Ki Choi

Yeah... I agree. My ears are more tuned to the sound of real pianos than any other insturments. Although I am not a piano player, both of my kids play their Yamaha grand piano nearly every day reminding me of the holly grail. I have tried to recreate the sound coming from our living room - by using some of the best hardware available... I read a letter in the Sterephile magazine few years ago from a person who was shocked at prices of their Class A modern equipment and further stated the most realistic piano recreation he'd ever heard was from a pair vintage Khorns driven by a Marant 8B tube amp. I haven't tried 8B with my K-hrons but the Citation II came closest for me. Ki

Few years back in one of the Milwaukee area Sunday swap meets - one got away from me. Leaving the meet, I was with a friend who spotted an elderly guy walking in with a Marantz 8B two seconds prior to me recognizing the "thing" the old guy was carrying. My friend stopped him and asked for the price as I was watching. The old person wanted... $500...I was speechless. I never saw a person open his wallet as fast as my buddy did that morning. Then the old fellow said he had another one in his car in the parking lot...and offerred to sell both for $800 if my friend would take them both. I went straight home and kicked my neighbor's cat.

Few years back when we lived in Wisconsin, Holly Cole's "Don't Smoke in Bed" used to be one of the top show-your-system-off standards in audiophile circle. The songs in the CD are very good as well as its sonics and I must have played the CD more times than any other CDs (maybe Jennifer Warnes' "Famous Blue Rain Coat" few times more). I had two copies of each CD and compared two different digitial front ends (Theta signle box CD player vs. string of Audio Alchemy black boxes) playing through, at the time, a Krell power amp (KSA 150) and a pair of B&W 801 S3's with my kids listening in as my reality check for weeks - driving them mad at thier early age. Needless to say, I was very familiar with all the songs on Cole's CD's both musically and sonically. Ms Cole came to Milwakee for a live show in a relatively realistic small jazz club. Wife and I got there early enough to get the best possible table similar in distance and angles from to what I had with my speakers set up in the full basement at the time. After all those listening sessions of Cole's "Don't Smoke in Bed," she sang the first song, the "Tennesse Waltz." As she finished and others were clapping and howlering, I looked at my wife and said, this sounds terrible... There was no "imaging" or "wide sound stage." None of the audiophile vocabularies applied for the Cole's performance that evening. I remember the dissappointment vividly even to this day. (I had similar exprience in AKUS concert in Benneroya Hall in Seattle later.) However, by the end of the evening, I was having a good time 'feeling" the tunes first and listening secondarily. I realized this is what Live Music in a jazz club should like. I haven't been able to recreate being in front of the live preformance experience in my house until I got a pair Khorns To add to what's been already said in this thread, if you are interested in reproducing the recording sessions in a controlled recording studio environment, the B&W Nautilus series speakers will do that well (explains why some of the recording studios use B&W's a their monitor speakers). On the other hand, if you play a live recording of a concert and wish to recreat the feel of being there, Khorns are my choice. Ki

I had a pair of N802's powered by sometimes Krell FPB 700Cx or a pair of Bryston 7bST's. Very nice refined soud and I would play the system over the weekends whenever I can get to it. To sum it up, my wife liked their looks and my non-audio friends shook their heads at the 700w/ch power. Then I ran across an old pair of Khorns and a friend turned me on to the old Heatkit W5M mono blocks (25w) and then to the HK Citation II (60w/ch). My wife thinks it was a mistake to get rid of the N802's and the big Krell. But I got pulled into the music the moment I hit "play" on my cd player. I now play the Khorns and every chance I get. Tunes played through Khorns touch me beyond my ears and eyes. It's was a very strange experience when I first heard it. I have made numerous attempts to support the high-end industry single handily. Many gears and speakers have come and gone through my door trying to keep up with the fancy magazine reviewers. However, the Khorns are definitely keeper. Ki

Fellow Klipschorn fans. If you are near MI area, you should jump on this deal even for parts... http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1088718566 Ki

IMO, one of the best performing amps for Khorns are the vintange Heathkit W5Ms (~25W/ch) - preferably reworked with modern parts (nothing special) with original irons (no changes to the circuit other than increased voltage rating on two of the electrorytic caps). I get different sound from a Bel Canto SET 40 (~35W/ch SET) and the HK Citation II (60w/ch PP) but for everyday listening, it's hard to beat properly working W5Ms. You can get them for around $200 ea. in decent shape, maybe less on ebay.

John: My Heresy's have SN:171Y018 and 171Y019. I believe they are '83 vintage so they should have better components, correct? I paid more than the average going price on ebay (~$400) since the pair was a near perfect HWO model with original boxes and packing foams, not to mention I was able to pick them up with only 3 hours of driving (one way...). Ki

Try this link: http://shinallandcompany.com/ Are you aware of this company and obvious copy of Khorns selling for $3000 on Audiogon...? Ki

I started a thread on the Technical section under the heading "K-horns with built-in False Walls?": http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=47395&sessionID={E8FDD72D-F7E5-4C9C-95DA-D762A74CE114} There are very good photos of K-horn setups and very interesting False Corners.

Johnny: Judging from the reflection on the TV screen, you have more Heresy's for the rear channel... correct? Ki

Hi, What would be the major differences between two vitage models? I just bought a pair of Heresy and thinking maybe I should waited for a pair of Heresy II... Per suggestions from this forum, I will be using them for the rear channel duties in my HT setup. Thanks, Ki EDIT I should have checked previous posts on the subject before asking the question above. I did and found plenty of info. Sorry for taking up unnecessary space in the fourm. Thanks. Ki

Rob: As they say...a picture is worth... Could you post a photo of your "half false" wall? Ki

edster00: I'd bet you do the vacuuming on every Saturday mornings around your house. Judging from the picture of your room, you could have used corners of the room where you have bass traps placed. So, did you have the opportunity to test if the false corners do produce same level of bass energies as the real wall corners with tight seals? Ki

Zapper: You do have similar situation with window wood moldings around bass bin of one of my speakers keeping it from having good seals. I am assuming that you have extended the foam seal from top of your bass bins as shown in the photo and all the way down to the tail boards - basically creating extensions of the bass bin and tail board edges to meet your walls. However, the foam you used seems to be more sound transparent than the rubber material supplied with factory that could cause air leaks through the foam material. Did you experience any issues? Ki

Indy: Very nice looking set up. Your design for false wall is very thin. It looks to be about 1" thick and I guess it was rigid enough to capture 90% of its bass capability... Inspired by your picture and the series of good prior posts, I perspired to move the 2002 model k-horns against the long wall. The left K-horn is placed in a relatively solid corner made up of a long front wall and a 40" wall section and the tail boards with factory seal. The right speaker was place in a corner with two window molding that interfered about 10% of the bass openning at the tops and the K-horn was be placed about 1/2" away from the walls on both sides. So pretty good seal on Right and no seals on Left... The speakers are 17' a part from center to center, and I would sit 17' feet away from each speaker making a perfect triangle. Even with less than perfect placement, I felt and got the best bass performance I have ever had in that room from many other speakers including having added two powered subs in the past. My seating position was only about two feet away from a set of French doors to my back. So there must have been some room gain by being near the outer boundary of the room. I can only dream what it would be like when I can follow the full recommendations from the experts in proper placement for five K-horns... Ki

Jim: Thanks for the photo of your TSCM. It's big... Since the K-horns weigh 167 lbs, the added enclosure should be around 83 lbs. I know the full blown false corner weighes around 100 lbs, so there's no huge difference. Judging from previous posts from the experts, I am rethinking about building four false corners for its structural/sonic advantages. Any maybe I can make them with the triangle bottom that can be easily disassembled in three major pieces. BTW, I have had several experiences in shipping the K-horns across the country recently... Let me know if anyone is interested in the subject. Ki

Thanks guys. I found the picture of TSCM... and thought... it's massive...with not much better WAF than the 48" false wall, it seems. Also, apologies to all if I am revisiting an old subject that was well covered. HornEd's comment makes lot of sense. However, the 48" long false walls for Front Left, Center and Right would be too much as I had planned to follow the ITU guide lines on placement of the front speakers. Other option is to use the long wall and relatively better room corners to place front L and R without the use of the false corner. But, Khorn for center would need to be replaced with a Belle and the distance from my listening position to Center would be much shorter than fron L and R. I would imagine there will be some sacrifice in replacing Khorn center with a Belle...

Thanks, Is there a photo of the TSCM some where? I tried Klipsch Website but couldn't find one. Ki

In an effort to have five K-horns for multichannel music setup, I am faced with a task of building at least four False Walls for them. Has anyone tried to modify the published False Wall plan and some how integrated them into the K-horns - basically enclosing the back bass openning with may be with 2 x 1" MDF boards and have it cover about 36" (instead of 48" specified) for better WAF? Any thoughts? Thanks, Ki

I am in the process of putting together a HT setup with a pair of '77 K-horns for LF and RF, "Hoggy's '76" Belle for C, and temporarily have a pair of JBL S3100s for RL and RR. Please recommend a pair of relatively smaller modern Klipsch speakers for rear duties that can be mounted high and up the back wall. It would be ideal if I can find a pair with walnut finish that will match the others and custom cabinetry in the works.

As I have been trying to support the entire audio industry single handedly for years... Had one in 1996 and compared it to AR M1, a small two way that sold for around $300 a pair at the time (Though I can't recall the price I paid for the Academy but I think the Academy was lot more). I compared the Academy with M1. In short, the Academy sounded very congested and too "horney" in comparison to wide open natual sound of M1 as a center channel. Sold the Academy for $150...anything higher than that is driven by fad. I think that's their true worth, just one man's opinion, however.

Guys: I posted the same message as a reply to one of my original WTB ad but thought to try as a new post for better audience. I've been too successful in asking the group to help me "locate" K-horns. I am considering selling my first pair to make room (one of its pair shown in the attached photo). This pair is credited for turniing me onto K-horns in a big way... They are K-C-FR model and SNs: 3J512 and 3J513 Circa, '71s. Thus, the speakers have all original Alnico magnets and drivers. Bougth them from a local original owner few month ago. There are few blemishes but over all they are in perfect working and excellent cosmetic conditions. Here's a list of things that keep the speakers from being perfect: 1) the original owner liked them so much he engraved his Washington State Drivers Licence number to each mid driver cover. It still plays fine... 2) there is a single 1/8" wide 3/4" long black mark or burn line on top of one of the cabinets, you have to look for it. 3) the original owner liked big plants as well. He place on of his plant pots near one of the k-horns and watered the plant too much... wetting his carpet and letting one of the cabinet soak up the water causing it stain at the very bottom. It caused some rust in the screws that can be replaced and water marks. (Photos can be supplied if needed) Since I can't see it from where I sit, I haven't bothered to fix it. 4) he also experimented staining the wood by trying the idea out on one or the rear top support bar but not going any further. Let me know if you would be interested in them and your expert opinion on what they might be worth. Thanks, Ki in Seattle.

Guys: I've been too successful in "locating" K-horns. So far I have four and a half pair (one K-horn for center channel music). Thus, I am considering selling my first pair (one of its pair shown in photo). They are K-C-FR model and SNs: 3J512 and 3J513 '71s. Both them from an original owner few month ago. There few blemishes but over all they are in perfect working and excellent cosmetic conditions. Let me know if you would be interested in them and your expert opinion on what they might be worth. Thanks, Ki in Seattle.

Update... After many attempts to find a local packer in MD who would go pick up the K-horns, crate and deliver them to Foward Air for shipment to Seattle, I ended up going back to Ship Smart for the whole deal. Ship Smart is sending one of their subcontractors in Baltimore area on Monday to the seller's house to pick up the K-horns and plan to wood crate them for truck freight to Seattle. It will cost $890... so far. It might cost more if they can't pick up the speakers between 10 am and 2 pm... otherwise it's $150 extra. You've got to love them K-horns...

Thanks guys for your inputs. Although the seller in MD is very generous, I don't think I can ask him to build the crates for me. The challenge is packing the speakers. I have been trying to contact antique furniture packer/shipper such as ShipSmart but they quoted $847 for packing and shipping the K-horns... In addition, since the 9/11, shippers like BAX and other air freight companies would not deal with an indivual unless one had prior business record. I'll let the group know what I end up doing. Ki