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Was Klipsch the black sheep in the 70's?


BigBusa

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I purchased a few older stereo consumer guides in which they tested and recommended all components including speakers. years ...73, 79 and 81. I was hoping to see my cornwalls or at least the Klipsch name somewhere in the guides ...Nothing! Not a single Klipsch speaker.

What's the deal? Was Klipsch to high end back them to be included or were they thought of as to low end?

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low end? more the opposite back then big-b. klipsch weren't mass market enough would be my guess. that's back when they were in essence hand crafting cornwalls & such. what did they have, bose, infinity, jbl, EV & of course the marantz speakers? didn't those have blue

cones? Smile.gif

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My Home Systems Page

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Consumer guides huh?...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Consumer guide recommendations are about as worthless as **** on a boar hog...always have been. Klipsch realized it then, and they realize it now. Besides, when every other company, even back then, is trying their best to build a speaker to approach or equal the Klipschorn, then why worry about sending speakers to consumer guide FOR FREE, when their comparisons won't tell you a damned thing you or any other serious audiophile doesn't already know?

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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.

This message has been edited by HDBRbuilder on 05-03-2002 at 10:47 PM

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BigBusa,

First you have to consider the price ranges for the speakers that consumer guide does comparisons on. For example, in 1976, A pair of BOSE 901's MSRP was $500.00; JBL 4311 Studio Monitors had MSRP of around $650.00 a pair (as did its home version, the L100 Century), and the Klipsch Heresy also had a MSRP of around $650.00 a pair....BUT...the HERESY would BLOW AWAY either of its competitors in performance(stil will!).

Now you have to look at the 1976 Klipschorn MSRP of $2080.00 a pair, the Belle Klipsch at $1680.00 a pair, and both the Cornwall and Lascala at $1050.00 a pair!!!...Remember, these are 1976 prices, when the minimum wage had just been raised to $2.25 an hour!!!!, and the average income of an American was around $7500.00 a year!!! Loan interest rates at banks hovered around 14% to 17% and rising, climbing up to 23+% within the next four years, too!

No wonder the Klipsch speakers weren't included in the consumer guide books!!!

And Klipsch weren't the ONLY ones not included either!!! Just try to find any of the Tannoy speakers in there...or the Magnaplanar MGII...or the Klein & Hummel OY Monitor...or the KOSS Model One Electrostatic...or the Frazier F333-1037 Dixielander...etc...etc...

Consumer guides have ALWAYS been aimed at the average middle class family...nothing more/nothing less...with products included that are within the normal realm of that family to purchase!

Nuff Said!

Instead of looking for old comparisons, it may be better to just listen to what was available back then, and decide for yourself whether Klipsch was worth the asking price of that time! Its factory size doubled in the summer of 1976, by the way! Wonder why? Smile.gif

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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.

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Soundog,

I have no idea what the components in the Frazier Dixielander were, but the mid-range horn LENSES in all the "now-called Heritage" line are unique to only Klipsch. I do know, however, that the Frazier was a 2-way horn system, made in Dallas, Texas, and that it had some sort of folded-horn woofer punched by a 10" driver and another mid-high exponential horn...and that a pair cost alot more than a months' pay back in 1976! LOL! And, Frazier also had at least two other models, one costing about 700 bucks a pair and another costing around 900 bucks a pair! The cabinets were kinda cheapo though...walnut veneer on particleboard!

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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.

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