[How many factory satin black finish Klipschorns were made?]

Is it worth buying them? Are they ok from a technical and sound point of view?

 

[How many factory satin black finish Klipschorns were made?]

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[How many factory satin black finish Klipschorns were made?]

48 minutes ago, HDBRbuilder said:

I worked at Klipsch from 1976 to 1983...about 7.5 years...in that time maybe 2 or 3 pairs of gloss piano black K-horns were shipped, from what I can remember.  So, they are exceedingly rare as a finish on K-horns, but it was DEFINITELY an option for the finish throughout that time and earlier and later than when I was there.  THe painters hated doing them, though, because there was way too much possibility of drips/runs happening during the application of those multiple coats of high-gloss black laquer!  They would neeed to come in bef9ore work to shoot those layers, too...after scrubbing down the floor to eliminate the possibility of any dust getting into the finish when they shot the speakers, and also prior to the rest of the employees getting to their work stations, stirring up dust in the process!  Total PITA for the painters!...seriously!  It was also a total PITA for the final assembly and shipping personnel...almost anything might create a scuff mark and the shipping department had to be very careful when packing them...for the same reasons!

 

As for the validity of that gloss piano black being an original factory paint job, only the labels can confirm or deny that for you, just as USNRET stated above!  Just looking at your posted pics, my best guess is that the gloss piano black was applied after the speakers left the plant...since it appears that the sharp edges and corners have been sanded over to "round those edges somewhat" prior to the black finish being applied....but I could be wrong!

 

I enclose additional photos and photo labels. Do you judge by the mark what the original color was? 

Klipschorn Ak2. 

[How many factory satin black finish Klipschorns were made?]

On 11/3/2019 at 12:02 PM, HDBRbuilder said:

Just a little FYI about black-finished speakers from Klipsch...especially NON-PIANO GLOSS BLACK....Many of the black-finished speakers are what are now called "B" stock, over the years due to irregularities in the fine wood veneers or blemishes...such as in black walnut veneered panels where there is a bit of "white wood", AKA "live wood"(which is actually the few rings just under the bark of the tree where nutrients and water are passed up and down the trunk)...other irregularities in the fine veneers are things such as very fine discrepancies in where the veneer fletches meet at their "book-match" seams points,.or things like that.  This went on for many Years...even decades..."shoot them black and send them out on the next order for black"!  Even with K-horns!  There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the performance of the speakers, though!...and the black paint hides any veneer discrepancies.  Bye and large, the vast majority of K-horns in black were actually birch plywood instead of the finely-veneered panels, though!  The Belles were also shipped black, but they always used finely-veneered panels for that build, besides they were ALSO ALWAYS a special-order item, anyway!

 

Good morning, did Klipschorn ever appear in the black piano version? Currently, I have the opportunity to buy, but I also have doubts whe there this version has ever been produced? I attach a photo. Thanks for the answers.