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Excited About KLH 22s


Soundgarden

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I just bought a pair of KLH 22s. They're in great condition. I've got a couple questions, and am starting from scratch, as these are my first KLH speakers. First, I'm curious to know what year they were manufactured. The serial #s on the back are: 005254 and 004812. How do I crack this code? Second, I'm wondering about cone sizes. Looks like an 8" woofer but I see references for both 2" and 3.75" tweeters? Third, I could use some advice on reputable KLH parts suppliers.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone's able to offer.

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Welcome Soundgarden

The Twenty-Two is not a common speaker but as I understand it, it is identical to the Twenty-Four (KLH did that a lot). There was also also a Twenty-Two A (see this thread http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?/topic/9602-model-22-vs-model-22a/)

I don't know the exact year of manufacture and the serial numbers give no clue. They are circa 1968.

What kind of parts are you looking for? The only source for drivers is ebay. Capacitors can be bought from Madisound or Parts Express and these DO need new capacitors.

Post some photos. Size them to about 100KB.

Kent 

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Thanks a bunch Kent. Here are some photos. I don’t have an easy way to resize them on my phone. 

I guess I can get a sense of the year by opening them up and looking for date stamps on the drivers, which look to be in good shape. Good to know about the 22a and 24. Also curious about whether there are comparable/equivalent aftermarket drivers. Not looking to go there though... 

I’ll definitely be re-capping. Wondering about re-foaming too. 

And I’ll be prettying then up. The cloth grilles are damned near perfect. But may sand and finish the wood veneer too. These are well cared for though. 

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27 minutes ago, Soundgarden said:

Also curious about whether there are comparable/equivalent aftermarket drivers. Not looking to go there though...

No--don't go there. Aftermarket drivers would change them completely and would require crossover modifications. Besides, anything comparable would probably cost much more than the speakers are worth.

27 minutes ago, Soundgarden said:

I’ll definitely be re-capping. Wondering about re-foaming too. 

Most KLH speakers of that era used black PVC capacitors with red ends. They are notorious for leaking so recapping is a must. There's nothing to re-foam. The woofers have cloth surrounds.

When you are through with the re-cap, reinstall the woofers. Be sure to replace the white cloth that covers the fiberglass--this keeps fibers out of the woofer. Install a new gasket between the woofer and the cabinet. The original was probably a white open cell foam that is now all flattened. Usse either gasket tape from PE or plain ol' duct seal from the electric dept of Lowes or Home Despot. Then do the 3-finger test. Push the woofer in. If it springs back immediately there is an air leak. If you have removed the tweeters they will probably need new gaskets. Otherwise the culprit is the butyl coating on the cloth surrounds. If you re-coat the surrounds use ONLY the authentic butyl sealer cooked up by our own RoyC. It's available from ebay seller Vintage-AR.

btw, I have a scan of a Twenty-Two brochure that is much too big to post here. If you want a copy send me a PM with your email address.

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Thanks again. This is really great stuff for a newbie like me. The speakers failed the "three finger" test. So I'll go with new gaskets on the woofers and tweeters and the butyl sealer. 

I got some KLH 17s too via a different order. They showed up yesterday. One of the woofers has a small tear. Any advice on repair? I've read that rubber cement and a very thin piece of cloth can do the trick. Those also fail the three finger test so I'll give them the same treatment.

Thanks!

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You can fix that with a piece of coffee filter or lens cleaning paper and Elmer’s glue. Put the patch on the back.

If the results aren't satisfactory you can often find them on ebay for around $20 + shipping.

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That seems like a simple fix. I'll give it a go.

 

In researching possible replacement woofers online, it's pretty easy to see that the cloth surrounds on some have been given a treatment with a black product, while others haven't been. Is this the butyl treatment you mentioned, and is the black treatment not authentic?

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Very hard to tell. They all had butyl from the factory and in some cases it was black. Roy’s stuff is clear. Has any given woofer on eBay been treated and with what? May be hard to tell.

The Seventeens I just did had one original black surround and the one I bought on eBay has the tan surround like yours 

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5 hours ago, Soundgarden said:

....some have been given a treatment with a black product.....

This has been mentioned a few times in this forum - - - the black surrounds simply used butyl treatment that was colored with the addition of lamp black.

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If I were to buy a replacement woofer from someone else, I would want assurance that either the surrounds are as original (never been redoped) or that only the good stuff was used (RoyC's or vintage-ar). Too many people have used Permatex, PVA glue, and other crap to seal the surrounds. If the wrong stuff has been used, the woofer will have a higher Fs, changing the way it sounds.

You cannot tell by color. As others have noted, the original woofers sometimes had black surrounds. My pair of 20's have black surrounds and they were original.

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