Help to ID Klipschorns

[nullzilla]

1 hour ago, John Albright said:

Which woofer do they have?

 

 

OK, I'm starting to see how you guys work - divide and conquer.  I buy these really iconic old speakers, and then you guys ask me to basically strip all the decoration away to reveal the inner truth.    Now that I've pulled a top hat and seen that it isn't fatal, I'll work on getting into the woofer enclosure, which will involve pulling at least part of the grill from the bottom.

 

I'm really curious now about the woofers because these Khorns seem to be a study in contradiction.

According to the Codex (and I truly respect Groomlakearea51 for his research):

• The model is K-D-FR but they are fully enclosed in what appear to be Klipsch cabinets
• They have a K500/5000 crossover network which was phased out in 1955, but
• They have K-55-V mids which were introduced in 1961, and
• they have K77 tweeters introduced in 1959.

I have to surmise that the mid and tweeter were upgraded at some point, maybe 1963 (the speakers came with a price list from that year).  

 

Anyway, once I work up the nerve to tackle the rest of the cabinet I'll post an update.

 

THANKS to everyone who is helping me with these.  It's great to find such an active, passionate community!

[nullzilla]

2 hours ago, John Albright said:

So, they are pre-1955.  I'm gonna guess 1954.  Jim Hunter has access to the original log books.  Find him in the Ask The Historian section. 

I'm also going to say they were upgraded with the "newer" K-5-J without the "boats" or directional vanes near the throat the earliest K-5's had. 

 

Which woofer do they have?

You are correct that they don't have  the vanes - the mid horn is open except for the tweeter mounted within.  I opened the woofer cabinet, and was shocked at how pristine the inside is - zero dust and the label on the woofer itself is still a brilliant mirror finish.  I couldn't get a good picture because of the close space, but the driver is a K-33-J S/N1477.  The gasket around the woofer door really did its job!

[garyrc]

Klipsch did offer upgrade kits to bring older Khorns up to date.  I think they are still doing that, at least they were in 2005, when I got AK4 kits for my Khorns.  I'm not sure whether any other large speaker company does this.  If your Khorns are truly from 1955, the K77 and K-55-V might have been in an upgrade kit the former owner bought.

 

Is the 1963 price list for parts or for complete Khorns?  In 1963 they started using the K400 instead of the K-5-J, at least that is the year of PWK's article regarding it in IEEE Transactions on Audio N ov/Dec 1963 Number 6.  To my unschooled eye, the frequency response is only very slightly better with the K400, primarily above 3.5K, and may be a bit worse at 1.25K.

 

 

[rplace]

Thanks for all the pix, nullzilla. What a fun read this has been seeing you start out basically knowing nothing (about khorns) and not being afraid to roll up you sleeves and dig in. Like an Indiana Jones movie for speakers! Glad you are enjoying them and did not just pick them up to flip 'em.

 

Like you I was amazed how clean my bass bins were when I first opened them up.

 

Always cool to see the old khorns with wood horns.

[nullzilla]

So to just close out this thread, the historians verified that these units shipped together in November of 1962 and the only upgrade is the addition of the enclosure.  A few last pictures of them now ensconced in their permanent home.  I'im not crazy for the right speaker having a window and sliding glass door there, but it's the best I can do for mow.