What makes a Klipsch a Klipsch?

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Surplus capacitors and a bunch of Electrovoice Drivers

And a box built in this shed...

I also agree with Dean. All kidding aside isn't Klipsch one of the few present manufacturers that makes all of their own drivers?

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Surplus capacitors and a bunch of Electrovoice Drivers

And a box built in this shed...

I also agree with Dean. All kidding aside isn't Klipsch one of the few present manufacturers that makes all of their own drivers?

[dtel]

I think they stopped doing that but not completely sure. They even had the machine that magnetizes the magnets, we had seen it on one of the pilgrimages. We were told it used electricity to instantly magnetize them, they said it was really loud when it happened.

[Marvel]

All kidding aside isn't Klipsch one of the few present manufacturers that makes all of their own drivers?

The K33 is made by Eminence, K69 by P-Audio... As far as all the newer lines... maybe.

[BEC]

All kidding aside isn't Klipsch one of the few present manufacturers that makes all of their own drivers?

The K33 is made by Eminence, K69 by P-Audio... As far as all the newer lines... maybe.

And K-55X made by Atlas Sound. K-77 now made by Dai-ichi.

[DavidF]

Surplus capacitors and a bunch of Electrovoice Drivers

And a box built in this shed...

I also agree with Dean. All kidding aside isn't Klipsch one of the few present manufacturers that makes all of their own drivers?

Klipsch made some of the drivers and woofers in house but this was not, is not, the same across the entire model line.

B&W, Dynaudio, Focal, KEF, TAD just off the top of my head make their own drivers. I am sure there are several out there.

[DavidF]

Interesting point you make about having the support of Klipsch behind the product. It never occured to me that I'd ever need that. Only by joining the forum have I come to realize that if I needed help, parts, whatever, the company would still be there.

This stands in direct contrast to my experience with one of my motorcycles, a Buell which is no longer made. The parent company, Harley Davidson, would just as soon we all went away. With tee shirts, if possible.

H-D

and Buell may be a good analogy to brand identification which is, in part, the

answer to your question.

Paul

Klipsch had several engineering principles that he adhered to throughout his

involvement with his company. High efficiency provides low distortion and a

dynamic sound where both combined form the prime characteristic of the brand

over many years.

Additionally

his speakers were voiced with a flat-to-rising frequency response that was

quite the opposite of many of the low efficiency models that allowed a dip in

the mid range or falling high-end response to mimic the large symphony hall

effect of sound propagation. So, put together all of the design traits Klipsch

used and you have a house sound.

I

suppose that to many the Klipsch house sound seems “bright”. The house sound

did not mimic the Altec theater sound (rolled off bass and high end). Nor did it

mimic the symphony hall tendency to roll off the highs and add bloom to the mid-to-upper

bass. To my ears the overall Klipsch sound provided a quality of reproduction

that does remind me of original sound. Original sound has a certain bite and

air. I read of people who just don’t like the horn sound, though. So there

could many reasons Klipsch don’t appeal to all.

H-D

certainly has a design and riding experience that all who ride them know and

love. Think of H-D and you think of a big twin set into a long low frame. The

Buells hardly fit this H-D house design, however. Just as Paul would not continence

a low-sensitivity design with an “audiophile” sound I sense also that Willie G.

could never bring an upright frame that actually corners into a H-D catalog.

[Don Richard]

What makes Klipsch speakers stand out is that they follow the guidelines set forth by the founder - high efficiency, low distortion, flat frequency response, adequate output, and controlled directivity.

For many years Klipsch was the only company designing loudspeakers for low distortion. Most other manufacturers of the time were struggling to get a useable frequency response out of their boxes and were sacrificing low audible distortion and efficiency in trying to achieve that goal. With the low power amplifiers of the day the other brands had no chance of realistic sound reproduction, a task that Klipsch speakers mastered with ease.

Today high power amplification is readily available along with small loudspeakers that have fairly low distortion. The problem is that these speakers play well in a small room, but are not sufficient for use in a larger space. Certain manufacturers make larger speakers with decent quality sound that will work well in larger rooms. A pair of those loudspeakers sell for $55,000 and sound no better than a pair of Khorns.

So what makes a Klipsch speaker a Klipsch? Solid engineering and quality construction at a fair price. Paul Klipsch wouldn't have it any other way.

[bassace]

I started with KG2's, progressed to Forte I's, and now own Klipschorns. I have heard a succession of sound, a house sound if you will, that for some reason just appeals to me. The low distortion, high sensitivity, combined with the physics employed (no size, no bass) are the earmarks of what I enjoy about Heritage Klipsch 2-channel listening. I do vinyl as well as all bitrates and formats of digital, and it all simply flows smoohly from the bit (or alternately from the groove) to the air via transducer. It's a pleasure to hear and enjoy music that isn't impossible to attain. When I explained to Richard Vandersteen that I listened to Klipsch speakers, he noticeably turned up his nose and suggested to me that musicians "fill in the blanks" when listening to music for enjoyment. There are no blanks to be filled in with Klipschorns, as far as I'm concerned, and if I had stopped at the lowly KG2 I'd have been well satisfied.

[Dr Morbius]

Today high power amplification is readily available along with small loudspeakers that have fairly low distortion. The problem is that these speakers play well in a small room, but are not sufficient for use in a larger space. Certain manufacturers make larger speakers with decent quality sound that will work well in larger rooms. A pair of those loudspeakers sell for $55,000 and sound no better than a pair of Khorns. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a friend who has Krell amps (250 watts) with Focal speakers - I forgot the model but they cost between $55,000 to 60,000 for the pair and when he finally came over and heard my Scott 299C (25 watts) with my Cornscala's .................. well, you should have seen the look on his face when I played the opening part of "The Mysterious Island" by Bernard Herrmann {the 90's digital remake} He truly believes in Klipsch now.

[philly0116]

The heritage, the history, the story, the engineering, the unmistakeable sound. All that and PWK, thats what makes a Klipsch a Klipsch.

[garyrc]

Efficiency, dynamics, design, testing (compared, at least, to that done on most home brew speakers), and rank order of the importance of speaker variables held by PWK, and still fairly representative of the values of Klipsch, with low distortion rated high in importance, and flatness of frequency response rated as lower in importance, but still important.

[Mongo171]

I thought it was the speaker badge. [:$]

[turntable3]

Good day,

I think it is the SOUND which makes KLIPSCH KLIPSCH.

It sounds like "live" even at low volumes.

Take PORCUPINE TREE - Octane Twisted - a live album recorded 2010 in Chicago. I have seen them in Karlsruhe/germany 2010.

Auditioning this record on La Scalas it is like live. It is fast, bass and drums are hitting you if you crank up. I do not know any brand of speaker which is able to bring such a magic live feeling into my living room. I had Infinity, B&W, Jbl and others.

Have a nice day

Jack

[dimanata2007]

I thought it was the speaker badge.

that too.

my first big speakers were Fisher. then Fisher againg. they sounded good and looked decent.

and then I bought my first Klipsch.

they were Chorus II -huge, heavy, bulky -not exactly the best choice for small appartment, but they sounded better than anything else I ever heard. I even took them with me when I moved to TX.

9 years later I still like klipsch badge better than any other one.

[themrclean]

More importantly, who can say "What makes a Klipsch a Klipsch" 5 times really fast without flubbering it up?

[Islander]

Today high power amplification is readily available along with small loudspeakers that have fairly low distortion. The problem is that these speakers play well in a small room, but are not sufficient for use in a larger space. Certain manufacturers make larger speakers with decent quality sound that will work well in larger rooms. A pair of those loudspeakers sell for $55,000 and sound no better than a pair of Khorns. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have a friend who has Krell amps (250 watts) with Focal speakers - I forgot the model but they cost between $55,000 to 60,000 for the pair and when he finally came over and heard my Scott 299C (25 watts) with my Cornscala's .................. well, you should have seen the look on his face when I played the opening part of "The Mysterious Island" by Bernard Herrmann {the 90's digital remake} He truly believes in Klipsch now.

I also had an experience like that. When I was converting the La Scalas to JubScalas I ran into difficulties integrating the Dx38 into the system, and was getting lots of humming and buzzing, but little or no music.

After a couple of weeks of struggling, even with much appreciated help and advice from fellow Klipsch forum members, I called a local pro audio shop and asked them to send a tech to my place. It took him a couple of hours and a couple of phone calls back to the shop, but he got it up and running, with clear sound and no humming or buzzing. There were two issues: incorrect connections in the RCA-to-XLR cables, and the need for ground wires between the two power amps and the receiver.

For a test, and to show the tech what the system could do, I put on the No Doubt Rock Steady Live DVD and turned it up to near live volume. His jaw literally dropped. After a few seconds, he regained his composure, and said in an incredulous voice, "It's all there. You can hear everything."

This was a guy who sets up concert sound for a living, so he knew what live music sounds like. His saying that was the second thing that made that day for me. The first thing, obviously, was getting the system working properly. Five years later, the system still impresses and pleases me.

So for me, realistic, clear, and detailed sound, along with realistic dynamics, is what makes a Klipsch a Klipsch. The speakers that don't look like most people's image of speakers is part of it, too. I find it amusing when you tell someone you have a new speaker, and they can't find it in the room. The centre Belle has the frontal area of a kitchen stove. How can it be hard to see? And yet, it happens.

[Daddy Dee]

Islander,

great story. thanks for posting.