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1950s Klipschorn Restoration.


MikeLaz

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Hi, this is my first post. I'm very much a novice I think, compared to many of you. Irecently bought a belived 50s Khorns at a great price. I want to restore it and need guidance on what you think I should do as far as parts etc. 

 There is no crossover and the orig. owner thinks the woofer and mid driver are blown. I don't see a tweeter anywhere, unless it's in the mid driver?

IMG_20220516_092926.jpg

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Is there only one?

 

SN 193 is so old, I'm unsure of the correct drivers.  The EV EVM-15L woofer, is a good woofer, but may not be the best choice for the bass horn.  It was still in production a few years ago and can be readily reconed, if needed.  The University ID-40 is the midrange, aka Squawker.  I would have thought a University SA-HF would have been original.  I have one I am not going to use; you can have for a nominal sum, if it is the original driver.  Few (none?) of that age had tweeters.  Mr. JRH will clear up the fog, in a bit. 

 

Klipsch often sold upgrade kits for older K-horns that added a tweeter, a newer squawker and revised crossover.  An upgrade to 3-way would be the best for sound, but, #193 has some value of it's own due to its age. 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, JohnA said:

Is there only one?

 

SN 193 is so old, I'm unsure of the correct drivers.  The EV EVM-15L woofer, is a good woofer, but may not be the best choice for the bass horn.  It was still in production a few years ago and can be readily reconed, if needed.  The University ID-40 is the midrange, aka Squawker.  I would have thought a University SA-HF would have been original.  I have one I am not going to use; you can have for a nominal sum, if it is the original driver.  Few (none?) of that age had tweeters.  Mr. JRH will clear up the fog, in a bit. 

 

Klipsch often sold upgrade kits for older K-horns that added a tweeter, a newer squawker and revised crossover.  An upgrade to 3-way would be the best for sound, but, #193 has some value of it's own due to its age. 

 

17 minutes ago, JohnA said:

Yes, there is only one. My understanding is that is because it was pre stereo. The original owner said it was in storage for 30yrs. As for no tweeter, that answers that question for me. It doesn't have a tweeter.  Is it a bad idea to upgrade everything, will it take away from the value? I don't know if you noticed that it doesn't have the crossover anymore, for some reason.

  

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Congrats on your acquistion and good on you for inquiring about restoration.  Glad you saved it.  +1 to all of JohnA's post. 

 

No clue, personally.  Yeah this'll be fun to watch.  We should guess before Jim spills the answer--103 stephens and SAHF seems safe (and later than the WE tops?).  What'd this be, 93 after the first 15 or whatever that was?  So not early-early, just early.  No clue.  Maybe 15wk if they replaced it with an EVM15L.  On the edge of my chair.   

 

Does that say K35D and finish 313F (or A maybe)?  Love it.  Thanks for posting and welcome.  Hang-out for JRH's input before you do anything (except maybe measuring every board you can as it might help Jim). 

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11 hours ago, grindstone said:

Congrats on your acquistion and good on you for inquiring about restoration.  Glad you saved it.  +1 to all of JohnA's post. 

 

No clue, personally.  Yeah this'll be fun to watch.  We should guess before Jim spills the answer--103 stephens and SAHF seems safe (and later than the WE tops?).  What'd this be, 93 after the first 15 or whatever that was?  So not early-early, just early.  No clue.  Maybe 15wk if they replaced it with an EVM15L.  On the edge of my chair.   

 

Does that say K35D and finish 313F (or A maybe)?  Love it.  Thanks for posting and welcome.  Hang-out for JRH's input before you do anything (except maybe measuring every board you can as it might help Jim). 

Thank you, I'm very excited to have it.  I have no idea what you're saying in your second paragraph.  Yes the finish is 313F and K35D.  Sadly top is scratched up. I'm not pulling any triggers yet on what to do, I'm also talking with Michael Crites about options as well. I would much rather keep it all original but he made a good suggestion to possibly upgrade and hang on to all components.

Edited by MikeLaz
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13 hours ago, JohnA said:

Is there only one?

 

SN 193 is so old, I'm unsure of the correct drivers.  The EV EVM-15L woofer, is a good woofer, but may not be the best choice for the bass horn.  It was still in production a few years ago and can be readily reconed, if needed.  The University ID-40 is the midrange, aka Squawker.  I would have thought a University SA-HF would have been original.  I have one I am not going to use; you can have for a nominal sum, if it is the original driver.  Few (none?) of that age had tweeters.  Mr. JRH will clear up the fog, in a bit. 

 

Klipsch often sold upgrade kits for older K-horns that added a tweeter, a newer squawker and revised crossover.  An upgrade to 3-way would be the best for sound, but, #193 has some value of it's own due to its age. 

 

 

Morning John, I must be to new to have the ability to message members.  I may be interested in the squawker. Could you message me what you're asking?

Thanks

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You have hit the jack pot!  #193 was shipped Nov. 15, 1950 to Major Edwin H. Armstrong in NY, NY.  Yes, the inventor of FM radio, and a friend of PWK's.  It had the Stephens 108 HF driver and a Stephens P-15LL woofer.  Congratulations!

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I'm still in shock! My jaw is stuck to the floor. Thank you for that info! What should I do? Do I leave it alone, restore to original or upgrade and hang onto orig. parts? Has this just increased the value do to it's heritage?  Wow wow WOW!

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13 hours ago, MikeLaz said:

I'm still in shock! My jaw is stuck to the floor. Thank you for that info! What should I do? Do I leave it alone, restore to original or upgrade and hang onto orig. parts? Has this just increased the value do to it's heritage?  Wow wow WOW!

You want to keep it original, and the folks here can help you do that. 

 

As far as value, it adds a bit to it, but there are a lot of very, very famous people that have owned Khorns and it seems as that it adds a bit of a premium to the price but it has more to do with selling quicker than a huge price increase. It has tremendous historical value to the Museum so if you ever find yourself out of room temporarily they could take it on loan until that changed. If you wanted to swap it for a more modern one we might be able to round up one to swap. The Museum doesn't have a lot of funds to purchase items, but if you thought you might just want to sell it we could talk some more. As someone previously mentioned, we (The Museum) are a 501(c)(3) non-profit and so you can deduct the full fair market value of the speaker under most circumstances (assuming you itemize). 

 

Regardless of what you do, congratulations on having that and we are looking forward to your progress if you decide to do a restoration. @JRH may be able to add to that. 

 

Travis

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The spacer between the top hat doesn't look original (angle on squawker is off horizontal).  See 54 Khorn pic.

 

Also, if you haven't already checked, they may have added a tweeter (likely University 4401 or early K-77) to the inside of the squawker like later models in the attached K-5-J pic (don't see any wires).

 

Curious if you squawker horn has tiny little wooden vertical "vanes" in the throat visible from the front?  If they do, maybe you could post a pic. 

 

 

K-5-J.jpg

54 khorn  front.jpg

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Just now, hanksjim1 said:

The spacer between the top hat doesn't look original (angle on squawker is off horizontal).  See 54 Khorn pic.

 

Also, if you haven't already checked, they may have added a tweeter (likely University 4401 or early K-77) to the inside of the squawker like later models in the attached K-5-J pic (don't see any wires).

 

Curious if you squawker horn has tiny little wooden vertical "vanes" in the throat visible from the front?  If they do, maybe you could post a pic. 

 

 

K-5-J.jpg

54 khorn  front.jpg

Thank you for your pics. It gives me an idea of what's bee touched. I'm missing a support to the top, horn looks repaired and I don't have a tweeter. I'll post pics when I get home. This pic was from  the person I bought it from. I've removed the grills and cleaned them. They actually look great. Is the Klipsch tag on the front grill correct?

280418993_7419519341454832_4267897055450539060_n.jpg

279640247_5138603026231257_5421789397893925940_n.png

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3 hours ago, Travis In Austin said:

You want to keep it original, and the folks here can help you do that. 

 

As far as value, it adds a bit to it, but there are a lot of very, very famous people that have owned Khorns and it seems as that it adds a bit of a premium to the price but it has more to do with selling quicker than a huge price increase. It has tremendous historical value to the Museum so if you ever find yourself out of room temporarily they could take it on loan until that changed. If you wanted to swap it for a more modern one we might be able to round up one to swap. The Museum doesn't have a lot of funds to purchase items, but if you thought you might just want to sell it we could talk some more. As someone previously mentioned, we (The Museum) are a 501(c)(3) non-profit and so you can deduct the full fair market value of the speaker under most circumstances (assuming you itemize). 

 

Regardless of what you do, congratulations on having that and we are looking forward to your progress if you decide to do a restoration. @JRH may be able to add to that. 

 

Travis

Hi Travis, thank you. Regardless of value I'm beside myself that this has historical significance. Many famous people may own one but prob. not many that had such an impact on the world. I'm torn because this is a dream speaker for me, well a pair was but I found this one and just couldn't resist. It's a frickin Klipschorn man, that alone makes me feel blessed.

 I'm a carpenter by trade and love the challenge and it would give me such great satisfaction to restore it. But now that I know the importance of it, that weight just got heavier. I'm definitely open to discussion with you or if anyone else at the museum. Please feel free to message me if you'd like. Even if to give me guidance on a resto would be amazing.

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24 minutes ago, MikeLaz said:

Hi Travis, thank you. Regardless of value I'm beside myself that this has historical significance. Many famous people may own one but prob. not many that had such an impact on the world. I'm torn because this is a dream speaker for me, well a pair was but I found this one and just couldn't resist. It's a frickin Klipschorn man, that alone makes me feel blessed.

 I'm a carpenter by trade and love the challenge and it would give me such great satisfaction to restore it. But now that I know the importance of it, that weight just got heavier. I'm definitely open to discussion with you or if anyone else at the museum. Please feel free to message me if you'd like. Even if to give me guidance on a resto would be amazing.

We will help you do whatever you decide to do. Just please remember us in your Will (I'm kidding about that). 

 

It is a Klipschorn. The Museum visitor's center just got a pair of 50s era Khorns from a Baptist Church near Hope. People were blown away about how they sounded, and that included Klipsch Engineers who have been their 30+ years. It's going to sound phenomenal. 

 

Keep in mind that PWK offered upgrades, etc. and so to try to determine what, if anything, was added, changed out is going to require Jim Hunter @JRH. We have a man here that built Khorns for Klipsch in the 70s ( @HDBRbuilder ) and he and others have significant experience in refinish, etc. 

 

I will shoot you a PM

 

Travis

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 I'm feeling pretty hesitant about this resto endeavor. To be honest my plan was to just upgrade the drivers and crossover, not knowing the significance. Khorns are a dream speaker especially for a blue collar guy like me. This will take a good deal of time to complete, I think mainly locating correct drivers etc., gathering all proper build info and the possible $$$ cost to do this. I'm thinking I may try to sell to someone that has the time, patience and wallet to do this Khorn justice. 

 Jim has already given me alot of great assistance and I greatly appreciate all that you've done. I'm sure that took some time to gather for you.

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