Jump to content

Your first Klipsch experience?


Harleywood

Recommended Posts

My first experience with Klipsch was in San Antonio, in a store called Bjorns.  I was blown away by how crisp and clear dialogue was, and since I use this for theater use... I was thrilled with the sound.

 

For music, I like how this sounds at moderate volumes, but my untreated room gets pretty harsh when it gets louder.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Upper Ear, Las Vegas NV. Sometime between 1988 & 1989. They had the entire Heritage line from the Forte on up. It was simply amazing! Rich let me audition every single one of them starting at the bottom. Every model up was a definite level up! I threw all my test tracks at them and was astounded by how effortless they sounded with very tight bass. Rich let me push the SPLs...dang did they sound better as they got louder, with nary a hint of speaker breakup. I was hooked for life! No other speaker system since have come close to Klipsch Heritage dynamics!! I came away with the Forte. The Upper Ear was so awesome, they had/allowed trade ups (one model up) inside of a year. Not long after, Forte IIs came out, and Rich allowed me trade up to those even though they weren't exactly one model up. Traded all the way up to the Chorus IIs eventually. Never stopped dreaming of owning a Klipschorn since.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/14/2016 at 5:24 PM, Tasdom said:

Not my first Klipsch experience but this was my first Klipsh "Heritage" experience. I already had a very satisfying Reference surround sound set up but as most of us here tend to do, I look on Craigslist occasionally and saw this. I think I stared for several minutes in disbelief before I grabbed my phone. Still available after 17 hours on CL :o Maybe being in the furniture section helped delay the feeding frenzy.

my1ba8C.png

 

 

I arrived at the scheduled time we set up and could only see the 4 tops in his garage. The dark marks on the top right is from me sweating while I leaned over them as it was very hot that day. They were extremely dry and in need of some oiling.

4czRG6t.jpg

 

Leaned over to snap a picture of the front of one

4pkqmFk.jpg

 

 

I really went there with the intention of buying a pair as space was an issue if I took both pairs. He said "I'll knock off 50.00 if you take all 4............SOLD! I'm not really into flipping gear but I knew I could more than recover my investment by selling the extra pair. I did let the extra pair go after more than a year of them sitting in a spare room. I sold them for about 500 to 1000 below market value to a forum member and have zero regrets as they are now being used and enjoyed. The gentleman that I got them from had bought them new in '82 and knew what they were worth. He just wanted the space and was happy to see them go to another enthusiasts.

Fdfn9Fg.jpgIwkTBYp.jpg

All loaded up and safely home. 4 fit easily in a Ford Ranger with the tailgate closed.

 

 

HolPLnm.jpg1D0Tb90.jpg7NfbM7F.jpg

Some cleaning and a few applications of BLO. You can see on the end how dry they were before oiling in the before and after pic.

 

vpknhnR.jpg

                                                          :emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29:Current resting area :emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29:

 

 

 

 

 

Never did hear the full story before about how you got these. And especially the DIRT LOW PRICE! You are a lucky dog:)

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first Klipsch experience.

 

It was 1988 and I had just moved back to my hometown of Indianapolis after landing an electrical engineering job and I wanted to celebrate with a new audio system.

 

I went to my local high end audio dealer which was Ovation in the Casetlon area of Indy and purchased a pair of Polk speakers and a receiver.

 

I hooked up my new gear and put on GNR "Appetite For Destruction". The speaker overload protection soon kicked in. I was so disappointed, I boxed them up and back to the dealer we went.

 

Of course my salesman first wanted to know what kind of cables I was using. "Uhhhh speaker cable" I replied. Well that is your problem, you need these new $$$ Monster cables.

 

I was not so easily convinced and thus my salesmen threw in a few feet for free to get me out of there.

 

Back home and reconnected the same problem still existed.

 

Back to the dealer again. Of course this time my salesman was sure it had to be the electrical service to my house was dirty. Just so happened my friend had an oscilloscope, so I verified a lovely sine wave was present and confirmed what I already knew.

 

This time at the dealer they asked me what I was listening to? Another gentleman nearby whose name was Victor (I think he was the mgr) told my salesman to get me a pair of Heresy. He then looked at me and said "Go home and try to blow these up, if you do, I will give you another pair".

 

Of course I didn't try to blow them up, but I did crank them up. The difference was amazing. I was now completely happy even though my wallet was a little bit lighter due to the extra cost of the Klipsch.

 

I have been loyal to this day to Klipsch (except a SVS sub) and have 3 different types of heritage lines in my HT setup and am always wanting more.

 

I am a past forum member but my old profile got lost in the software changeover sometime ago during a period of my inactivity, so I am starting over but I do not believe I ever told this story.

 

I also have an event that would be best named "My most awesome Klipsch experience" but since I am again a noob I need to work on my post count. So I will post it separately.

 

 

Edited by Davis
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome back.  I enjoyed your story and look forward to the next one.

 

I used to recommend Polk to friends in years past.  They are excellent speakers but lack the effortless dynamics of efficient horn loaded Klipsch.  To the audio dilettante, it is counter intuitive; the little inefficient speakers require lots of power while the large efficient speakers (e.g. Klipschorns) can remove paint with one clean watt.  My BBC LS3/5as are excellent nearfield monitors at moderate levels, but they can't compete with Heresys at higher volumes in larger spaces.

 

The trend to flea power SET and chip amps has again placed a premium on the efficiency of Klipsch and other horn loaded speakers.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Davis said:

"This time at the dealer they asked me what I was listening to? Another gentleman nearby whose name was Victor (I think he was the mgr) told my salesman to get me a pair of Heresy. He then looked at me and said "Go home and try to blow these up, if you do, I will give you another pair". "

 

That was funny as hell, and a great story to boot!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/14/2016 at 7:49 PM, jfjacques said:

I live in Southern Maine and there is a local seasonal amusement park "Funtown" that has an indoor ride called "Astrosphere" - it basically is an indoor twirl ride in the dark and has a great light show - in this "arena" they had and still have La Scalas in each corner they would play the instrumental parts of ELO "Fire on High" during the ride - left a permanent impression and everyone in this area talks about that experience and wanting "Speakers like that" - that was in high school - then while in college my girfriend's brother in law had a pair of Cornwall 2 with a Rotel pre and 100x2 amp - we stayed up all night listening to all kinds of classic rock and I was hooked.. went out the next week with him to the local klipsch dealer here in Maine and while my ears wanted the Forte - they had floor model KG5.5 on sale and I went home with those - NO REGRETS! The KG5.5's served me well and I still have them - along with Forte's too! 

http://wjbq.com/the-history-of-funtown-spalshtowns-most-unique-ride/

 

 

 

I went on the ride many times while in high school in the early 90's.  Never realized La Scalas were there.  Great ride for taking a date on.  Used to love Fun Town.  Last there in 2002?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, DizRotus said:

Welcome back.  I enjoyed your story and look forward to the next one.

 

I used to recommend Polk to friends in years past.  They are excellent speakers but lack the effortless dynamics of efficient horn loaded Klipsch.  To the audio dilettante, it is counter intuitive; the little inefficient speakers require lots of power while the large efficient speakers (e.g. Klipschorns) can remove paint with one clean watt.  My BBC LS3/5as are excellent nearfield monitors at moderate levels, but they can't compete with Heresys at higher volumes in larger spaces.

 

The trend to flea power SET and chip amps has again placed a premium on the efficiency of Klipsch and other horn loaded speakers.

No joke about horn dynamics. I recently borrowed a pair of B&W 602 from my dad (he bought a few of them secondhand for pretty cheap) because I wanted to see if I could really hear 'horn coloration' compared to the Heresy. They were perfectly agreeable, noticeably warmer than the Heresy, fairly detailed and with more low end than you'd expect, but the sound was very two-dimensional by comparison. (And I didn't hear 'horns' when I switched back)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎12‎/‎14‎/‎2016 at 8:24 PM, Tasdom said:

Not my first Klipsch experience but this was my first Klipsh "Heritage" experience. I already had a very satisfying Reference surround sound set up but as most of us here tend to do, I look on Craigslist occasionally and saw this. I think I stared for several minutes in disbelief before I grabbed my phone. Still available after 17 hours on CL :o Maybe being in the furniture section helped delay the feeding frenzy.

my1ba8C.png

 

 

I arrived at the scheduled time we set up and could only see the 4 tops in his garage. The dark marks on the top right is from me sweating while I leaned over them as it was very hot that day. They were extremely dry and in need of some oiling.

4czRG6t.jpg

 

Leaned over to snap a picture of the front of one

4pkqmFk.jpg

 

 

I really went there with the intention of buying a pair as space was an issue if I took both pairs. He said "I'll knock off 50.00 if you take all 4............SOLD! I'm not really into flipping gear but I knew I could more than recover my investment by selling the extra pair. I did let the extra pair go after more than a year of them sitting in a spare room. I sold them for about 500 to 1000 below market value to a forum member and have zero regrets as they are now being used and enjoyed. The gentleman that I got them from had bought them new in '82 and knew what they were worth. He just wanted the space and was happy to see them go to another enthusiasts.

Fdfn9Fg.jpgIwkTBYp.jpg

All loaded up and safely home. 4 fit easily in a Ford Ranger with the tailgate closed.

 

 

HolPLnm.jpg1D0Tb90.jpg7NfbM7F.jpg

Some cleaning and a few applications of BLO. You can see on the end how dry they were before oiling in the before and after pic.

 

vpknhnR.jpg

                                                          :emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29:Current resting area :emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29::emotion-29:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My story nearly mimicks this, nearly, with the differences being, 1 pair of minty Khorns, 1 pair of incomplete jamborees, with some crackhead options to finish them all scattered about, plus about 9 full size F150 truck and cabin (this is a 6 passenger cabin mind you 97 spec with the 3 doors) full of random audio all for close to this price. Most of it didn't make to my either house without atleast minor scars.

I have also come into motorcycle scores of this scale before.

Sorry pics have to come later, too much scattered all over to make sense.

 

Cool.

Srinath.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/14/2016 at 10:10 PM, Youthman said:

My first Klipsch experience was as a teen, I used to go to Sound Advice and drool over the Klipsch and B&W speakers.  I honestly never thought I would ever be able to afford a pair.  While working at Circuit City, I purchased my first "Surround Sound" system which consisted of Polk RT-800 mains, CS-300 center, FX-500 surrounds and a Velodyne CT-120 sub.

 

Hey Youthman, which Sound Advice did you visit? My Father-In-Law lived in the Orlando area for a many years and frequented the store there. So much so that he became very good friends with one of the salesmen.

 

 

My first real exposure to Klipsch (beyond whatever was setup on the floor at Best Buy) was with the RF-7ii's and P39-F's at the Sound Advice in Ft Lauderdale. We started with the RF-7ii's and were blown away by the crispness and clarity of them. My wife normally to boost the treble when listening to music (we attribute it her to being up front right near the PA system at countless rock and metal shows growing up), and the immediacy, brightness and detail of those horns grabbed her attention (and mine) right away. We were fans instantly and both said that our next set of speakers should be Klipsch. As much as we liked the RF-7ii's, we did find them a little fatiguing after a while (the room they were in probably contributed to this) and so we moved on to listen to the speakers I really went there to hear (but didn't think we could afford), the Palladiums.

 

We went into the theater room with the P-39's, put on Gino Vanelli's Put the Weight on My Shoulders off of his The Best & Beyond CD, and my wife literally started crying. The sound coming out of those speakers was so pure, smooth and rich, it sounded like he was right there, in that room, singing in front of us. We both decided right there that the Klipsch Palladiums were the speakers we really wanted. We spent the next hour+ going through the stack of CD's we brought with us and never felt the slightest bit of fatigue (and we played stuff loud). The music was crisp, detailed and effortless. The midrange was the smoothest I have ever heard, and the bass they put out was unreal (I must have gotten up at least a half dozen times to put my hand on all of the subs in the room to make sure they weren't on). Fast forward a couple of years to the Palladium line being discontinued and we jumped on the discounted prices.

 

We almost sprang for the 39's, but in the end we decided our living room was too small to be able to push them to their full potential, so we opted for a pair of 38's and a pair of the matching subs instead. Aside from the aesthetics of having that full boat tail figure and the satisfaction of having the "flagship" in the line, I can't say there's anything the 39's could offer that the 38's can't also deliver in our particular home. I grin ear to ear every time I walk through our living room and see them, and smile until my face hurts when I listen to them.

 

I've been a klipsch owner for less than a year, but I can already tell that I'm going to be a Klipsch lifer. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, BlueJester said:

We went into the theater room with the P-39's, put on Gino Vanelli's Put the Weight on My Shoulders off of his The Best & Beyond CD, and my wife literally started crying.

It's amazing that a speaker can move people to such emotion. I don't think there's any other brand that evokes such responses, and such passion and loyalty.

 

Great story, greatly told.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Peter P. said:

It's amazing that a speaker can move people to such emotion. I don't think there's any other brand that evokes such responses, and such passion and loyalty.

 

Great story, greatly told.

 

My wife who's pretty much an audio phobe - back when I had pretty low powered but very good sounding stuff, once blurted out when listening to one of those Garrard TT's mounted on top of the amp deals - "records sound damn good" and I must admit, it did sound very very good.

Cool.

Srinath.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎1‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 10:26 PM, Peter P. said:

It's amazing that a speaker can move people to such emotion. I don't think there's any other brand that evokes such responses, and such passion and loyalty.

 

Great story, greatly told.

I can't believe this thread is still alive. Just goes to show you how deep the passion runs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw a pair of used Klipsch Cornwalls advertised in the local classified. This was in the early 80s. I was in high school at the time and was already into hifi. I call the guy, set up a time to see them, show up on time, and found he wasn't home. His wife said, "He decided he wants to keep them". I was pretty disappointed, but who can blame him? 

 

A few years later, in '86, a local audio shop opened and they were a Klipsch dealer. They had a pair of brand new raw birch Cornwalls for sale, $1140. I had a decent job at that point, so I decide this is it. I was living with a roomate in an old house with 4 rental units. He was as excited as I was; we headed down to the shop, picked them up, raced home, and set them up. I had an old Denon 80W integrated amp, put on some music, and blasted them as loud as we could stand. It lasted about 10 seconds, which was the time it took our upstairs neighbor to fly down the stairs and scream at the top of her lungs, "TURN IT DOWN!". We pissed ourselves laughing. "WHAT D'YOU SAY?"

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was way back in the late 70's at a store called Audio Systems in Laredo, TX.  They had the whole Heritage line up with the big JBL subs the B-460 & B-380, they had all the top of the line gear, Luxman, Nakamichi, Denon etc. you name it.  They started playing  the Heresies and worked up to the Klipschorn's I was smitten at that point and knew what I wanted.  Many of my friends had Klipsch in their homes Heresies, Cornwalls and Belle's so I had constant exposure.

 

A few years later when working for Mobil Exploration and Production I went in with a friend and watched him buy the Luxman C-120 & M-120 preamp and amp, a Nakamichi 581 cassette deck and a pair of industrial Heresy HIIP's with the aluminum trim and fiberglass coating.  We set it up at his house and man could that thing play loud and super clear.

 

I picked up a used really nice Luxman cassette deck to go with my Pioneer 3800 receiver that I was running with a Marantz 3300 preamp coupled to some ESS Tempest speakers.  I bought my first pair of birch raw Heresies at the BX on Ramstein AB, GE in the mid-80's then picked up the Forte's when they offered them in '88.  Bought a JBL B-380 subwoofer and the matching BX-63A network to got with them and DBX BX-3 amplifier to run it all since it could run in 3-channel mode with 400 watts for the subwoofer.

 

Still a Heritage guy to this day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Totally new to Klipsch ownership. Although, way, way back in the day I was deciding between the Klipschorns and Altec Lansing Model 19s. Went with the Model 19s and owned them for approximately 20 years. Due to size constraints, B&O was up next for another long run. Tried some Polks a year ago being unaware of the Heritage speakers and just switched over to the Heresy IIIs. Great speakers! Quickly becoming a rabid fan. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lessee......blowing off the brain cobwebs, it looks like the year 1978 when I was in college - Mississippi State University.  GO DOGS!!!

 

I was studying Mechanical Engineering and a friend of mine (Aero Engineering) invited me and a couple of other guys to go to an audio store that Dr. Sheppard (the Dean of the school of Aeronautical Engineering) had opened up - Ideal Acoustics.  We go in and there was two different rooms in a shotgun style store (narrow & long).  The rooms were separated by a middle section where the register was, audio doo dads, a test bench and other junk.  The front room was stuff like Sherwood, Pioneer, Akai, Advent....stuff that was lower/mid price.  The back room contained the crappy stuff like Thorens, Garrad, McIntosh, Klipsch (the only marquee sold in the back room), Crown.....you get the picture.  All the usual suspects.

 

Dr. Sheppard decided to ruin us for life by a set up consisting of a Thorens TD125 TT with SME tonearm & some sort of Sure cartridge, a Mac amp and preamp, and the KHorns.  The test subject was none other than the New York Philharmonic's 1812 Overture.  There was some trickery/magic trick going on because when the cannons went off, one felt the concussion, yet there was no holes in the wall where one would think the cannon ball went through.  Not really sure what happened after that since I suppose my brain turned to jello. But man-o-man....I was sold on Klipsch - nothing else would do.

 

About a week later, I got a part time job at Ideal Acoustics which further led me down the road to not accepting such pedestrian products like Kenwood and Polk and Akai.  Yes - I was an audio snob in training.  That turned around a couple of weeks later I was humbled when a man came in the store identified to me that my shi.... does indeed stink.  The man?  Paul W. Klipsch who was on a first name basis with Dr. Sheppard.  I just about pooped my pants.  He was down to earth, but blunt and honest.  I lost count of how many times he used the technical term of "Bullsh*t - but it was often.  Awesome day.

 

I was allowed to work for my speakers - a pair of Heresy's which I have to this day.  In my dorm room I had a Garrad TT with cheapo Sure needle, an early production Nakamichi cassette player (the one that looked like a wedge of cheese) and a bottom rung Sherwood receiver that, I kid you not, output 15W/Ch (we bench tested it) - and that was on a good day with the wind out of the SE.  There was NOBODY that could touch me in the dorm.  Not even David Dodd across the hall with his Pioneer 75W receiver and a pair of Blows 301's.  One day he turn it up to just about a THD level of 137 and it was ON!!  I countered with my rig drowning him out all the while that little watt meter needle on the Sherwood would bounce between 5 and 6 watts.  David saw that watt meter and got pissed.  I then switch to my Police (first album) cassette and rolled it up to 8 or so watts and body slammed his pathetic Pioneer.  By now we had crowds wondering what in the hell was blasting out tunes like that.  Yep......I was DA MAN!!

 

Tom

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...