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[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

Almost find, yesterday at the GW a B&O RX turntable. No cart though, and the lid was really a mess. It was pretty dirty and the metal deck was separated from the base, but I think it snaps right back down, and I'm pretty sure the lid can be buffed out.

But I already have an RX from an estate sale a while back and I don't think it sounds all that good. It was only 5 bucks, but I left it on the shelf.

Beograms have a definite "cool factor" but you're right: they don't really sound all that good. When you consider that the cartridge prices start at $200, there's really no good reason for messing with them.

Also, if memory serves, the metal deck is glued in place. Also, look at the gimbals sometime. It's a joke, really.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Beograms have a definite "cool factor" but you're right: they don't really sound all that good. When you consider that the cartridge prices start at $200, there's really no good reason for messing with them.

Also, if memory serves, the metal deck is glued in place. Also, look at the gimbals sometime. It's a joke, really.

Some years back I got my first B&O 4004 tangential tracker at an estate sale for $50 bucks. It's so fekkin' gorgeous I just had to have it. And it had B&O's best "contact line" cart on it too. When I got it home I hooked it up along side the Linn Sondek through the Denon AU-320 step-up (with the dual input switch), and AB'd them with my two copies of "The Machine That Cried."

The B&O sounded like somebody had hung Pendleton camp blankets over the Mani-2's. So it sits beautifully in a box down in the basement.

[icenine]

About a week ago I found some Timeframes 700s....
I usually have been holding off on speakers but these were too good to leave.

Even being pushed by my Maggie 196 SEP they sound awesome..and that is in my garage.

[Boreas]

Picked up a set of KLH Seventeens on CL this weekend. They still have the original screw-on badges and the original grilles. One was broken by the seller because he tried to remove the grille without first removing the badge. I managed to repair it and have patched in all the chips in the veneer with salvaged walnut veneer. Next step is to completely refinish the cabinets while I wait for the XO caps to arrive and while I wait for vintage-ar to get back from vacation so I can order sealant for the surrounds.

They're by no means the best speakers I've ever owned but there's something about them I really like and I've been missing the last set I had ever since they walked out the door. There's something about the sound that I really like.

John

[icenine]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Picked up a set of KLH Seventeens on CL this weekend. They still have the original screw-on badges and the original grilles. One was broken by the seller because he tried to remove the grille without first removing the badge. I managed to repair it and have patched in all the chips in the veneer with salvaged walnut veneer. Next step is to completely refinish the cabinets while I wait for the XO caps to arrive and while I wait for vintage-ar to get back from vacation so I can order sealant for the surrounds.

They're by no means the best speakers I've ever owned but there's something about them I really like and I've been missing the last set I had ever since they walked out the door. There's something about the sound that I really like.

John

I did not really take a shine to mine...I let them go with a pair of Pioneer CS-99As I gave away for $80. I think the KLH Model Six is much better, as is the AR4x. Maybe it was just me. I leave them when I see them now. I do want some KLH Model Fives though.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by icenine

I did not really take a shine to mine...I let them go with a pair of Pioneer CS-99As I gave away for $80. I think the KLH Model Six is much better, as is the AR4x. Maybe it was just me. I leave them when I see them now. I do want some KLH Model Fives though.

The Fives are very pretty but the XOs are sort of a nightmare. Nevertheless, I'd like to have a set.

I agree that there are better KLH speakers, my Model Twenty-Threes for instance and I actually prefer these to the Sixes. I just sorta like the Seventeens for some reason.

One thing though: any of these speakers will sound pretty uninspiring unless re-capped (KLH used really shitty caps.) and re-sealed with the right stuff. These are my third set. I didn't do the correct job on the first and thought them boring. I did do it right for set #2 and loved them. Hoping for similar results with set #3.

John

[icenine]

Originally Posted by Boreas

The Fives are very pretty but the XOs are sort of a nightmare. Nevertheless, I'd like to have a set.

I agree that there are better KLH speakers, my Model Twenty-Threes for instance and I actually prefer these to the Sixes. I just sorta like the Seventeens for some reason.

One thing though: any of these speakers will sound pretty uninspiring unless re-capped (KLH used really shitty caps.) and re-sealed with the right stuff. These are my third set. I didn't do the correct job on the first and thought them boring. I did do it right for set #2 and loved them. Hoping for similar results with set #3.

John

I actually had Fred Longworth do mine since I was afraid of recapping when I first started collecting speakers. I never really tried them with a solid state amp though, and my Jolida 102b does not have a good low end sometimes.
Oddly the Sixes sounded better with my tube amp. I would really like some KLH Model Twenty-Threes. To me the orphan Five I had (without a working tweet) sounded really awesome....and much more like a West Coast monitor me.

I have pair of Legacy speakers I do not like I may put them on CL soon. No they are not Focals.

[icenine]

Luxman R-115 at Savers $26.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Picked up a set of KLH Seventeens on CL this weekend.

Stripped, veneer repaired, cabinets refinished with tung oil, recapped with a combination of Daytons and Solens and resealed with the right butyl/toluene mix. The repaired original grilles are in place so they're completely together but I do need to make up a new set of grilles. Pictures when totally finished.

Meanwhile, I hooked them up in my system and, after a few CDs and albums, the caps were burned in and the surrounds were limbered up. Nice! They can be driven hard but they don't need to be driven hard. That differentiates them from the Twenty-Threes, which do sort of need it, and makes them better for my current situation of having noise-phobic upstairs neighbors in a 100+ year old house.

John

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by icenine

Luxman R-115 at Savers $26.

Jesus! That's a steal!

John