New Member Introduction

[JohnKuthe]

15 hours ago, LoudTrombone said:

I thought there might be a special section of this forum for new member introductions but a search revealed that the most likely place would be in this section. I'm sure I could lurk here indefinitely gleaning mass quantities of information about Klipsch speakers that I couldn't find anywhere else but I thought I should introduce myself anyway. I've already found quite a lot of information which has helped me figure out how to proceed with some cosmetic repair as well as performance updates to the new/used Heresy I speakers I recently purchased. Attached is a "before" photo of one of these speakers. They'll never be beauty contest winners but I think with some new grill cloth and a bit of cleaning and treatment of the finish they won't look embarrassing. In terms of sound the plan is to update and replace the crossover components too.

 

I'm not a newcomer to Klipsch speakers however. My high school band director in the early 70s introduced us to Klipsch with a pair of corner horns in the band hall. I've been hooked ever since then. He also had taught band in Hope, Arkansas and used to recount stories of working at the plant during the summers and having discussion with Paul Klipsch about music and speaker design. I had always been intrigued by these stories - not all of them about audio necessarily. Both had a great sense of humor. He had a two track reel to reel tape deck (made by Bell) in a custom made wooden carrying box that PWK used to carry with him in his airplane when traveling to do audio demonstrations. He passed that tape deck onto me when I was in college and then sometime later - late 80s or 90s - I made a trip through Hope, stopped at the museum, and donated the machine to the museum. Of particular note about this tape deck was that the "Bell" in Bell Electronics had an extra "e" penciled in to the name making it "Belle". I"m not sure if the museum actually put it on display since I haven't been back since then to find out.

 

The first Klipsch speakers I ever purchased were a set of KG4 that I bought new. It was all I could afford at the time. A few years later and back when I was in a house that had room for bigger speakers I ended up buying a pair of La Scalas (maybe two pair on two different occasions if I remember correctly), selling them, then buying two different pairs of Klipschorns (but not at the same time). The first pair were mismatched from different years and different finishes but the second pair (after I sold those) were matched and wonderful! A series of moves made it impossible to keep them however. After that the KG4s kept me in Klipsch sound until buying these Heresy speakers just a few weeks ago.

 

I've always been intrigued with the design and have a set of technical papers that my former high school band director gave me. One of the things that I believe makes horn loaded speakers, and especially Klipsch because they do it well, so appealing to me is the reduction of intermodulation distortion caused by limiting the amount of diaphragm movement through coupling to a horn. It's strange but I rarely see this mentioned in defense of the design. Efficiency, sensitivity, and controlled directivity is mentioned but the lower distortion, especially from high volume and high level transients, is not talked about so much. I credit that aspect with being one of the reasons that I believe they reproduce brass music (I am a brass player, trombone specifically, as if you couldn't guess from my user name) so well. To me the brass section of orchestras doesn't sound realistic through most other speakers. The brass section my come through loud on other speakers but there's no power behind it.

 

Not only did my band director influence me in my preference for Klipsch speakers, he also contributed to my decision to become a band and orchestra director 40 years ago - and now, after 35+ years of teaching, a professional trombonist. 

 

So, here's my latest project. The little Heresies are just about the perfect size for my small office/practice room. Looking forward to hearing about everyone's interest and experience with their Klipsch speakers and learning more about these great speakers!

 

Ken

 

Welcome LoudTrombone! :-)

GREAT STORY!! Isn't it great being introduced to top of the line audiophile gear as a kid, teen, etc? I WISH I would have heard Klipsch speakers long before I actually did, but I heard OF them! I listened to an Altec Lansing 15" "Voice Of The Theater" driven by a Mcintosh 20W MONO amp as a kid/adolescent, which is pretty good but not Klipsch! 

Once you've heard the best, we never forget it, eh? :-)

Namaste

John Kuthe...

[MyOwn]

@LoudTrombone

 

Welcome...There is a lot of audio knowledge here on Klipsch Forum... 🍺

 

My Brother turned me on to audio. The day he came home from church with their old PA system.

I couldn't tell you who manufactured the tube pre-amp, power-amp or the tower speakers he brought home.

This for him turned into an excellence thing and his and my journey began.

 

[oldtimer]

7 minutes ago, MyOwn said:

audio knowledge

And more.

[MyOwn]

13 minutes ago, MyOwn said:

My Brother turned me on to audio. The day he came home from church with their old PA system.

I couldn't tell you who manufactured the tube pre-amp, power-amp or the tower speakers he brought home.

This for him turned into an excellence thing and his and my journey began.

 

6 minutes ago, oldtimer said:

And more.

 

[oldtimer]

The comment was about the forum.

[BigStewMan]

.

[DizRotus]

Great story.  Thanks for sharing it.  Certainly hope that recorder is on display.

 

As a trombone player, you might be interested in this Chinchilla tale.  Our older son talked us into letting him get a Chinchilla (not recommended by me as a pet).  Max had a large cage with a secluded sleeping area in a small cooler.  Being nocturnal, he was usually in his cooler when visitors wanted to see him.

 

Trombone to the rescue.  For some reason, Max loved trombone music.  Whenever our younger son played his trombone, Max would scamper out of his cooler to stand excitedly as close to the trombone sounds as possible.  Eventually, the mere sound of the case opening triggered a Pavlovian response.  Max would be attentive until the trombone went back in the case.

 

Max was discerning.  It had to be Live; a Bill Watrous recording did nothing for Max. It had to be trombone; our older son’s saxophone did not excite Max.

 

FYI,  it takes 300 chinchillas to make a coat . . .

 

 

. . . it’s because their hands are so small.