doug76710 Posted March 28, 2021 Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Hello, I'm new here after being referred from another forum. I recently decided to dive into the world of speaker recapping and I'm starting with an early pair of KLH 6's. I have skills in woodworking and a host of other areas but not electronics. Because of my lack of skills and inability to competently read schematics, I intended to research cap values, order the caps, and replace them cap for cap one at a time, keeping everything as simple as possible. However, I'm on speaker number one of a dozen I intend to go through and I'm already in trouble. I anticipated that I'd get through the epoxy under the plate and find two 2.0uF capacitors and an 8.0uF capacitor inside the cabinet. Instead, I get the epoxy out and find the three position switch, some resistors and a single large-ish cardboard capacitor. I'm hoping someone can explain to me in lay terms how to proceed. I hope my photos are sized correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug76710 Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 I'm continuing to research and found an old AK post that I think makes sense to me. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/klh-6-spearkers-klh-6-recap-how-to.609886/ If I'm sorting this out correctly, it looks like from the cardboard capacitor, each red wire will get a 2uF cap and share a common black wire termination? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted March 28, 2021 Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Correct keep looking for the 8uF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug76710 Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Thanks JKent...glad to get confirmation. I guess the bottom line is that I'm replacing a dual cap with two individual caps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted March 28, 2021 Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Yes. Two 2uF caps. But trace the tweeter wire to find the 8uF. I assume you have the epoxied woofer? Could be difficult Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug76710 Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Yes, epoxied. I haven't pulled out the insulation yet but I assume the 8uF will be more straightforward than this dual cap. Of course now that I understand it, it doesn't seem so daunting. Once I get the capacitors replaced, I plan on refinishing the cabinets and cutting away the cloth so I can treat the surround. Then, I'll make some masonite frames and cover in linen. The veneer is in great shape with no chips or separations, however, at some point they were redone with a heavily tinted stain or diluted paint that is much lighter (almost orange hue) than the walnut would have originally been. I'm about to try a bit of thinner on a rag and see it has any effect. Hopefully I can get down to nice veneer without too much sanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug76710 Posted March 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Mineral spirits does nothing to this brushed on finish so the cabinets will take further examination. Removed the insulation and see the 8uF cap in a metal housing. Clearly not enough lead running to the tweeter to raise it up out of the cabinet for easy soldering, so yes, will be a huge challenge for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted March 28, 2021 Report Share Posted March 28, 2021 Leave it. The metal cap is oil filled and probably good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug76710 Posted March 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 So...these cabinets definitely have a veneer, it's clearly visible along it's edge on the back of the cabinet. However, it isn't walnut! I think these may have been unfinished birch and a previous owner applied the finish. I'm using a citrus stripper and in a test area it exposed pale, bland veneer. Pity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted March 29, 2021 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 On 3/28/2021 at 12:40 PM, doug76710 said: I'm on speaker number one of a dozen I intend to go through and I'm already in trouble. Of your dozen vintage speakers you may have picked the most challenging to start with! Sounds like you have it under control though. I'll be interested to see what your veneer looks like once it's been stripped. With your woodworking skills you may be able to make them look beautiful, just not walnut. You can always stain the birch. There are threads on both AK and here about that. Or leave them blond if the veneer is in good shape. Then you might want to look at various options for the grille cloth. The 18 count Lambswool linen used on AR speaker restorations might not offer enough contrast but if you go to 20 count linen there are colorful choices https://www.123stitch.com/m/20-Count-Linen-style-Cross-Stitch-Fabric Or there's always the standard black or brown stretchy grille cloth. Those 8uF caps are oil-filled. Many people consider them superior to other caps. They're probably still good, although it would be nice to test them. Word is Henry Kloss used to haunt the electronics surplus shops to get deals on caps. That explains some of the weird 2-in-1 caps used in many KLH speakers and the military surplus oil caps. Keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted March 29, 2021 Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 I thought the grain in the photos looked kind of fake, like brushed-on glaze "antiquing." If you can get them clean enough, a clear-finish on birch would probably up the rarity quotient quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug76710 Posted March 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2021 Thanks for the info JKent, and genek, you were right. It looked like I was seeing some grain but there were also obvious brush marks and I think a glaze is exactly what it was. They'd applied a color coat, then brushed on the glaze to mimic horizontal grain. Here is a picture after one coat of stripper. I think I'll try one more coat before I break out the sandpaper. If I could reach the point where I had all the color out of the grain, I'd definitely consider leaving them blond and trying a linen in the browner hues which I think would look great. Seeing the photo here after uploading, I can say, it's much lighter than this phone camera is showing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted March 30, 2021 Report Share Posted March 30, 2021 If you're not able to get it light enough to be blond, you can put a bit of color in to simulate age on heartwood. The pictures below are both natural birch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug76710 Posted March 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2021 That heartwood color is very nice, I could live with that in a minute and could stick with a more traditional off white cloth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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