DTLongo

2003 Klipschorns 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)

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)

For GaryMD - apologies to others but I apparently lost GaryMD's email address) Subject: how would you like a Klipschorn neighbor? Dear Gary and Mrs. - I learned by chance today that the house right next to me in Ocean Pines is going on sale. Email me and I will send you details. Allbests, Tom Longo

(concluded) Incidentally, GaryMD really liked my tuner. It's a Tivoli Audio PAL model, a high quality little rechargeable battery or AC-powered portable monaural AM-FM radio, with a stereo headphone output that allows it to serve as a superb little tuner. The one classical music station we have out here comes in quirkily at times, and one can easily move that little PAL two or three feet in any direction to get the best reception. -- Tom Longo

The only reason I had a dinky CD player is that it fit the available space and I hadn't gotten around to upgrading it. I substituted a Sanyo DVD/CD player shortly after GaryMD's visit. Definite improvement in the deep bass and subtle improvements in overall clarity. And now I can play DVD audio through the KHorns (in a straight stereo setup) and...the opening sequence to "Top Gun" is really something to hear, feel and sense. My listening room is 12 x 15 with a cathedral ceiling rising to 12' so there is some space for the Khorns to open up in, though the room is not ideal. The Velodyne servo 15" sub, which I had beforehand and moved over, does definitely help in the deep bass. GaryMD listened to the Khorns both straight and with the sub and really grooved on the latter combo. GaryMD and Mrs. indeed preached the gospel of tube amps. Maybe someday. But with tubes I also remember things like hum, microphonics, heat, plus the fact that tubes wear out and blow out. I can and frequently do snap the SS amp on at a moment's notice, but would be reluctant to assault expensive tube filaments unless I were settling in for an extended listening session. De gustibus. (more)

Congratulations Craighorn! Enjoy. Folks say that used Khorns are a bargain. I paid $6500 for my (lifetime audio dream) new ones and don't regret one penny. Have had them over a month now and they just seem to get better and better. I listen primarily to classical and they are so MUSICAL. Well performed classical music can be very exciting and these babies capture every nuance.

Re sealing, mine are only pressed up against the wall with the factory seal, which is like rubber tubular weatherstripping. The seal with the wall is not perfect, but does not appear to make a great deal of difference, either. The factory seal is only around the tailboard, not around the outside back perimeter of the bass cabinet. Perhaps other more experienced Khorners will have a different opinion on the effect of the seal.

Craighorn, what year are your new Klipschorns? Please be sure to post your impressions after you hook them up and as you get used to them. My 2003 Khorns only seem to be getting better with more use. It's subjective I know, but they are sounding "mellower" and more mellifluous as time goes on. More well-rounded, as it were, not as brittle and "thin" as they seemed at the beginning five weeks ago. Nice.

Craighorn, what year are your new Klipschorns? Please be sure to post your impressions after you hook them up and as you get used to them. My 2003 Khorns only seem to be getting better with more use. It's subjective I know, but they are sounding "mellower" and more mellifluous as time goes on. More well-rounded, as it were, not as brittle and "thin" as they seemed at the beginning five weeks ago. Nice.

PaulParrot & Keith: I have myself oft chuckled - or wept at what they're doing to their ears - at car-stereo teenies and others with their loud boom-boom-boom midbass who wouldn't know TRUE bass if it uppped and bit them in their own nether regions. Tom

(continued) Per your advice I looked at some tube amp sites. I guess there's no doubt a tube amp would yield a warmer sound. But I was also reminded, and recall from my old youthful experience with tube amps, pleasures such as hum, hiss and microphonics. Also, a tube amp is not something you would want to switch quickly on if, as sometimes happens, I catch a piece elsewhere in the house that "I gotta hear on the Klipsches" and scoot into their room and snap on the tuner and amp. So, I'll stick with my SS amp for now whose sound the 50 hz equalization, mentioned above, does warm up somewhat. If any of you are in the neighborhood (near Ocean City, MD) and would like to give the new puppies a listen, let me know in advance and maybe we can set something up. Regards, Tom in Ocean Pines, MD.

A month with my new Khorns passed yesterday. Thanks to all who replied to my earlier posts here and on the Two Channel Audio forum. My impressions of the new puppies have settled to the following. In my room to my ears, played flat they still sound shy in the deep bass below 50 hz. On the other hand, my ears may have become used to boosted subwoofered bass previously. The Khorns add nothing to the program source that isn't there. Still, they sound more satisfying to me with a 6-to 8 DB equalizer bass boost at 50 hz and with my available subwoofer out of the circuit. That rounds them out, warms the sound up without muddying anything, and brings me pure Klipschorn sound without the sub. Subjectively, they seem also to have warmed some on their own as I guess they have "broken in" and loosened up. The Klipschorns continue utterly to delight with their overall clarity, speed, accuracy, and their staggering IMPACT on strong material when played more loudly. Wow. It's a cliche I know, but they really bring the performance right into the room with you. And they look so good, too. (continued)

(continued) Per your advice I looked at some tube amp sites. I guess there's no doubt a tube amp would yield a warmer sound. But I was also reminded, and recall from my old youthful experience with tube amps, pleasures such as hum, hiss and microphonics. Also, a tube amp is not something you would want to switch quickly on if, as sometimes happen, elsewhere in the house I catch a piece that "I gotta hear on the Klipsches" and scoot into their room and snap on the amp and tuner. So, I'll stick with my SS amp for now, whose sound the 50 hz equalization, mentioned above, does warm up somewhat. If you're in the neighborhood (near Ocean City, MD) and would like to give the new puppies a listen, let me know in advance and maybe we can set something up. Regards, Tom in Ocean Pines, MD

A month with my new Khorns passed yesterday. Thanks to all who replied to my earlier posts here and on the General forum. My impressions of the new puppies have settled to the following. In my room to my ears, played flat they still sound shy in the deep bass below 50 hz. On the other hand, my ears may have become used to boosted subwoofered bass previously. The Khorns add nothing to the program source that isn't there. Still, they sound more satisfying to me with a 6-to 8 DB equalizer bass boost at 50 hz and with my available subwoofer out of the circuit. That rounds them out, warms the sound up without muddying anything, and brings me pure Klipschorn sound without the sub. Subjectively, they seem also to have warmed some on their own as I guess they have "broken in" and loosened up. The Klipschorns continue utterly to delight with their overall clarity, speed, accuracy, and their staggering IMPACT on strong material when played more loudly. Wow. It's a cliche I know, but they really bring the performance right into the room with you. And they look so good, too. (continued)

As my new Khorns "break in," what changes can I normally expect to hear? And assuming the speakers are used ca. two hours/day, over how long a period of time? Tom

Thank you all for your reply posts thusfar. Very interesting reading! A question: as my new Khorns break in, what differences in their sound should I normally hear and, assuming they're running a couple of hours a day, how long before they are fully broken in? I think I am already hearing some change for the better. But since these are my first topmost-quality speakers, before reporting my impressions further I would like to know what other people's experiences have been. Thanks!

Very interesting replies, thank you. I should have mentioned my amp previously - it's a ca. 15-year-old Kenwood KA-8800 integrated stereo amplifier (not a receiver). Solid state, to be sure. A robust, faithful thing which has never sounded so good as through the Klipschorns. The Khorns are hooked up to speaker output A, the Velodyne sub to speaker B, and the equalizer to the tape monitor circuit. So, I can switch the Velodyne in and out with the Khorns at will via the speaker Both setting and the equalizer through the tape monitor circuit. The amp has a switchable loudness circuit which helps some at low volumes, but otherwise tends to muddy the sound. I prefer to switch in the Velodyne at lower volumes or with bass-shy program material. At louder volumes I run the Khorns alone, loudness off, with the amp bass control turned up to the 3:00 position for a slight bass boost and the treble control vertical (flat). I have heard that tube amplifiers are ideal for the Khorns but did not know that tubes would make such a difference in the bass at low volumes. I wonder why, technically. I guess that sometime I will have to look into acquiring one but I hear they're very expensive. For the moment, my budget has to recover after purchase of the Khorns. (Too bad I don't still have that nice mono Heathkit 20-watt tuber I built as a kid in the 1950's - sigh.)

(continued) As previously mentioned, the Khorns' clarity and imaging are superlative. On familiar recordings you hear things you never heard before. There is a real sense of resin bows on strings, individual banjo and guitar strings, wind instruments' reed vibrations, air passing over flute holes, musicians' breathing, and so forth. These speakers miss nothing. For low level listening when the Khorns' bass evaporates, I switch in a Velodyne subwoofer. I can also switch in a ten-band equalizer for source material so requiring. But cranked up (only to perhaps the 10:30 position max on my amp volume control), the Khorns are so efficient and clear and full-range that you don't need or want anything else in the circuit. In sum, I am slowly but surely becoming delighted with these lifetime dream audio puppies. They are proving NOT to be a disappointment. /s/ Tom Longo in Ocean Pines, MD

(Folks joining this may want to review the posts since April 6 under "My 2003 Klipschorns" in the Odds and Mods Forum and a first post in the General forum. Two weeks with my two new Khorns are up tomorrow. I think I'll keep them (grin). I had lamented an apparent lack of low bass. Based on posters' advice I checked everything, and the speakers are phased correctly internally, and externally to the amp. The problem is probably due to the listening room, ca. 12' by 15', cathedral ceiling, with the speakers in corners along the long wall. There is a large doorway between them, so those corners extend only about 20" beyond the speakers' edge. Anyway, to make a long story short, I find that running Klipschorns is like piloting an airplane. You don't just enter the cockpit, turn the key and step on the gas. You gotta know how to FLY the thing. Flying Khorns means that they want to play loud. Then, their presence and impact is such that everything is just THERE, including titanic bass that just seems to emerge from the house structure itself. I am not exaggerating! But if you turn them down, the bass seems to collapse on itself. These speakers are not designed for soft background listening. (continued)

One of you suggestd that I move this discussion to the Two-Channel Stereo forum. Done. See you there.

Yes, the speakers are tight back in corners and yes they have the seal around the tailboard. The seal is like tubular weatherstripping. It came separately and since I thought I would be moving the speakers around until they found their final position, I told the dealer I would install it. I later did. Bit of a nuisance job. You can see it installed in my pic of the fully assembled Klipschorn from the rear. I ran the phasing checks on the Stereophile test CD's #'s 1 and 2 and the Klipschorns appear to be in phase. The midrange and treble units are certainly in phase since their imaging is perfect - rock solid center image and so forth. The woofers really fall off from 50 hz on down, but there is no increase in bass volume when I turn the balance control all the way from right to left as would occur in the center-balance position if the woofers were out of phase. Still, I had not thought about the possibility that the woofers, only, might be out of phase. I'm not sure how to get at the woofer though, can someone help me out? Does the crossover panel just unscrew and come out giving access to the woofer, and are the leads to the woofer hard-soldered or screwed on? I'm reluctant to root around in there without a bit of guidance. Thanks for your help!

Am I happy with the Khorns? Predominantly yes, in the sense of having acquired a lifetime dream a la a Steinway piano. Also yes in terms of their power, clarity, precision and impact. Man, they can play loud, yet effortlessly. And their IMPACT is remarkable. But also no. The deep bass IS disappointing. There is not much there below around 45 hz even when I attempted to tweak them with an equalizer. You can't boost what isn't there. Shame to spend that much on a pair of such big speakers and then need to use them with an outboard sub. I'm just glad I had my Velodyne sub on hand, and a pair of smaller subs to replace it in my home theater. Also no in respect to the minor fit and finish item I decribed, the sloppily-glued-on "Klipsch" label. That just shouldn't happen with expensive, furniture-grade speakers like these. Would I buy them again knowing what I know now? On balance, probably yes, for their legendary reputation a la Steinway. And I do LOVE their clarity. It's a cliche, but I am rediscovering my music collection on them. But knowing what I know now, the decision to buy Klipschorns wouldn't be a slam-dunk. /s/ Tom Longo

(answers to questions, cont'd.) 2) I didn't audition other speakers specifically before buying the KHorns, though last year I posted questions on this forum and got encourging replies. I would have had to go some 200 miles to find an auditionable selection of topscale speakers. Plus, I just wanted Klipschorns! The speakers I was most familiar with before the Khorns and which I still have are a sweet pair of classic Large Advents, being used in my home theater, and Bose 901 Series Sixes, my former main speakers, now serving in an upstairs exercise room. The Khorns blow both those away in terms of impact, power and clarity. But I'm still friends with my older puppies.

After some 1 1/2 weeks now my impressions of the new Khorns are maturing. Despite my earlier comment about being stasfied with their low bass, I missed the very bottom. My home theater Velodyne S1500 servo sub spoiled me, I guess. So now the Velo has graduated to use with the Khorns. NOW, things are Nirvana. Klipschorn impact, power, sizzle and imaging coupled with the Velo sub. What a luxury! At $8000 retail for this array it should be. A complaint - Sloppy detailing by Klipsch. One of the "Klipsch" nameplates has smeared glue overlappping it on the sides. With the passage of time that irks me more and more. No excuse for such sloppiness on $6500 speakers. Nothing really to do about it though short of returning the unit, and after having had to wait for 'em six months, plus the shipping cost, I'll live with it. Answers to questions. 1) My dealer (the closest) with the pickup truck is 50 miles away. He specializes in car audio, interestingly, and normally uses a van but the Khorns wouln't fit. (continued)