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Klipschorn purchase


consistent

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I am thinking about purchasing a pair of new K-Horns. Are there any major differences to the models that were made in the 80's? I had a pair then and the only pronblem I had was that the 3D imagery was not as good as some other speakers. How would 'new users' rate the front to back imagery today?. My other alternative is to find a great pair of used K-Horns. My dilemma new or used??

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Front to back imaging is somewhat hampered because the Klipschorns have to be placed in close proximity to the walls. Most speakers lose some of this ability when placed that way. The upside is what you gain from using the walls as an extension of the baffle. Since most of the wall behind the speaker becomes a launching point for the sound -- the width and height of the image are tremendous, and the sound takes on a more realistic character. If you have good corners, and don't have a wall directly behind your head -- there will be enough depth.

New or used? Hard question. I bought new, and I still sometimes question my decision. It's a lot of money. I suppose the advantage to buying new is that... well...everything is new!! :)

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Thanks Dean,

My room is 4m x 5m with corners but I have designed it to open up the rear doors behind me that open up onto a patio area. That should hanlde the bottom end. I guess I will have to make sure I get a sharp central point, I read that some reviewers have problems with positioning. Any experiences?

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Thanks Gary,

I had a pair of Heresy's for 20 years, a pair of La Scala's for a year and the K-Horns for about a year. Marriage and shifting house changed a few things but now am looking to expand my horizons. I currently have a pair of Mirage OM6'S (the most 3D speaker I have heard in years-great for AV) but lack the realism any Klipsch brings to the stage. Do you know what crossovers are now being used in the K-Horns?

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Hi,

As the room is almost sqaure and the rear doors are behind the short wall, they will be placed in the corners of the short wall. I know that is not ideal and i may need to 'treat' my room as it is a problem rooom. Any suggestions?

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On 4/17/2004 10:16:37 PM consistent wrote:

Thanks Gary,

I had a pair of Heresy's for 20 years, a pair of La Scala's for a year and the K-Horns for about a year. Marriage and shifting house changed a few things but now am looking to expand my horizons. I currently have a pair of Mirage OM6'S (the most 3D speaker I have heard in years-great for AV) but lack the realism any Klipsch brings to the stage. Do you know what crossovers are now being used in the K-Horns?

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New crossovers are the AK-4 which cost $1800 (with matching drivers) if purchased from klipsch to upgrade an older pair.

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The current production models use the new AK-4. I am in the process of determining if the older networks will work with the new drivers.

Gary, the AK-4 upgrade package includes the new drivers. The crossovers are about half that.

download.asp?mode=download&fileID=31214&

post-3205-1381925402088_thumb.jpg

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On 4/17/2004 10:22:17 PM DeanG wrote:

The current production models use the new AK-4. I am in the process of determining if the older networks will work with the new drivers.

Gary, the AK-4 upgrade package includes the new drivers. The crossovers are about half that.

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Yes, that would be correct.

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On 4/17/2004 10:16:37 PM consistent wrote:

Do you know what crossovers are now being used in the K-Horns?

Right now they have AK-4.

I just buy a pair of 1991 K-horns with AK-3 crossovers and after I spoke with Steve Phillips and ask him about the difference AK-3 and AK-4 and about posibility to upgrade to AK-4,I decided to keep AK-3.I understand the main reason for Klipsch to change to AK-4 was ElectroVoice,who does not manufacture anymore driver for Klipsch. So...my sugestion is to find an old pair,built after 1989 with AK-3 crossovers and also with desirable ElectroVoice crossover.

cheers

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I suspect that what Steve told you was that in order to take advantage of what the AK-4 has to offer, you would need to update your drivers, since the crossover and drivers were modeled and voiced together. The drivers you have now were modeled and voiced with the AK-3. The crossover that is "desirable", is the one designed for the drivers you have.

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On 4/17/2004 10:38:52 PM DeanG wrote:

I suspect that what Steve told you was that in order to take advantage of what the AK-4 has to offer, you would need to update your drivers, since the crossover and drivers were modeled and voiced together. The drivers you have now were modeled and voiced with the AK-3. The crossover that is "desirable", is the one designed for the drivers you have.

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Yes ,you are right DeanG,but I did not have a chance to listen to AK-4 and because theyr drivers are pretty new,I decided to wait a bit.ElectroVoice was and still is a great driver manufacture.

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  • 3 years later...

Hi Dean,

It doesn't appear that your AK4 xover looks the same as my AK4 xover.

http://www.geocities.com/lelamjade/Klipschorns/KHorn5.jpg

Mine were probably the 1st pair (in walnut) that came off the line in 2002. They may be the same xover but the components on the board have been rearranged. Also the amount of Monster Cable hookup wire bundled together on mine seems unecessary.

BQ

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Hi Dean,

It doesn't appear that your AK4 xover looks the same as my AK4 xover.

http://www.geocities.com/lelamjade/Klipschorns/KHorn5.jpg

Mine were probably the 1st pair (in walnut) that came off the line in 2002. They may be the same xover but the components on the board have been rearranged. Also the amount of Monster Cable hookup wire bundled together on mine seems unecessary.

BQ

Actually, I might have beat you to it by a whisker, with Serial Nos. 001 and 002. I think. Anyway, Klipsch is supposed to have made running changes in the layout, without changing the circuit design, so that changes are not surprising. I've heard that the xover is now on a printed circuit board, helping drop the price of the AK-4 setup (xover, tweeter and MR driver) to a mere $1,300/pair.
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