So guys, whats a pair of KG4s worth?

[Cal Blacksmith]

Good morning gents.

I have been out of the buying mode for a while. The son as most everyone knows is in the Navy and I want to set him up with something fairly good to listen to.

I gave him a HK AVR (don't remember which one though it is a .51 unit) and a pair of KG4s are up for sale on Flea Bay within an hour driving distance from work. The cabs are not great but then again, they will be going into a Barracks room and I expect them to get bounced around a bit.

I have a pair of H2s that really don't have any use at the moment other than holding up the Fort'es in the HT (a marked improvement in the quality of the sound there, but that is in another post in the HT board)

The link for the speakers is

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pair-Vintage-Klipsch-KG4-KG-4-Walnut-Speakers-

Though I have never heard them, (or any other KG4 speaker) I am wondering what a fair price for them is and what can I expect them to sound like. Remember I have CW2, Fort'e1, Quartets, H1, H2, and a few odds and ends.

[Hifi jim]

Just read this... hour twenty left on them and currently at $188. These sell regularly for $200-250 on CL. I love mine and use them regularly, nice little speakers with incredible bass and a bit like a baby Forte or Quartet but lacking the detailed and lively mids that the 3 way designs offer. For that reason I find them ideal for small rooms or nearfield listening. Good luck!

[Colin]

I have been tracking vintage Klipsch model re-sales for
several years now. The data is old, but with the pullback in prices recently,
it still provides a good guide to what to look for and expect:

• If
  Quartets are like KG 2s then three sales on eBay average $347. I think
  they provide about 40% of the Khorn sound. I only have ½ a dozen KG 4.2 sales
  on eBay, from 2006, and they ranged from $106 to $355, with shipping about
  $50. A lot of sound sound for the price.

• Four dozen
  Heresy pair sales on eBay, in 2004 and 2006, sell from $200 to $590,
  establishing the average value at $405. Shipping averages $80.

Posted: 5/2/2006

[Cal Blacksmith]

Thanks for the replies,

That is kind of what I thought from the bit of looking I have done.

CL has a pair for $175 that I have called on and am waiting for a call back. I took a pass on the ones I listed, I don't know what they sold for but it was more than what I have seen on CL.

There have been several listings for KG4, KG4.5, KG5.2 and KG5.5 in the $175 to $200 price range so finding a pair should not be quite so hard and there is no need to pay top $$$ on Flea Bay.

There are a pair of 5.5s that might be a deal, they are asking $100 or OBO each but they are over a 2 hour drive away while the 4.2s for $175 are only about 15 minutes from where I work.

I do think that the KG series seems to offer a VERRY good bang for the buck and are likely just what I am looking for to go into a small barracks room.

[J M O N]

I picked up a pair of these in the LA area about 2 years ago for $150. The seller had these connected to an integrated tube amp (Cayin I think) in a small room and the sound was IMPRESSIVE. At that price range, or close to it, these are some of the better value speakers around. I have only used them with SS receivers but have still get pretty nice sound. I'll say it again, the KG4 is a great value.

[Bill H.]

My first floor standing speakers.........9 years ago. I paid 130.00 then, but they were in rough condition. If you want them and can buy them for 150 or less they are a good bang for the Buck.........

JMHO....................

[fini]

Hey Bill, me too! About the same time, I got my KG-4s for $150 (very good deal at the time). Before that, I was happy with my Yamaha NS-5 bookshelves. The KG-4s opened my ears...THAT led to KSP-400s, led to Cornwalls, led to more Corns and Heresys, then my latest speaker, the mighty Khorns.

Wayne, my brother-in-law enjoyed his KG-5.5s. I don't think his wife has used them since he passed away 4 years ago.

[Cal Blacksmith]

This is a cut and paste from my post in general, Thanks to everyone who added to this discussion and road trip!

Early Sat morning we went go look at some KG 5.5 speakers in
med oak finish. I took along a receiver and CD player to give them a solid work
out.

The cabs were filthy but with the exception of a plant pot
water stain on the top of one of the speakers, the wood was in good condition
with no chips or heavy scratches in the oak Vanier. I hooked up the electronics and
cranked the speakers up to take a listen and I could instantly tell, these are
NOT up to par with heritage speakers with their two way setup rather than the 3
way that I am used to. Running the EQ flat, there was no sizzle in the highs,
yes you could hear that they were playing the frequency and all the drivers
were indeed working but that sparkle that is in the heritage and extended
heritage that I am used to, just was not there. They sounded very much like a
very good quality but slightly bass heavy speaker from the hey day of the
stereo wars in the ‘70s, Better than the ARs that I have in my home for sure (the
ARs were mounted to the ceiling when we bought the home).

The mids were a bit muted (while eq-ed flat) but again I
ascribe this to the two way design where the horn needs to perform the duties
of both the squawker and the tweeter. Upon really cranking them up, I heard a rattle
from one of the cabs and knew that all was not 100% with the speakers though as
I said, all the drivers were working properly. While not listed, the seller
also had a black KV3 center that was sonically perfect but slightly scuffed up
due to moving but easily repairable to a good finish. Long story short, we went
home with all 3 speakers for $205, a little more than I wanted to pay for them
considering the rattle but when you factor in the 200+ mile drive round trip
that would have been a total loss without them, not too bad of a deal.

When I got the speakers home, I set about finding the source
of the rattle in one of the cabs and found that the glue that held the back of
the speaker on had given out and it was the back that vibrated under heavy
bass. I decided the best way to repair would be to glue in reinforcement blocks
along the whole long side (inside) of the cabs, on both cabs just to keep the
interior volume the same (probably not an issue but while fixing one, adding
the glue blocks in the other just “ in case” was easy.

A quick trip to the
home center to buy some ¾ x 30” long square
wood strips and some good glue for a total of under $20 (including the wood
that would be cut up to act as clamps inside the cab while the glue was curing)
and a couple of hours worth of work to disassemble the speakers, clean up the
insides in prep for repair, installing the long glue blocks inside the cabs and
going over the outsides with a good wood oil and a green scrubby pad to get the
grunge off of the cabs and the speakers looked very good indeed.

The only visible defect to the outsides of either speaker
was the water stain on the top of one of the speakers and a very small tear in the
black grill cloth of the same speaker. The tear can easily be sewn up with
black thread and it is in the bottom left corner of the grill so with a careful
repair, you will need to really look to find it.

I hooked the speakers up to my Yamaha RX-V 750 that we use
in our TV area where the Synergy setup is. I connected the KG 5.5s to the B
channel so we could switch between the sets of speakers and compare them. I
told Adam that he could have either setup to take with him back to his
barracks. It was late and we could not crank them up high that night and Adam
(they were to be his speakers after all) had thought that he heard a slight
cracking in the highs of one of the KGs (I could not hear it but he thought he
did) so he had decided to take the Synergy setup.

The next day (yesterday, Sunday) after church, we came back
home and now that every one in the house was awake and would not be bothered,
we cranked each system up to near ear bleed levels. There was no cracking in
the tweeter to be heard and this was a much harder test of the speakers than
the night before. After playing with the treble adjustment just a hair we
settled on a 1db gain in treble and left everything else flat. This really brightened
up the mids and added some nice top end too boot, to the KGs. There still was
not the sparkle in the highs but it was a very enjoyable sound none the less.
Now things had changed for sure. Adam quickly changed his mind and wanted the
KG 5.5s with the KV 3 center. We played some selected movie bits and pieces (movies
and games will be the primary use) and I agreed that the choice was the proper
one. The front 3 sounded VERY good indeed (considerably better than the SF
setup), even without the sub (which was part of the Synergy setup and would not
be parted from them as they really need the sub for bottom end).

Adam had some of the best sounding speakers in the barracks
before this weekend with the 5.1 GMX setup that he has, BUT NOW, he has added
some fullness and a much richer sound to his room. The GMX setup sounded very
good for what they are (Klipsch calls them IPod/computer speakers) and they do
sound very near like the Heresy for the top end so I told Adam to run the GMX
on the B outputs along with the KGs on the A outputs and see how that sounds. I
think that the two combined should sound very good indeed but only playing with
his setup will prove what works and what does not.

His room is only about 10’ x 14’ and is made from cinder
block with no treatments so who knows what setup will work best but one thing
is for sure, he has a very good foundation to build on and has, I think, the
best bones of an audio setup in the building AND it didn’t cost him a single
red cent!

In short, are the KG series the be all and end all setup,
well no, Klipsch does indeed make much nicer speakers now (and back then) but
for the money invested, I don’t think that there is a better value out there
than the KG series, (running about $150 average for the KG 4 and 5 series) not
that I have heard anyway.

THANKS DAD!