DTLongo

I'm in the market for a tube amp to go with my 2003 Klipschorns. Something like a Scott 299C or EICO HF-81. Nothing is available on eBay just now. Does anyone have any suggestions? For GaryMD: how about that fellow from whom you got the Fisher amp you demo'd for me?

Thanks for the kind comments. My house, which I moved in to July 2002, has nice interior wood trimmings which the light oak Khorns blend with well. Ditto the newly remodeled kitchen and rebuilt former porch, parts of which you can see in the background of the picture of the left Khorn. BTW, the dinky little TV visible in pic #1 is just a cheap b&w I use to look at DVD menus, when necessary, when I play DVD audio through the Khorns. The opening sequences of "Top Gun," for example, and the Terminator flicks are awesome through those puppies. Part of my home theater is glimpsable in the left background of the pic of the right Khorn. Onkyo A/V receiver, classic Large Advent speakers helped out by Radio Shack add-on tweeters atop them, JBL 100 powered subwoofer, small but impressive, and small KLH center and surrounds, A nice sounding system but certainly not Khorns. I don't have an unbroken wall with good corners such that I can set up a home theater with the Khorns. Maybe in my next incarnation .

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Thank you Gary MD for your account of our Khorn session. I should maybe title this post "Religion, getting of." Gary's description of the sonic qualities we both heard, both with my Pioneer SS receiver and his Fisher tube amp, are spot on. He is not exaggerating! The Khorns with the tube amp sounded that good. The experience opened my eyes (ears). For his part, Gary said my Khorns as set up as they are and used with the tube amp were just about the best he's ever heard. So, yes, I am now in the market for an integrated stereo tube amp. I welcome your recommendations. And yes, if Gary had had that Fisher amp available for sale, I might very well have grabbed it on the spot. I am posting some pics one by one in this and successive posts since I don't know how to put up multiple pics in one post. Total of five pics. This one is a general view of Gary's amp on the floor. My DVD/CD player is on the middle shelf, the Pioneer receiver is on the top shelf and atop it is Gary's SCAD/CD player, a Sony if I recall. The successive pics are closeups of the amp, and views of the left and right Klipschorns in their corners. The room is 12' x 15', and the Khorns fire directly at the sofa center seat sweet spot on the opposite wall. showing their corners.

Apparently Webmaster posts can't be replied to directly, so I am doing so here. Stick to your guns, Klipsch. A few days ago a claimed 13-year-old posted that he/she thought the poster was the youngest owner of Klipsch legacy-quality speakers that had come the person's way. There was nothing in the post to indicate the writer was other than claimed, a young audiophile. Yet, the first reply blared that the poster was just tooting his or her own horn. Well. As around that age myself in 1955 when I began to get into this hobby (and hardly with quality Klipsch speakers!), that reply left me cold. An acquaintance of mine who very frequently posts on this board told me recently his wife is concerned that he does so because of the Internet apes out there. I told him I don't think that's the case with this board, thanks both to the esoteric subject matter, but also to Klipsch's monitoring. Keep up the good work, Klipsch.

Thanks very much for doing this, Gary. What time on Saturday do you think you'll arrive? Do you remember how to get here or do you need directions? Since you're lugging out two amps and will want to hook them each up in turn, I hope you can spend more time than the hour or two you mentioned earlier. You are welcome to stay overnite in my guest room if you want. I have connectors (RCA cables). Audio sources will be the DVD/CD player that is presently hooked up plus the little PAL AM/FM radio/tuner you saw when you were here last time. To save time, I will have my receiver disconnected and removed and other stuff rearranged so you can put your amp(s) atop that piece of furniture and hook 'em right up. Since I changed receivers the Velodyne subwoofer is largely superfluous with the Khorns. Since I have it, I use it, but with it out of the circuit the difference is hardly noticeable at all on rock/pop. The sub is still nice to have on really low organ and symphonic stuff. Ergo, we can give priority to running the Khorns with your tubes without the sub. To another poster: the pictures haven't fallen yet! But their angles definitely shift when the Khorns are cruisin'. All kidding aside, the longer I have these speakers the more I love 'em. Tom

Garymd: That would be very nice if you can do it, Gary. After all you folks on the forum have had to say about tubes and Klipschorns, I would really welcome the opportunity to give your tubes a listen. One of my grown sons and his fiance are here for a visit. First time he saw and heard the Khorns. The Khorns "blew him away" on some CD's he brought, rock, bluegrass and such. He couldn't get over their sounding so clear, so clean, so loud and such impressive bass (without the subwoofer!). Nice. Tom

In October I posted a considered six-month review on my 2003 Klipschorns. The bottom line was that while I was pleased with them, they were shy in the bass and needed to be used with a good subwoofer. I now need to amend that. My then-amp, a vintage-1988 SS Kenwood KA-880D, began to die. I swapped in a newer Pioneer VSX-5700S receiver and the difference was remarkable. Much fuller bass, the Khorns seemed to "bloom." One sensed that they were now really putting out down to their rated 35 hz. or so. I still use the sub to bring out the very bottom on relevant organ and symphonic material but otherwise the subwoofer has become more or less superfluous. I purchased and swapped in a new Onkyo top of the line stereo receiver but, interestingly, it did not sound significantly better than the vintage-1990 Pioneer. So, I took it back and saved some bucks and am staying with the Pioneer for now. Maybe some day tubes, but I still have reservations about that - heat, microphonics, hiss and hum, tubes blow out and so forth. Anyway, the lesson which you experts already know but I had to learn: with Khorns the choice of amp can make a big difference. Regards, Tom in Ocean Pines MD

In October I posted a considered six-month review on my 2003 Klipschorns. The bottom line was that while I was pleased with them, they were shy in the bass and needed to be used with a good subwoofer. I now need to amend that. My then-amp, a vintage-1988 SS Kenwood KA-880D, began to die. I swapped in a newer Pioneer VSX-5700S receiver and the difference was remarkable. Much fuller bass, the Khorns seemed to "bloom." One sensed that they were now really putting out down to their rated 35 hz. or so. I still use the sub to bring out the very bottom on relevant organ and symphonic material but otherwise the subwoofer has become more or less superfluous. I purchased and swapped in a new Onkyo top of the line stereo receiver but, interestingly, it did not sound significantly better than the vintage-1990 Pioneer. So, I took it back and saved some bucks and am staying with the Pioneer for now. Maybe some day tubes, but I still have reservations about that - heat, microphonics, hiss and hum, tubes blow out and so forth. Anyway, the lesson which you experts already know but I had to learn: with Khorns the choice of amp can make a big difference. Regards, Tom in Ocean Pines MD

The 901 VI's are the one good and not too overpriced product Bose makes. I have had a pair since 1988 and they continue to please. Good clarity, good bass and excellent dispersion. People love to bash Bose and with some reason. Their acoustimass-type multichannel systems have no low bass and are grotesquely overpriced for what you get. Their Wave and Wave/CD radios are also ridiculously overpriced (I have a Wave radio). Bose prices high, allows no discounting, and markets the heck out of its product line. The 90l's are the one exception, in my view. I also have a pair of 2003 Klipschorns. Of course the KHorns blow the Boses away in the clarity and impact department. As indeed they should, being priced five times as much. The Khorns replasced my 901's but I continue to uses the latter in an exercise room. Because of need to be used with their dedicated equalizer, you should buy 901's only of you are going to use them in a pure stereo installation. You could use them in a multichannel home theater setup only if your receiver has pre-out, main-in jacks on the respective channels.

Congratulations on your new Khorns. See my review dated October 9 of a pair of 2003 models of these babies. How do yours compare?

"Did you find improvement with the other cd player?" GaryMD, yes, the Sanyo CD/DVD player is noticeably fuller in the mid- and low bass than the temporary little CD Walkman-type player I had playing through the Khorns when you were here. Midrange and treble clarity is about the same, though. Tom

2003 Klipschorns review - part 5 and last Conclusion. One is intrigued by current day built-in subwoofer speaker models such as the much advertised Definitive Technology model BP7000SC subwoofered tower bipolar speakers. A pair of those for around $5,000 might give the Khorns a run for the money, and possibly beat them in the low bass at moderate volumes. But sometimes one wants to let one's puppies out for a real run. At seriously high volumes on demanding material, I doubt the 7000's or like speakers would keep up with Khorns. Their cone speakers would physically outrun their excursion limits while the Khorns' woofers in their folded horn enclosures and their midrange and tweeter horns are barely breaking a sweat. Alternatively, the Khorns can hold their own with speakers costing $10,000 on up, into stratospheric levels. In that league they are a bargain. Plus, there is the real pride in owning a pair of these classics, a dream for me since I was a teenager audiophile (I am 61 now). Apart from that sentiment, from the strictly sonic point of view, would I buy new Khorns again? If I could afford them without too much strain, had the corners to put them in and with a good subwoofer, yes indeed. Regards, /s/ Thomas Longo, Ocean Pines, MD

2003 Klispchorns review - part 4. A fourth factor is remarkably good dispersion. I had expected the midrange and tweeter horns to be quite beamy, but the midrange and treble hold up well to over 45 degrees off-axis. One can stand directly in front of one of the Khorns cooking away and hear the other speaker playing in the opposite corner. The deep bass, though, disappoints. To be sure, these speakers were designed in an era when there was virtually no deep reproduced bass below around 45 Hz. They do roll off below around 40 Hz. Fortunately, I had a Velodyne servo 1500 sub that I moved over from my home theater to the Klipschorns. The big Velodyne well supplements the Khorns below 40 Hz. Yet, depending on program material, there are times when the Velo is "too much" and I go to straight Klipschorns with the amplifier bass control turned up from its usual 12 o' clock flat position to around 3 or 4 o' clock. For example, the Cincinnati Pops treatment of Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing" on Telarc CD-80401. To listen to that full-bore jazz drum duel accompanied by other soloists and full symphony orchestra on a pair of Khorns playing at a live-level volume is to die and go to heaven. Likewise, the "Bugle Boy" cut on the Boston Pops "Splash" album. (continued)

2003 Klipschorns review - part 3. And, except for a pair of (then) $40,000 Infinity Reference Standards I heard a couple of decades ago, the Khorns are the only speakers I have heard that can take the Telarc "1812" cannon shots at significant volume without flinching. The second impressive sonic is the Khorns' effortlessness. They can whisper, sure, but boy can they roar. One comes to regard the volume control as a type of Niagara knob, given the cascades of pure undistorted sound the Khorns can pour forth. Their fabled efficiency comes through too. My 100 watts per channel amp loafs even as the house is shaking. With the Khorns I have never had to have the volume control up beyond about 11:00. A third sonic factor is their "singiness." That's a subjective term to be sure, but these speakers do indeed "sing." They are truly musical. Clarity, of course. Pure crisp detailed sound. Individual banjo strings. Musicians' breathing. Air rushing through wind instruments. Percussive transients as piano hammers hit the strings. A sense of actual resined bows going over strings. Symphonic strings sound like a group of violins, say, rather than an undifferentiated violin sound. Great transients and percussion. Wonderful separation. Sublime close-miked acoustic jazz. And a loud rockster's delight whether it's 50's classics or modern day. (continued)

2003 Klipschorn review - part 2 Wife Acceptance Factor. I'm not married, but a surprise was how unobtrusive repeat unobtrusive the Khorns are when snuggled all the way back into their corners as they should be. They sit there rather squatly and quietly as attractive pieces of major furniture. The large, well-finished front wood panels topped by the black-grill-cloth midrange and tweeter assemblies are quite pleasing to the eye. Notwithstanding their size, the Khorns are less intrusive than even much smaller freestanding box-style speakers that stick up into a room. The sound. These speakers did require breaking in. They were stiff and "honky" at first but settled in over several weeks to a mellower, richer timbre. But even just out of their cartons the first thing that struck me was the Khorns' IMPACT. They are designed to be able to move a lot of air, and it shows. Crank them up and try "The Star Spangled Banner" from Keith Lockhart & the Boston Pops' "Splash of Pops" album (BMG). The chorale starts off very softly with the orchestra coming in slowly. But wait until the final two choruses. Likewise, for impact try the DVD opening music and jet sequences of "Top Gun" on a pair of Klipschorns at volume. Wow. (continued)

2003 Klipschorns review - part 1 Here, based on six months experience with them, is a considered review of my new Klipschorns ordered in October 2002 and received in April 2003. Would I buy them again knowing what I know about these speakers now? Answer: yes, but with a good subwoofer to go with them. My Khorns are in the long corners of a 12'x15', cathedral ceiling room used as a reading and straight-stereo listening area. The room is smallish but the high ceiling gives the speakers an opportunity to open up. The amplifier is an older but sturdy Kenwood KA88OD solid state, 100 watts per channel. Audio sources are a Sanyo CD/DVD player, Cambridge Sound Works PAL compact AM/FM radio/tuner, and a Radio Shack turntable used rarely. Fit and finish. One of my K-horns never should have left the factory. It had a bad cosmetic flaw. Glue had smeared out and dried from under the metal Klipsch nameplate onto the surrounding grille cloth. So what does one do, insist that the dealer return the behemoth to Klipsch and wait more weeks or months? Fortunately, by careful work with small tools I was able to chip away most of the dried glue such that the blemish is now not visible unless you look at it very closely. But we were not pleased. Quality control on $6500 speakers should be better. (continued)

"I also had no idea what a new pair cost." I believe Khorns list today starting at $7250 on up. You may be able to deal a little. The price depends on finish. Mine that I ordered last October and got for $6500 are Model AK4 Medium Oak.

(Sorry, people, I goofed. I didn't mean to open a new string. The whole five-part review is under the other string titled "New 2003 klipschorns - a six-month review.")

2003 Klipschorns review - part 5 and last Conclusion. One is intrigued by current day built-in subwoofer speaker models such as the much advertised Definitive Technology model BP7000SC subwoofered tower bipolar speakers. A pair of those for around $5,000 might give the Khorns a run for the money, and possibly beat them in the low bass at moderate volumes. But sometimes one wants to let one's puppies out for a real run. At seriously high volumes on demanding material, I doubt the 7000's or like speakers would keep up with Khorns. Their cone speakers would physically outrun their excursion limits, while the Khorns' woofers in their folded horn enclosures and the midrange and tweeter horns are barely breaking a sweat. Alternatively, the Khorns can hold their own with speakers costing $10,000 on up, into stratospheric levels. In that league they are a bargain. Plus, there is the real pride in owning a pair of these classics, a dream for me since I was a teenager audiophile (I am 61 now). Apart from that sentiment, from the strictly sonic point of view, would I buy new Khorns again? If I could afford them without too much strain, had the corners to put them in and with a good subwoofer, yes indeed. Regards, /s/ Thomas Longo, Ocean Pines, MD

2003 Klispchorns review - part 4. A fourth factor is remarkably good dispersion. I had expected the midrange and tweeter horns to be quite beamy, but the midrange and treble hold up well to over 45 degrees off-axis. One can stand directly in front of one of the Khorns cooking away and hear the other speaker playing in the opposite corner. The deep bass, though, disappoints. To be sure, these speakers were designed in an era when there was virtually no deep reproduced bass below around 45 Hz. They do roll off below around 40 Hz. Fortunately, I had a Velodyne servo 1500 sub that I moved over from my home theater to the Klipschorns. The big Velodyne well supplements the Khorns below 40 Hz. Yet, depending on program material, there are times when the Velo is "too much" and I go to straight Klipschorns with the amplifier bass control turned up from its usual 12 o' clock flat position to around 3 or 4 o' clock. For example, the Cincinnati Pops treatment of Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing" on Telarc CD-80401. To listen to that full-bore jazz drum duel accompanied by other soloists and full symphony orchestra on a pair of Khorns playing at a live-level volume is to die and go to heaven. Likewise, the "Bugle Boy" cut on the Boston Pops "Splash" album. (continued)

2003 Klipschorns review - part 3. And, except for a pair of (then) $40,000 Infinity Reference Standards I heard a couple of decades ago, the Khorns are the only speakers I have heard that can take the Telarc "1812" cannon shots at significant volume without flinching. The second impressive sonic factor is the Khorns' effortlessness. They can whisper, sure, but boy can they roar. One comes to regard the volume control as a type of Niagara knob, given the cascades of pure undistorted sound the Khorns can pour forth. Their fabled efficiency comes through too. My 100 watts per channel amp loafs even as the house is shaking. With the Khorns I have never had to have the volume control up beyond about 11:00. A third sonic factor is their "singiness." That's a subjective term to be sure, but these speakers do indeed "sing." They are truly musical. Clarity, of course. Pure crisp detailed sound. Individual banjo strings. Musicians' breathing. Air rushing through wind instruments. Percussive transients as piano hammers hit the strings. A sense of actual resined bows going over strings. Symphonic strings sound like a group of violins, say, rather than an undifferentiated violin sound. Great transients and percussion. Wonderful separation. Sublime close-miked acoustic jazz. And a loud rockster's delight whether it's 50's classics or modern day. (continued)