RESTORATION PROJECT

2023 Khorn Restoration

A complete transformation is about to happen!

I don’t get the time to do many Khorn restorations anymore. Building Volti Audio horn speakers keeps me very busy. But every once in a while, an alignment of time and opportunity presents itself, and I say YES!

Here are the “before” shots

They’ve been in the family since new, and now being set up in a new media room for family entertainment. They will be used as a two-channel music system and also part of the home theater surround sound system.

I’m honored to be the one to bring these back to life and make them better than new in every way.

Disassembly Begins

So now the work begins. Pull all the compononents and break everything down into individual pieces.

Old Components

The old components have been sold already.

Sanding, Filling, and Prep Work

The sanding, filling, and prep work begins

I carefully masked over the original decals

I’ve decided not to fill all the screw holes on the backs as I’ve done in the past. This time I’m doing selective filling around the holes to neaten things up a bit before painting.

C-Style to B-Style Cabinet Update

This pair of Khorns was originally sold in the “C”-style cabinet. As part of this restoration, I’ll be adding the extra plate and riser to make them into the “B”-style. Here are the risers I built

Veneer and Edgebanding

So now with all the parts fixed and the new parts made, it’s time to apply the wood veneer, starting with the edgebanding.

After edgebanding, the wood veneer pieces are applied to the panels in a vacuum bag.

Then they are trimmed

The bass horns proved to be a bit of challenge

All of the parts are pre-assembled prior to sanding/finishing. This makes the final assembly a piece of cake.

Finish sanding and detailing, and then immediately into the paint room for the clear lacquer finish.

This stump walnut veneer has it all – rich tone, nice color variation, an interesting grain pattern, figuring, and texture.

Grill Frames and Painting

The bass horn side grill frames were in pretty good shape. But the triangle braces needed to be glued to tighten them up.

The parts are ready for painting. We’re using a very durable, textured black paint.

Here the grill frames have just been primed.

More painting

Sanding the primer on the grill frames and then into the paint room for the lacquer

Assembly Begins

The assembly begins. Painting the woofer motorboards and woofer chamber covers

Installing woofers and mounting the first plate on top of the bass horn

Parts have been pre-assembled prior to sanding and finishing, which makes these next steps much easier to do

Listening Room Test

They now reside in my listening room and I must say, they sound wonderful.

My listening room does not have proper corners and the Khorns are not fitting tightly in the corners. But they still sound great. This is a familiar sound that brings back memories of my own Khorns in my listening room up in Maine all those years ago. Khorns fill a room like no other speaker. The scale is the first thing you notice, and then the dynamics of the horn bass, and then the full, rich midrange. Stock Khorns of any age do not sound anywhere near this good.

Side Grills

Here’s a few pictures of the side grills.

Beauty Shots

Packed for Trip Home

Packed into the trailer for the trip home.

I’ve had a couple of people ask me how much this restoration cost. Including pickup and delivery (two trips, 1100 miles each with a truck and trailer), about $20,000.

Considering that new Khorns cost $16K and don’t sound or look anywhere near as nice as this pair, the cost is reasonable I think. Yes it’s a lot of money, but they will knock the socks off of any hi-fi speaker on the market regardless of price!

I’ll post pictures of them installed in their new room when the owner sends me some.

Greg