Proper room size for Klipschorns - Will this work?

[Lost240]

I currently have a 19' X 13' room with ceilings that are 7' 10". I have two corners on the 13 foot side. One corner is appropriate. The other corner is 29" X 60" approximately. There is a doorway between the corners unfortunately. There is also  a floor hot water radiator in the right corner.possibly preventing me from sealing the speaker to the wall, though looking at the back of the Klipshorn I think it might still work. Would this work for Klipshorns?  

 

 

 

[Chris A]

Yes. 

 

But a few acoustic treatments and proper listening position (LP) placement will be required for best results.  I'd recommend moving your LP back to at least 12-14 feet from the front wall.  I also recommend thick carpet in the area of the Khorns, and ceiling diffusers/absorbers near the Khorns to mitigate the nearfield effects of that low ceiling.  Side wall absorption pads (front and side wall immediately adjacent to the Khorns) will improve the imaging performance.  Having no furniture or equipment/racks between the loudspeakers will also improve imaging quite a bit.  Keep all acoustically reflective objects at least 3-4 feet away from them and your listening position (including leather or vinyl covered chairs--cloth covered chairs work much better).

 

Centering the Khorns at 45 degrees from each wall and sealing them tightly against the walls is very important if you don't use false corners with the Khorns.  If you don't use false corners, you can wedge a piece of plywood between the wall and the loudspeaker to extend its bass bin flare on that 36" corner to at least 48".

 

Chris

[Lost240]

Posted a few other pics in the original post

 

[Chris A]

I'd certainly recommend thinking about false corners if that corner issue gets too complicated to work around.  The false corners only have to extend as high as the bass bins, not the top hats. Using them will provide you the option of re-aiming them toward your listening position and the ability to more easily move them out of the way if maintenance is require on the water heater, etc.  They would also help in reducing the obstruction into the left doorway since you can aim them more "down range" and foreshorten the extension of the false corner's edge into the doorway.  Example:

 

 

If you build full-height false corners, then you can affix absorption material at the midrange horn height to reduce nearfield midrange reflections without having to place absorption on the front or side walls.

 

If you feel that you don't have that much room, you can enclose the backs and lose about 5 Hz on the bottom end as compared to full false corners:

 

 

Chris

[Lost240]

Do you think I would need that in both corners or just the smaller corner?

[Chris A]

Well, you can certainly try just one corner and listen first.  It's easy to build another if it needs it.  The advantage of having two is that you can re-aim them, thus uncoupling the design from the 45-degree-from-sidewall requirement.

[Lost240]

Where would I find the dimensions for the false corners?

 

[Chris A]

See http://assets.klipsch.com/files/Dope_751205_v15n5.pdf

 

 

[Chris A]

Having that open doorway between the speakers will increase their imaging performance rather dramatically.  I think that you'll find that they'll sound really good in those corners, assuming a little adjustment to the ceiling bounce is made.

 

You can also place some absorbing material across the top of the Khorns top hats and place a little material sticking out in front of the tweeter/midrange front face on top to absorb energy in the 400-1800 Hz region produced the midrange horn mouth, thus avoiding ceiling treatments.  The rug thing on the floor is probably pretty important, though.  It only takes 3 feet in front of Khorn to catch that same 400-1800 Hz energy from the midrange horn mouth.

[Lost240]

I've been looking at the false corners. Does it make a difference if they are made of just plywood or do they need the 2X4's as well to actually make a wall?

[Chris A]

You don't need the 2x4s, only a reasonably stiff front face of plywood that doesn't resonate.  That's the real requirement.  The picture of the false corner above that I provided is an example of that kind of thinking, anchoring the bottom of the false corner to a bottom plate.  You can also enclose the gap to make it look nicer and to stiffen the top edges:

 

[Lost240]

That is much nicer than the plywood sticking out. 

[Chris A]

Another shot:

 

[Lost240]

Thank you @Chris A This is all very helpful! Now I just need to find a pair of Khorns in the Northeast....

[dtr20]

6 minutes ago, Lost240 said:

Thank you @Chris A. This is all very helpful!  Now I just need to find a pair of Khorns in the Northeast....

Where are you from? There was a guy in Dover, Massachusetts that was selling a pair of klipschorns, I think they were from the 90s. I'm not sure if he sold them yet.

[Lost240]

I am in Southbury, CT. It looks like its only a couple hours to Dover. @dtr20 Who is selling them?

[dtr20]

Klipsch Klipschorn Speakers - $3500
http://worcester.craigslist.org/ele/5822841232.html

 

This is one set, but the original ones I was talking about.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262573563231

This was on eBay and never sold them. I was going to try to do a local sale, but I found another pair cheaper. I would email him through eBay and ask if the klipschorns are still available. If they are, he will probably give you his phone number (this is what he did with me). Good luck

[dtr20]

The second link is in Dover.

[Lost240]

Thank you @dtr20

[Lost240]

So I can build false corners to deal with the bass and wall issues, but my other concern is the width. Is 13 feet enough? I have heard of some people recommending 25-30ft, which of course is impossible in my situation.