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World's Oldest Klipschorn?? Serial #14


lowthers

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DAVID DICKS... That Jensen P15 LL is not original to THAT horn. The Stephens P52-LX treated with DIBUTYLPHALATE (DBP) to control & lower compliance. Later Stephens made P52-LX-2 where outer surround met compliance without treatment. The Smith multi septa H F horn is not a KLIPSCH product. Alot of those were made buy owners or Smith. That Smith type horn is still popular today JBL 2397 & Westlake are still around. Westlake units are still in production. In looking closer at photo Of Jensen P 15LL I dont believe slotted screws originally were used. (especially without washers). Alot of early Klipsch unit were Dressed with an outer cabinet by other cabinet makers (WAF).

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I vaguely recall seeing an early Klipschorn with those cabinet doors on ebay a while ago. Maybe somebody in the aftermarket line was doing that to make them a little more "living room friendly." (Of course, it could have been this same speaker, too...)

"Inspected by LSM" would most likely be Lloyd S. McClellan, Klipsch's first (and for a while only) employee.

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Looking at the crossovers, they appear to be 4th order. Two caps (in operation) and two inductors on either side. The bigger caps have smaller ones across them to increase their effective value.

It may be that that the similar sized componts do indeed have the same values. In making up a 2nd order high pass and low pass, and with equal driver impedance, you wind up with the same topology and values, only the positions are switched around. It probably works out the same for a 4th order. But this is the first example I've seen. (Not that means anything.)

Given the square end blocks on the smaller inductors, I'd guess they're home made. That the larger caps and the supplemental caps are different, the crossover as whole may have been home made from parts on hand, or modified later. Again a guess.

Congrats.

I'll bet they sound very good considering that they're early ones.

Best,

Gil

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On 10/29/2003 10:10:10 AM artto wrote:

The first 12 production Khorns were made by Baldwin Piano Company under contract. The next 7 were produced in a cabinet shop.*

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Serial #14, eh? Well, those do kinda look like a they were made by a cabinet company.

Pretty nice looking speaker though! Very good condition even without considering the age.

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  • Klipsch Employees
Captn Bob is correct. #14 is the first of 7 built after #2-13 were built by Baldwin. After #20, PWK bought the first factory and went to production with #121 so he would "look like he was a bigger company". #14 surfaced a couple of years ago on e-bay, and had some odd high frequency horn that was definitely not original equipment. Since there is no known record of K-horns before #121, its not possible to say whether #14 was shipped as a woofer only, but the horn it was wearing on e-bay would have made Paul puke. As a woofer cabinet (haven't seen the driver), it is among the rarest in origin. If the Klipsch museum did not already have #18 and #20 in complete working condition, this would be a likely addition.
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TREY CANNON....Paul Klipsch saw a Smith multi septa horn at George Ashworth,s home on the 16th of May 1953. On the 28 of May, Paul Klipsch sent Ashworth a letter thanking George for his hospitality and hoped to get together againin the not-too distant future" (He did not puke) Paul liked his K-5 & George liked his Smith design. No arguments. Just mutual respect.

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Theres a few things that bother me about this particular Klipschorn.

Whats with the mid radial horn? Kinda looks like a later JBL homemade type. And the label which looks like it was printed on paper bag material & cut out & pasted on the cabinet. Notice there is no PWK signature, just some scratchy PWK initials. As Gil pointed out, the crossover doesnt seem to match with an original. I think this might be a home-made version with some added doop material. I think you need more verification, possibly from Klipsch. Im skeptical for now.

EDIT: ok, I see Trey has already elaborated.

2.gif

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artto ..That label on speaker board refering to speaker cone treatment IS authentic. Thats what caught my eye. Ive seen several of these old paper lables turn dark tan. Must have been the acid in making the paper. If you read the label it refers to the Stephens & not to the Jensen now in the bass bin.

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I rember seeing a early khorn on ebay that was won by som one from Klipsch.

This was a few years ago but I rember the serial No was 14???

Did klipsch win a early khorn on ebay a few years ago??

the tag looks real to me as i have seen a few pual klipsch signed speakers all had the backward p JUST LIKE IN THE 47 TAG.

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