Crossman Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 This may not be the appropriate place to post this but I thought some of you might find it interesting. I graduated from college with a music degree and did my student teaching at Hope, Arkansas, since it was only a 30 minute drive from the college. The person I was interned to was a good personal friend of Paul Klipsch. I had listened to a pair of Klipschorns several years earlier and was awed by them, however I didn't really learn to appreciate them until my Hope, AR tenure. The older teacher and myself would go out to the Klipsch factory at least once a week and listen to the Klipschorns. I was always amazed at the amount of detail that could be heard from the vinyl recordings (thats all there was at the time) that I had not ever heard after repeated listenings. At that time the group Blood, Sweat, and Tears had come out with their 2nd album. Cymbal decay and background voices could be heard that were not audible on everyday devices. At that time the "listening room" was the living room of an old house that set on the property close to the original factory (not the one that is there now). On several occasions Mr. Paul Klipsch would see our vehicle and come out to chat. That was many years ago and a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. I wish I could remember some of the things that he talked about but unfortunately I can't. I do remember that he had a great sense of humor and never seemed to talk down to us even though we asked some fairly ignorant questions. Since that time I have always wanted a pair of Klipschorns but could never afford them or justify having them. However recently I came across a pair of 1974 Khorns on Ebay at a price that I couldn't believe. I am currently in the process of refinishing them. By coincidence, for the past 24 years I am again living 30 minutes away from Hope, AR, only in the opposite direction from before. I pass by the factory on occasion but it just isn't the same anymore. A current friend of mine, who at one time was on the board of directors at Klipsch, had a brand new set of Khorns installed in a room acoustically designed by the Klipsch engineers (more money that I have) and they sounded tremendous. I hope mine sound as good when I get them correctly mounted. Thanks, Crossman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Cool. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your Klipschorns. We drove within 50 miles of Hope when we lived near Dallas Texas and returned to/from Indiana to visit family around 16 to 20 years ago. I really wish I would've convinced my wife we should've scheduled a stop in Hope one way or another. Or made a weekend trip with a couple of coworkers who learned to appreciate Klipsch. One of the guys couldn't believe how great the lowly KG 1 (I think) sounded they had bought on sale. I can understand the lack of funding. I've been a fan for maybe 30 years and only recently got some Klipsch in the house. Klipschorns are still a bit in the future. Just slow to replace / redeploy the simple, cheap, speakers I slapped together over 20 years ago. (I feel old). Please keep us posted on your project and we love pictures. Steps in your refinishing, final results, you name it. There is also gobs of very bright people here who I'm sure will gladly offer up suggestions on room treatments on the cheap a lot of great information posted in various threads. Start searching and have fun. Room treatment questions may be best in Architectural or Technical Questions sections or whever you find such threads. My understanding is that Klipschorns need a really good seal to work properly. 1974 models you may want to replace the capacitors in the crossovers. But I'd agree with those who say listen for awhile first. Many here have added there own backs similar to the 60th Anniversay model and have even improved on things during loving restoration projects such as Groomlakearea51's $500 Klipschorns project which he's documented pretty well here on the forum and would gladly answer any questions. He's also who I got my first Klipsch from, a rebuilt pair of Heresies that are probably closer in sound to the new Heresy 3s and are simply stunning. His $500 project Klipschorns were in his garage when I first visited his "Wall Of Voodoo" last spring. But are now in the "Wall of Voodoo" on my recent 2nd visit. Absolutely stunning. (Thankfully I didn't drool on anything or hope I didn't). I was going to get a pair of Minty Chorus 2s but we just couldn't figure out how to sensibly fit more than one in the Grand Caravan for the 1100 mile trip home especially with Holiday gifts and luggage. Though I think the Heresy 1 eXtreme as Marshall refers to them are much cooler for my first Klipsch and don't really give up too much in sound though we never got around to comparing. The trek to the GLA51's compound was a side trip while visiting the father out law. A wealth of knowledge on restoring, refurbishing, and rebuilding vintage Heritage models. Most of that sort of information is probably in the updates and modifications section. And most everyone here would love to hear PWK stories.... some old home movies shown at the Pilgrimage were a favorite for those not drooling, er I mean auditioning the demo setups. If you just want to browse in any section be sure to click the options and set to all posts as the default is the most recent 2 months. This post may fit here just fine. If you get a chance, try to attend any Klipsch Pilgrimages. The planning for the the 2009 was to be in Hope in March but currrently on hold. Most recent have been in Indianapolis and I was fortunate to be able to attend the last 2. Almost cried when I realized there had been a few since I've lived about an hour away from the current corporate headquarters... better late than never to the party. Welcome to the Forum! I'll leave the traditional greetings to others. Enjoy you "new" Klipschorns and keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Nice story & welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 A proper sounding room isn't difficult nor expensive to obtain. Check our Architecture forum for more info on what our members have accomplished, sometimes with very limited budgets. Welcome to the Madness, although it sounds like you've been 'around here' for a while! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Welcome. Nice story and We hope you'll post some pictures of your refinishing progress. Here's how just in Case. To post a single photo from your hard drive: Above the text box of your post, click the Options tab Under File Attachment, click Add/Update Click the browse button and find your file Click Save (you may need to scroll to the right) Click Post To attach multiple photos that are uploaded to the internet: Click the Insert Image button along the top of the text box of your post (looks like a little picture of a tree) Put the URL (web address) of the image you want to post in the Image URL field. Click Insert For both methods, you’ll want to make sure your pictures are of a manageable size. I’d say no bigger than 3x5 in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmans Robin Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Sweet story, Mr. Crossman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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