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Where/how can I buy a pair of Klipschorn speakers and ship them to New Zealand?


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Hi,

 

Kia Ora from New Zealand!

 

I have been aware of this forum for several years but only recently joined. I have been trying to buy a pair of Klipschorn speakers for my home. I have the blessing of my wife! She loves music as much as I do and we have an extremely wide range of music to listen to. The problem is that I can't get remotely close to a new pair of Klipschorns which are an eye watering NZ$36,000.00 here and I have never seen a second hand pair for sale in New Zealand. In fact, to my knowledge, no dealer stocks Klipschorns, they simply order a presold pair from the factory and clip the ticket on the way through. So I have been attempting to buy an older pair of speakers from eBay.

 

As for the Klipschorns themselves, there appears to be quite a range of options to consider. I would prefer them to be plywood so that appears to limit my choice to pre 1980, possibly 1950 - 1980. Also, the best crossover for that range of manufacturing years appears to be the AA crossover. This is all hearsay as I have only ever heard one pair demonstrated in New Zealand by a dealer who didn't understand them and so they were in the middle of the room and away from the back wall...enough said. It wasn't until I heard them demonstrated correctly on youtube that their performance could be appreciated, and I believe they will be even better in real life.

 

In terms of eBay, I have found that most Klipschorns for sale are advertised with local pickup. There is a company here in New Zealand that can ship the speakers from the container port office, USA, to me here in Auckland, New Zealand. But most eBay sellers don't appear to want to ship the speakers to the port office (at my cost) and I don't understand why.

 

Buying remotely is going to be a gamble, but from all the reviews, I believe it will be a reasonably safe bet. So any help/advice/suggestions you can offer, including other sources/websites to buy from that have secure trading will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks very much, David

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Shipping something that large that far and that valuable is going to turn off most sellers.  For most they don't have a problem finding someone more local to buy.

 

It's not about the fact that you're willing to pay the shipping costs, it's the upfront transporting, boxing, crating, customs shipping paperwork, worry that they'll be lost or damaged in transit, etc.

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Davis,

 

Send a message to Cory here:

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/profile/59101-paducah-home-theater/

 

When they shipped my Jubilees, they wrapped the boxes with 3/4" plywood on the pallets then strapped them down then wrapped them in packing shrink wrap.  No damage from KY to MN.  If you can arrange the international portion, I'm sure they can get them to your shipper. 

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On 2/28/2022 at 8:58 PM, Takapunaman said:

Hi,

 

Kia Ora from New Zealand!

 

I have been aware of this forum for several years but only recently joined. I have been trying to buy a pair of Klipschorn speakers for my home. I have the blessing of my wife! She loves music as much as I do and we have an extremely wide range of music to listen to. The problem is that I can't get remotely close to a new pair of Klipschorns which are an eye watering NZ$36,000.00 here and I have never seen a second hand pair for sale in New Zealand. In fact, to my knowledge, no dealer stocks Klipschorns, they simply order a presold pair from the factory and clip the ticket on the way through. So I have been attempting to buy an older pair of speakers from eBay.

 

As for the Klipschorns themselves, there appears to be quite a range of options to consider. I would prefer them to be plywood so that appears to limit my choice to pre 1980, possibly 1950 - 1980. Also, the best crossover for that range of manufacturing years appears to be the AA crossover. This is all hearsay as I have only ever heard one pair demonstrated in New Zealand by a dealer who didn't understand them and so they were in the middle of the room and away from the back wall...enough said. It wasn't until I heard them demonstrated correctly on youtube that their performance could be appreciated, and I believe they will be even better in real life.

 

In terms of eBay, I have found that most Klipschorns for sale are advertised with local pickup. There is a company here in New Zealand that can ship the speakers from the container port office, USA, to me here in Auckland, New Zealand. But most eBay sellers don't appear to want to ship the speakers to the port office (at my cost) and I don't understand why.

 

Buying remotely is going to be a gamble, but from all the reviews, I believe it will be a reasonably safe bet. So any help/advice/suggestions you can offer, including other sources/websites to buy from that have secure trading will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks very much, David

 

 

 

 

there's a Lottery on the klipsch garage sale  , 1 pair of brand new khorns ,,,,,,,,,,,,pickup in Hope Arkansas , USA ,  25$ per ticket , 5 Tickets for 100$  , if you win , you would need someone local to pickup-pack-ship to your location -

 

KLIPSCHORN AK6 CHERRY S/N 001 AND 002, USED IN KLIPSCH HERITAGE BROCHURE - RARE OPPORTUNITY FOR $25.00

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Travis In Austin

By Travis In Austin,
February 22 in Garage Sale

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@Takapunaman 

Kia Ora my NZ brother 

 

You can purchase them “new” from the Australian distributor but you need to enquire about shipping and the exchange rate 

 

However as with my Klipsch La Scala that were originally built by @sootshe 

It could be a better option to build a pair via available plans 

 

 

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If you can use English and not metric, the Speakerlab SK is very close. The important part is the bass cabinet, and this has measurements and photos in it. I have a couple different versions at home, but this one that Gil McD posted a long time ago (and he built).

 

 

SpeakerLab SK Manual.pdf

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Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for all the support and replies. Approximately 15 years ago a pair of Altec Model 19 speakers came up for sale locally. I didn't have the money to buy them but a friend did. He won't part with them and says he is going to be buried in them!

 

Some years later I found the original Altec plans to make the speakers were freely available online. I studied the plans carefully and noticed most Model 19s on YouTube and for sale on eBay are constructed a little differently. So I purchased a complete set of Altec 19 drivers and crossovers from an eBay seller who had modified the cabinets and was not happy with the result (I didn't buy the cabinets).

 

It took me a year to plan the build, source everything and finish them - all except for the covers. A couple of years on and I have finally managed to source all the bits required to construct an original set of matching speaker covers. It has been quite a mission to complete them. The final cost including the cross-over rebuild and the covers will be around US$3,000.00.

 

A friend has a pair of B&W 801 speakers driven by a pair of huge Accuphase amplifiers. When he listened to my home-made Altec 19s driven by my upgraded Chinese 300B PSE amplifier he was simply stunned and left the house in a trance like state.

 

But for the past year or so I have been getting more and more intrigued by the Klipschorns. I spent a lot of time researching and listening to them on YouTube, with both the good and the bad being considered. And have made the decision to buy. I considered building but had not been able to find the original plans or any guidance on building them. Also, I didn't want to go through the agony of building them. However, we are moving neighbourhoods next month and our new-to-us house has a second lounge so we will be needing another set of speakers.

 

A shout out to Marvel - thanks for the plans and guide to building the Klipschorns. I may take that route once we have settled in our new home. I am originally from the UK and can still work with imperial units/convert between the two systems. This would certainly be the more cost effective option. Sorry Full Range, I can't get close to the Australian distributor price of NZ$36,000.00 including shipping and NZ tax (US$24,700.00). I'm working/hoping to be in the US$5-7,000.00 range, plus a contingency if absolutely necessary. Thanks RandyH I might try the Hope, Arkansas lottery, after all, I always live in Hope :) 

 

 

Model 19 speaker cabinet construction.jpg

Model 19 both finished except covers.jpg

Model 19 finished except covers.jpg

Model 19 speaker cabinet construction 2.jpg

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How about a pair of LaScala's ?...easier to build, more flexibility in room placement and some have said more phase coherent than the Khorns...add a good horn loaded sub and you have better bass than either the Khorns or your Model 19s

 

Just a thought.

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Kudos on the Altec 19s, they look superb. I heard a pair in the mid '70s, but they weren't positioned well and were played far to loud.

 

Touring in the early '70s, played at a coffeehouse with a similar model in the pro line that sounded spectacular.

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Building a set of speakers can offer you a chance to overcome any shortfalls 

Thats how my La Scala were constructed, and all known issues were corrected 

 

Now I have similar experiences with visitors as yourself - they walk away in awe 

And I agree - Kudos on the Altec 19s


This is an old photo and some components have been moved on and replaced by others 

 

post-112724-0-06186200-1397345589.jpg

 


Soon after I embarked on a mammoth crossover build 

 

582fc14d5d425_IMG_2675(Medium).JPG.97d5f

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14 hours ago, hanksjim1 said:

How about a pair of LaScala's ?...easier to build, more flexibility in room placement and some have said more phase coherent than the Khorns...add a good horn loaded sub and you have better bass than either the Khorns or your Model 19s

 

Just a thought.

 

I second that thought.  The La Scala build is much simpler than that of the Khorn, and no, you don’t need a horn-loaded subwoofer.  A regular direct-firing sub will do fine, although since I upgraded from a single 10” 400-watt Paradigm brand sub to a pair of 10” 850-watt subs by the same company, the system went from sounding pretty good to sounding amazing.

 

Also, you can buy replica type A or AA crossovers from Crites, which beats trying to invent your own.

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On 3/5/2022 at 8:32 AM, Islander said:
On 3/4/2022 at 6:21 PM, hanksjim1 said:

How about a pair of LaScala's ?...easier to build, more flexibility in room placement and some have said more phase coherent than the Khorns...add a good horn loaded sub and you have better bass than either the Khorns or your Model 19s

 

Just a thought.

 

I second that thought.  The La Scala build is much simpler than that of the Khorn, and no, you don’t need a horn-loaded subwoofer.  A regular direct-firing sub will do fine, although since I upgraded from a single 10” 400-watt Paradigm brand sub to a pair of 10” 850-watt subs by the same company, the system went from sounding pretty good to sounding amazing.

You could also build a pair of the Paavey FH-1 cabinets. They have the advantage of NOT having the two side channels with parallel walls. The attached drawing if from a French website. This IS in metric.

 

peavey FH-1 plan drawing 3 April 2012.pdf

etape1.JPG

etape2.JPG

etape3.JPG

etape4.JPG

etape5.JPG

etape6.JPG

etape7.JPG

etape8.JPG

etape9.JPG

etape10.JPG

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Normally turned over with the hatch on the bottom. If you don't go for the double wall construction, they are an easier build than the LS. A K33 of Eminence 15C will work just fine in them. There are a few folks on here who have used the originals.

 

FH-1.pdf

 

The drawings in metric work out to 31.25 inches. The Peavey is 30 5/8". Just don't use the Peavey woofer. 😉

 

FH1 History.txt

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David,

G'day from the South Coast of Oztraya.


I've often thought about how I would get a pair of K-Horns and it would be either DIY or buy second hand from the US which would mean line up a freight forwarder, scan the for sale ads and take a punt.

 

Now DIY, there are 3 decisions to a DIY Klipsch heritage speaker, Bass Bin, Top Hat and the crossover.

 

Bass Bin - K-Horn gives you lower bass but far more difficult to build than a La Scala. Unless you are an accomplished chippy you would need a cabinet maker to build it for you. Either way I would get a pair of CW126 woofers from Crites Speakers.

 

Top Hat - Get an Eliptrac kit and build it, so much better than the K401. Decision is what compression driver you put on it. I went with B&C DCX464 co-ax, lots of choices and opinions out there. Fullrange has an Eliptrac with a co-ax on his La Scalas.

 

Crossover. It's 2022, not 1948. Big coils, capacitors and space heater amplifiers have been replaced by menu driven Digital Signal Processors (DSP) and physically small highly efficient amplifiers with performance that could only be dreamed about twenty years ago. Ask Fullrange how much he paid for those giant copper coils and the silver caps. I built ALK ES passive crossovers for my K-Horns and they cost me a lot more than the miniDSP and class D amps I run now.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/6/2022 at 2:32 AM, Islander said:

 

I second that thought.  The La Scala build is much simpler than that of the Khorn, and no, you don’t need a horn-loaded subwoofer.  A regular direct-firing sub will do fine, although since I upgraded from a single 10” 400-watt Paradigm brand sub to a pair of 10” 850-watt subs by the same company, the system went from sounding pretty good to sounding amazing.

 

Also, you can buy replica type A or AA crossovers from Crites, which beats trying to invent your own.

Hi, I have just scored a pair of La Scalas! From Miami, Florida. So an easy trip to the container port which the guy is willing to do. Awesome advice from you guys. I will want to upgrade the crossover from the current version (AL) so will be going for the Crites A crossover unless anyone has a better suggestion that isn't going to cost much more as I will be broke by the time they arrive. One strange thing that I wasn't expecting is that I had to pay sales tax in the USA. When they get to NZ the government here will calculate the total cost I paid including shipping/tax etc, and then tax me 15% on the lot! So I will be paying 15% tax on the US tax of 7%!

 

Thanks 

 

David

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it's quite odd , you're not a local resident in Florida , the goods are shipping directly out of State and abroad , why would you have to pay sales tax in Florida -something about this purchase is kicking in a local sales tax , but in theory , you're exempt .

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