stuckinthe70s Posted May 5, 2011 Report Share Posted May 5, 2011 I picked these up today from a elderly gentleman in the area who was the original and only owner. I have a few questions about these, I briefly hooked up the KLH's today, it seems that all drivers are working except for the tweeters. I'm assuming and hoping it's the crossovers, I'm planning to recap them so I need to start digging through the archives for info about that. My question is about the woofers, since these are acoustic suspension speakers shouldn't the woofer cone return slowly after I depress it? When I did that the cone returned pretty quickly, it is nothing like my AR3's. I didn't hear any air leaks when moving the woofer cone and the drivers all appear to be sealed properly. This would lead me to believe the surrounds could be leaking, is this something I need to address during the restoration?The cabinets on these speakers are really in pretty decent shape, considering their age, however there was a slight mishap when loading them in the car. I have a hatchback and so after we carefully laid them in the back, I slid the one to move it a bit and I heard the sound of cracking veneer. As seen in pic 3, a chunk of veneer broke off of the top edge in back. Crap! All I did was slide the speaker a bit! Fortunately I have the piece that broke off so I may attempt to glue it back in place. I'm not a woodworker so any tips on the gluing procedure would be appreciated.Now about the Janszen's, I haven't done anything with these yet since I'm not that familiar with them. Are there any known issues with these or is there anything I should check or do before hooking them up? I don't want to fry them but I would like to know if they work or not. I was thinking that to test them, I could use them with my ar3's if I remove the strap from the back of the ar's, correct? If I do that, how do I go about wiring them up? Or do I need some kind of external crossover ahead of the Janszen's? I'm not doing anything with them until I know what I'm doing, which isn't now. Thanks for any help.Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted May 5, 2011 Report Share Posted May 5, 2011 Nice!Those JansZen electrostatics are valuable, so wait until someone knowledgeable fills you in. The electrostatic panels are irreplaceable, so don't do anything that may damage them. I would not even plug them in without some guidance and I'm SURE restoration is not a DIY project. Fortunately, JansZen is still (or is it again?) in business, and they do offer repair services for vintage electrostatics:http://www.janszenlo...om/services.htmThe KLH Fives OTOH are something I know about. The non-working tweeters may very well be a crossover problem, and there is a thread about that here:http://www.classicsp...?showtopic=2557I would recommend replacing the resistors as well as the caps. They are 5 watt and prone to overheating. Attached is a photo of a recent recap of Model Fives. Here is a parts list: 2 Dayton Audio DMPC-3.0 3.0uF 250V Poly Capacitor 6 Dayton Audio DMPC-4.0 4.0uF 250V Poly Capacitor 2 Dayton Audio DMPC-15 15uF 250V Poly Capacitor 2 Dayton Audio DMPC-25 25uF 250V Poly Capacitor 2 Vishay MKP1837 0.01uF 1% tolerance bypass caps 2 Mills 10 Ohm 12W Non-Inductive Resistor 4 Mills 15 Ohm 12W Non-Inductive Resistor 2 Mills 5 Ohm 12W Non-Inductive Resistor 2 Mills 6 Ohm 12W Non-Inductive ResistorI doubt the bypass caps do anything, but thought I'd give 'em a try.The Five was KLH's competitor for the AR3a, so it should sound similar and yes, the woofer should take about 1-1/2 second to return. Sounds like an air leak. It "could" be the cloth surrounds or maybe you'll find some other source of a leak.The veneer is not a problem if you have the piece. You can glue the piece in with brown carpenter's glue (I think Elmer's is the brand), hide glue, or epoxy. I've written here about John O'Hanlon's technique of tinting epoxy with #22 Mixol tint. This is very useful for patching what appears to be a small corner ding on the other speaker. But if it's just the one piece that came off and you retrieved it, glue it back on. You can use masking tape to hold it in place, and maybe put a piece of wax paper over it, then place heavy weights on top while the glue sets. Afterward you can sand very lightly. If any of the glue has oozed out, first scrape it with a razor blade. Should be fine.I know you said you're not a woodworker, but I would recommend refinishing the cabinets. Here is a good write-up:http://www.pinkfishm...d.php?p=1228184IMHO (and others') the varnish finish on the KLH Five is kind of crappy. Maybe it's age, but the varnish has yellowed and become dull. You can safely remove it with Formby's refinisher or any paint remover intended for use on furniture. After stripping, you can wipe on a few coats of Watco Danish Oil. This process will bring out the beauty of the walnut.Good luck!Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckinthe70s Posted May 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2011 Wow Kent, that's a lot of good info you left, it is much appreciated! I will be ordering new caps soon to get the speakers running again, I haven't yet decided how much I'm going to do to the cabinets as I'm not sure if these will be staying with me, I may re-sell them. I have one other small issue regarding the grills, the wood frames are a bit warped mainly towards the bottom. I was trying to think if there is any way to get them straightened back out although I'm not too hopeful about that. Maybe if they were slightly humidified and then pressed flat for some time, might help, maybe not. The grill cloth is in pretty good shape, I'll just need to gently clean it a bit.The Janszen's will remain sitting doing nothing until I get more assistance. I wasn't sure what forum to put those in so I included them here. If there's a better place that someone knows of please let me know.Thanks again for all the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted May 5, 2011 Report Share Posted May 5, 2011 I have one other small issue regarding the grills, the wood frames are a bit warped mainly towards the bottom. I was trying to think if there is any way to get them straightened back out although I'm not too hopeful about that. Maybe if they were slightly humidified and then pressed flat for some time, might help, maybe not. Take a look at that link for pink elephant or whatever it was called. He addressed straightening the grilles. After you clean the cloth with upholstery cleaner or whatever they'll be a little damp. Put them face down on a flat CLEAN surface and weigh them down so they stay flat.good luckKent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted May 6, 2011 Report Share Posted May 6, 2011 I'm not sure if these will be staying with me, I may re-sell them. If you are not keeping them, you can save a little on the xo rebuild without sacrificing quality. Madisound sells Carli mylar caps that are very good and cost less than the Daytons from PE. You could use:Carli 2.7 (close enough to 3.0, or add a GE 0.33)Carli 3.9Carli 15Carli 20 + 4.7For the resistors, Madisound sells nice Eagles, but not in all the sizes you need. You could use:Eagle 15 ohmEagle (or sand cast) 5 ohmEagle 5.6 ohm or sand cast 15watt 6 ohmSand cast 15watt 10 ohm or Eagle 9 ohm or Mundorf 10 ohmThe 15 watt sand cast resistors are physically a bit large, and 10 watts is plenty, but they are cheap. The Eagles are nice, easy to work with, but some of the values are a little off (not a serious problem). Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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