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Inherited KDFR Serial # 1B867 & 1B868. Whats Next?


Percussalot

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Got these out of an old family house that about to be sold on the river inn Bandera, TX.  They were moved there in the early 2000s from my Godfathers ranch in LaGrange, TX where he had one on each corner.  I don't know if he got them with the house or bought them himself.  My guess is the later to be honest.  Anyway, I am trying to figure out exactly what i have and look for a new good home for them.  My world these days is my home studio for tracking drums and don't have a proper space for something like these.  So i am just trying to figure out what i have and what my options are.  Here are some pictures which you can tell cosmetically they need some love, functionally they've tested good so far.  I appreciate any guidance or education and hope thsi found the right slot in ya'lls forums.  Thanks in advance.

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@Percussalot,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Nice inheritance.  You have yourself a pair of Klipschorns in raw Douglas fir(KDFR).  Not sure of year built but I know others will chime in to better describe exactly what you possess.  What I also know is that you possess a nice piece of audio history that IMO, is worth restoring and keeping in the family.

 

Bill

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I agree with willand.  Those are special pieces of audio history.  I'm not positive, but I think they're 1961 models.  They look to have Type A crossovers, which are still popular with K-horn fans today, but the capacitors may need to be replaced.  They're not very expensive.

 

Have you listened to your speakers yet?  Do you know that they're designed to fit tightly into the corners of the room?  They're Klipschorns, and all three drivers are horn-loaded.  The tweeters would be located in the fronts of the big squawker (mid-range) horns.

 

Horn-loaded speakers can have very detailed and accurate sound, but horns that can produce very deep bass are extremely large.  Paul Klipsch's genius insight was to use the walls of the room as extensions of the bass horn, so deep bass could be produced by a horn less than 20 feet long.  This is why Klipschorns have their bass horn exits at the sides, and why they need to be located tight into the corners of the room.  Some are notched to allow clearance where the baseboards are located.  A popular way to seal them into the corners is to use pipe insulating foam, which comes already split and can be attached to the sides of the cabinets.

 

Some homes (hopefully not yours) don't have any corners that meet the needs of these speakers, but if you can, move them tightly into the corners and have a listen to them.  They are ultra sensitive/efficient, so they don't need a lot of power to play loud.  Also, when they're properly located in their corners, they don't take up all that much floorspace, surprisingly. 

 

Welcome to the forum, and happy listening!

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The B in the serial numbers means they are from 1963. Welcome to the forum, I hope you clean them up and give them a listen. With the proper equipment, they should sound great. Make sure you hook them up to actual stereo equipment, not surround sound stuff. Those older speakers do not like surround sound receivers.

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Good morning Gentleman,

 

Thanks for all the input, I guess I was a little vague in my post i that I am new to this forum but a longtime Klipsch fan.  My dad and i almost got a family roadtrip detoured to Hope to see the Meccah!!  Ive had a set of Heresey's and LaScalla's we actually used for some live gigs.  My surrounding growing up was all about high end audio and for me that translated into the studio.  So this set of Kornerhorns was part of a Quartet that sound amazing in the giant wood room at my god-fathers ranch, I stuck em in the two good corners in my garage, got the cars out, hooked to my MC2002 and they sound great.  My deal is that I have a home and rehearsal studio where I record and rehearse so I have enough gear to manage and sadly just don't see these getting their due.  I'm into gear and more into gear getting used proper so sometime that means gear moves on to better suited homes.

 

I started putting some feelers around to some friends who have kept up their love for this gear and will ask ya'll these same.  I know these are a specialty item and cosmetically need some love.  How do i go about putting a fair number on these if selling them is the route i go?

 

Thanks again for all the input.

Hans

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On 1/25/2021 at 9:14 PM, Percussalot said:

Got these out of an old family house that about to be sold on the river inn Bandera, TX. 

 

welcome to the forum , these khorns are 1963 or 1964 production --ideally if you can spiff them up cosmetically , they would definitely be worth your while , if you decide to sell them ----GLWS

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12 hours ago, The Dude said:

@wvu80 any insight on value?

 

First of all everybody directly above did a great job of identifying make, model and year of the Khorns, I have nothing more to add.

 

My spreadsheet has a numerical average of $1924 for Khorns with Type A XO's.  The problem is all the data points I have includes all types of condition and the Khorns we are talking about I would put in Condition Avg/Poor which puts them at the lower part of the range.  I show one sale in condition C for $1700.  I have another listed from 2018 in Condition B for $1200.

 

I think I would value those Khorns in as-is condition between $1200 and $1700.  If they were refinished nicely and XO's replaced or updated I would value them towards the numerical average of $1900.

 

FYI the average I have for the next gen Khorns with Type AA XO's 1972-82 is $2200.

 

 

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You could donate them to the Klipsch Museum of Audio History and take the write-off. They are a 501(c)(3)  non-profit and the donation would be tax deductible to the full extent of the law. They can fully restore them to near original, and can indicate they were donated by you/family. 

 

Whether you donate them or not, when you do come to the Mecca you can check out the factory during Pilgrimage, see the Klipsch Museum of Audio History that Paul Klipsch started, and the new Museum Visitor's Center we are working on getting ready.

 

You will meet Chief Engineer Roy Delgado @Chief bonehead who is also a drummer.

 

Welcome to the Forum!

 

 

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