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Should I fulfull my lifelong dream to own Klipsch speakers?


elee532

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6 hours ago, USNRET said:

Three Cornwall IIIs under a 70"
The throw pillows by speakers are placed to prevent the wife's Romba vacuum contacting Klipsch 
 

Room.jpg

 

 

That is a beautiful room and system. The problem is getting good sound in an open floor plan. No matter what you do, it will still only be a shadow of what it could be in a traditional room. But one does what one must do.

 

Shakey

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7 hours ago, USNRET said:

Three Cornwall IIIs under a 70"
The throw pillows by speakers are placed to prevent the wife's Romba vacuum contacting Klipsch 
 

 

 

Absolutely beautiful. 100% non-mancave. Well done. Love the stacked stone.

 

@elee532 You for sure need a smaller screen and a pair of khorns. Movie night is not movie night without proper sound. That is more than 50% of the equation. Smaller screen and khorns below to give you something to think about.....dog beds for the kids:P

 

RoomLights (Medium).jpg

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Not knowing your budget....nor their costs....  if you look into something like the Forte, you might look into the KI-396

 

https://www.klipsch.com/products/ki-396

 

As I understand it, you can think of it as a Cornwall on steroids.

 

The thing I like (love) about it, is it incorporates the K510 for the top horn and now you are in 2" throat neighborhood.  The size/scale of sound will be a lot bigger than the smaller throated horns.  

Also, it's 2-way which will lose a crossover point for you and raise intelligibility across the system.

 

(disclosure, I do not know what a Forte costs either)

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I have absolutely no clue.  I just know that I walked out into the field (in Hope) and thought the Grande' stack was playing.....  when in fact, it was the 396 system on top mated with the giant subwoofer.

 

Impressive to say the least.  The speaker is highlighted by the trailer on the right side of the picture.  My eyes always get drawn to the nice stack on the left...  but it was the stuff on the right side playing and sounded fantastic, especially so given that it was outside.

 

 

 

396.thumb.jpg.f3aa69e948ba2a91a5e0d5b0a70c63e2.jpg

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22 hours ago, JohnA said:

If you can't swing K-horns, La Scalas or Belles will be your next best choice.  La Scalas use the same drivers and horns as K-horns.  But with either you will need subwooferS to get the bottom octave the K-horn delivers. 

 

Yep! I have two 15" subwoofer specific drivers in a "not the best" cabinet, but it's what I have. 

Biamped, with a Flame Linear (;-) ) amp powering them!

It helps fill in the bottom end for my La Scalas.

John Kuthe...

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2 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:

rplace,

 

How far is your seating position from the plane of the khorns?

 

Shakey

 

13 feet from the screen to the seats. So about 11' from the khorns depending on where on the khorns you are talking. My entire goal with the room was to get a real cinema feel. You sit pretty close to the 96 inch constant height screen so it fills your entire field of vision. To me it feels very much like sitting dead center in a theater about 1/3 of the way back. I spent a lot of time planning for the restrictions of my space to strike the balance for projector placement, screen size, aspect ratio, wall paint, treatments, etc. The really strange thing is that Khorns were not part of the plan. Originally it was Chorus L/R Forte II Center and 3 academies for surrounds.

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13 minutes ago, Westcoastdrums said:

Anyone heard or own the KI 396 and using them for home duties?  Impressions? 

 

Yeah several of my guys.  I use one as a center channel with Jubilees.  Very nice and probably the tightest bass I've heard on a direct radiating speaker.  They like to be cranked though.  Not super detailed comparatively at low volume.  Just don't have a lot of high end sparkle at low volume is the biggest thing, they sound dull compared to other towers.  Crank them and it's a different story, very low ear fatigue, super tight stop on a dime bass.  Roy did a great job voicing them, the drivers blend together better than some of the other pro models like the 904, they just sound like one speaker even at close listening distances.  

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On 8/8/2018 at 9:52 PM, elee532 said:

I think I was about 18 years-old when I visited an audio dealer in upstate New York and heard Dark Side of the Moon on a pair of Klipschorn speakers. I was awestruck, and have lusted after a pair ever since. It's now 30+ years later, and Klipschorns still are not anywhere in my future. :-)

 

But, I'm wondering if maybe something like the Heresy or the Forte might fulfill this lifelong lust. Here's my current situation...

 

I've got a 5.2 system with two Salk SongTower speakers, a Salk SongCenter, B&W 686 for surrounds, and two sealed Rythmik subs. I've got a Denon AVR 3400H receiver acting as a pre-pro powered by an Emotiva XPA5 amp. My system is used about 75% for music and 25% for movies. My music listening is primarily 5.1 (SACD, DVD-A, Blu-ray concerts) - mostly rock/pop.

 

I was thinking about something like 3 Heresy III speakers or 2 Forte III's with a Heresy III for the center. I'm open to other options. I'm also open to new or used.

 

Room is roughly 22' x 17'. Primary listening seat is about 13' from the front wall. I have a fair amount of flexibility in how far out I pull the speakers from the front wall. The FL speaker can't be more than about 1' away from the side wall, the FR speaker has no side wall. I'm limited to a speaker depth of about 13" in order for the center channel be behind my projector screen (I might have a few inches of wiggle room here).

 

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any Klipsch Heritage dealers within a 100 miles of me.

 

Any thoughts? Is Klipsch a good option for me? Which Klipsch?

 

Are they a good option for a surround setup, or are they intended for 2.0 setups?

 

Will they integrate well my subs?

 

Does the layout of my room pose any challenges I need to worry about?

 

Thanks much for taking the time to read my long-winded post!!

I know Jim Salk personally, as well as his wife. I have been to his facility many times, since I rented space in the same building. The speakers he builds look great and sound good, but they won't have the dynamics of Klipsch. You can't go wrong with any of the options you presented. Great combo since you will use subs below 60-80 Hz.and you will get similar dynamics and voicing, since the Forte III is basically a big Heresy with a bass passive radiator and a better developed mid horn........all with modern driver technology!!!

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5 hours ago, Westcoastdrums said:

Anyone heard or own the KI 396 and using them for home duties?  Impressions?

Just got a pair of KP-3002's ... believe (yes "a**-u-me" :) ) they have the same woofer and horn.  @Coytee will know :D  Think they are awesome ... just about as good as my Forte I's.

Add-on ... no; horn is slightly smaller ... still awesome sound though :D 

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12 hours ago, ricktate said:

Garyrc….I dont think the new Khorns have enclosed backs as of yet...only the anniversary models. But the brand new ones will at a higher cost not worth it to me.  https://www.klipsch.com/products/klipschorn-floorstanding-speaker   6000 going to 7500 or  8000 each for enclosed. 

 

Oh, sorry.  I stand corrected.

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10 hours ago, rplace said:

 

@elee532 You for sure need a smaller screen and a pair of khorns. Movie night is not movie night without proper sound. That is more than 50% of the equation. Smaller screen and khorns below to give you something to think about.....dog beds for the kids:P

 

RoomLights (Medium).jpg

 

 

Beautiful! 

 

For people who like moderate sized projection screens, this is an elegant solution.  Others want something bigger.  Visualize exactly the same room with an acoustically transparent wall to wall 'scope screen (2.35:1, like yours) that electrically rolls down in front of the Klipschorns for movies, and stays up and out of the way for music, to show off the Klipschorns.   Individual tastes vary regarding screen size, but, IMO, once people get used to a big screen, they won't want to go smaller.  Big screens, especially 'scope shape, are immersive, help suspend disbelief, and increase emotional involvement.  But, I grew up on 70 mm projection and 6 channel stereo, so that has programmed me in that direction.

 

Seymour makes good AT screens, at a lower price than some.  www.seymourav.com/

 

@elee532 please copy, for way in the future.

 

 

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On 8/8/2018 at 9:52 PM, elee532 said:

I think I was about 18 years-old when I visited an audio dealer in upstate New York and heard Dark Side of the Moon on a pair of Klipschorn speakers. I was awestruck, and have lusted after a pair ever since. It's now 30+ years later, and Klipschorns still are not anywhere in my future. 🙂

 

But, I'm wondering if maybe something like the Heresy or the Forte might fulfill this lifelong lust. Here's my current situation...

 

I've got a 5.2 system with two Salk SongTower speakers, a Salk SongCenter, B&W 686 for surrounds, and two sealed Rythmik subs. I've got a Denon AVR 3400H receiver acting as a pre-pro powered by an Emotiva XPA5 amp. My system is used about 75% for music and 25% for movies. My music listening is primarily 5.1 (SACD, DVD-A, Blu-ray concerts) - mostly rock/pop.

 

I was thinking about something like 3 Heresy III speakers or 2 Forte III's with a Heresy III for the center. I'm open to other options. I'm also open to new or used.

 

Room is roughly 22' x 17'. Primary listening seat is about 13' from the front wall. I have a fair amount of flexibility in how far out I pull the speakers from the front wall. The FL speaker can't be more than about 1' away from the side wall, the FR speaker has no side wall. I'm limited to a speaker depth of about 13" in order for the center channel be behind my projector screen (I might have a few inches of wiggle room here).

 

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any Klipsch Heritage dealers within a 100 miles of me.

 

Any thoughts? Is Klipsch a good option for me? Which Klipsch?

 

Are they a good option for a surround setup, or are they intended for 2.0 setups?

 

Will they integrate well my subs?

 

Does the layout of my room pose any challenges I need to worry about?

 

Thanks much for taking the time to read my long-winded post!!

 

elee---I was in a similar situation as you not too long ago.   I first heard K-Horns back when I was 18.  I made up my mind back then that someday I would own a pair.    However, I have never been able to afford them.   I would move onto other things besides audio for a while.  I got back into audio about 10 years ago.  Since then, I have owned KG2's, Forte II's, CF3 version 2's, along with a plethora of non-Klipsch speakers.  BTW, I really like the Salk speakers you own, but they have a different sound from Klipsch.   I had practically given up the dream of owning K-horns because none ever came available locally to me or reasonably priced within a decent road trip.  However, after 35 years of waiting patiently, a pair came available (on this forum) within driving distance and reasonably priced a couple months ago.  What is really crazy is I almost passed on them.   I had built a great system with other speakers and was really content audio wise.   However, the K-Horns were an itch I had to scratch.   I told my buddy who went with me to assist in the pick up and getting them into my house that this was a road I had to go down.  They are different from any speaker I have ever owned.  I am very happy and glad I chased that dream.  Since buying the K-Horns, I have not listened to any of my other speakers. 

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20 hours ago, USNRET said:

Three Cornwall IIIs under a 70"
The throw pillows by speakers are placed to prevent the wife's Romba vacuum contacting Klipsch 
 

Room.jpg

 

 

Very nice room.   I thought I was the only one who put pillows on the floor to protect speakers from the Romba!

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