phobos

Well, those of you who responded to my original post several days back asked me to reppost once I got the kohorns up and running. I picked them up Sunday and actually got to listen to them for a few hours last night. All I can say is WOW! Even my wife, who is tone deaf and who thinks a clock radio sounds as good as any other system, was impressed. I put in her favorite Celine Dion CD and she was amazed. I normally don't care for Celine Dion but, when playing through the khorns, it sounded good enought that even I wanted to keep listening. What really sounded good was "Money" from the "Delicate Sound of Thunder" CD from Pink Floyd. Money is like my least favorite Pink Floyd song but, this live version, with my smewhat pedestrian 80 watts of tube amplification playing through the khorns, was like I was there at a live Pink Floyd Show. "Run Like Hell" sounded even better. Once that CD was done, I put on "Lay it Down" by Cowboy Junkies. I have played this CD a zillion times in the past and through the khorns, I heard instruments and guitar riff's I had never heard before. It was nearly a religeous experience. I would like to thank everyone on here for their great advice. My khorns replaced a pair of magenpan's that I have had for several years and which had served me well. I was sort of hesitant to buy the Khorns. I was worried about how they would sound and so on. Now they are connected, they really do sound better in my family room with my particular tube amplification. I sort of hate to sell them and see them go but, really........ I have the space for only one set of larger than average speakers. I have to keep the khorns. Thanks for all the helpful input.

Well, I have done the deal and agreed to purchase these beasts. I bought the 1990 model year units that were located closer to me than the 1991 ones. The 1990 ones were also less money. Now, I have to get a friend/relative to go pick these up with me. I was reading the specs and at 167 lbs each, they weigh as much as a Back Street Boy. They weigh more than my wife and my 2 year old daughter together. I will probably get my brother-in-law to help me with these. Anyway, the 1991 pair I did not buy were for sale by a person whose email address is rhubbard@nesbeonline.com He saw me place a bid on a pair on ebay and mailed me that he had a pair similar to what I had bid on. (I had lost the auction on ebay.... it went to too much $$$ for me) He had sent over many pictures of his khorns and they appear to be in perfect condition. He also says he has the original boxes and is willing to ship. Hopefully, I will have these in a week or so and get them hooked up and see how they sound with my tube equipment.

I am planning on purchasing a pair of KornerHorn speakers and have a few questions. Someone fairly local to me (Less than 200 miles) is selling a pair of 1990 khorns. Another person, who is much farther and thus, would have to ship them is selling a pair of 1991 khorns (for more $). Yet a 3rd person I know of is selling another set of khorns from the late 90's who is just at the edge of how far I am willing to drive. First, can someone tell me what design changes may have been made between the 1990 and 1991 models, and between 1991 and 1998 models? Of course, the person with the newer kornerhors wants more money for them, which is understandable. I am just not sure what differences, if any, may exist. If there have been no major manufacturing changes or, simple changes I could make myself like changing drives or crossovers, I would go for the older khorns. I asked each seller if they have ever modified anything and they each said they had not altered anything. Second, I have a question about room placement/dimensions. After reading through these forums, it appears these really sound best when placed in a corner. This is great as I currently have my existing speakers each in a corner. There should be no problem there. However, the room dimensions are about 18 feet by 26 feet by 17 feet high. The speakers would be on the 18' wall firing the longways across the room. The place I normally sit to listen is near the center of the room. Would aanyone know of any problems caused by the fairly high ceiling in my room or by any of the room dimensions I have mentioned? Lastly, I plan on driving these with a tube amplifier. A Cary SLI-80 to be exact. It has 80 watts of power in untra-linear mode and 40 watts of power in triode mode. I currently drive a pair of Magnepan MGIIIa's and while they sound very good, even at 80 watts, these speakers with an 85 db/m sensitivity just do not go that loud. Heck, my last amp was 250 watts per side and they did not play any louder. While I am sure running a pair of khorns even in the 40 watt mode will give more than satisfactory volume levels, does anyone know how well of a match the kornerhorns are to a tube type ampifier. I have read that these work great with SET amp's but I was wondering if you can use a non SET type tube amp(like mine) without any problems. I am mainly worried about the speakers sounding honkey or shrill sounding. I like to listen to all types of music. From Michelle Shocked to Moby to Sisters of Mercy to the odd classical CD. I am hoping these can reproduce all type of music without issue. Does anyone know if the khorns favor any type of music over another? Thanks in advance for any information. I know this is a long post but, I have never had any horn type speakers before and this would be my first purchase. I am torn between the khorns and the belles. It seems khorns are more popular (cant find many belles for sale) and by the specs, they have a little lower low end so, I have decided to go with them.