Jeff Matthews

Okay, but maybe we have the same taste in finish on this one..... The 60th Anniv. Editions. Did you see those? Now, that's a classy-looking set of speakers. I don't have a dig. camera because my friend has one. You're talking to "El Cheapo," here! I'm getting one soon, though. In the meantime, his is on my desk, ready for me to bring home tonight. Will I take pics tonight, though? That's the big question. I have some doubts, because I want to finish the grills first. The bass bin is right side up. It has a toe kick on the bottom.

Congrats on your new LaScalas. I know you're going to like them alot. They are great speakers. Plus, you'll have fun staining/painting them however you want. Talk about wild HT? KHorns and LaScalas.... Wow!!!!

The Birch on mine is really, really nice. It might be low on the totem pole, but its looks don't say that. Alot of the Walnut I see just looks like a fake veneer in comparison to the natural-looking, soft grain of the Birch. The soft grain of the Birch adds way more depth to the wood's texture that you don't get in many of the other species of wood. Why they probably added the pieces to the bottom of the top bin is because these so-called, highly-regarded "Decorators" were really the "cheapies." I think the "neck" in between the bins is a nice trait that somebody wanted to emulate. The ones on eBay w/o the neck look a little "stunted" IMO. EDIT: On the rarity issue, you might be right. The seller told me he has seen over 20 pairs of KHorns come through his place, and this was the first Birch he ever saw. I, too, have seen very few in Birch. Most of what I seem to see is Walnut (I think), but whatever it is, it's not Birch. I wonder how many people on this forum have Birch KHorns. I might be easily corrected and talked into slightly modifying my signature line. [:$] Right out-of-the-bag, I see Larry C's KHorns (posted on page 3 of this thread) appear to be Birch (?). Hmmmmm.....

Now that you mention it, I think I'll really jack with people and get some Bose badges. I'll tell them, these are "special" Bose Bi-Centennial Corner Reference series that are rare, but come up on eBay every 6-months or so.....

I could swear I recall someone saying they were looking for a '57 KHorn not long ago. You should rename the title of your thread to "'57 KHorn for sale."

By the way, does anyone know if Klipsch sells the badges by themselves? My Khorns don't have badges. I might never get them as I am not a big "name thrower," but I might. If they are sold, anybody know how much they cost?

Yeah, there's birch like that under the grill cloth. I thought they were all made that way. I guess not. But if you want them that way, it seems it would be real easy to cut a few rectangles out of a piece of ply. I guess I'm lucky, except I like the grill cloth - not the cloth that the previous owner put on - but I like the Burlap. It really looks rich. Plus, you need to see the way I put the cloth on. The cloth covers the full front of the top bin, except for the top plate. Then, I extended the cloth to cover the side edges of the bottom plate - for a kind of "pin stripe" effect between the top bin and bottom bin on the sides. I think it looks great that way. The differences between mine and the eBay pic in your link are (1) mine are very nice - no elbow grease needed (except grills), the wood is not scratched (it's almost mint) and the stain is beautiful and the grain is beautiful; and (2) there were some boards screwed onto the bottom of the top bin to lift the top bin up 3/4" in order to make the "neck" that you see between the top bin and the bottom bin. I'll post pics. Just bought my first table saw this morning. Can you believe I'm over a year into "This Old House" and haven't needed a table saw yet? I should be able to knock out the other 3 grills pretty quick. I can use my first one as a stencil.

Also, last night, despite getting a late start, I cut the first side grill out of ply. It's going to look just fine. Once the grill top is set even with the top of the bass bin - and once I bevel the front edge of the grill so it recesses into the bin - there will be no gap between the side grill and the bass bin where you can peer into the bass cavity. The top of the grill will just barely come up to the bottom of the top bin.

D-Man: No wings on bottom. The bin is right side up. Type KDBR.

Meagain, forget the one on page 3. The recent pic of the 2006 Klipschorn is like mine. The label on back of mine says Type KDBR. I don't know anything about decorator KHorns (if they exist). I have deco Corns. Pics. Pics. Pics. - I promise to have some soon. My friend's digi cam is on my desk at the office. I just need to bring it home.

Yeah, I used the term "throat" too loosely. I am referring to the boards tacked onto the bottom of the top bin to lift it off the bass bin a little and produce a look like there's a neck between the bass bin and the top bin. Take another look at the most recent pic from Klipsch I posted. They don't have the top plate on the bass bin either. It appears the bottom of the top bin serves as the roof of the chamber to keep the sound in the chamber until it exits the mouth. But keeping in mind that the "neck" raises the top bin about 3/4" higher than the bass bin, you can see that there would be a 3/4" gap between the top of the side grill and the bottom plate of the top bin - a gap that you could peer down through and see into the chamber. I guess they were designed that way - at least that's the way Klipsch's pic looks.

Ditto Who's question. Why on Earth??????

I think we're almost finished, but I also wanted to throw in an oddity. The bottom plate ("homeplate") for the top bin is grilled differently on mine. The front and side edges of the homeplate are covered in grill cloth. I could tell these were re-grilled by someone other than the factory, but I think they must have been grilled that way from the factory, too. I noticed the ply edges are painted black where grill is supposed to cover them. These would have never been painted black if the intention was not to cover them. Also, the edges are not finished (concealing the ugly ply edge with strips), also meaning these must have been intended to be covered by grills. Anybody ever seen a model with grill cloth put that way on the top bin? EDIT: He77! Do I even have Klipschorns? Just kidding. I already checked the serials.

Check your pic out, Larry, and then, check this pic from Klipsch. No top hat. That's mine. I wish I'd have found this earlier. Now, the top edge of the side grills. That's the big question. We don't have the proper angle, but it would seem to me that you could peep down in between the top edge of the side grill and the "throat" to see inside the chamber where the bass comes out. Is this true?

Now that we are on the same page of how mine are constructed (except for the grills), does anyone know what type "A","B","C","D", etc. I have? Some think it's "D". Anybody have a pic of type "D?"

Leave it alone. Yeah, I'm for that. I just want to know where the grills come up to? Did they used to just stop in mid air at the top? I can do that. It's just I am getting thrown by the pics that show the side grills being overlayed by that board. Here, I'd have no overlay. It would stop in air, and because of the throat, you'd have 3/4 of an inch to peer down through and into the chamber/void (if you were to look closely). Is this the way they used to do grills?

I knew you would suggest me adding a new plate. It would be no big deal, except that means I have to go get ply, match the stain, and cover the edges with solid wood strips. I have no ply edges showing. They were all trimmed out nicely. Did they used to make them like mine, or what? DM, you edited. So, here's where I'm at. When I put side grills on, if I bring them up to the height of the bass bin, they'll just stop into air - no wood or anything. There will probably even be a little gap where (if looking down between the side grill and the top bin) you could see a little space between the inside of the side grill and underneath the top bin (the void, or chamber). I doubt it would be very noticeable, but is that how these used to come? Alternatively, if I bring the side grill up to the bottom of the top bin, it would seem to destroy the "throat" appearance by covering up around the sides of the throat.

The Bottom of my Top Bin: ___ / \ / \ | | |_________| The top of my Bass Bin: /\ / \ / \ / \ /__________\

Rplace's drawing of the "Top of LF Section (Bass Bin") is not like mine. Mine is a triangle. However, the bottom of the HF section (top bin) is shaped like Rplace's drawing of "Top of LF section (Bass Bin)." That's why when the top bin sits on the Bass Bin's triangle, it overhangs on the sides toward the rear.

Okay, sorry for not having a good pic. Thank you for showing some interest in this. Let me describe it this way, and I think it will be clear. Look at the pic of the left KHorn of mine - as crummy/small as it is. What you will see is the top bin (both the top and bottom of the top bin) has a home plate shape. Mounted under the bottom plate of the top bin (and recessed in a few inches) are three strips of wood that lift the top bin above the bass bin aboout 3/4" to give the "throat" appearance (there's a small 4th piece in back to keep it supported in the back). Now, look at mine. The bass bin is widest in the front (as is everyone's). At the front right corner for example, the bass bin shoots straight back toward the corner in back (like a triangle). This means that the sides of the top bin overhang the bass bin. The plate that forms the top of the bass bin does not have the "homeplate" shape, meaning the top bin overhangs. So, if you look at my left speaker, you will see that the top bin overhangs the triangular shaped bass bin. Look at style "U" posted by Larry, above. See how the plate overhangs the bass bin? My "homeplate" shaped top bin overhangs my bass bin in the same manner. As Tom pointed out, I have a toe kick on the bottom, indicating I have the "B" style. However, as regards the trio of horizontal plates he referred to, mine is not like that. I have a "homeplate" shaped bottom to the top bin. Then, screwed to the bottom of that are 3 strips of wood to support the top bin in front and on both sides (with a 4th smaller piece in back). These are combined to give the "throat" between the bass bin and the top bin. Then, there is NO "homeplate" shaped plate at the top of the bass bin. It is a triangle. That's why the top bin overhangs the bass bin on the sides in the rear. Does this help? I'd like to know how these were intended to look with grills? I didn't necessarily want to rework these to some other style. I just want to fit grills properly.

I will also point this out for curiosity's sake. Klipsch apparently paints the areas of wood to be covered by grill cloth to make it black. Well, if you look at the bottom of the top bin behind the top grill going toward the wall, you will see a wood plate going back toward the wall (the "home plate" we've been mentioning). The edge of the "home plate" is black - indicating to me that this little edge used to be covered in grill cloth as well. So, that's what I did was cover it. It looks good that way, but not like yours.

I wasn't aware of different styles. I have no clue. The tailboard is complete on mine. The bass bin looks like that in the pic. of the beater above. Here is a crummy pic that the seller posted on Audiogon: You can see what I'm talking about, although the pic is admittedly small. Look at the left one. You can see underneath the top bin that the bass bin goes back triangularly. There is no home-plate shaped board on top of the bass bin. I know it had to have been made this way. Everything looks original. Anybody have a clue?

What did it used to look like when it left the factory in that style? This is sort of an add-on to my previous question. I have never seen these speakers with grills on them.

Thanks, Rick. It's good to know it was built that way. My question now is: If I bring the side grill up to the bottom of the top bin, then, I lose the 3/4" rise (throat, whatever you call it) between the top bin and the bass bin (my top bin is made to look like the previous pic, where there are some boards scabbed onto the bottom of the top bin to raise it 3/4" off the bass bin). Should I bring the grill up to the bottom of the top bin - or should I bring it to the top of the bass bin? If I do the former, then, I lose the "throat" look. If I do the latter, there will be a 3/4" gap between the top of the grill and the bottom of the top bin where you can see inside. Which way is proper?

Maybe there is none, but something looks different. Here's what I see on everyone else's: I see that at the top of the side grill, there is a 3/4" thick piece of wood. It looks like the top of the side grill fits so that it is inset into the wood. The wood appears to go straight back, parallel to the top bin. If I put a grill on the way they are, you will be able to see the top of the grill (i.e. from a birds-eye view, the grill will not be inset into anything. See the pic below? It seems as if the top of the bass bin has a home plate shape - just like the bottom of the top bin. The top of my bass bin looks just like in the pic of the beater bass bin I showed earlier.