Whats up with the KLH Twenty-Sixes?

[zenith2134]

Hi, went thrifting today and scored a clean set of klh 26 speakers for 2 bucks apiece. The cones and grilles are still in great shape as well.

I used the search function here and only found out they aren't worth much and came as part of integrated setups back in the day.

But really, how do these stack up against the infamous vintage KLH"s? Coulda fooled me if they are junk... Woofer and tweeter look identical, plus the wood is actually kinda nice. Thanks for any help

[zenith2134]

Party-is-Over. One tweeter is dead. I plan on throwing some interesting tweeters in these and updating the crossover caps since the woofers sound nice with tubes :thmbsp:

[jpdylon]

Although the 26 was not what made KLH famous, its not a terrible speaker. If you find a pair of model 24, it uses the same mid/tweeter speaker that the 26 has. Of course, if you find a pair of 24, I think you'll find they kick the crap outa the 26 :D

my .02

[mhardy6647]

Are you sure the tweeter's dead? The XO caps in the old KLHs tend to fail to the extent that the tweeter has no output. I'd say about 3 time out of 4, on average (IME), it's the capacitor, not the driver.

[zenith2134]

Yes unfortunately the tweeters a goner. I took it out of the speaker and tried a 1.5v AA battery across it momentarily. Not a thing.

Other tweeter sings nicely. I'm thinking of ordering up some from partsexpress.

[mhardy6647]

post a photo of the tweeter if you get a chance; I might have a replacement (might).

[John in MA]

You should have posted this a month ago, I used to have a couple sets of these things. Not a bad speaker, not an outstanding one either.