yiotta

He isn't trying to sell them to me, he mentioned that he may sell them, I was interested after seeing the value on some of those older speakers, sounds like not much value in these though... He was absolutely clueless about their value. What is Orion?

Well, ummm OK, but I gotta tell you that they actually sound pretty good.... They were over $1600 for the pair in 1971... that was not cheap.... How do you know about them, and why do you call them Klipsch knockoffs?

I have a good friend that is considering replacing an old set of speakers that he has owned for over 30 years, they are in wonderful condition. They are Aztec Suerat V's. He traded a pickup truck for them in 1971, lol they were valuable speakers in their day. They were manufactured by Aztec Sound Corportation in Denver Colorado and are huge speakers. They have very large subs and horns. Overall size is 48" tall by 28 1/2 wide by 20" deep and probably weigh 150-200 pounds each. They are in good shape but he wants to modernize and mentioned he was thinking of selling them. I found a little bit of information on these speakers on another forums very old post: "As fate would have it, I have a bit of information on Aztec sound. In late 1968 two other guys and I (in our early to mid 20's) started a speaker company in Washington, DC: Loudspeaker Design Corporation. The speakers were a variety of horn-loaded systems named the "Ezekiel" series after the designer, Harry Ezekiel Harris. By 1969 we were in search of expanded production facilities, and came upon Aztec Sound, located about 15 minutes South and West of downtown Denver. The owner was Jerry Nichols, and the product line consisted of conventional cone speakers in enclosures ranging from small bookshelf to huge floor models. All were named after famous artists. The cabinet work was quite nice, the company had a very well developed production line, a full time in-house designer, and the speakers sounded...well, o.k... decent relative to commercial standards at that time. Later that year Loudspeaker Design, along with our friend Kan Kanzler of Atlantis Sound, did a stock trade and acquired a sustantial percentage of Aztec Sound. Part of the deal included a provision that we would redesign and improve the Aztec products using cone drivers, but would not use any horn drivers or any of our proprietary horn designs. Our speakers used horn midrange and tweeters, and front/back loaded cone drivers as woofers. The Aztec products from late 1969 reflected the Harry Harris design improvements. In late 1970 I left to pursue my real passion, Ferrari automobiles. The relationship between Loudspeaker Design and Aztec soon ended, Harry Harris developed a new range of limited production boutique speakers that did not use horns, and it appears that Aztec "borrowed" some of our secrets and began to use horns in their systems. The horns were manufactured by Herald, located, I think, in Gray's Lake, WI. If you remove one, look at the back of the driver and see if it has a foam cap. The midrange and tweeter horns were very inexpensive, but sounded quite nice. We originally started off modifying the very expensive Altecs and the famous JBL375s. Oddly enough, the Herald horns sounded more musical, and compared to the cost of the 375's were almost free. I still have 2 pairs of Ezekiels using these horns that I've been using to play rock & roll at mind-mumbing levels for over 30 years without problems. I suspect your Aztecs use the same horns. They'll probably sound their very best with low powered tube equiptment, but will also sound quite nice with a NAD 1020 or older Kenwood receiver if you're on a budget. Whenever I hear the song "American Woman" played on a classic rock station, I fondly recall that song blasting from a pair of big Aztecs at our apartment in Denver in 1969." So, what do you guys think? I have no specifics on these speakers, but I considered taking the back cover off to look at the specific components. I can find some limited info regarding some of their other models, but absolutely nothing about the Seurat V's. Any thought on value, suggestions on what I should do to evaluate them? I would like to buy them, but have no clue what they are worth on the open market.....

Well, I just took connected the subwoofer with the single line into on of the RCA jacks and put on the opening Omaha Beach scene for Saving Private Ryan, wow!! System works great, sure enough I had the subwoofer off in the receiver setup, so I turned off the rear surrounds and rear center channel as they aren't connected yet, I turned the center to Large and the fronts to small, then turned on the subwoofer. System sounds great, I will pick up a Y splitter next time I am out and hook that up

Thanks for the great help guys, I will try the splitter method. I am using RB-5's as my mains for now, just got the room finished (not totally, I dont have the rears mounted and hooked up yet). But looks like I will have room for floor standers after all, that makes me smile I have experienced Klipsch quality (I have only heard the Synergy series prior to today) for the first time this morning.... Listened to Mozart, Alanis Morissette, and then Manhattan Transfer. A pretty good spread of music styles and sounds... I was absolutely floored... I cranked it up higher than I can recall listening to music since I was in college and absolutely no distortion, crystal clear sounds, every instrument clearly separated.... I am in heaven. I am a lifeling Klipsch fan, I can't imagine how this would sound with floor standing fronts and a better receiver, I have a nice NAD pre-amp/amp (C162/272) that I was going to use for the surround sound, but I unpacked em and discovered they are for music only, no surround/DTS movie capabilities... lol duh... So, I guess will use the NAD setup to run the house and deck speakers. I can't imagine what this is going to sound like with the rear surrounds (RS-3's) and the Subwoofer connected to the system. I am so impressed by the RC-3.... amazing

I am hooking up my first real surround system this weekend: Yamaha HTR-5560, RB-5's, RC-3, RS-3's. Sub is an older infinity BU-2. Now I have a mismatch of connections... The receiver has a single subwoofer jack, the subwoofer does not. This model of receiver uses the "yamaha active servo processing subwoofer system" (ASPSS). According to the manual: "connect the input jack of the subwoofer system to the Yamaha ASPSS. Low bass signals distributed from the main, center and/or rear channels are directed to this jack in accordance with your SPEAKER SET selections. The LFE (low-frequency effect) signals generated when Dolby Digital or DTS is decoded are also directed to this jack in accordance with your SPEAKER SET selections." "Notes: the cut-off frequency of the subwoofer jack is 90Hz" "If you do not use a subwoofer, designate the signals to the main left and right speakers by changing the setting of the SPEAKER SET item "1E BASS" on the SET MENU to MAIN." Whew, what a pain to type that out. Anyway gang, the subwoofer does not have that single jack plug. That must be a newer technology then this subs production date. The sub has high level regular connections and low level RCA style plugs. HELP PLEASE!!

Just a quick update for those that have been helping me with this. I rec'd an return shipping label from the eBay company, so I am shipping them back for now. Their options will be to either refund my payment or send me another set of AW-650's if they have them. We will see what they choose, first they wanted to confirm the serial numbers as a match for what they sent me. Thanks for the help, I will let you know what happens

You guys have such incredible service that I am in awe... thanks for all your work... so you suggest I keep it?

LOL, well that just figures, and the story gets more twisted... Well thanks Bob, I will contact the seller first and see what they have to say about it, but at least I can get it working now!! I see that the KHO-7 is in the synergy line, is there a dramatic difference of quality and power in this vs the AW-650? (ie. should I fix and sell these and then buy some AW-650's?)

Serial Number is the same on both speakers: KHO7WH+ 04080183

Thanks Bob, I will look for a serial number tonite when I get home.... Before I started this thread I sent an email to customer support and have passed a few back and forth with Steve B.... my last email was a pleading for a woofer Just waiting to hear back from him, so maybe ask him so you guys dont duplicate effort, hate to waste anyones time. Absolutely great customer support from Klipsch, I am sold forever...

After looking at the internals of my RC-3, I think these AW-650's are the real McCoy. I guess they aren't a copy after all, the exact same style of waffle cone behind the woofer, the same type of connectors were used inside. The crossover is the same material, looks similar with KSB1.1 printed on the board. There is a white rectangular unit, perhaps a capacitor (?) that is labeled Mate Ford 10W10RJ on the board. And with closer inspection I see the problem (besides the obvious missing magnet!)... The black wire inside the box leading from the post to the crossover has been cut, looks more like a severe pinch. The plastic coating is intact on one side but the internal wire is completely severed, didn't notice it until I ran my fingers the length of the wire. That would explain why the horn doesn't work either. But, this appears to be a genuine Klipsch speaker. Now the million dollar question is what kind of a moron would pry the magnet off the back of the woofer?!!! Perhaps a prior owner did something that crimped that wire and in frustration started taking things apart and never saw the wire problem? That's a stretch, but at least I think I know why the horn doesn't work either. So, back to the pleading to see if I can get a replacement 6.5" woofer.... who is the head honcho of listening to begging pleading Klipschophiloholics? "Hello, my name is Roger and I am a Klipshophiloholic" Can someone help me, just one more speaker, then I will quit" .....NOT!! LOL

Thanks Bob, so far I have loved the help I have received from Klipsch, and when I step up to my "Real Home Theater" I am definitely going new Klipsch all the way, the big stuff! As for now, we just finished our guest house and are preparing to move in. The plan is then to demolish the old main house and build a new home, that is when the GOOD home theater is going in. But, in the meanwhile, I have a nice entertainment room in the guest house and I have equipped it with stuff all purchased off eBay: NAD C162/C272 Preamp/Amp, RC-3 center speaker, RS-3 rear surrounds, RB-5 fronts. For the new patio/deck I purchased these AW-650's which will be pushed by my Yamaha Receiver, I am still looking for speakers for the rooms, going to need 4 more indoor room speakers. So, I have been trying to put together a used system and I know you can occasionally get bitten. Did any of the AW-650s come with phillips head screws? Any idea where I can see a picture to see if these speakers are fake, or where would I find a serial number? Maybe one of the markings on the crossover inside? Is there anyone I can plead with to sell me the woofer for this thing? EDIT: By the way, the other speaker sounds terrific, so I can't imagine that these are knockoffs, but what do I know!

Well gang, it's a long story, but I think I have been had. I purchased a set of AW-650's on eBay and one of the speakers didn't work (that was disclosed and I hoped I could just fix it by tightening a wire) So after removing the grill then unscrewing the woofer and horn, (which were regular stainless steel phillips heads/not torx like my other Klipsch's) I discovered that the magnet on the back of the woofer appears to have been pried off. So there sits the woofer with no magnet. The horn/tweeter seems fine, but absolutely no sound comes out of this thing. The woofer is a 6.5", I have a broken (plastic ring) 6.5" woofer from my SC3 that I replaced recently. Would it be possible to transfer the magnet? Customer service has been helpful but I was told that I cannot buy the woofer or horn for this speaker-not sure why, but that is Klipsch's policy). I am not convinced that this is a real Klipsch speaker and might be a knockoff, any way that I can confirm that? Anyone have some photos of the internals of an AW-650? Appreciate any help you guys can offer. Thanks!

thank you thank you thank you thank you!!! I will try that this evening!

Nobody knows how to open an AW-650... oh boy I am in trouble....

Wow, nice setup, used a few greenbacks on that... What are you pushing them with?

Silverdale WA 98383 How do you get the case opened?

This question is probably better asked here, I posted it in Home Theater, but that isn't the right place for it: I didn't follow everyone's advice here and bought a pair of used AW-650 outdoor speakers. One of the speakers doesn't work at all... 1) Suggestions on figuring out what is wrong 2) How do I get the speaker open to look inside? Thanks gang

I didn't follow everyone's advice here and bought a pair of used AW-650 outdoor speakers. One of the speakers doesn't work at all... 1) Suggestions on figuring out what is wrong 2) How do I get the speaker open to look inside? Thanks gang

Nice mounts, I really like em, thanks for the link!

What are omnimounts and where can I find them?

I am so relieved to hear you guys say this should be a good setup... can't wait to hear it, I will post up some pics when the room is finished Does the NAD help with that "brightness" that so many people describe the Reference -35 series with?

I have a new setup coming soon (RB-35/RC3/RS3). I plan to put the RC3 on a shelf just above the television, The RB-35s up above the monitor on both front corners (probably on the top shelf of the entertainment center), and the RS-3 on shelve in upper rear corners of the room. What did you do and how did you mount them? Just sitting loosely on a shelf or bracketed into the wall? Thanks for teaching the noob to Klipsch!

This is good advice as I am also about to set up my system, not as good as yours but I would love to find a good testing CD/DVD. My system is the RB-3/RC-3/RS-3 with a new NAD C162/C272 preamp/amp. I had a Yamaha but everyone seemed to think it would make the speakers too bright, hopefully the NAD setup will be better... waiting for it all to arrive