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KP-301 Mixed Set - Opinions


Outrider 6

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I’m a big Chorus fan and a set of KP-301s is available to me from the original owner. One is an original-301 and the other is a version II.

 

There’s another nice -301 thread here talking about experiences with a mixed set of -301s

 

Normally I’d avoid the asymmetry, but the price is enticing and the differences seem inconsequential. I’m willing to mod these if that makes sense. So before I go down this road...

 

Did I miss something here?
 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and consideration.

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Thanks for the reply, billybob.  I followed your advice and continued looking around.  Information on the CP-301s is spread across this site.  The Klipsch Pro area seems to have more CP-301 content than this Two Channel area.  It seems to me that the CP-301 really has a home in both applications, though.  
 

With the guts of a Chorus I, CP-301s are going to sound great in a lot of applications.  The durable industrial finish may not be welcome in every room of a traditional house, but it has a place where people aren’t so likely to be using coasters.

 

I should be able to check the 301s out later today.

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11 minutes ago, Outrider 6 said:

Thanks for the reply, billybob.  I followed your advice and continued looking around.  Information on the CP-301s is spread across this site.  The Klipsch Pro area seems to have more CP-301 content than this Two Channel area.  It seems to me that the CP-301 really has a home in both applications, though.  
 

With the guts of a Chorus I, CP-301s are going to sound great in a lot of applications.  The durable industrial finish may not be welcome in every room of a traditional house, but it has a place where people aren’t so likely to be using coasters.

 

I should be able to check the 301s out later today.

If they are priced right it's almost a no-brainer 😀

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23 hours ago, Outrider 6 said:

I’m a big Chorus fan and a set of KP-301s is available to me from the original owner. One is an original-301 and the other is a version II.

 

The speakers have different midrange horns and drivers so not sure how they would sound together as a pair? I've never had the original 301's but have a custom set of 301-II's that I really like. The original 301's have all the same parts as the original Chorus in the same size cabinet, just the crossover is different.

 

If the price is right I'd say go for it, parts alone are going to be worth around $500 plus its always nice to have extra k-48's laying around.

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I believe the KP-301 has an even gnarlier version of the K-48 (K-48-K vs. K-48-E) in it than that found in the Chorus 1 and 2.

 

If you can get the mixed bag for a decent price it would probably be worth it for the woofers alone.

 

I have KP-301s and Chorus 2s and will eventually get around to swapping the woofers out to check the sonic differences. But my money is on the K-48-K.

 

Here’s the woofer in the 301s

 

 

 

 

B0A60141-7859-41F9-97D2-608E0BB2EB12.jpeg

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So I made the drive, listened to the speakers, liked them, and brought them home.

 

The seller was the original owner.  He was a DJ back in the day.  The speakers had been stored for 25 years or so.  He refinished the cabinets about a month ago.  Did a great job.  The drivers all worked fine.

 

Appreciate all the advice.  I’ll need to hear (and research) whether the mismatch matters and, if so, what to do about it.

 

Thus, the journey begins.

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10 hours ago, Outrider 6 said:

So I made the drive, listened to the speakers, liked them, and brought them home.

 

 I’ll need to hear (and research) whether the mismatch matters and, if so, what to do about it.

 

Thus, the journey begins.

Congrats on the find! I was thinking about this situation and I think the closest way to get them to match without altering the cabinets is to swap out the mid driver in the 301-II's for a standard k-61 as found in the Chorus II, it uses the same driver (magnet and diaphragm) as in the Chorus 1 and original 301 respectively. Then you'd have to change the crossovers so that they match-- I'd probably go with a pair of Chorus II crossovers myself or you could simply change the 301-II crossover to match the one in your original 301. Hope this helps good luck!

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Worst case scenario is use one for center channel. I have sold orphans that way. I have had a fair number of sets and the older version with the cloth grilles is the very best for my taste. I found the later versions harsher and not as musical.

 

  The 301 crossover allows for 200 watt output vs 100 watt for stock Chorus crossovers. The single best Chorus/301 I have ever heard was an early 301set. They were not for sale when some musicians from Nashville came down to look at gear. They wanted to know "what was that pointing" at the 301. I told them "not for sale is what they are". "OK can we hear them anyway?" So I hook them up and they grin. "How loud will they go?" "I don't know but they are rated 200 watts." I had them hooked up to a Crown XLI800 with 200 watts per channel and figure OK if I blow them I can fix them and lets just see what they do. Wide open at 200 watts and they started counting out 100's until I gave in. One of the few sets I really regret selling and I have been through a ton of them.

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I appreciate the stream of contributions...  This is a great community.

 

Dave A’s orphan idea got me thinking as well as the center stage observation.  I’ve been fascinated by the three channel stereo idea ever since I found out PWK was a proponent. Three-channel based on CP-301s sounds like magic.  Now on the radar... find a single CP-301 that’s not a IIA.

 

The other idea is to rebuild what I have into sonically identical twins.  If I go that way, I’ll have to sort out which variant gets to be the pattern.  I appreciate the flow of ideas on this line of effort, too.

 

In the meantime, if these do their duty in the garage or at our neighborhood post-COVID party (a guy can hope), sonic matching is less of a concern than “will I damage my amp?”  I have the ability to drive these to 11, but that’s not in the cards as a sensible precaution.  I doubt I would go past 5 in my environment.

 

FWIW, the original -301 is mid eighties and the -II is ‘90 or ‘91.

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7 hours ago, Outrider 6 said:

Photos from the ad.

 

I plan to use an NAD 218 amp.

 

  Reveal hidden contents
  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

 

01515_jL6WguGpcwqz_0lM0t2_600x450.jpg

 

 

Those look like identical speakers to me my guess is you have a pair of original 301's with possibly a replaced terminal cup? I'd pull the grill covers and confirm whether or not they are the same speaker or not next step would be to inspect the crossovers make sure they are the same. 

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I looked at both with the grills off before I bought them.  The woofers are definitely different.  Not sure about the squawkers. It would not surprise me if the -II had Tractrix.  If I was thinking clearly, I’d have taken photos then.  
 

The seller bought both units new.  He originally had two -301s, but one of the original two was damaged. When he replaced the damaged speaker, the -II was what’s available.  The Woofer on the - II has a nicely printed Klipsch logo where as the - 301’s woofer cone is plain.

 

I will probably need an audio test disc to sort out differences in sound.  With normal music having stereo separation, it wasn’t clear if they did sound different.

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30 minutes ago, Pondoro said:

If you sit down and listen to them and it sounds good I would not worry about "do they match?" 


My major concern would be an unbalanced load doing some sort of damage to the amp...I think that concern is overblown, but I hardly want to be wrong on that point.


My gut feel is to enjoy them as they are.  Glad you feel the same.

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