George Roland

I think this brings up the "production end" vs. the "user end" debate that comes in other areas of audio too. Tone controls on speakers and preamps that used to be the norm have disappeared for the most part, probably because it is both cheaper to eliminate them and because they could degrade the signal. However the production end EQs all the time, as you noted. Tone controls allow users to compensate somewhat for tastes, room acoustics and the quality of sources. My music library certainly has numerous examples of recordings that are lucid and natural as well as many that are so screwed up by EQing that they are nearly unlistenable. It is interesting that there seem to be so many tone-deaf recording engineers! Another example is wire. On the one hand, people insist on mega-buck interconnects and speaker wire being important. In those instances, I wonder whether the weakest link in the wiring system as a whole will be the highest quality you will get. So what difference does it make if you have $10,000 interconnects if your preamp or speaker crossover uses $10.00/100 ft hook-up wire? The answer, of course, will be that the expensive interconnects do change the sonics and are, therefore, still important. More ideas to think about, more audio gear to try.... George

Very interesting thread! I have no way of knowing for certain, but the fact that PWK put no user-adjustable controls on his speakers suggests that he thought it was his job to get the speaker correct and the user's job to get appropriate electronics and adjust speaker placement and the room for best results. I am interested to hear that Mark Levinson had Klipschorns! What was the year when your meeting took place? As a Quad fancier, I have heard of an HQD system Mark Levinson put together using a stacked pair of Quad 57s, with an additional tweeter and a pair of 18" subs.

Congratulations on a great score! You will find a lot of help, extensive knowledge and enthusiasm here for your Klipsch journey. Enjoy your music and welcome to the forum! George

I use outdoor wiring from The Home Depot. This is 12 gauge stranded copper in a black casing. It is about $.75 a foot. I buy termination hardware from Radio Shack--banana plugs, spade lugs, or from Parts Express. Sounds good to me and the price is right! Best, George

Hi John, Your setup looks great. I have owned both Cornwalls, Klipschorns and Altec Model 19s, which are my current hi-eff speakers, along with a pair of Quad ESL-63. Anyway, I am wondering what midrange driver you're using with your Trachorns. Are you using the stock K-55V or something else? I had a pair of Trachorns when I owned my K-horns, and they were the smoothest mid horns I ever had with Klipsch's midrange driver. Enjoy your music! George

I should learn to sell more and buy less. I am still picking up items from time to time. Recent purchases include a set of Gradient SW-63 dipole subs for my Quad ESL-63s and a Thorens TD-124 turntable with ESL S-2000 tonearm. I feel fortunate to have a job right now, given the terrible economy. It is sad to hear so many stories about people losing benefits, jobs, homes, etc.

You could buy some inexpensive wire from The Home Depot and make some temporary speaker cables so that you could move your speakers and TV around to different positions prior to doing a lot of custom rewiring. Live with it a week or so and see whether you like the difference. I like Home Depot's 12 guage outdoor wiring--it's stranded copper wire and rather inexpensive. Crimp on appropriate terminators and you're all set. Once you have dialed in the positions you like, you can redo your preferred wiring installation. George

Dean, Okay, sorry to have troubled you. Thanks for your reply, GR

If DeanG is viewing this post, please e-Mail me at george.roland AT allegheny.edu, replacing the "AT" with the appropriate sign. Many thanks, George Roland

You can buy electronics cooling fans that run on household current from electrical suppliers. I use desktop computers in small pedestals in art installations and it can get very warm inside those spaces. Heat rises, so you can make good use of that by having air inlets at the bottom of your cabinet where the cool air is and mounting the fan in the top or at the top of a side. Cool as a cucumber and extending component life--it's a good thing. Be careful to check out the decible ratings of the fan you buy so you can get one that isn't too noisy. George

You didn't specify in your posting what particular Klipsch speakers you are thinking of, and most respondents have referred to various heritage models, chiefly the Klipschorn. Klipsch makes an awful lot of speakers. If you were more specific about what Klipsches you are thinking about, you would get more informed answers. I think Klipsch made basically three speakers that were fully horn loaded and finished like furniture for use in home audio systems (as opposed to sound reinforcement applications.) These were Klipschorns, Jubilees and LaScalas. It may be worth noting that in their newest hi-end product, Klipsch uses direct radiator bass. And in the Cornwall, a full-range domestic loudspeaker that is well regarded, a direct radiator, ported bass is used. I have owned Cornwalls and Klipschorns and presently have a pair of Altec Lansing Model 19s. The Model 19 was intended and designed as a domestic loudspeaker, not for theatre sound reinforcement. In my experience, the Model 19 is preferable to either Klipsch speaker I owned. It has a more open, natural-sounding midrange and is highly detailed with less horn coloration and listener fatigue. Klipsch was a brilliant engineer, but I think the midrange driver, K 55 V, he used in the heritage line was not of exceptionally high quality. That is why so many "tweakers' swap them out for Altec, JBL or other drivers. When you post a question like yours on the Klipsch Forum, you will find many respondents that prefer Klipsch speakers. On the Altec Lansing forum, it may be the opposite. So much of your preference depends on your listening habits, the kind of music you prefer, your room, electronics, etc. Both companies make speakers lots of people like. You'll have to listen for yourself and see what "does it" for you. I have consistently found that I 'like" whatever is new in my listening room. Just something different often sounds better at first. It takes me about a month of really careful listening and comparison to really get over this novelty effect and come to an understanding of what each pair of speakers really sounds like. One nice thing about this dilemma is that if you buy used speakers of this quality at a reasonable price, you can live with them for a few months or years and get most or all of your money out of them when you sell them. Cant do that with new stuff. Makes this a great hobby. Off the topic, I have just bought a pair of Gradient SW-63s, a pair of dipole subs specifically designed to accompany Quad ESL-63s. The power supply for the Gradient active crossover was not included, so I am awaiting a new one that should arrive next week. I can't wait to hear this setup! Enjoy your music! George Roland

Jon, Sorry to hear you have had so much trouble with your Jolida. Very frustrating! I bought mine used a couple years ago and except for an intermittent skip within the first 90 seconds of play, it has performed well, and sounds great. If it is under warranty, it should be repaired or replaced with a new unit, either through the dealer or through the manufacturer. Stay away from that hammer! Since it has been returned once and wasn't fixed, maybe you should call Jolida, explain the situation and see if they won't send you a new unit. Good luck and keep us posted on Jolida's response. Customer support is very important to us all. Best, George Roland

I was using Bob Crites' tweeter, but I built a unit similar to that supplied by Al for his Trachorn. It was not sized to go into the K-Horn top hat, though it could have been. By flipping it over, I could have the tweeter inside or outside of the Trachorn. Listen and decide for yourself. I liked the tweeters outside and they sounded great!

When I bought my K-Horns, I had to transport them in a Toyota Tacoma pickup without cap, so probably about the same room as you're working with. Before I put them in my truck, I wrapped each component in a furniture pad (rented from U-Haul) and covered that in polyethelene plastic sealed from weather with package sealing tape (from The Home Depot). I was able to take the top hats off and get the bass bins and top hats in the bed just fine. I stood both bass bins upright, as they would be in use, and used some of those heavy duty nylon strap tie-downs around the sides and over the tops to secure them. Top hats were set in the bed where and how they fit. Since then, I have sold my pickup, so now, when I have to transport a large item (such as my Altec Lansing Model 19s,) I rent a cargo van from Enterprise. It's reasonably priced, has plenty of room, and since all is enclosed, there's no need for a lot of time and expense wrapping things up. Whether you need, or want, to go to all this trouble will depend on how nice the cabinets are and what the weather report indicates. Have a great trip. Hope all goes well. Let us know how you like your "new" K-Horns. Best, George Roland

Klipschorns are three-driver systems. What you are describing sounds like someone's hobby construct. That's okay if you want to pay money for someone else's experiments, but it sounds to me as though you would benefit from doing a lot of research on Klipschorns, and this is the best place to do it. Search the archives, ask questions and look at new K-horns on this site. Familiarize yourself with them. What is in the bass cabinet is one 15" woofer in a folder wooden horn. The cabinet containing the woofer on a K-horn is sealed, but there is an access door on the side of it where you can get to the innards. This should be sealed to prevent air leaks that will compromise the speaker's performance. Two mismatched speakers will sound mismatched. Unless you want a strictly mono system, you should be looking for a matched pair of K-horns. Good luck. George

I developed a simple bracket for my Altec 511Bs out of wood that worked quite well. I used 1/2-inch birch ply for the upright horn support. You'd probably need to beef up the thickness ofr your heavier and larger horns, but this cost very little and proved to work quite well. Good luck, George Roland

John Adams, "The Dharma at Big Sur" and "My Father Knew Charles Ives". Nonesuch79857-2 CD. Adams was in Pittsburgh recently with the Pittsburgh Symphony and conducted this work. An awesome experience in the concert hall. George Roland

Congratulations! I remember when I bought my K-Horns, the seller had them on furniture dollies in his body shop hooked up to a little SS receiver. Even under those conditions, they sounded great. Ahhh, the thrill of new toys! Best, George Roland

I wonder why you are seeking a solution for a problem that doesn't seem to exist? If there are no tears or separations in your speakers and they are playing well, I would be very reluctant to mess with them. Just my $0.02. Best, George Roland

Yep, I'm getting the same thing...just a lot of links to other sites selling new audio gear, ketchup, cars, etc. etc. Weird! George

Well, I'll tell you, my K-horns and Altec Lansing Model 19s were a BEAR to get into the house. Fortunately my front door is just an inch or two wider than these monsters, However, just inside the door are three steps up to the main floor level and that makes the whole thing tricky. So far, I've been lucky--no crushed speakers or fingers,,,now that hernia on the other hand.... A painter friend of mine once said, when asked if he had any advice for young painters, "Don't ever build a stretcher that won't fit through your studio door." George

Welcome to the Forum and congratulations on the purchase of your K-horns! Buy yourself some of that cylindrical foam pipe insulation at your local hardware and cut it to fit those parts of the tailboard that fit in the room corners to seal those bass bins tight into the corner. You are defeating the whole design concept behind corner horns if you pull them out of the corners. Even though there's not too much difference in the dimensions of your room, it is usually best to put the K-horns along the long wall. If you want you can detach the top hat from the bass bin and rotate it a little to aim it at your listening position. Try it both ways and do a lot of listening. Take it slowly. Bob Crites on this forum can provide good crossover rebuilds or updates. Best wishes, George Roland

I must say, this review was the first thing I turned to when my Stereophile arrived today in the mail. It was real nice to see a Klipsch speaker on the cover and to read the laudatory review. I feel certain many on this forum will be delighted at this development and feel somewhat vindicated in their dedication to PWK and the company he founded. It's a great day in Klipsch country! George Roland

I use several CDs for reference. I like Joni Mitchell's "Hits" CD for one. Her voice has incredible range and is well recorded on this album. There's a good variety of instruments used too making for a good reference. For large orchestral bombast, I like Mahler's 2nd Symphony. I have the Slatkin/Telarc recording as well as the Rattle/EMI recording. Also in this category is Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" Levi/Telarc. For operas, I like Verdi's "La Traviata" Ceccato/Angel LP with Sills and Gedda. The first act has great orchestral variety, choruses solos and a killer duet at the end of side 1 that does well for me. Sorry, it's impossible to choose just one! Enjoy your music, George Roland

Russ, Ha ha ha! I got a kick out of that post! Neither is true, actually. My listening seating position is about where the camera was--much further away from the chairs in the picture. Sometimes I DO swing one of the pictured chairs around to face the speakers but pull it back to about where the camera was. George Roland