|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
70.139.57.6
I have a pair of KLH Model 5s that are functioning perfectly. My stereo is mostly vintage stuff complete with vintage fussiness. I've decided to replace my components with modern ones as they fail rather than pursuing more vintage gear. I make enough money now that I could afford a $2-3K dollar pair of speakers or perhaps even more If I save longer. I like the KLHs very much and they function perfectly. They are my one piece of vintage gear with no vintage fussiness. I am a firm believer in "if it aint broke". But compared to modern speakers they aren't great with the soundstage and lack a little high end flare. Don't get me wrong though, they sound wonderful. They have great dynamics, articulation and tonal color. And the soundstage isn't bad, it is very good just not great compared to higher end speakers available today.
So could I get much more out of these speakers if I modernized what I could like putting modern components in the crossovers and replacing the terminals with a better material? Is the KLH Model 5 stock about as good as you are going to get out of those 50 year old speakers? I've already resealed the cloth surrounds.
Long question short: If I decide I am not happy with the sound and want to upgrade do I have options with these speakers or should I really look at something newish?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Nate
You can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump -- W.C. Fields
Follow Ups:
texanater, You have a fine set of loudspeakers in those KLH Model Fives.
I concur with the need to replace the electrolytic caps, specially those in series with the tweeter. Chances are they have dried out and are way below spec value by now, resulting in low tweeter output. Dayton Audio metalized polypropylenes caps from Parts Express are inexpensive and work well. I just did this in a pair of KLH Sixes and they now have plenty of high-end sparkle.
Your crossover coils will be fine, as likely are the resistors. Maybe squirt a touch of contact cleaner in the two switches. No need to replace the terminals.
In addition to the woofer surrounds and dust caps, did you reseal the midrange surrounds too? (The woofers in my Sixes need resealing but that entails cutting out the grill cloth and its black backing cloth. I'm reluctant to do this since the grills are in pristine condition.)
Incidentally, I suspect that Henry Kloss voiced his designs with the grills in place. Certainly so with the Sixes since the grill cloth is not removable: It's epoxyed in, as are the drivers.
You're probably aware of the Classic Speaker Pages info. (See link.)
Recaping it will bring back A LOT of the treble that you lost. Those caps have dried out and are the cause of a lot of that frequency loss you hear.
I would also loose the grill fabric. Try listening to it without the grills on. See if that is one of the reasons the treble is muted.
A lot of those vintage speakers used some pretty heavy grill cloth. In those days "fashion" was a big part of selling those speakers. All that cloth did was mute your treble.
You are not going to find a "new" equivalent to that type of speaker. If yo like it keep it. If not try new speakers first before selling them.
charles
These are really nice speakers. I don't think terminals will make an audible difference. The crossovers will make a HUGE difference. If you replace the electrolytic capacitors (which will be far out of spec by now) with high quality polypropylene you will be very happy. The crossovers in these are very simple. You will need to pull the drivers out as there is no way to get into the cabinet. Get some speaker caulk to seal them back and have fun! The value on these is not great, so you should at least see how they sound with a refresh. This is based in a model 5 project I did about 10 yrs ago...
do NOT modify them in any way. Let the buyer do that. Personally I've
very wary of buying any product that has been modified by its owner. It's
never clear to me that owners know what they are doing. So leave the 5s
bone stock if you want to sell.
Unfortunately that ship has sailed, the tweeters were blown when I bought them, and they needed some tlc. I replaced the tweeters with a pair I got on eBay. I know what I'm doing though, I've got a science degree and a lot of time in labs. The veneer was rough too and I sanded them and restrained them with a darker walnut. They look fine and sound great, but they are not untouched. But hey, I got them for $60 plus another $30-$40 in parts etc... I'm not too worried about resale. So far, other than the darker stain which is still a walnut stain, it is stock.
You can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump -- W.C. Fields
If so, though they may still be fine speakers, they are no longer KLH 5's. I would just keep them for a second system and replace them with something like used Spendors.
KLH used the same tweeters for the 5s, 6s and a couple other models. I forget exactly which speaker the tweeters came from, but I made sure they were the correct ones.
You can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump -- W.C. Fields
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: