KLH Model 6 help needed

[Guest lambke2001]

I recently saved a pair from the landfill and tried them when I got home. The woofers sound great but the tweeters are barely audible. The frequency switch in back was no help. In an effort to find the problem, I removed the components. (after reading some of the posts, I realize how lucky I am to have a later model) It looks as if the tweeter may have been replaced in the past. It is square and black with a square magnet and base with no visible markings. There are extra screw holes that lead me to this. I tested it independitly and apears to work fine. I am not sure if the wiring has been messed with but everything is spliced with wire nuts. Is this normal?

My questions are: How can I tell if the tweeter is original or replacement and what could my problem be and how to fix it? Could the frequency switch be bad?

Any help would be appreciated.

Model# 102324

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

Please post a front and rear photo if you can, it makes everything so much easier for an opinion then.

Good luck.

[Guest lambke2001]

Here are the pics as requested. Thanks.

[tysontom]

... The woofers sound great but the tweeters are

>barely audible. The frequency switch in back was no help. In

>an effort to find the problem, I removed the components.

>(after reading some of the posts, I realize how lucky I am to

>have a later model) It looks as if the tweeter may have been

>replaced in the past. It is square and black with a square

>magnet and base with no visible markings. There are extra

>screw holes that lead me to this. I tested it independitly and

>apears to work fine. I am not sure if the wiring has been

>messed with but everything is spliced with wire nuts. Is this

>normal?

> My questions are: How can I tell if the tweeter is original

>or replacement and what could my problem be and how to fix it?

>Could the frequency switch be bad?

>Any help would be appreciated.

>

>Model# 102324

The tweeters appear to be authentic, original-style (second-generation) KLH Model Six tweeters. The problem, most likely, is "KLH Chronic-Capacitor Syndrome," an affliction that effects many (if not most of) the old KLH Fours, Sixes and perhaps other models. Check and replace the crossover capacitor, and you should be able to bring the speaker back to life if the tweeter has not been damaged.

--Tom

[tysontom]

...There are extra

>screw holes that lead me to this. I tested it independitly and

>apears to work fine. I am not sure if the wiring has been

>messed with but everything is spliced with wire nuts. Is this

>normal?

The extra screw-hole might be indicative of another issue that KLH faced: wood screws. Unlike AR -- which used "T-Nuts" and machine screws -- KLH, Advent and nearly all other speaker manufacturers used expansion-type wood screws into flake-board or MDF-type wood. This was done to save money, of course, and it generally worked fine. But if a screw stripped-out a hole in the MDF, a new location had to be found to mount the screw.

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/dc/user_files/1352.jpg

AR-10Pi Cabinet Details

Wire nuts (famous for household wiring) are another way of tying-together various wires in the crossover. It is an inexpensive method of doing this, and it usually works satisfactorily in most cases. The stripped wires are twisted together and then a wire nut is tightened-down onto this connection. Sometimes a wire nut is "crimped" onto the connection, which is somewhat better. Once again, AR and some other manufacturers, soldered *all* connections to the crossover or to terminal strips or other ways, but never used wire nuts. On most restorations I have done on KLH speakers, I usually discard the wire nuts and re-strip the wire-ends and then splice the two ends with insulated Thomas & Betts butt splices, then cover with shrinkable tubing. These crimped-splices "fuse" the wire together in a union that is considered to be better than actually soldering. The problem is that you have to have the proper tool to do it correctly. In the absence of this, soldering the area under the wire nut is a good safeguard.

--Tom Tyson

[Guest lambke2001]

Thanks for the info.

Please excuse my ignorance but where can I get these and how do I know which one. (just so I know what I'm replacing- is it the small cardboard tube with the 3 wires?) Sorry to be uneducated on this matter, but I'm willing to learn.