Tom Mobley Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 All, ebay item #1348016598 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1348016598 Check these out, sticker looks real, but I don't see any way to separate the top and bottom, for instance. Also a few pieces missing, it seems. I've emailed the seller but haven't heard back from him yet. If this is all he has of them, do they have much value? Couls turn into a labor of love to rebuild the missing pieces, I guess. Check it out, what do you think? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 Tom, Those are KDBR model K-horns...the low end of the K-horn line...probably built in mid to late 70's. Alot of these were bought and mounted inverted on the ceiling in the corners in dance clubs, etc. Basic model of these was built as a single unit, with no "top" over the tweeter/midrange. Although the front lower panel for the woofer and the upper front panel for the tweeter/squawker horns were separate pieces, they are part of the same unit...to make these panels they, one of each was sawn from a single sheet of 4' x 8' birch plywood, but there was never any guarantee that when the cabinet was built, both pieces from the SAME sheet of plywood would be on the SAME cabinet...these two have both pieces on the same cabinet for BOTH units...not easy to find that way!!! A savvy buyer could easily fabricate a couple of tops and have some nice home k-horns at HOPEFULLY a low price...hint, hint!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardhead Posted April 23, 2002 Share Posted April 23, 2002 I remember seeing pictures of this decorator model in Klipsch brochures from 1972, so they could, in fact, be from 1974. They probably are, because they look exactly like the picture in the brochures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted April 24, 2002 Author Share Posted April 24, 2002 Update: got email back from the guy, he pretty much knew what they are, bottom end models. He thought they are more rare because of that. I've emailed back asking for more info. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted April 24, 2002 Share Posted April 24, 2002 Tom, From the pictures he posted on tthose KDBR's, they look correct in every way. In his description he states that they have just recently been veneered with maple...which is a bonus if it was done right...even though they are "bottom end of the line" models, they are still made out of good plywood...and if they go for a good price I would grab em...It doesn't cost but about 60 bucks a 4' x 8' sheet for maple veneered 3/4" plywood...and less than three sheets would be needed to add a top to the high-end housings, add a real top to the woofer using the other original one as the bottom of the high-end housing, and add the side pieces to the upper cabinet and a riser...for BOTH speakers!!!...then a bit of maple iron-on edge veneer and you have some very nice maple K-horns!!! After all, you already have two patterns for cutting out the tops there...a real no-brainer!!!....P.S. Don't forget to add the "kick boards" at the bottom of each one...and you can order a couple of side grills for em or make em yourself, too!! You won't need any grill cloth up top at the front, they will look better without it, anyway!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted April 25, 2002 Author Share Posted April 25, 2002 Jeez, he wrote back, they're within a couple miles of me. I'm trying to make a deal to go by and see them, I drive right by there back and forth to work. Criminy, I could end up with these. Need to have a "leetle talk" with the wife, she has no idea how big these things are. As it is, I'd have to build at least one fake corner. somebody stop me before I buy again.... Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdnfay Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 Thought this might help. It came from an early 70's brochure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 Tom You are in a perfect situation, since they are so close to you. Give them a listen - If they sound good, buy them. Good luck - Hope it works out for you!!!! JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktate Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 TOM, if you not able to get these im interested.HDBR are the sides available from klipsch?would like to make them look good if i get them.TOM if you go look at these let us know about them ok.thanks rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted April 25, 2002 Share Posted April 25, 2002 Ricktate, The upper horn housing section can easily have a side installed on it...any semi-competent woodworker or better can do it in a few minutes...just cut the panel, and install using a glue block at top inside and one at bottom inside and one at front inside...on each side. As for the lower sides, all they are is the side grills with cloth, and the standard ones from Klipsch will fit...and can be ordered. Scroll up and read what I wrote about doctoring the look of these to make them very special. I hope this answers your question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted April 26, 2002 Author Share Posted April 26, 2002 bigdnfay, Thanks for that brochure posting. Makes things a little easier to understand. ricktate I'm working 12hrs/day fri and Sat, won't be able to go look til Sunday morning. He says he'll be available Sunday morn. I'm going to try to get over there early, while there's still time left on the auction. I'll post something here about what I see. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted April 26, 2002 Share Posted April 26, 2002 I had purchased a pair of the same version (painted black) in the mid 90's for $675 (unbelievable). They were 1975-76 vintage black coffins. It was very easy to build a top for them so that they looked finished in black. The only problem is that you have to come up with a way to build grills for the bass horn if you want them fully finished. Twenty years later, they still sounded great when I bought them though outside of a rattling screen on the midrange. Peter Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted April 26, 2002 Share Posted April 26, 2002 Once again, The grilles for the woofer section are available from Klipsch. They are a no-brainer to make yourself though. If you know somebody with K-horns, just remove one grille and take some butcher paper and make a rubbing of its frame to use as a template...pretty simple operation. Remove ONE of the little angled brackets they are mounted with and trace its angle onto the same butcher paper. Then just take a hand drill, and a jigsaw and cut the frames out from some 3/8" baltic birch plywood. Sand the rough edges, being sure to sand the edges and corners the cloth will be stretched over well, so the cloth won't tear when it gets stretched over em. Take a can of blat back paint and spray the frames black. Staple the grillecloth onto the BACK side of the frame after stretching it over the frame to the BACK side. Go get a few small angle brackets, bend them to the shape you traced onto the paper, take some screws, and mount them on. You may have to bend the brackets one way or the other to get the grilles tighter to the wall. Those side grilles have absolutely NO purpose except to fill the gap between the K-horn and the walls...that's it. As for UPPER grillecloth, hell, don't even bother...unless you feel some absolute need for it! As pretty as that maple veneer appears from the posted pics, the damned top-end will look alot better WITHOUT grillecloth, in my opinion. Fact is...Grille cloth does NOTHING except provide some little bit of protection to the woofer cone(when it is in front of one) and help keep some dust off the drivers, BUT it DOES (ever so slightly) ADVERSELY affect what you hear from your speakers, but primarily in the bottom end...other than that it is ALL COSMETIC!! Ain't NO GRILLE CLOTH on MY SPEAKERS!!!! No need for it!!! Besides I like to look at em when they are cranking and see those horn mouths blaring back at me! This message has been edited by HDBRbuilder on 04-26-2002 at 01:44 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khorn58 Posted April 26, 2002 Share Posted April 26, 2002 My 58 khorn Is the raw model D It was the first one I found for 150 at a antique shop that was going out of busness the nest day. I love the way it looks with the horn sitting on top anfd the cool crossover to look at.It still is my favorit looking one. I would keep the speakers in stock trim Its fun to show freinds the drivers. I have since found three othe khorns a 58 ,59 and 51 all a little diffrent. Jim Jim jim Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted April 28, 2002 Author Share Posted April 28, 2002 Update: just went over and looked at these. pretty much as described here. The owner has a cabinet maker buddy do the fronts. He cut 1/4" (looks like birch, could be maple) plywood to overlay the fronts. Looks pretty good. Consecutive serial numbers. inspected by Bradford, same inspector as my HDBR's. He had an old receiver hooked up to them in his garage, played a little FM radio. Sounded OK to me, no blown drivers. AA crossovers looked OK, no leaker caps or anything. Still had all the original wire. He told me his reserve, it's higher I think he'll get for them, says he'll re-list with lower reserve if they don't sell. Bought new by his godfather, owned the old wall-ball palace on Indian School Road here in Phx. I think they used to play indoor pro soccer there. They've been in this guys garage since 1980. Haven't decided whether or not to bid, knowing his reserve makes it a moot point, it's too high for me anyway. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 Wow those would have been perfect behind a scrim for a home theatre... Sorry I missed out..I will look again if he rebids them on Ebay!! At $800.00 say about $200.00 to get them to INDY for a total of 1k.. I would have to think of a good reason NOT to do it. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted May 8, 2002 Author Share Posted May 8, 2002 His reserve was in the $2K area, too much. I think he was thinking about re-listing them with a $1500 reserve, still too much for me. I would give $1100-$1250 for them. I think he'll just sit on them, they've been in his garage for about 20 years, go for another 20? I'm going to contact him again, he only lives a couple miles from me. Are you interested at those prices? I could ask him if it's OK to give you his phone number. You know, I think these things are really pretty nice for what they are, but the theater model deal detracts value, they're not very nice looking with no tops or sides. this stuff could be built as HDBR points out above, but I wonder if would be any cheaper by the time a guy was done. I dunno. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 Geez, Tom!!! 2 grand is too much?...you gotta be kiddin!...with a new pair of k-horns running 6 grand+...and that with veneered MDF instad of plywood or lumbercore...2 grand for those is a steal!!! 100 bucks worth of maple veneered plywood and some maple iron-on edge trim, and you have a pair of maple k-horns!!! Bye the way...maple was never offered in the k-horn, making them even MORE unique!! I admit that one can on occassion luck into an eBay deal for 2 grand or less on some walnut ones, but any price below 4 grand for a pair of k-horns in good working order and with good cabinets is still a steal!...especially if they were made back when the builders gave a damn!!! ------------------ If you want to send a private message, or have already done so, be aware I have not as yet been able to retrieve them. Send e-maill instead, please...just note Klipsch forum in the heading so it doesn't get deleted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted May 8, 2002 Author Share Posted May 8, 2002 HDBR, yeah I realize that the intrinsic value is there, but these speakers were listed with an initial bid of $999, high bid was $1,009, not close to $2000. This is the second time they've been listed and not drawn significant action. At the end of the day, stuff is only worth what it'll sell for in a marketplace. And ebay, with all it's failings, does constitute a marketplace. Claims of value above marketplace price are largely theoretical. Actually, (and I'll admit that I've not been following Khorn stuff in detail all that long) the highest I've seen a pair go for was about $3K. Obviously, there may have been sales I didn't see. Of course, all of the above is just my opinion, anyone else may have a different opinion. I'm so tempted to buy those, but I live in a small house and it's just not practical. My interest in that pair was mostly based on the possibility of re-selling them for a profit. Based on recent action, that doesn't look all that promising. Tom (BTW, your Heresy's are just gorgeous) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2dx Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 Check ePay for a nice pair of k-horns, in Cal, around '70, went for about 1400. Auction closed yesterday I think. Fred (Klipsch was spelled incorrectly, Kilpsch or similar in auction name) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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