbishing speakers.

[Rudy2]

First take out the drivers and see if it has any specs on it. You want to know the sensitivity. Give me a price range to work with as well. I find it very unlikely KLH will have replacement parts for these speakers if they are old. Cause the KLH twenty years ago is almost a completely different company today. A great site for replacements is partsexpress.com which is the site I will look for drivers for you. If you have the phone number for KLH, i guess it wouldn't hurt to call and ask them.

-Joey

The woofers have no identification or specs on them at all. Zero. They feature a large spider and a big cube magnet in a steel box. They measure 7.1ohms, appear to have a 2" voice coil, have a heavy paper cone with black tar stuff painted on, and (used to) have a foam surround. That's about it for specs. I was thinking of maybe a PYLE PRO PYM1255 12" DRIVER as a replacement? I was hoping to keep each speaker under $70 or so. What do you think would be a good replacement?

BTY, the other speakers in the cab are two small domed mid range, one domed tweeter, and two foil super tweeters.

Thanks.

Randy

[This Guy]

Alright just give me the volume in cubic feet the woofer is in so I can find one with good bass response in that box. So you need two woofers and two midranges and you dont want to pay over $70 for each of them. If I understand you right you have plenty of money to get these sounding pretty good.

-joey

[Rudy2]

The space inside the tower is shared by all speakers. There is a 1-5/8" cylindrical port. If you ignore the fiberglass insulation the volume of the cabinet is 2.77 cu/ft. If you take the 1" insulation into consideration the volume would be 1.8 cu/ft.

I want to replace the woofers for now and spend some time with de-ox on the connectors and pots for the other speakers before I decide what to do there. They may be okay. Do that and replace some of the wiring. The wire size is very small and seems inadequate for the woofers especially. What is a good AWG size for internal wiring? Thanks again.

Randy

[This Guy]

This is the best I could find for your box. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...D=118363&DID=7 It should have an F3 of around 57 hz and it will go pretty loud, probably the same efficiency of what was already in there. Now this woofer can't handle a lot of power in the bass region, so be smart with the volume control if you're giving it a lot of power.. Oh and around 16 gauge is good for internal wiring, you;d even be fine with 18. Also, plug the port in the enclosure so you make it a sealed cabinet, cause this speaker doesn't want to be tuned to that specific port. Good luck.

-Joey

[Rudy2]

This is the best I could find for your box. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...D=118363&DID=7 It should have an F3 of around 57 hz and it will go pretty loud, probably the same efficiency of what was already in there. Now this woofer can't handle a lot of power in the bass region, so be smart with the volume control if you're giving it a lot of power.. Oh and around 16 gauge is good for internal wiring, you;d even be fine with 18. Also, plug the port in the enclosure so you make it a sealed cabinet, cause this speaker doesn't want to be tuned to that specific port. Good luck.

-Joey

Out of curiosity, what made you choose this particular speaker from all the others? I listen mostly to jazz and usually do not play loud. I and am much more interested in clarity than getting thumped in the chest with sub-sonic pulses. Well, sometimes I do play an old Led Zep CD loud. My receiver is an ancient Sansui 881 (Sansui rocks!) with 63 watts per channel. Do you still think I should plug the port?

Thanks again,

Randy

[This Guy]

speakers are spec'd differently and therefore the enclosures they go in will effect different drivers differently. Partsexpress reccomended a sealed enclosure of 2 cubic feet for this driver. Now your box being over that, the driver will meet it's excursion limits at a lower power, but have a higher efficiency and a lower F3, this doesn't really matter because your amp isn't extremly powerful and you don't usually listen that loud. The exact opposite occurs when you make the box too small. Now this is the only 8 ohm driver I could find that would fit nicely in your box. This driver is perfect cause it will get you pretty loud (93 db at 1 meter) with little power, but won't knock the plaster off your walls. It will have all the midbass you'll need. Yes do plug the port, different drivers want different enclosures and different sized ports. They don't reccomend you port this driver anyway. You could experiment with not stuffing the port, but you'll probably find you like it more with it stuffed. Good luck.

-Joey

[Rudy2]

Okay. Thanks for the explanation.

Randy

[46minaudio]

Rudy I will try to find the link,but you can buy the refoaming kit and do it your self... You can go on ebay and find this kit..I havd done this to a pair of EVs.Its not that difficult,and the kit will provide evrything an instrucions...

[46minaudio]

Rudy here is a link..

http://www.speakerplace.com/kits.asp

I did a search and there are plenty....

[Swerd]

Hello,
I am a newbie so hope this isn't an old topic. I would like to restore my old KLH tower speakers. They are called "Research Ten" model. The 12" woofers are disintegrating and the domed mid-range are sometimes crackly. They used to be excellent sounding so I think it is worth the effort. Where can I find replacement speakers that are affordable and at least equal in performance to the originals? I can send pics if anyone would like to see what I am dealing with. Thanks in advance.

Why not try contacting KLH? http://www.klhaudio.com/

[This Guy]

has a good suggestion. If you just get a new surround (if thats all you need) the speaker will be good as new. With a new woofer, I can't promise anything. The one I reccomended has chance of sounding worse then the original, but also has a chance of sounding better. If the voice coil is blown on that woofer just buy a new one, but if it's just the surround you're best bet is to get a new surround.

-Joey

[phillyguy]

www.winstonorgan.com

The people there are very nice and will custom select a set of surrounds based on your dimensions. I refoamed my Infinity sub and Mission 707's and was very happy with the results. Make sure you buy new dust caps, so you can cut off the old ones and shim the voicecoil, so everything is in alignment. Not hard to do at all. A kit to do a pair of woofers in probably around $30 + shipping.