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How'd you get started with Klipsch?


alkemyst

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I got mine by a freak of events.

I had bought this setup:

Rotel RB980 (125watt x 2 amp)
Rotel RSP960 (Dolby Prologic decoder/preamp/amp)
Rotel RT940 (AM/FM tuner)
Marantz CC65SE (5disc changer built like a tank)

Def Tech BP20s
Def Tech BP10s
Def Tech CLR1000

went through a divorce and had to sell...my dealer heard about it and let me know about a little setup I may be interested in...it was:

Yamaha RX-V1050, Quartets, Academy and a pair of PSB 300's for surround...About $850 in 1997 :)

I have since sold and repurchased the Academy and changed the PSB's to RS-25's. My source is now a Yamaha HTR-5960.

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I actually spent my formative (high school) years in Hope, AR; lived right next door to PWK himself. I heard Khorns first (I know-spoiled for life!), then Heresies and La Scalas at various places, but never at Paul's home- unfortunately. Knew a few cool people that worked at K&A. My first pair of Klipsch were brand new '77 Heresies, my graduation present. I was the envy of my college dorm!

Darrell

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Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I was a boiseaholic with 4 each 901's.

I attempted to buy two birch LaScalas on Naval Air Station Cubi Point/Subic Bay Phillipines sometime in the early or mid 80's. I probably bought beer for the crew in order to bribe them to transport and load up the boxes on our trusty P-3 Orion sub hunter. Alas the boxed speakers would not fit thru the cabin door so back to the PX they went. I listened to those triangle things a while longer.

Flash forward to 1990 and I'm living the good life in Iceland. My job took me to the European continent almost every week that I was not hauling crap and the USN show band (those gentlemen need to rent a clue) to Africa. Just happened to be in an Air Force exchange somewhere in Germany one day and spotted the WO Chorus IIs. Wrote a check that I hoped would clear and tried to load in the rented mini van. They don't fit. This is BS now and by golly I am getting these speakers back to Keflavik with me this time. We somehow removed the rear seat and loaded up the Choruii.

A few months later I get back to the rock around Christmas time. The chick (woman, lady, friend; she was all of that) I was dating at the time had bought a set of WO Quartets to give to me for Christmas. I was unaware of her upcoming gift at the time but me asking her to help download the Choruii that I had bought didn't go over too well at the time. That set up has been around for a while now and I still have the Quartets. I hope the gent out on the west coast that bought my Choruii which allowed me to could get the Belle triplets appreciates them.

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Back in the '80s, I dreamed of getting a pair of La Scalas, but never thought I'd be able to afford them, and didn't think about them for a long time. Then one sunny afternoon in 2006, I wandered into the local hole-in-the-wall vintage hi-fi shop and nearly ran into a pair of black 1974 La Scalas. They were taking up a fair bit of space at the front of the shop and I immediately realized that if they were in that shop, I could afford them. I can still recall the jaw-dropping look on my face when I first saw them. "La Scalas! In here! Wow!"

I had a listen to them, consulted a knowledgeable friend, and went back the next day and bought them. A few months later, I installed BEC CT125 tweeters and Sonicaps, then in March 2008, I added K510 horns with K-69 tweeters and they became JubScalas.

Everything I've done to them has improved the sound noticeably, but now they're at the stage where I just enjoy them and think about buying more LPs and CDs, and maybe better sources at some point. The amplifier, processor and speaker section is where it will be for a long time.

As well, I added a pair of Heresy IIs for 5.1 surround, then another Heresy II (now upgraded to Heresy III) for a centre speaker, so it's an all-Heritage system for surround sound. I feel spoiled every day when I listen to the system.

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Worked for a sound company in my early 20's that had MCM and LSI's. Fast forward a couple decades, I bought a pair of Cornwalls from The Trader newspaper that had survived a house fire (barely). 150 speakers later.....

..then I got my dream job and got to work there for a while [:D] ... then that ended... [:(]

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Worked for a sound company in my early 20's that had MCM and LSI's. Fast forward a couple decades, I bought a pair of Cornwalls from The Trader newspaper that had survived a house fire (barely). 150 speakers later.....

Male version of the crazy old cat lady? :)

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Was upgrading an old pair of Fishers and went to a local higher end stereo store (Stereo Front Row - now out of business). Spent about 2.5 hours listening to every set of speakers they had and going back and forth - back and forth. Finally settled on a mismatched pair (Med oak finish) of KLF-20's (floor models on clearance) and never looked back. Stuffed them behind the seats of a1988 2 seat Buick Reatta. I didn't know squat about good vs average vs poor speakers - only what sounded best to me. Been a Legend head ever since.

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Marantz CC65SE (5disc changer built like a tank)

I have that model cdp in one of my systems now, bought it at a garage sale a couple of years back-- for $5! Looked brand new, with shipping box and the remote unused. The guy said his son bought it for him as a present years ago but he never really used it. It's played flawlessly for me and sounds quite good. One of my best audio finds for the money.

D

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My story ... is actually documented here on the forum somewhere.

I was putting on a birthday party for my girlfriend. We wanted tunes on a dry lakebed .... and I was planning on generators and powered JBL's ... then I stumbled upon the SI T-amp with 8w of power ... I knew I could pull the party off with La Scalas and a battery powered T-amp .....

The La Scalas have not made it out to the lakebed again .... they take up the main slot in the house. I have a set of KP-201's that do just fine with the t amp for campfire listening.

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My parents had a nice JBL system that employed their D130 speaker. Being a 60's teen I was very much into music and I ushered at the Hollywood Bowl for several summers. At some point in the 70's my then wife and I went to a Federated to look at speakers. We listened to several and then he ventured the idea of "do you really want to hear something good"? Tucked back in a corner were a pair of Klipschorns. Didn't get them until the 80's, but I got em.

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My first encounter was at a young age, probably 11 or 12, in Indiana. I walked into a hardware store with a friend and a couple of the guys were just finished setting up some speakers. Good timing for an audition and the guys took the time to explain to us what we had not previously experienced in audio ...incredible db level, crystal clear, from the horns, the bass in the chest and the Crown gear. Many times since I have heard other people's Klipsch speakers in their homes and it always was a positive experience. I don't have any good reasons why I haven't owned Klipsch speakers before now. Music, no excuses.

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It was 1990 or 91 when I pulled a phone number off a "Stereo for Sale" posting on a bulletin board at Cal State Chico. A former serviceman was attending on the GI Bill and had brought a Yamaha CD player, Nakamichi cassette deck, honking huge Kenwood receiver, and pair of Heresys back from Germany with him. For reasons I don't recall, he was selling them. I'd heard Heresys once before and the way the guy had them set up, they were horrible. I'm not sure what prompted me to go give these a listen, but I'm glad I did. They were my main speakers for about 14 years until I bought a pair of Fortes. Then I got a pair of Chorus IIs (more or less ruined in shipping) and an Academy, and about a year later I snagged a pair of Quartets and another Academy. The Chori and the Quartets are now in storage (but they have plans), my wife uses the Fortes in her office, and I use the Academys as bookshelves in my living room. The Heresys rock the garage when I work on the cars, and the neighborhood gets to enjoy them when we have our annual 4th of July block party.

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I'd never heard of them until 1978 when I walked into Carlin Audio in Fairfield Ohio. I was VERY intrigued at those huge speakers in the corner. How did they work? I knew what a woofer was yet, this didn't seem to have one...how can this be? With such impactful sound and no driver, I was VERY curious... It was explained that it's a horn and all that...yet, I still didn't quite get it. These were SO unconventional to anything I'd ever seen.

Later, knowing I could not afford Khorns heading to college, I pointed to "those" on the other side of the room. The salesman turned Heresy's on and cranked them up. I was there with a friend and we were both very impressed however, I had a nagging thought in the back of my head...how could a speaker SO freaking huge (LaScala) have such anemic bass (Heresy)...?

Easy... the salesman KNEW I pointed to the LaScala to hear them, yet he turned the Heresy's on. The Heresy's were on top of the LaScalas so it was easy to miss the sound...other than the missing bass. He then went on to play the LaScalas and I bought a pair one year later when I was 19.

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