KLH Twenty Three Restoration-PICS

GD70

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I picked these up a few months ago from a local S.A. for $19.99.
To my surprise, they sound great! The tweeters are working, and the woofers have been re-sealed as well. The original grills are perfect with badges.

Well I finally started on them this weekend. At this point it's mostly a lot of cab work needed, and I am replacing the caps regardless, which I did the first one yesterday. I'll get these outside and sand the cabs like the AR3's so I can then assess the damage, and start splicing in veneer patches where needed.
Here's some pics of their current state and with the first cap replaced.

Glenn







These have not been opened since they were assembled.

Original crossover & recap.



Tweeter
 
I finally got to start on the cabs. I sanded the first one which eliminated about 85% of the scratches. Already looks way better. Took about 45 minutes. I'll start splicing in replacement veneer where needed. Here's a few pics.







 
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:lurk:

Nice work so far - these are worth the effort. I've done similar rehabs to several sets of speakers, including 17's.
 
:lurk:

Nice work so far - these are worth the effort. I've done similar rehabs to several sets of speakers, including 17's.

Thanks! I've got this down to a routine now. Same approach to my AR3 restoration. What I learned on that project will help this go pretty smoothly. Luckily the grills are perfect and they sound amazing.

Glenn
 
You are a real go to guy when it comes to cabinets. If I had those, well they'd not be salvaged. Maybe some shipping or duck tape along the seams to stop air leaks.
 
You are a real go to guy when it comes to cabinets. If I had those, well they'd not be salvaged. Maybe some shipping or duck tape along the seams to stop air leaks.

Thanks for that!

Luckily, the seam gaps are partial and the cabs are air tight. The visible gaps will be filled with JB weld wood. I will most likely use these in the cave, replacing my later 1972 model Six's with the vinyl veneer. Those sound great, but almost all my speakers are wood veneer and much nicer looking.
 
NIce job

I did the same with mine, thought they came out nice, and with the new Dayton caps, sound incredible.

After picture.
 

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I did the same with mine, thought they came out nice, and with the new Dayton caps, sound incredible.

After picture.

Hey cableguy,

Your Twenty three looks gorgeous! What did you use for the finish?

Cheers!
Glenn
 
nice job so far glen, ive just recapped my 23's,cabinet work is minimal so i wont bother for a while,whilst i was inside the boxes i thought about sound deadening the backs and sides,what do you think? is it worth it?
regards.
jamie.
 
nice job so far glen, ive just recapped my 23's,cabinet work is minimal so i wont bother for a while,whilst i was inside the boxes i thought about sound deadening the backs and sides,what do you think? is it worth it?
regards.
jamie.

Personally, I would just use the fiberglass stuffing as KLH did.
Nothing wrong with experimenting and see how they sound though.:thmbsp:
You can always go back.

The recap is a piece of cake on these. Such a simple crossover, yet they sound so good!

Glenn
 
yeah maybe best to keep them oem,hey glen i cant remember if you commented on my last thread but ive got my eye on some AR 5's .what are they like compared to the 23's?
 
yeah maybe best to keep them oem,hey glen i cant remember if you commented on my last thread but ive got my eye on some AR 5's .what are they like compared to the 23's?

I saw that thread, but have not heard the AR 5's so I couldn't give an opinion.
 
Repairs started

Here's a few pics of the first corner started. I realized I should have fixed the front face first, then the sides as the front corner has a space where the original corner is damaged. I'll fix this and do all the front repairs first, then the sides.
So far though, it's a big improvement.


Where I started.



Fitting the 2nd piece.


Sanded after the glue dried. Once oiled, this will virtually vanish.
 
:lurk:

Hey Glenn - this is great - thanks for sharing the progress pictures - always enjoy seeing your work!

Great work on the patches - makes for an excellent tutorial.
 
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:lurk:

Hey Glenn - this is great - thanks for sharing the progress pictures - always enjoy seeing your work!

Great work on the patches - makes for an excellent tutorial.

Hey Peter,

Thanks!

As always, I enjoy doing this work and documenting it so others who are thinking about a similar job can see it's pretty easy to do.

Glenn
 
Very cool... I'm going through some HPM100s in similar condition!

I haven't heard those, but they have a lot of fans here on the forum. Are you doing a similar restoration? I'd like to see some pics, or a link to your thread if you have one going.

Cheers, Glenn
 
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