TBrennan

Once again I make my standard arguement against mixing basshorns with small direct-radiating subs, it makes no sense to me to take a high-output, high efficiency, low distortion basshorn and shackle it to a low-output, low efficiency, high distortion sub. You know guys, as frequency goes down driver area is supposed to get BIGGER not smaller. The best way to sub a LaScala is with another, bigger horn (a Khorn bottom can be mounted to the ceiling, see Matt Kraemers rig on my website), a DIY sub with multiple direct-radiators; such as Mike Bates DIY subs using 8 15" JBLs, or the use of the ServoDrive Contrabass, the rotary servo motor driven dual 15" cones of which can give long excursions without the distortion and dynamics problems of voicecoil drivers, and in a relatively small box too. You guys ain't heard a good turnkey box sub till you've heard the Contrabass, it can truely be matched with basshorns.

Jim--Besides being more efficient the T-350 has more extended highs than the T-35, this by virtue of the more powerful magnet. I doubt very much that ANY woofer will do a better job in the Khorn than the K-33 or even as good a job. If you want to replace the mid driver use the old JBL phenolic diaphragm 2470. Best thing to do to improve the midrange IMO is to do as Al is and replace the mid horn itself. As you need to go down to 400 cycles the only halfway decent-sized horns I can think of are the discontinued EV SM 120-A (I used it with LaScalas, great horn) or the Altec 311-90. Look at my horn site to see the SM 120As, go down the page to Matt Kraemer's EV rig.

Gamer---Audiophile wire is a con job. I've taken part in double-blind tests where expensive wire could not be told apart from lampcord. Sighted observations with wire are meaningless. Go to Home Depot and buy thier 12 gauge speaker wire at 36 cents a foot and be done with it.

Nursoe---You think wires are the weakest link in a rig?!? The loudspeaker being a very imperfect mechanical device is far more a problem than a passive thing like a piece of wire. Would you rather have 1970s Khorns wired as they were with bell wire or have (name your crummy speaker of choice) wired with Monster. This whole wire thing is a lot of nonsense and only sprangup with the entrance of the baby-boomers, and thier need for conspicuous consumption and self-generated mythology (and thier unprecedented gullibility and ability to con themselves), into the hi-fi market. If otherwise fully functional wires made a difference them Wente, Thuras, Lansing, Hilliard and Olson would have known it in the 1930s and PWK wouldn't have wired his speakers with bell wire. No doubt that some bad "high-end" wires act as EQ, if a fella needs EQ there are better ways to do it.

Actually I don't think the company need do more than get the Heritages back on line. I don't understand the reasoning behind the Jubilee. PWK was frustrated that his folded basshorns had poor response above 400 cycles, that forced him to use phenolic diaphragm 1" compression drivers and that forced him to do 3-ways. So now they have a folded horn that gets up around 800 cycles and will allow the use of an aluminum diaphragm 1" driver and thus a 2-way. So instead they're using a 2" driver which they could have gone down to 400 with in the first place. All this work to do a 2-way at 800 they could have done at 400 with the old basshorns. I don't get it. And I could care less whether the hi-end types like horns are not, I gaveup on those ninnies many years ago.

Alsn---Hmmm, much nicer looking speaker than the later Cornwalls. When I was in the museum in Hope a few weeks ago I saw a very early Cornwall that had what Fender and Ampeg amp fans call a "TV" front, very nice.

William--Correct, what I'm saying is that satisfactory alternatives to KLFs wouldn't be hard to do. Randy--I don't think Altec talk is heresy :-), we're all hornys here. We're a small group compared to conventional hi-fi fans and we have more in common than not regardless of what horns we use. I've owned several sets of Klipsches, I've owned Altecs, JBLs, EVs too, liked them all. 802s and 806s will reach down to 500hz and should go higher than 288s. I've never heard 288s in a hi-fi setting but a fella is bringing some 288s on 311-90s to our horn club meeting next Sunday, I'm eager to hear them.

Fellas, all I can say is this: I have some old unused Bozaks, if I wanted to listen to cone midrange I'd be using them, nobody made better cones than Rudy. I keep them cause they're pretty and very well made.

SoundDog--The older Ks used Alnico magnet mid and tweeter drivers. The magnets are slugs inside the driver and the metal pots are the return structures. The structure of such drivers was extremely efficient in focusing magnetic energy towards the voice-coil gap and they are, in effect, shielded (though that was not the intent). I can place Altec and JBL Alnico drivers on my TV with no effect on the picture and screwdrivers and paper clips are not attracted to them in the least. But once the rear cover is removed to replace diaphragms one must be extremely careful of the powerful magnetic attraction in the pole piece-phase plug area, I've ruined new diaphragms when the screwdriver was pulled towards the phase plug and punctured the new diaphragm as I was installing it. I used an Altec 605A, which has 2 powerful Alnico magnets, as a TV stand-center speaker.

Kenratboy--Your not missing anything, DIY horns are easy to build and there's lots of info and parts available, check my website for info and links. IMO using JBL or Altec parts you could certainly make a speaker as good as a KLF or Cornwall and in some horny's opinions a better one. The drivers that PWK used (not counting the Stephens and WE drivers he used very early on) are hardly the best out there, part of PWK's genius is that he made some pretty average drivers into a whole that was better than the sum of it's parts. But a simple 2-way or 3-way horn rig using very high quality Altec or JBL parts is ridiculously easy to build. Have at it. Used parts are the way to go, Ebay is loaded with Altec and JBL stuff; drivers, horns, crossovers, the works. An outfit called Jammin Jersey sells used parts at fair prices and provides good service, there's a link to them on my site. Also talk to the hornys on the high-efficiency forum at www.audioasylum.com Lots of DIY hornys hangout there and are full of good advice, nice people there.

SoundDog---Old Altec and JBL horn loudspeakers were an even better investment, I've been offered $1200 for my Altec 605A drivers which sold for a couple of hundred each in the 1960s. JBL L-300s, a 15" 3-way mechanically similar to a Cornwall, seem to sell for over $2000 and as high as $3000. Just a pair of old Altec or JBL 1" compression drivers will fetch $300 and up. I've seen gray cabinet VOTs go for 2 grand. And the JBL Paragon or Hartsfield, well you'd better get a second mortgage if you want those. I think certain older Klipsches will go up in value as the company courts the mass market. I'd be looking for Khorns, LaScalas, Belles or Cornwalls from the 1970s with Alnico Atlases and T-35s. The designs had stabilized by then and quality and PWK's actual involvement were at a very high level. And of course they sound REALLY good. I think that when I go back to work I'll start looking for some nice Belles. :-)

Perstian--The KLF-30 was the kind of speaker old PWK would have designed (which is good), the RF-7 is more along the lines of an "audiophile" speaker (which is generally bad). The main difference is that in the KLF the midrange above 800 cycles was carried by a horn loaded compression driver (good), with the RF-7 the cone woofers carry much of that range by running up to 2200 cycles (bad). The more of the range carried by a compression driver-horn and the less carried by a direct-radiator such as a cone woofer the better a speaker sounds. IMO opinion the greatest benefits of horn-loading are to be had in the midrange, compression drivers sound undistorted with great detail and explosive dynamics, cones sound blah. My LaScalas, rolling in the mid horn at 400 cycles, sounded better in the mids then my Cornwalls rolling in at 600. Altec VOTs that rollin the horn at 500 sound better than the VOTs that rollin at 800 and both sound better than the 604s and 605s that rollin the horn at 1600. Now I haven't heard the RF-7, I went to hear it 2 nights ago but the dealer had none. But I don't see why this speaker would change my opinions of what sounds good, not after 30 years in this hobby and having heard untold numbers of speakers, I don't like cone midrange, that's why I'm a horny. But this is only my opinion, judge for yourself.

Some fellas and I are going to start a little horn club around Chicago, 1st meeting is at my crib on Sunday 8-12 and all are welcome. What we'll have to listen to are my Altec 605As and my big guns--Altec 515Bs in JBL 4560s with JBL 2420s on Altec 511Bs on top. Other fellas are gonna bring Altec 288s on 311s, some Danley Unitys and a Tripath amp (you gotta hear this thing). Maybe I can get my buddy Jim to bring the Cornwalls I modded with KP-301 tractrix horns too. Anyone interested E-mail me.

Klipschguy--Well no, not all horn specs relate wide dispersion to the wide axis. The EV 8HD was a popular 800hz diffraction horn that had it's widest dispersion from the narrow axis. Compare a K-600 to an 8HD, very similar.

Oh yeah, Sound Practices had some VERY good things to say about the LaScala and Heresy, it was definately not a magazine to praise overpriced, underperforming "audiophile" speakers made with chinless woofers and tragic domes.

Wolfram--Find some copies of Sound Practices, a now defunct magazine that was the best one ever for hornys; great articles on Altecs, TADS, Lowthers, Edgars and such. Vacuum Tube Valley has run articles of interest to hornys too. I find conventional "hi-end" magazines like Stereophile useless as they like gear that I think sounds terrible (direct-radiating loudspeakers) and I have no common ground with them. If they think a speaker like a Pro-Ac sounds good how can I put any faith in anything they say? To read about some guy worrying about the doubtful benefits of this or that wire while he's listening on absolutely junk loudspeakers strikes me as futile.

Sweet Spot---Thank you, yeah I've been using horns for a long time; LaScalas, Cornwalls, EVs, JBLs, Altecs; liked 'em all. Right now I'm very keen on the Altec 515B woofer in the JBL 4560 bins, not so much for the bass but for the midrange which is the best I've heard, I cross them at 800hz to Altec 806s, very lifelike.

Lots of JBL and Altec freaks pull the bugscreens from thier compression drivers and report improvements. I've pulled the screens from some of my Altec drivers and hear no difference. I then decided to leave the screens on my other drivers alone as I don't want to hurt thier value to collectors. I had a pair of Cornwalls and pulled one screen and left the other, heard no difference. If you pull the screens and debris gets in there (unlikely) just remove the rear cover and diaphragm and blow them out, clean the gap by running scotch tape in it. Just watchout for ferric debris like filings.

While touring the museum in Hope a couple of weeks ago I noticed lots of Lowther stuff; several of those old upright corner horns, one of those front and rear loaded corner-horns and several drivers. I recall reading once that Klipsch respected Voight, did he listen to these Lowthers on the sly? I wonder how much of the gear in the collection is PWK's.