Khorn was king until Bose came along...

[tigerwoodKhorns]

I usually don't post these but check out this quote:

 

" Up for sale is an EXACT copy of the famed Klipsch Corner-Horn Speaker that raised the bar for sonic excellence so high that it was not until Dr. Bose came into the mix and introduced concepts that Founder-Inventor Paul W. Klipsch had not thought of first."

 

That Dr. Bose was a genius.  He invented an amazing way of smearing all imaging that a speaker might have. 

 

https://lasvegas.craigslist.org/ele/6116437226.html

[HDBRbuilder]

The Bose 901...containing 9 identical small drivers...eight of them firing to the rear at angles to reflect off the rear wall, and JUST ONE firing forward...the speaker that made Bose famous.  ever try listening to a pair WITHOUT the supplied equalizer unit hooked up?  Talk about totally crappy!

Ever wonder why they cost so much??  Most of what the company receives above production costs has ALWAYS gone into advertising in order to sell that junk!

 

Epicure was selling direct reflecting loudspeakers way before Bose came along, but didn't advertise nearly as heavily as Bose did.  But the Epicure speakers fired slightly forward and upwards to reflect off the CEILING instead of the back wall, with identical elements firing straight forward.

[CECAA850]

So did Scott on their top of the line models.

[dirtmudd]

On 5/4/2017 at 0:08 PM, HDBRbuilder said:

The Bose 901...containing 9 identical small drivers...eight of them firing to the rear at angles to reflect off the rear wall, and JUST ONE firing forward...the speaker that made Bose famous.  ever try listening to a pair WITHOUT the supplied equalizer unit hooked up?  Talk about totally crappy!

Ever wonder why they cost so much??  Most of what the company receives above production costs has ALWAYS gone into advertising in order to sell that junk!

 

Epicure was selling direct reflecting loudspeakers way before Bose came along, but didn't advertise nearly as heavily as Bose did.  But the Epicure speakers fired slightly forward and upwards to reflect off the CEILING instead of the back wall, with identical elements firing straight forward.

I had a pair of 901's . it did not make a difference with the passive eq.

then my speaker tech introduced me to klipsch and tubes...

[DizRotus]

As I've said before, my 901s hanging from the ceiling of my parents' great room did an amazing job with live Texaco Opera Theater broadcasts. Of course, it took 200 watts/channel of Dynaco 400 power.

[DizRotus]

The CL posting includes several of my pet peeves regarding selling used audio.

• Way too much detail about the history of Klipschorns.  No one unfamiliar with the history of Klipsch would be convinced to pay nearly $1,000 for an old DIY project.  Unfortunately for the seller, no one familiar with Klipsch is likely to pony up that kind of money for this "EXACT copy" (emphasis in original);
• Which brings me to my second criticism, hyperbole.  The hyperbolic use of "exact" is the tip of the way too wordy iceberg; and
• Last, referencing new prices to justify the asking price, especially since this is a "copy," rather than a real Klipschorn.

Depending upon the components, the collection of parts might be worth the asking  price to the correct buyer(s). IMO, the listing should identify the individual -- Non-Klipsch -- components and and throw in the questionable bass bin as a bonus.

 

I guess merely describing it as a "rare and sought after" genuine Mitchell was not deemed good enough.

 

YMMV

 

[The History Kid]

Were Khorns originally two way?  I thought they were always 3 way, save for the pro line...

[DizRotus]

Sort of . . . 

[garyrc]

On 5/10/2017 at 5:24 AM, DizRotus said:

As I've said before, my 901s hanging from the ceiling of my parents' great room did an amazing job with live Texaco Opera Theater broadcasts. Of course, it took 200 watts/channel of Dynaco 400 power.

As I've said before, the only 901s I've heard that I liked were in Alphonso's Mercantile in Mendocino.  The lowest amplifier power Alphonso ever drove them with was 350 w.p.c. (a Phase Linear 700, in 1972 when he first got the Bose set-up) and the highest was 1,000 w.p.c. -- they sounded pretty good.

 

All other 901s I've heard were muddy, and not very dynamic.

 

Bose never revealed the efficiency or sensitivity of the 901 (AFAIK), but one magazine strongly implied it would need 22.5  times the power of a Klipschorn or a JBL D130 in one of their horn loaded boxes.  Both of the latter had an EIA efficiency of 54, above F3, which would be 104 dB at 4 feet at 1 wt input, IIRC.   

[garyrc]

3 hours ago, The History Kid said:

Were Khorns originally two way?  I thought they were always 3 way, save for the pro line...

I think they went 3 way in the '50s, when it became clear that tape recordings, phono cartridges. and records had information up to 15KHz, and beyond.  At first they added what PWK called "a sad tweeter."  Then they started selecting the best of EV T-35s, which were much better, and the selected ones were renamed Klipsch K77s (PWK and EV had a deal).  A new midrange driver (much like the one used today) was added in 1963, at the same time a new woofer slot was used.  The tweeter became front mounted in about 1983, a new mid horn (different material) came in in 1987.  The crossovers were changed several times.

[Coytee]

3 hours ago, The History Kid said:

Were Khorns originally two way?  I thought they were always 3 way, save for the pro line...

 

My understanding is he (PWK) always wanted the Khorn to be a 2-way but as Gary states above...  the 2-way was incapable of playing the full spectrum.

 

50 years later, PWK revisited the 3-way Khorn in an effort to return it back to the 2-way he always wanted.....enter the Juiblee.

 

Though it resides in the cinema lineup, it was actually developed to be a residential speaker.

[ClaudeJ1]

53 minutes ago, garyrc said:

As I've said before, the only 901s I've heard that I liked were in Alphonso's Mercantile in Mendocino.  The lowest amplifier power Alphonso ever drove them with was 350 w.p.c. (a Phase Linear 700, in 1972 when he first got the Bose set-up) and the highest was 1,000 w.p.c. -- they sounded pretty good.

 

All other 901s I've heard were muddy, and not very dynamic.

 

Bose never revealed the efficiency or sensitivity of the 901 (AFAIK), but one magazine strongly implied it would need 22.5  times the power of a Klipschorn or a JBL D130 in one of their horn loaded boxes.  Both of the latter had an EIA efficiency of 54, above F3, which would be 104 dB at 4 feet at 1 wt input, IIRC.   

Had them side by side at Ann Arbor Music mart. You could peg the meters on a "flame linear" amp with the Bose 901. The same amp's meter didn't move at all when the Khorn was switched in until you selected a 20 db greater sensitivity, even then, they barely wiggled.

 

The sales guy also had a Cerwin Vega amp, which he said blew up a pair of Bose 901's, since they claimed there was no amp that could blow them up. I wish I was there for that!! I would have brought my own fire extinguisher.