richieb Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I guess this question is directed more to Heritage owners and Khorn in particular and I value any and all opinions. A friend of mine has a near mint, restored pr. of '81 Khorn's. Included will be the Dave Harris Fastlane top hat horn mods, squaker and tweet, and the ALK slope networks. Nothing original is included so I cannot return to the OE top hat configuration. Is this a plus or minus not only for listening pleasure but should I ever, resale. Do these mods scrae you off? And yes they were professionally installed. These are not a hack job. As of now I WILL purchase them this weekend unless too many red flags are waived from those of you with more knowledge than me. And these will be my first Khorns and only Heritage I have not owned. Later this evening I will give a short double thumbs up to my "new" '78 LaScalla's. In short - just like I remeber when I bought my first factory pair in the late '70's, maybe better with todays superior electronics. Thanks all - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Is this a plus or minus not only for listening pleasure but should I ever, resale. Only your ears know. Does the fact that they are modded reduce or increase their worth to YOU? I doubt that anyone gets return on investment on mods; they never get the cost back. My Belles have more in them in mods than I will every recover but I have known to do that with cars as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Sounds like some good mods to me. Have pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steven1963 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I can't speak to those mods as I know nothing about them. But I would question whether they are still Klipschorns since 'nothing original' exists anymore, other than the wooden box that housed all the parts? They would simply be a higher form of a knockoff to me. And, as for your question of resale for me personally, I wouldn't purchase anything advertised as Klipschorns that were so heavily modified. But they are your ears and it's your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) Good thing op... specially if those modifications are reversible Edited January 16, 2015 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 The mods you speak of are well known and highly respected and the speakers will hold K-Horn value, that means if the khorns were worth 2000 they will stay at 2000 they will not increase much if any due to the mods.......................is it a good idea to invest in them= do you like the sound, if you do and can afford them then go for it....................buy as an investment =not so much most folks that make the mods know they will lose $$$$ on the mods, I know of several that kept the original parts and revert the speakers back to original in an attempt to recoup some of the $$$$ on the mods they sell the mods separate, and sell the speakers as original. Obviously not possible in this case If you like them buy them, and if you tire of them and go to sell them you should recoup the going rate for k-horns 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Appreciate the input. The good things relative to ROI for the modes is that I am not paying in excess of what bone stock Khorns are selling for, probably a bit less. In reality I am paying a fair price for the speakers with $$$ of mods included. But agreed, at this point they are no longer "stock" Klipsch speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prerich Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I guess this question is directed more to Heritage owners and Khorn in particular and I value any and all opinions. A friend of mine has a near mint, restored pr. of '81 Khorn's. Included will be the Dave Harris Fastlane top hat horn mods, squaker and tweet, and the ALK slope networks. Nothing original is included so I cannot return to the OE top hat configuration. Is this a plus or minus not only for listening pleasure but should I ever, resale. Do these mods scrae you off? And yes they were professionally installed. These are not a hack job. As of now I WILL purchase them this weekend unless too many red flags are waived from those of you with more knowledge than me. And these will be my first Khorns and only Heritage I have not owned. Later this evening I will give a short double thumbs up to my "new" '78 LaScalla's. In short - just like I remeber when I bought my first factory pair in the late '70's, maybe better with todays superior electronics. Thanks all - Those are good mods!!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Those are GREAT mods. I made them and have never looked back. Although being that I made the mods I also kept the originals and can revert if necessary for sale. But the thing about that is I will be 6 feet under before any sale happens . BTW they do have the original bass horn, right? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 The mods noted are good. Be better to know what drivers are used for the midrange and tweeter. I use these same mods on Khorns with vintage JBL 2482 mids and 2404 JBL tweets. My Khorns are not going anywhere until I am pushing up daisies. Come to think of it I may take these with me (somehow). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 (edited) ebay prices for completed items for k-horns range from 2-3 grand i'm guessing your friend will let you put them in your home before forking over the money to see if you like them and they fit into your corners and your decor plus your significant others thoughts if you have one Edited January 16, 2015 by Budman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 The networks radically change the sonic signature of the Klipschorn. I personally don't care for the sound the Extreme Slope Networks, but this is a very personal thing and you may like the sound just fine. I hope they have the Beyma tweeter, which sounds excellent. Dave's horns are nice, but he makes more than one type -- do you know which ones are coming with these? Regardless, you'll be pleased. I think the size of the room, how far back you sit, and how loud you listen -- will determine whether or not you're pleased with the crossovers. Definitely come back and let us know -- sharing your impressions and experiences are valuable to everyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 The reason people modify their K-Horns is to make them sound better than the original configuration. If you are looking for the original sound, don't buy modified speakers. If you want the best sounding speaker, buy modified. I personally modified my K-Horns and would never dream of going back to original. As a rule, K-Horns aren't "collector items", unless they are some rarity, such as a rare wood veneer, or a 60th Anniversary model, so modifying them isn't really going to hurt the value. Fastlane Audio and ALK engineering are both top notch vendors that offer great products for modifying Klipsch speakers, so I would consider that an upgrade as well as a modification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David H Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) I guess this question is directed more to Heritage owners and Khorn in particular and I value any and all opinions. A friend of mine has a near mint, restored pr. of '81 Khorn's. Included will be the Dave Harris Fastlane top hat horn mods, squaker and tweet, and the ALK slope networks. I believe the KHorns you are speaking of are the ones that I picked up locally and were bass bins only. They were equipped with the original square magnet K-33's that were in good condition. The entire top end was scratch built including the mid horns. The mid horns installed in this was a 290hz fc version of my Fastrac K, the driver was an original K-55, the tweeter was a Selenium D-220ti on a baby cheek Selenium horn. The crossovers I included with these speakers were type A, however I tested them with ALK AP-12 + ES5800 which was a significant upgrade to my ears over the venerable type A. I don't know the origin of these speakers, however I was told they came out of a local movie theater. Here are some of the pics. Edited January 17, 2015 by GotHover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckAb3 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 For me it would depend on what the mods were and who installed them. In your case, these sound like good ones (respected). Was the installer competent? Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 For me it would depend on what the mods were and who installed them. In your case, these sound like good ones (respected). Was the installer competent? Best of luck. Respected - Yes. Competent - Yes. And see above from GotHover. Dave Harris did the resto and horn mods. My mid is at ease with the work my concern was that I was buying a "real" Khorn. But maybe better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Wow Dave... those things look beautiful! is there extra thickness in the built sections? looks like it is slightly thicker. did you ever make a 2" horn that is not elliptic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USNRET Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Well, it's the weekend so I assume you have those beauties home by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Not quite. And another reason I felt this a good opportunity for my first Khorns as they are being brought to my home, Monday morning. I really couldn't ask for more. And how's this for getting back in the Heritage horn game - LaScalla's delivered last Thursday and Khorns Monday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David H Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Wow Dave... those things look beautiful! Thanks, they did turn out nice. is there extra thickness in the built sections? looks like it is slightly thicker. No, its all single layer Baltic Birch. did you ever make a 2" horn that is not elliptic? I still do, the Fastrac K-2 is a 2 inch 310hz rectangular cross section Tractrix. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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