Legendary Klipsch Horns how do they stack up vs new stuff?

[BobK]

I have not heard a pair of K horns since the 80s and I forgot what they sounded like.    I was wondering how they stack up vs todays high end speakers?    Most of todays speakers seem to be towers with dual drivers and a tweeter.   Like Salk towers.      The K Horns are huge but is that size and horn what sets them apart?

 

 

[tromprof]

Sounds like you need to hear a pair again and judge for yourself. If you are in the Cincinnati area you can hear mine .

[DizRotus]

Dozens of "high end" speakers have come and gone in the 6 decades that Klipschorns have been produced.  There are reasons for that longevity.

[Ski Bum]

Comparing such speakers, however good they are, to KHorns, is kind of apples to oranges.  

 

KHorns can do things that Salks would never be able to do, but the Salks sound excellent at levels within their dynamic capabilities, which are better than the average direct radiator due to using top notch drivers and thoughtful design with the networks.  That still may not be enough for truly life-like dynamics, which the KHorns can easily do, with lower distortion to boot.   

 

The whole "how would these work in my room" question has to factor in as well, and KHorns and Salks have completely different requirements as far as that goes.  Wildly different power requirements, too.

 

KHorns are as amazing as they've ever been, and they are flat out amazing, but I will say this.  For conventional direct radiator types, you would be hard pressed to do better than Salk speakers, they're top notch.  Similar in approach and performance but even better values would be Philharmonics by Dennis Murphy (same fellow who does the networks for Salk Sound, and he's got some serious chops; top shelf drivers; Salk does the cabs).

Edited April 4, 2016 by Ski Bum

[jimjimbo]

Come to the Hope Pilgrimage in May, and listen for yourself!!

[garyrc]

Modern Khorns are great with good program material, and too revealing with bad program material.

 

I know some people don't like the midrange horn, but it sounds fine to me with my better CDs, most SACDs and virtually all Blu-rays.

 

Naturally, the room is terrifically important.  As Heyser said in a review, you want a relatively high ceiling and a thick rug, at least over the part of the floor directly in front of the Khorns.  Klipsch has recommended a ceiling at least 8.5 feet high, but Artto on this forum had a reputedly great Klipschorn room for decades with a lower ceiling.  First reflection points should be covered with absorption, but the room should be neither too dead nor too live.  If you don't have good corners, or are not willing to use artificial corners or enclose the backs (search this forum for all of these options), forget it.

 

Unlike some, I love the tweeters.  In my case, their response was improved by Audyssey flattening them out a bit.

 

I have never heard a home speaker with more spectacular dynamic capacity than a Khorn.

 

IMO, some modern "Hi End" speakers veil the sound, while others gild the lily.

 

In short, I love them, and can't be away from them and my music room for long.

 

But, if you are going to buy something, you should look into the Klipsch Jubilee.  Several forum members have them.  If any are near you, maybe they will let you listen.  The Jubilee uses many of the time honored principles also used in the Khorn, but the big midrange/treble horn was deemed not likely to look good in most living rooms, so it is not in the home floorstanding line.  It is available directly from Klipsch, and its co-designer (with Paul Klipsch) Roy Delgado may be available to help you select the options you want.

Edited April 3, 2016 by garyrc

[jason str]

Dozens of "high end" speakers have come and gone in the 6 decades that Klipschorns have been produced.  There are reasons for that longevity.

 

Come to the Hope Pilgrimage in May, and listen for yourself!!

 

Can't beat these answers.

[sunnysal]

They stack up very nicely thank you. I continue to hear friend's high-end systems and visit audio stores and frankly have not heard very much that makes we want to swap out my k-horns. But the Klipsch sound is a love it or leave it kind of thing IMHO, you either love them or they aren't your cup of tea. You need to audition the various candidate speakers with your music, ideally in your room before deciding. Speakers are perhaps the most important decision you will make in putting together your system. Let us know what you decide. Warm regards, T

Edited April 10, 2016 by sunnysal

[AaronB123]

I've never personally had the pleasure of hearing K-horns but from what I hear they are absolutely breath taking and I certainly believe it. I'll just say that when I was in the market for speakers I went to bestbuys magnolia theater to audition some speakers, they had Martin Logan, Bower and Wilkins, Difinitive Technology and others. The guy played me a pair of B&W's that went for 4k a piece and I have to say I was not that impressed, I think my Chorus's outperform them without breaking a sweat so I can't imagine what some K horns would do! 

 

I am yet to find a speaker that brings out the amount of passion in people as the Klipsch heritage line especially the K-horn and La Scala I have read reviews where people say they have literally been brought to tears by how great K horns sound! It's definitely my goal to one day own a pair of those or the La Scala's! 

 

Just a side note all the guy at bestbuy was doing was bashing Klipsch and saying their products are sub par and there technology is old and outdated!  Haha I was tempted to really start in on the guy and tell him how my "30 year old speakers" were better than anything he had in the store but I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. 

[totalcomfort]

I have heard several sets of K horns, and think they will stand up with the best of them! But then I got to hear Bobs' Jubilee's, and think they will stand with any speaker made. The best sound I have ever heard.

[Schu]

The original query is worded completely wrong...

How does NEW STUFF stack up against a legend, like The Klipschorn.

[twk123]

I have never heard K-Horns but have a pair of LaScalas. The difference with high sensitivity horns is all the subtleties in music you dont usually hear. With other speakers I hear a guitar but with the Heritage speakers you actually hear someone playing a guitar including the sound of the fingers moving on the fretboard etc. Even with well recorded hip hop music like Atmosphere, you can hear the quick inhales between lines that makes a good MC be able to flow for a long time. I have actually changed my music tastes considerably since purchasing my LaScalas from mainly Electronic music to 'organic' music like Jazz and Classical because I am finally hearing all the amazing things that make real music special and worthwhile over synthesizers etc. 

[dtel]

The biggest problem is with weight trying to stack them up ! 

 

OK I just can't help it sometimes

 

But really in the right room,  with good corners I think they easily hold up very well compared to most speakers costing a good bit more. 

 

Excluding a couple other designs from the same company, sorry to say that considering it's a legendary design much older than me. I kind of hate to say that but I honestly believe it, or I should say my ears believe it. 

[Chris A]

The difference with high sensitivity horns is all the subtleties in music you don't usually hear. With other speakers I hear a guitar but with the Heritage speakers you actually hear someone playing a guitar including the sound of the fingers moving on the fretboard etc...I have actually changed my music tastes considerably since purchasing my La Scalas from mainly Electronic music to 'organic' music like Jazz and Classical because I am finally hearing all the amazing things that make real music special and worthwhile over synthesizers etc.

 

What you are describing are the audible effects of low modulation distortion and the absence of other types of nonlinear driver distortions. Well-designed horn loading is the enabler that gives you all of those hi-fi qualities.

 

Chris

[Coytee]

Can't beat these answers.

 

Isn't it 7+ decades?     

[paul79]

Comparing such speakers, however good they are, to KHorns, is kind of apples to oranges.  

 

KHorns can do things that Salks would never be able to do, but the Salks sound excellent at levels within their dynamic capabilities, which are better than the average direct radiator due to using top notch drivers and thoughtful design with the networks.  That still may not be enough for truly life-like dynamics, which the KHorns can easily do, with lower distortion to boot.   

 

The whole "how would these work in my room" question has to factor in as well, and KHorns and Salks have completely different requirements as far as that goes.  Wildly different power requirements, too.

 

KHorns are as amazing as they've ever been, and they are flat out amazing, but I will say this.  For conventional direct radiator types, you would be hard pressed to do better than Salk speakers, they're top notch.  Similar in approach and performance but even better values would be Philharmonics by Dennis Murphy (same fellow who does the networks for Salk Sound, and he's got some serious chops; top shelf drivers; Salk does the cabs).

This is a post I completely agree with. A ton of speaker for the money, and Dennis Murphy is quite good at crossover design to work with the speakers. Nice post.

[AaronB123]

I have never heard K-Horns but have a pair of LaScalas. The difference with high sensitivity horns is all the subtleties in music you dont usually hear. With other speakers I hear a guitar but with the Heritage speakers you actually hear someone playing a guitar including the sound of the fingers moving on the fretboard etc. Even with well recorded hip hop music like Atmosphere, you can hear the quick inhales between lines that makes a good MC be able to flow for a long time. I have actually changed my music tastes considerably since purchasing my LaScalas from mainly Electronic music to 'organic' music like Jazz and Classical because I am finally hearing all the amazing things that make real music special and worthwhile over synthesizers etc. 

Could not agree more, I have never had such an appreciation for instruments before getting into Klipsch Heritage speakers!