Rivervalleymgb Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 This is a great forum! It brings back a lot of memories f the days when I was at the Klipsch factory several days a week durin the "golden era" of the 70's. Sold both my Heresy's and La Scala' cause I need the money way back when. Looking for some now to begin again with a new house. Of course back then we use to "trade" for new speakers. I am looking for cabinets that are tested and inspected by eople I know and partied with back in those days. The sotries some of those cabinets could tell about what went in on at one of the most "hip" places on the globe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Welcome! I think it may be your job to speak for those speakers, eh? We love a good story around here! So, did you work for Klipsch back in the "Good Ol' Days?" Who were some of the folks you hung out with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Robin Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 welcome to the forum. Are you in Little Rock and if so are you going to the foreign car show and swap meet in a couple of weeks? The wife has always wanted an MG and i may take her to the show to see if she can find a new toy to play with. I will have to get the flyer to find the exact date. One of the guys at work has invited us to come and look and see what we can find. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivervalleymgb Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 I never worked at the plant. I had a lot of friends that worked there. I worked for a State Agency and handled a lot of comlaints that the Klipsch plant had about one of the neighbors out at the Hope Industrial Park. I am sure everyone knows the story of how the Klipsch plant came to be in Hope and the Southwest Proving Grounds, etc. Any way, I ended up there often. There would be lots of nights we would indulge then go into the audio demo room and sit for hours listening to music. Of course in those years there was also the "planting" festival and the "harvest" festival, both UNOFFICIAL events held between Old Washington and Ozan on the West Patrol Road. Now, those were some times!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivervalleymgb Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 I am in Claremore, OK now. Just got transferred over here last summer. My last stint in SW Arkansas was from 96-99. I drove past Klipsch everyday. I also lived in Hope from 76-81. I have all my MG's in storage right now until I can buidl my house. My recommendation for any British car is: make sure you want to learn how to work on it yourself, for no one will ever develope the feel of the car like the driver. Be prepared to get frustrated over electrical gremlins, BUT most of all get ready to always be driving with a smile on your face!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 Ahh....the 70's,yep it was a golden era,green era,purple era,pretty much lots of colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 "handled lots of complaints that Klipsch had about one of its neighbors out at the Hope Industrial Park"...that wouldn't have been the fine "eau de chicken guts" from the Hudson Foods place would it??? That pond with all the non-human-edible chicken-cleaning leftovers in it that was occassionally pumped out and shipped off for protein plant processing (for dogfood, etc) would really turn your stomach when the air was moving it toward the plant, OR if the air wasn't moving at all! PHEW!! What was even worse was that the one-mile jogging course went to the Hudson plant gate and back, and that was where we ran right before lunch...on stale air days, you tended to NOT eat anything for lunch after jogging that mile! I would go out to my father's place after work sometimes...after having to endure that smell all day...they would have chicken & dumplings simmering on the stove and I would have to go immediately back outside and catch my breath! It was YEARS before I could be inside a house where chicken & dumplings were simmering!! And, funny thing is...I used to LOVE chicken & dumplings BEFORE I worked there!! Good old British Lucas Electrics!! Lucas...Prince of Darkness! The funniest thing I ever saw was a t-shirt some Brit was wearing at a motorcycle rally. On the front, it had the Union Jack fluttering in the breeze, with "Lucas, Prince of Darkness" scrolled across it. On the back of the shirt it pictured a three-position toggle switch with the three positions labeled: "Dim", "Flicker", and "Off"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Klipsch Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 Lucas is still better than Morelli Magnet I used to have in a 70 Porsche. Dual points that cost 75 a piece. Replaced it with a Bosch, nuf said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivervalleymgb Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 The one and the same. Took over a year to get EPA to get them in court. You know that is why the Brits drink their beer warm, Lucas made the refrigerators! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivervalleymgb Posted April 1, 2004 Author Share Posted April 1, 2004 Actually Lucas is a lot more reliable then their reputation. Most problems end up being caused by ... Wait a minute, in the late 70's I drove a B that would quit for no reason because of a faulty electronic ignition. Quit one day at Markham & University at precisely noon. Caused quite a traffic jam, until my girlfriend and I pushed it into Bennigan's parking lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 I had a '60 Bug Eye Sprite for twenty years. Never had any electrical problems to speak of. The only problem I had was getting in and out when I got into my fourties. 6'3" 250# My left knee just fit into the recess in the door. I couldn't drive my brother in law's Sprite with roll up windows, I couldn't close the door! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Everything I know about cars I learned when I owned my '67 Triumph Spitfire. I could lift the bonnet and tune it up in 15 minutes while sitting on the tire. It was those twin SU carbs that gave me fits. Something went wrong at least once a week but when everything was working and the top was down on a beautiful spring day, there was nothing like it in the world. I'll have to dig up some pics to post. It was a beaut! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Hmmm, in 20 years, am I going to be looking back at how glorious my 1997 Camry was? Nah... Heh, I'll probably still have that car in 20 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Adjusting SU carbs was a piece of cake. Turn down all the bleeds until the engine started to stumble, adjust for a smooth idle, then take a piece of fuel line hose up to your ear and alternately adjust them until the sound in the venturis was even on both or all three on a Jag. Only problem was you had to readjust them every time the weather changed! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Hey, Rivervalleymgb... How about giving us some ideas of what you meant by "trade" for new Klipsch speakers... that's sure to get Andy going... and we all benefit when Andy trips to his Klipsch experience. -HornEd PS: Andy, I have been too otherwise occupied to get back to you but I will soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivervalleymgb Posted April 2, 2004 Author Share Posted April 2, 2004 I think everyone knows. At least those that worked there. When someone was ready to upgrade when the time came and they were allowed to get another set, the old ones did not always get sold. Some of us with green thumbs traded with employees to get our speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurs Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 all this talk makes me want to indulge right now and spend the day on the couch.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Ah, yes, that I understand... but what I was looking for was the nostalgia of what kind of deals could be struck in the trade. Andy has reminisced about some that were hilarious... and I thought you might disclose a "swap my chicken-63-Corvette for your Klipschorn allotment" story or two. -HornEd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted April 4, 2004 Share Posted April 4, 2004 I bought a pair of HWO Heresys in 1978, and left them boxed up for an entire year...until I could sell them off. Then, without even having opened the boxes, I traded them to one of my Scuba Diving instructors for some nice NEW equipment. Just figure this, my cost for those Heresys was around 240 bucks for the pair. The diving instructor had a "clandestine" diving shop in a building behind his house in his redisential area (zoned for residential area ONLY). He insisted that the dollar value come out equal on our trade, so I asked him if he preferred to use the wholesale dollar value for each of our wares or the MSRP value for our swap. Well, without even asking me the difference between my cost and MSRP of the Heresys, and using his ASSUMPTION that he got a better deal on his wholesale prices on diving gear, he said..."wholesale". To make a long story short, I ended up with a complete DACOR Pacer II top of the line regulator (MSRP $165); a brand new 80 cu. ft. aluminum tank (MSRP $195); a Chronosport SeaQuartz 30 dive watch (the preferred dive watch of U.S. Navy SEALS, good down to over 900 ft depth! MSRP $295)); a rechargeable top of the line wet-cell dive light (that you could use to spotlight hunt squirrels in tree tops a mile away! MSRP $89); and a two-rubber speargun, one of the best made at that time (MSRP $ 175)! I also got a few other lower priced goodies in the deal with a combined MSRP of around another $ 125! All told, the MSRP of the equipment I ended up with was just under 1000 bucks, and the MSRP for HWO Heresys was only around 700 bucks a pair at the time. Needless to say ,I felt obliged to tell him that as I closed the door to my pickup truck after loading my new dive gear into it, before departing his home! He looked at me and said..."I got out-horse-traded by you...next time, I will know better!" Then he grinned and said..."But you forgot something, my wife LOVES good music, and we have NEVER had good speakers...so the extra goodies I WILL BE GETTING out of this swap are worth FAR MORE than the profit YOU made on this deal!" Then he winked at me and headed for his patio door, through which I just happened to get a glimpse of his lovely wife standing at the door in a teddy and beckoning to him with a sultry "come hither" look on her face! I am STILL trying to figure out just WHICH of us got the better deal in the end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 I like that story, HDBRbuilder. Conjures up some lovely images. Nice trades, btw!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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