nashvilletitans Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Hi all, this is my first post here. Iheave heard for along time how good horns and tubes go together,so i am interested in trying some Klipsch. I have read for several days information on diff models and ran across a pair of KP-301s today. I havent had any luck finding many other models in my area. I have searched info on the 301s and it sounds like they are simialr to Cornwalls. Does anyone have any experience with the 301s in a Home application. My theater/audio room is about 24'x30' ,I have room in corners and the speakers will face the narrow direction. there is also carpet on the floors. I have a class a tube preamp and a class a push pull amp at 35 wpc that I will be using. Anyway who thinks the 301s may be worth a try or should I hold out and try to find some Cornwalls. It would be quite some time before I could swing some La Scalas,Belles,Khorns etc. Thanks for your time and hope you all have a Merry Christmas JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Hey JB, Welcome to the Klipsch Forums. We're glad you're here! I don't have any experience with the 301's. Sorry. But someone will show up who does. A great group of people here. How much are they asking for the 301's? Have you looked in the Garage Sale section here? It sounds like you are ready for Horn's with the Tube Gear. Good for you and you will be Thrilled at how well tubes and Horn's sound together. Again, Welcome and stick around and share your experiences with us, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashvilletitans Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 Thanks Dennie,they are asking $400 for the 301s,don't really know about the condition yet. Although in the mean time a bud of mine who is a audio engineer for a bunche of artists has heard I was looking for some new horns and decided he needs to design us some horns to build. Who nows where this will lead...=) But I might buy some to play with in the mean time because I know how I can procrastinate. Adios, Nash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tensleep Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Hello Nash, Short version, I would say that if the 301s are in good condition, $400 is a good price. You will be very hard pressed to find more speaker for that amount of cash. I doubt you could even build a pair of cabinets for your horn project for that amount. The cabinets are heavy (3/4" void-free birch plywood with a 1" baffle board) and solid. These Klipsch fly a little under the radar and are an Industrial version of the Chorus. I love mine and a more detailed review of my experience follows. By the way, I am using mine in a large living room , approximatey 35' x 20', placed along the long wall, about 14' apart. I have been playing around with a pair of Klipsch KP301-B-BR speakers for about three months now. I am having a great deal of fun and can recommend them. These are my first relatively modern horn systems. I have a couple of old University horn systems that are fun, but not up to the same standard as these big Klipsch. I bought mine, along with the two University cabinets and an old tube mono console, from an antique store - $225 for the lot. I bought the Klipsch almost as an afterthought, as I was (at the time) more excited about the older gear. My Klipsch sat in storage for over a year until we relocated to Texas. I even toyed around with the idea of selling these. Now, I am so glad that I didn't! When I first purchased mine, I drove them full range with an Alesis RA100 solid state amplifier, paired with an Alesis MEQ230 graphic equalizer. While it sounded ok, I had no idea how underpowered these speakers were. I now have them passively biamped. I am driving the woofers with a big QSC CX1202V solid state amp. I use a Rotel RA-870BX integrated amplifier as well. The preamp out is split and I send one side into the Rotel amp section and then on to the horn stack. The other side goes to the QSC. The QSC has attenuators on the face that allow me to match output levels between the woofers and horn stacks. I will say this - I can barely get the volume knob on the Rotel past 9 o'clock without shaking the house. These babies are meant to fill a large room with high volume sound. I usually listen at much lower volumes and really like the sound of these speakers. I have several other pairs of speakers to compare with - JBL 4410 sudio monitors, Bozak B302a, Norman Labs Model 10a, Epi A120. All of these speakers do different things very well. My JBLs will never leave me (unless I give them to my son). The Klipsch are right behind the JBLs, overtaking my Bozaks. I was concerned about reports of the speakers being beamy or honky. I can say that my old Universities exhibit some of these characteristics. They will be upgraded with better crossovers in the future, possibly some diaphragm upgrades as well. However, the Klipsch sound wonderful! To my ear, the horns have a livelier dynamic than a cone tweeter or midrange. The inverted domes on my Epis may be a bit smoother and the titanium domes on my JBLs a bit more detailed, but the horns in the Klipsch really do a good job, especially in keeping the vocals on top of the instruments. The big 15" woofers do fast, punchy, coherent bass very well. Everything from Yo Yo Ma's beautiful cello to Green Day's bombastic drumming just sounds great! If I put the volume to 10 o'clock, they can be heard down the street! Norah Jones sounds like a dream at lower volumes. These speakers are easy to biamplify - the crossovers and terminal block are set up very well for biamping or full range. I am passively biamping at the moment and am saving my dollars for an active crossover. I do want to play around with time alignment and phasing - I believe these Klipsh will respond very well to these tweaks. These speakers really woke up when I put the QSC on the bottom - not so much for the overwhelming power, but more for the damping and control over these woofers. They are very fast and really do not distort. The Rotel has plenty of power for the top end and is a very lucky match (not planned by me) for the QSC. The Rotel has a nice tranparency - I can play CD direct and bypass most of the circuitry, or I can run it with just the tone controls defeated, or I can run the full circuitry, which I actually prefer. The Rotel has a slightly warm sound and the bass and treble controls just kind of nudge the sound in either direction - they do not take over the original recording's character, but rather enhance. The Klipsch respond very well to these subtle tone adjustments. As you can see, I only have experience with solid-state amplification, so I can't give you first hand experience with tubes. However, as you probably know, everyone says Klipsch and tubes were made for each other. Well, there you have my impressions of these speakers. Here is a link to one of my threads on AudioKarma with pictures: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=256754 http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178244 http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=177838 You will find links to some of my pictures, as well as links to other sites with technical information about theses systems and to other owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashvilletitans Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 Hi,thanks for the reponses. They sound like a lot of speaker for the money. I will see if I can contact the seller tomorrow and see if they are still available. You don't see many Klipsch speakers come up for sale around here,other than the HT style. Thanks and Merry Christmas Nash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tensleep Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Good luck with these speakers. How familiar are you with purchasing used speakers? Do you know what to look for and how to test them to see if they work? No offense intended, but it can be easy to get overly enthusiastic and buy something for too much money or that maybe should have been bypassed. I know - I have done that myself. Also, since these are considered and industrial Klipsch model, look for more information under the Pro Audio forum here on the Klipsch Forums. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashvilletitans Posted December 20, 2009 Author Share Posted December 20, 2009 Hi Tensleep,thanks for the info. I was just planning to listen to them before I bought. I do not know much about checking speakers with a multimeter. I seem to remember a friend checking PA speakers with a multimeter by checking the resistance in ohms across the speaker terminals though. I suppose a zero would show a blown coil?I wil check in the pro section as you suggested. Thanks again and Merry Christmas. NASH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 Hi Nash, you can call me Knox [] Sounds like you've gotten your info. There are a couple Klipsch guys in/near Nashville. If you get them and want someone to look at them I'd bet lunch that someone would be willing to help you out. Worse come to worse, you can drive over to the Knoxville area [Y] Wife said, if I want, we can do an outdoor bash this summer (think WoodStock but without all the mud and naked women []) Hang around or check back here in spring to see if there's any update on that. I live way out in the boonies so there are no neighbors to irritate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tensleep Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 If you can audition them, take a paper tube from a roll of paper towels or toilet paper. Listen through the tube to each of the 6 drivers to ensure that they are all working. Also, listen for any scraping or rubbing sounds. Oh, and do this at low volume [:|]. You should also pull off the grills and inspect the woofers for cone or surround damage. Check the binding posts in the back for any damage. Look over the cabinet for split seams along the joints. If you do use a meter, it can get pretty confusing - there are many components involved that would have to be disconnected and measured individually. Usually, an audition is enough to verify that all of the drivers are working properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagevalves Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 I'm thinking that the OP is was talking about the pair on Craigslist here in Nashville. I ended up buying them yesterday. Got a great deal on them because the K-79's were toast. Funny thing is that the owner of them thought that the speakers were working 100%. I ordered a set of titanium diaphragms from Bob Crites. I'm a touring live sound engineer by trade, but am planning on using these at home mostly. They're going into our bedroom stereo. Front end will be a Thorens TD series turntable though a Dynaco PAS-3 powered with a Harman Kardon Citation II. I sometimes jam with friends at the house and will gently use them for that with a little mixing console and powered with a QSC amp. The paint on them is not stellar, so I'm going to attempt to sand them down to the bare birch. If I ever needed to I could have the guys in our wood-shop respray them with a finish nearly identical to the OEM Klipsch black paint. Anyhow, just wanted to sign up let everyone know these went to a good home. This is my 2nd pair of Klipsh. I had a pair of Heresy's 10 years ago and have regretted selling them several times over the past few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashvilletitans Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share Posted January 7, 2010 Yup I bet those are the ones I was checking into. It looks like what I offered was too low at the time. Offer was by email and he never got back to me. Oh well hope they work out for you VV Nash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Congratulations VintageValves! I am glad they went to a good home and it sounds like you're really going to enjoy them. Welcome to the Klipsch Forum and we hope you stick around and share your experiences with us. Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagevalves Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Dennie, Thanks for your welcome. I may hang around some.. Nash, The guy that sold the speakers was a first time craigslister, and admittedly not much of a computer person. It took several days for him to call me back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tensleep Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Dennie, Thanks for your welcome. I may hang around some.. Nash, The guy that sold the speakers was a first time craigslister, and admittedly not much of a computer person. It took several days for him to call me back... As a fellow KP301 owner, congratulations on your Klipsch! I am still working with mine - they already sound excellent, but if funds permit this year, I am getting an active crossover. I would love to get a fancy crossover with a microphone feedback loop. As a pro, what would you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagevalves Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I intend on using speakers for listening and also for some lite PA use.. Primarily they are going to be powered with a 60 watt per channel Harman Kardon tube amplifier for listening situations. I do intend to use them as PA speakers occasionally and in those circumstances they will be powered with a 650 watt per channel QSC amp. I just finished swapping in the Crites tweeter diaphragms but have not listened to them yet since I am only halfway done refinishing them. I plan on rebuilding the passive crossovers eventually. Active crossovers could be interesting, but would take a good bit of time to set up and a real time analyzer that can do transfer function measurements like smaartlive or spectrafoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagevalves Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Here's the KP-301s with their new finish. It took a lot of sanding, and there were a few dings through the top ply. 4 coats of Minwax semi-gloss poly and now my wife will allow them out of the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagevalves Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Couldn't post all of them on one reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tensleep Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Dang, vintagevalves! That's a lot of elbow grease. Your KP301's look really good. Do they sound good, too? I really love the glass in the second picture. I have to get some tubes on mine sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagevalves Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Thanks Tensleep. It was a lot of work, but that's what it took for my wife to let them in the house. I give the re-fin a 'B.' I could have probably sanded a bit more, and the OEM corner hardware is pretty beat... They're sounding pretty good! There's definitely some midrange emphasis going on. I find with big boxes like this you have to turn them up to a volume level where the wood of the box gets involved in the tone. The louder you crank this rig, the better it sounds! I call it 'box-fi' That said the H-K tube amp definitely adds some magic. Next week, I'll hook a mixer and a PA amp see what they'll really do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashvilletitans Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Nice job with the refin! Its nice to see these things involved in making music again instead of gathering dust in someones shed. I wound up with a pair of near mint Chorus ii's last week and they are sounding good with an old St-70. Best of luck to you. Nash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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