Klipsch Chorus 2 Restoration Project

[Bill O'Connell]

Those really turned out beautiful   Nice work!

[richidoo]

They came out really nice.
How do you cut the driver holes in the veneer after it is glued down? What cutting tool?
Thanks
Rich

[rollo]

   Really good job. Looking good Amigo. Enjoy !!!

charles

[BobM]

Looks great. Good job. How's the sound?

[bpape]

Great job.  That combination of finishes really pops 

Bryan

[stringdriventhing]

Wow, thanks for the generous words all! Gotta say that there were times during the process that I wanted to torch the damn things, then realized that they weren't the problem, though my lack of woodworking skill and proper shop space certainly were. Now that I've had a run of days to just relax and let my eye grow accustomed, I'm starting to kinda dig the look of 'em.

You nailed it Rich, the cut-outs for the drivers were the real nail-biter! My "special tool" was a Stanley sheetrock knife + constant changes of premium quality blades. I got the best results with blades from an outfit by the name of Irwin - sharpest, longest lasting edge. I was in a panic because the white ash burl veneer was just ridiculously brittle and the "conditioner" I had applied, to make it more pliable for installation, had dried out by the time I started the cut-outs. All that I had to do was to keep a fresh blade handy, GO SLOW, and remember to breathe. The other BIG cutting issue was the Makore veneer I applied to the top & sides. Because I really like the look of the Gamut speakers with the zebrawood grain running from side-to-side, rather than up 'n down, I chose the same approach with the Makore. Unfortunately, that caused the lion's share of my trimming to be "cross-grain". Yow! Only two small chip-outs though. Not bad for a rookie.

Bryan, thanks to you for the "pop" comment, means a lot to me. I had intended to apply a straight clear-coat to the ash but after working up a sample board I knew that more pop was exactly what I wanted. After applying a base "wash coat" of shellac, I applied three different color coats to the ash. Starting with the deepest color, Vintage Maple, I sanded that coat almost completely off, leaving only the burl details "colored". I then applied a second lighter color, Amber Maple, and once dried sanded a large portion of it off as well, leaving only a "suggestion" of a deeper amber hue. I than applied two coats of an amber shellac to finish the color schedule and seal the Transtint dyes I used prior to applying four coats of a really nice working water-borne varnish.

The Makore proved to be where I feel I missed the mark. I discovered a finish schedule for mahogany, an open-grained wood like the Makore, that claimed grain-filling would be unnecessary. No such luck. My finish, after buffing & polishing, is NOT looking glassy smooth & mirror-like. Oh hell, it's a darkish room and no one gives a rat's butt but me. C'est la vie.

I just received an email from Bob Crites, maker of my replacement crossovers, and the titanium tweeter replacements will arrive in a week or two. After installing them, I'll mount the new "outriggers" to the bases and that will be the finish line. By then I hope to have my Rogue amp back from repairs and then I can fire these puppies up. Bob, the pre-mod Choruses sounded just fine driven by the Modwright KWA-100SE I had on hand then. It's my fervent hope that the mechanical upgrades + tubes will amount to a good listen. - String       

   

[richidoo]

Not bad for a rookie.

Nah, Looks like a pro job! Thanks for the advice. I gotta check your source mentioned above for veneer, as Rockler is too $$.  Rockler does have a "veneer saw" that looks very useful, but only for straight lines. I guess preveneering before routing the circles would be ideal, but you can't do that on a refinish job like yours.

[jsaliga]

Wow String, you did all of that for your cat? 

Seriously, your speakers look beautiful and I'd wager they sound great.  Congrats!

--Jerome

[SigShot]

Hiya - I'm new to forum posting, period, let alone new to Audio Nervosa. I'm getting my feet wet posting, a bit, in a few relevant topic areas. I promise to do my best not to piss anyone off and I'd ask ya'll to give me a "heads-up" if I cross a line out of ignorance. Anyway, I'm home recovering from a couple of major surgeries and decided to totally retool my home audio as a means of killing the boredom and hopefully hitting on better sounding systems as well. Currently, the "big ticket" item in my project is trying to breathe some life into a 22-year old pair of Klipsch Chorus 2 speakers. I bought them off of Craig's List for a very reasonable $400, for the very clean mechanical shape they were in. There were some minor cosmetic issues that were entirely meaningless to me as I knew I would want to pimp them out with new veneer. The last of my refinishing supplies are due in this coming week so I'm ready to pull the trigger on this possibly VERY foolish venture. I'll probably post some progress reports w/ pics. Thanks for letting me hang out - String 

A complete shot in the dark, but how could I see the pics that were on this post or reach out to the OP?

[Admin]

Hello and welcome SigShot,

This thread goes back to 2011 and this forum and other forums that I know of don't keep pictures for that length of time. The storage cost would be quite expensive.

I also did a search on that individual and he is not in our database.

Nick - Admin