Tozco

The soundstage from K-horns on the long wall (recommended) of a 23x14x8 room is wide, tall and larger than life. I have many rigs and this is the only one that floats the voices out in the center of the room. If your eyes are closed it seems like a wall of sound is in front of you, not two corner speakers. It never sounds like the side walls are encroached, but sometimes the music sounds taller than my 8' ceiling. I prefer the K-horn imaging by a large margin to other high end systems I have heard. Incidently, I listen to live music and frequent the Symphony so I'm in touch with how I would like my home system to sound. Mike

I used to live in Oso, Wa for many years. You can't even begin to imagine what this guy is talking about unless you see it for yourself! I walked into this furniture store back in the late '90's because I had been told that they were a Klipsch dealer. Well I thought, this is just a funky furniture store, no Klipsch speakers here. Well way back in the corner where you would least expect, there is this little spiral staircase leading to the finished basement. Down I go and my jaw dropped to the floor. Zebrawood K-horns, signed by Mr Paul. They had stories about his personal involvement with his distributers and dealers and said he was a hoot and never failed to check in on them when he was in the NW. I already owned K-horns or I would have given them my business.

Hi, I just got a pair of nearly mint Model 14's. I also have a nice set of Heresey's. I had trouble initially getting the Model 14 to sound right. They were very bright and shrill sounding compared to my reference system which is K-horns with Conrad-Johnson EL-34's strapped to Triode operation. Damn, its hard to be objective about other systems when you've been listening to the Klipschorns for ten years. Anyway, after taking them apart looking for a problem I found that the drivers had loosened from the motor board. After torqueing them up the sound improved considerably. But back to Altec 14 vs Heresey, The Altec just sounds larger than the little Klipsch, at least as dynamic, much deeper base is possible but I feel that the tonal balance of the Heresey is closer to what I like. I am having fun playing around with differant hifi combinations and I don't think you would go wrong with the 14's. I got mine for a little over $400.

True enough. The Klipschorn set up produces a "larger than life" sized soundstage. I have subjected my loving family to all sorts of hifi for many years and they allways refer to the Klipshorn system as the "big sound". Mike

What timing, I just rewired the tube bases in my C-J MV-45 from U-L to Triode strapped. I can say that there was such a dramatic change in the sound that my wife and daughter noticed enough to comment. I went from 45WPC to I assume half as much and it's still much too much for the K-horns. The voices in particular sound cleaner and more seperated from the rest of the mix. It is definately less confused and less fatiguing to my ear. I'm glad I made the change. I will try the 16ohm taps that I read about above. Mike

They are not "Backloaded" horns!

Still thinking here. My gut is that I would love the Belles and they realy fit the bill for my wife. I am not planning to let the 1984 Khorns go as they are mint oiled oak with metal horns and I've upgraded the xo's to AK-3. I will build my own damn room for them in the future if I have to. But for now some Belles in the family room makes the most sense. Still thinking, still thinking, Mike

Hello, I am in Spokane and have been looking for a pair of Belles because I would like to get out of the corners, you know wife and decorating. I have been a long time K-horn owner. Do you have any idea of the mileage from Spokane? I saw Jimmy Cliff and the Greatful Dead many years ago in Eugene. I travelled from Seattle then. Now I enjoy Opera and such and realy like the Klipsch sound with tubes. I an not a low bass freak or anything as long as the speakers sound balanced. Do the Belles perform anywhere near the K-horns? Thanks Mike