khornguy Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 ok, here goes, new to this forum & am considering purchasing a pair of klipschorn khorns Type KDFR SN 3J613, 3J614, from the original owner who bought them in 1971, he says they are internally all original but he recently refinished the cabinets in a cherry veneer they were originally the birch plywood finish it yourself cabinets. he has used a 25 watt heathkit amp to power them all these years. $1,500 is what i can buy them for. My question/s: 1. should i expect to update or replace anything internally? 2. what are the chances of hooking them up and having to do nothing but be blown away by the superb sound quality. i realize these are general questions but any input would be appreciated. thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panacea Engineering Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 If the veneer job looks good it is a good price. If you get them seated in the corners properly....YES, you will be blown away, Literally....... . I am surprised that you have not heard them already; Did you not audition them? Twenty Five watts is more than enough to drive them, K Horns are very efficient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 you will be blown away if you put them in a large room (24 X 16 to 30 X 20), if you put them in a small room (10X8 to 12 X 12), you will be scratching your head wondering if you hooked them up correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Internally you probably should at least replace the crossover caps or get new crossovers. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khornguy Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 ive only seen pictures as the seller is 1.5 hours away from me, so im trying to do my research before i go see them & of course i'll audition them but with my mcintosh ma6100 which is what i plan to power them with, i figured i would replace the crossovers anyway i was more concerned with the 15" woofer or other parts that i'm not familiar with, never had any klipsch speakers so im excited about the prospect of owning a pair. thanks for the help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panacea Engineering Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 When you go to audition them just pay attention to the sound. The Woofers, Squawker and Tweeter should be fine, as long as they have not been blasted by misuse. In meeting the owner, how he talks about them should be a good indicator. Just about every Klipsch speaker that I have purchased, the owner would almost be in tears and would be somewhat sorry for selling them. You do want to put your ear to each section and see if it is working. If he will allow it, dicconnect the Woofer and Squaker and see if the Tweeter is working and continue to check each device one out. Your first impression of their sound will be the selling factor. If something is blown it is easily fixed. Yes the crossovers will need to have the Caps upgraded but that is something that can be done anytime. Good luck and hopefully you will come home with them. Again, if they are not beaters, 1,500 is a good price in anyone's book......If he did a very good job with the veneering, that will be a plus. Look for any edges that may start to seperate. If they are not chipped up, usually an iron will reseal them. Just some ideas.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khornguy Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 thanks for that valuable info. he sounds very reasonable Im trying to get a picture posted they look good to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khornguy Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 heres another Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khornguy Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 and 1 more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I found the craigslist ad and there's a pic of the crossovers....those crossovers will need new capacitors. My recommendation to you is rather than posting questions about these speakers here and on the AVSforum, I would hop in my truck and go pick them up. 1500 is a pretty good price drop from the original asking price and if he is considering 1500 from you....why would you think he's not considering 1500 from someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 $1500 is a great price on those, especially where you are close enough where you go pick them up. You should go get them! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Jerry Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I have a set of 71 k-horns also, and here is what I have done: They came with mis matched woofers, so I repalaced both woofers with alum frame crites woofers (big help with the lows) The tweeters would not go above about 12K, so I replaced them with crites CT125 (big help as they will go abouve my hearing, but they are softer than I like, so I tuned them up by 2 db, much better sound but very hard!) Replaced both mid range drivers with new Atlas drivers from bob crites (I repalced them just to keep everything new) Repaced the cross-overs with bob crites A/4500 cross-overs (big help with the overall sound) Installed back boards on the woffer cabinets and placed both in false corners (both helped the bass) At this point I like the sound, but the sound is VERY HARD, like some music is VERY HARD. I think you will enjoy the K-Horns, I know I sure have enjoyed mine. Crazy Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 am considering purchasing a pair of klipschorn khorns Type KDFR SN 3J613, 3J614, from the original owner who bought them in 1971, he says they are internally all original but he recently refinished the cabinets in a cherry veneer they were originally the birch plywood finish it yourself cabinets. I'm missing something; the pics posted show fully factory veneered Type B K-horns, shown by the collar between the top and bottom sections, not birch plywood finish. Moreover, the rear plywood surfaces are painted black, which is also characteristic of a finished "B" type.I wonder if those pics were "borrowed" from somewhere. Actually, if they looked like that, I'd drive there at top speed to grab them myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davis419b Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I have a set of 71 k-horns also, and here is what I have done: They came with mis matched woofers, so I repalaced both woofers with alum frame crites woofers (big help with the lows) The tweeters would not go above about 12K, so I replaced them with crites CT125 (big help as they will go abouve my hearing, but they are softer than I like, so I tuned them up by 2 db, much better sound but very hard!) Replaced both mid range drivers with new Atlas drivers from bob crites (I repalced them just to keep everything new) Repaced the cross-overs with bob crites A/4500 cross-overs (big help with the overall sound) Installed back boards on the woffer cabinets and placed both in false corners (both helped the bass) At this point I like the sound, but the sound is VERY HARD, like some music is VERY HARD. I think you will enjoy the K-Horns, I know I sure have enjoyed mine. Crazy Jerry [bs] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Jerry Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 My 71 corner horns (3J814 &3J815) have the same logo on the grills, but the back of both are painted a dark brown. I have see many painted black, I do not think mine have been repainted, but what color should the back be? Crazy Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davis419b Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 My 71 corner horns (3J814 &3J815) have the same logo on the grills, but the back of both are painted a dark brown. I have see many painted black, I do not think mine have been repainted, but what color should the back be? Crazy Jerry Brown for sure ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 the OP mentioned KDFR, that's Klipschorn, Decorator, Fir. The pics are not of Decorator models at all. Those are the regular B style, hardwood with the collar between top and bottom. I'd be figuring where the discrepancy is. Were those pics posted by the guy who owns the ones you're looking to buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 The paint on the back can vary with the finish, at least in earlier models. Later might be all flat black. My '60 Mahogany have a very dark brown paint on the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khornguy Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Well I did purchase them, the mystery is solved regarding the type, they started off in life as type kdfr's as that's all the original owner could afford, after purchasing he modified the cabinets to look like type B's and 40 years later refinished them in cherry veneer as the pictures above show, all the parts & drivers are original. currently I'm using a cheap chip amp with crappy speaker wire and they still sound impressive, the high end is a bit shrilly, not sure if its the amp or the old crossovers or maybe even the squaker. Glad i got em, & i appreciate all the feedback & comments, I'm in the middle of a trade for some pro audio gear so hopefully I'll have proper amps, preamps & such soon. The mcintosh Ma6100 integrated i thought i was gonna used needs work from sitting in storage so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 congrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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