Khorn Woofer question

[Ceptorman]

That is beautiful.

[DizRotus]

I think not.

Those were the days when all you had to do was open the doors to access the woofer. :-)

[davis419b]

I think not.

Those were the days when all you had to do was open the doors to access the woofer. :-)

 

 

I wish it had been that easy ! All of the screws used back then were slot not phillips.

[twistedcrankcammer]

Kevin Harmon has a pair of early 50s Klipschorns, in fact, I think his may also be 54s, but his look like traditional Klipschorns. I fear you may have a one of a kind mono speaker.

 

Does your have factory tagging, or could it be a custom build?

 

Roger

Edited January 2, 2016 by twistedcrankcammer

[davis419b]

Kevin Harmon has a pair of early 50s Klipschorns, in fact, I think his may also be 54s, but his look like traditional Klipschorns. I fear you may have a one of a kind mono speaker.

 

 

 

 

Roger I am going to agree. I saw one a few weeks back on ebay that was similar but not the same.

[Don Richard]

 

 

NO! It is not the K-33E, nor is it the Crites Woofer, not even close!

 

I used to own well over 30 Klipsch 15" woofers, and my brother in law who also owns Klipschorns and I spent a day swapping out woofer and playing the bass bin only,, and playing the whole speaker to cross reference all the woofers I had.

 

The woofers I had on hand to try out were as follows: K-33E round magnet, K-33E square magnet, Crites cast frame woofer, K-43E woofer, Klipsch K-44E woofer, K-46E woofer, and the Electro Voice EV 15W-K.

 

All of the above speakers are OEM 15 inch drivers for Klipsch Horn loaded products except for Bob Crites driver. The K-43E is used in Pro LaScalas and MWM bins and is rated at 200 watts RMS. The K-44E is used in later production TSCM Pro Klipschorn bins and is rated at 250 Watts RMS. The K-46E woofer came in the KP-600 Low Frequency horn and is rated at 300 Watts RMS.

 

The clear winner by an blatently obvious margin was my Electro Voice EV 15W-K. It should be noted that my Electro Voice EV 15W-Ks are the earlier 1950s versions with the Huge Alnico magnets. I have heard that these Alnico versions sound better than the ones made in the 1960s with the ceramic magnet and bow tie in polished aluminum on the cast aluminum cover over that magnet, but I cannot confirm this as I have never had the chance to do an A/B comparison. I have also been told that the Stevens True Sonic Woofer sounds even better than my Electro Voices, but the only ones I have ever actually seen in person are in the Museum and also the basement of the museum in Hope. There is also some old model train track in that basement as well, kind of a tribute to Paul there. So I have never actually heard let alone had a chance to do a comparison with a Stevens woofer.

 

These were my findings, and my brother in laws as well, as we both agree that it was an obvious difference in both Bass increase at lower listening levels and quality/clearness of the sound.

 

So, that's my story and I'm stickin to it! ...  Roger

 

I had a 15WK at one time and my results were different. When used with a bass bin with the 3 inch wide throat and a type A xover, performance was poor with thin, weak bass. The woofer I had came with the motorboard mounted to it, with the original 6 inch wide throat. The EV bass cabinet design that was used with that woofer had a smaller back chamber than current (as of late 1960s) Khorn bass cabinets, and were crossed at 250 Hz IIRC.

 

This woofer would be necessary to restore a Klipsch-licensed EV Georgian horn, not the best match for the newer Klipschorns.

 

It is most definitely the best looking woofer I have seen with the cast polished baskets and huge magnet.

 

 

 

"Cast Polished basket???" Which style EV 15W-K did you have, and with what magnet structure?

 

The Early 1950s Alnico has a HUGE magnet structure and the cast basket is not only polished, but also Chrome Plated! Even the Early Ceramic magnet EV 15W-Ks had Chrome plated baskets with a thin cast aluminum shell over the ceramic magnet structure was painted copper with a polished aluminum bow tie. It was even later after that when they stopped chroming the baskets! 

 

Roger

 

 

Gimme a break, it was over 40 years ago when I had the 15-WK. The magnet was the large alnico, the speaker was heavy and barely fit into the back chamber and had the proper 3.2 ohm DCR voice coil. It was the correct woofer for the early 50s Klipsch licensed Georgian. In spite of it's impressive looks it was outperformed by the stock K-33. That was the only 15-WK I've heard, maybe the magnet had become demagged or something? The guy I bought it from liked the K-33 in his Georgian better, that's why he sold the EV to me to begin with.

[kuisis]

I have a 54 and 56, one has that exact EV and the other the Stephens.   I can't tell the difference between them and have been listening for several years now.  My two are factory and I only opened the window to see what woofers were in the speakers.  I can almost guarantee that they were never opened before.  Mine also had the slotted screws and I had to be very careful not to scratch up the finish.  So I think davis419b's are factory speakers.

[DizRotus]

Tom-

 

Glad to hear you're still enjoying your Khorns.  I wish I could have seen the woofers.  Is the Stephens as pretty as the EV?

[kuisis]

It is very similar, it has the traditional blue finish, with a kind of crackle finish underneath. I also am still running them in 16 ohms, with matching K-77's replacing the university.  That was probably the best investment I've made for entertainment purposes.  I was listening to Taj Mahal tonight and it was like he was playing in my game room.   Hope  all is well in Michgan.  I will see if I took pics of the woofers, for some reason I think I did.