Speaker clarity of Klipsch vs some High End Audio Speakers

[derrickdj1]

Over the last several weeks I have been going out of town and found a shop at the final destination that only carries very high end audio gear. I was pleasantly surprised to listen to some Dynaudio, Sonus Faber, Paradigm, Focal, PBS and some others. I thought that some of them had beautiful cabinets and great design to make an impression for a home setting. But, I was not overly impressed with the clarity and imaging of most of the speakers when compare to some of the Klipsch speakers. I was trying to see what exactly made some speaker worth so much money. Just my personal view, but I think the efficent nature of Klipsch, dynamic range and apparent build quality of Klipsch allows it to keep up with speakers costing five times as much. I took some of my best vocal jazz, jazz insturmental and music with good bass to test the speakers. What test music do other forum members use when testing speakers? Sorry to not included Klipsch Heritage speakers as part of my comparison. I have never heard any speakers from that line[]. Dynaudio was one of the best of the high end speaker that I heard.

[derrickdj1]

Thiel tower also were very detailed and nice sounding.

[vnzbd]

In my area there used to be a Sound Advise dealer that sold a variety of speakers including B&W and others. I was always most impressed by the Klipsh offerings. At that time I picked up a set of KSF 10.5s and upgraded to the KLF 10s in a short time. As I would go over friends homes and listen to there non Klipsh set ups, I was always reassured that my setup was right for me. I do listen mostly to rock and jazz but if I were to listen to some other genre of music maybe another manufacture would have stood out.

I have recently accuired a set of Zu Audio speakers and am very surprised and impressed in going head to head with my Klipsh, but so far nothing else has really moved me to the point of considering a change.

[Quiet_Hollow]

I listened to a pair of Sonus Faber at one of the local hi-fi shops, hitched up to an Audio Research that was about the size of a floor safe.

[N] with a side of [N].

But hey, if one has the money to spend.

[Mallette]

Sorry to not included Klipsch Heritage speakers as part of my comparison. I have never heard any speakers from that line

Then you've not heard the Legend himself. His philosophy is applied to the rest but only the Heritage embody the 8 Card in the flesh, and of those it's only completely realized in the Klipschorn.

Don't see your local listed, but it's hard to believe you are too far from some Heritage owner to have a listen. If you are finding the post PWK line comparable to the best offerings of the competition, consider the next level...

Dave

[Cut-Throat]

Horns = Clarity, Speed and Dynamics.

Once you get used to horn speakers, others usually fall short.

Also, Horns Love Tubes

[derrickdj1]

The shop I went to had speaker up to $100,000 + dollars. I just wanted to hear what these type of speakers sounded like. I listened to the speakers under $ 20, 000 dollars for a fair comparison. All I heard was about the speaker patents and the nearfield listening experience. Some of the speakers and gear really look nice and would make an impression in a HT or 2 channel setup. If anyone is in Dayton, Ohio stop by Hanson for some fun.

[AnalogWave]

I own three sets of Klipsch speakers – KG4, Heresy and Forte
II. I’ve been elbow-deep in the
latter two replacing aged components and I’m not surprising anyone here when I
say they are nothing but simple boxes with hardly any bracing. Even in their day, the components
(drivers, x-overs, binding posts) were rather pedestrian, some here would even
privately admit cheap, but the whole managed to sound much better than the sum
of its parts. Your comparison from
the Klipsch side is a little vague, but the other brands you auditioned are all
modern designs with cabinets built like vaults and drivers no doubt made out of
much more exotic materials. A
better comparison would be to the Klipsch Palladium line, which you’d be hard-pressed
to find a thread about in this forum because they sit in price right alongside
if not above the competition you were listening to. Even the Klipschorn is $9,000 a pair now.

Regarding sound, well… that’s obviously personal and dependent
upon a lot of factors. I’ve
acquired some new solid-state gear lately and I’m trying to decide which of the
speakers I have easily at hand (Forte II or Paradigm Studio 40) I like
better. The Forte II have the bass
but the Studios have better imaging.

[wdrazek]

I have had a hobby/obsession with music playback equipment since I bought my first stereo in 1971. Over the years, I've owned a large number of loudspeakers, from Magnepan to Theil, LS35a's, Linn Kan's, B+W's, Totems and many, many others. About eight years ago, I wanted to buy something that would do AV as well as pure 2 channel, with an emphasis on 2 channel.

With a budget that finally did not constrain me, I listened to everything I could find in Chicago. Revel, Martin Logan, B+W 600, 700, 800 and CM series, Paradigm Studio and Reference,. Proac. Polk LSI and lots of others went under the microscope. As a long time audiophile, I wanted to consider all the phases of loudspeaker performance: frequency extension, soundstaging, PRAT, etc. etc. etc, For dynamics, clarity and the effortless performance nothing else could match Klipsch. I settled on Klipsch Reference and since then I've put a pair of forte's downstairs in the living room. Klipsch speakers also work well without having to buy ridiculously expensive amplification to do their thing.

There are things that other speakers can do very well and there are some I like a lot, but as far as drawing me into the music, the answer is Klipsch.

[AnalogWave]

I'm curious as to why you passed on the K-horn? Do you not have a room to properly install them? Also, which Reference model did you purchase?

[wdrazek]

The problem with Klipschorns: was WAF. I was surprised the forte's were acceptable downstairs in the Living Room.

Upstairs were RVX 42's for LCR and RSX5's for surround. The room I originally placed these in was 12x11.

It seemed silly to me at the time but everyone on the forum recommended K-Horns for the 12x11 den HT. Even I could not see that.

In the future, I would love KHorns for the 2 channel and have not given up on it. Just not in this house.

[AnalogWave]

Of course - I always forget about that. I've got no one to tell me "no", so I wind up with all kinds of shinny things that I certainly enjoy but are not necessarily the wisest purchases.

I'm embarassed to say I've never heard of the line/models of Klipsch you own. Time I check out the web site. I think it's also time I swap my Forte II back into my system and have another listen.

[wdrazek]

Over the years I've had quite a few fun and shiny things that I bought just 'cause. When you don't have anyone saying 'no' it is easy to do. The forte's are great. They are soon going to BEC for work on the crossovers and I'll also pick up some new diaphragms for the mids and tweets. It ought to be a real treat.

Those reference speakers I mentioned are no longer in production, btw. There are other ref's, though. Enjoy the music.

[sthomas12321]

I like my Klipsch very much, but they are in no way clearer then magnepans.Not even close IMO. They do play louder and have better bass though.

[Boxx]

I like my Klipsch very much, but they are in no way clearer then magnepans.Not even close IMO. They do play louder and have better bass though.

Magnepans are excellent speakers, however my Klipsch speakers, in my HT, seem to be much clearer than any magnepans I've ever heard....

[DizRotus]

In my opinion, Maggies are excellent speakers, but woud not replace Klipsch Heritage. The limits of Maggies, as with all planar speakers, are the small sweet spot, due to beamy highs, and weak bass.

[Boxx]

In my opinion, Maggies are excellent speakers, but woud not replace Klipsch Heritage. The limits of Maggies, as with all planar speakers, is the small sweet spot, due to beamy highs, and weak bass.

Agreed....

[WMcD]

I don't know if it is testing or enjoying. I like Telarc. Part of it may be that I don't have the time to make the fine choices between the several labels and recordings of a given work.

Let me suggest Telarc: Symphonic Star Trek, The Great Fantasy Adventure Album, Round Up, and Happy Trails (people say the latter two are cowboy music). These are good because even if a person is not into classical, they have heard these themes in movies.

My guess is that these make a mediocre system sound good, but on a superior system, they are astonishing. So they may be a good test of the relative merits of sytems.

I've also read about folks who are into old jazz recordings from 78's and Edison cylinders (even if duplicated to digital media). Reportedly, on our very good Klipsch systems, the listener is able to ascertain nuiances in the original recording which lesser systems fail to make clear.

Generally it is said that Klipsch speakers reproduce accurately the "inner voices" of recordings In some cases that is the "grunge" or flaws. But in historic recordings,they may be also revealing that information which is in or below the grunge.

WMcD

[sthomas12321]

I agree Magnepans have a small sweet spot, although the new 1.7's are better at this. I havent heard the Heritage line. I have the Klipsch KLF 30's. They are a late 2001 mode though with improved cabinet bracing,etc. I have some titanium tweeters arriving Friday. Maybe that will clean them up a bit more. They are excellent speakers, but IMO I feel Magnepans, and Paradigm Signature s2 V1's for example are cleaner for their price points. That doesn't mean I prefer them to the Klipsch though.

Hopefully I can grab some Heritage speakers soon and see what all the fuss is. I'm sure they are excellent.

[Quiet_Hollow]

My guess is that these make a mediocre system sound good, but on a superior system, they are astonishing.

Agreed! Here's that Telarc Star Trek song on my "mediocre" system. All $300 of it. LOL []