How Old Were You When The Klipsch Horns Got Your Ear?

[JJJeffries]

Hello Fellow Posters:

I was 21 and in the U.S. Navy. I had to catch a train out of Grand Central Terminal in New York City and found I had 45 minutes till New Haven train "The Merchants Limited left for South Station in Boston.

I saw a crowd of people around a display and went over and found a nice man talking about horn loudspeakers. That man was Paul Klipsch.

He gave me some literature and said hello mate. In that first brief meeting I knew I was hooked. What a sound. As I remember, he had Les Elgart playing and the sound was clean...clear and precise. I will never forget that afternoon in that huge train station.

The afternoon I met Paul Klipsch!

Best,

Craig

Broadcast standard equipment. Too numerous to mention!

[Professor.Ham.Slap]

~10 years old... It was only about then that I even began to "care" about how things sounded... I just listened to everything through the cornwalls that my dad had and pretty much got hooked as time went on. Luckily (so to speak) WAF kicked in for dad so he gave them to me . I'm the only person in my dorm that can rock the entire hall

[Doc Robin]

15 yrs old in 1975. 4 Black heresy's in a little shack out in the back yard, The room was painted Black, wood burning stove in the middle and a few easy chairs to relax in. Now what was that smell. Saw the guy a couple of months ago; 1st time in 15 yrs and yes he still has the Heresy's because i asked him if he did.

The Legend Lives On. Bill

[v3spitfire]

20 years old in college. Had blown infinity EMIT tweeter for the 5th time. Went to Classic Stereo in Indy, they showed me these squat little speakers (Heresy IIs). I said "not interested". They asked me what I wanted to hear, I gave them a CD. They played. I said "I'll take them". On a budget, I added "unfinished please!"

[Colin]

Teens, heard them vibrate with cellos at Ralph Karstens (Atma-sphere OTL amplifiers) with tubes and this thick lamp cord for loudspeaker wire

[jhawk92]

Craig-

This is similar to the Heritage Owner's Poll that HDBRBuilder posted over in the Updating Older Speakers forum, so there's lots of great stories over there.

I took your post to mean when did the actual Klipschorn "get" my ear. For me, it was 1987, 18 yrs old. My parents were looking at new stereo equipment and we all got to hear the Klipschorn. Wow! They ended up with Fortes, but it started us all on a Klipsch love affair. For me, it was HT first, built over several years into the system I have now.

But I always remembered the Klipschorn sound. I was reintroduced to them about 2 years ago and landed my pair of '68s last year. Love 'em, won't ever part with 'em.

[justin_tx_16]

apparently as an infant, but I got my first Klipsch when I was like 14-15.

[D-MAN]

1974, 17 years old. A high school buddy played "Takin it to the Streets" Doobie Bros. album. Literally flapped my pant legs... and that's the absolute truth!

To this day - THE MOST AWESOME speaker demo that I ever heard! I'm still chasing that...

DM

[nuclearay]

16 or 17

My best friend in high school got a pair of Chorusesses. It took about 4 nanoseconds to realize that my ears had been missing SO much. Got to keep listening to them in college too!

It took me 15 years before I finally got my Klipsch fix! I should have the rs7s next Tuesday to complete the HT.

[J.4knee]

I was in my teens when I first heard Klipsch Heresys I think. Later, in my early twenties and a young sailor stationed in Japan, I was in the Navy exchange and there in front of me sat a pair of Heresys. I had the rep demo them and then I thought man I need a set of these. My ship got underway for a month and upon our return I went back to the Exchange and low and behold there was a set of La Scalas. I had the rep demo them and bought a set that day, I still have them. My first ownership experience with Klipsch made me a devoted fan for life of the now Heritage line of speakers. I demod the K-horns later but I had no corners for them and I could not have them shiped back to the US then so I never got a set. I had the opportunity to listen to a variety of speakers, Bose, Polk, Infinity, B&W and KEF but nothing has moved me the way the Klipsch did when I first heard them. I am so glad I went into the Exchange that day.

[tankhokie]

(said in shame)

i have never heard a horn or any heritage series...(minus the heresies in my church, but i don't count those)

i have never even heard the rf-7's...

mainly due to a lack of heritage dealers here and also the fact i don't want to hear something that expensive...i like my reference setup w/svs now and do not want to get infected by the khorn-bug.

keep your big horns away from me!!!!

[boomer9911]

I was 16 and a friends Dad had a pair of LaScala's, I was floored immediately and later in life got a chance to buy a new pair of the BIG DADDIES....not a hard decision....

[Rdmarsiii]

I was 15 (and still am) when I heard my first pair of Khorns. Shortly after I bought a pair of Heresys. And Im gonna keep em!

[hwatkins]

1973, 18 years old, in college at Don Goldman's apartment - LaScalas. Don gave me a ride after the last Football team meeting on a dreary, chilly Monday. I had 10 bucks burning a hole in my pocket and he graciously took me to the record store (a place called Mike's - owned by Bill, we never did know why it was called Mike's). I picked up ELP's Brain Salad Surgery and we had enough left for a couple of Sonic burgers. Don wanted to hear the album, so we went to his place, tore the plastic off the album and started in on the burgers. I could not believe my ears. I still can't hear 'Welcome back my Friends...' without remembering that day and how good it made me feel listening to those speakers.

All my stuff sounded like garbage after. Finally got the first Heresy shortly (fuzzy memories on years) and got my (Now claimed by my brother) Klipschorns in 1978. More Heresy in 1980, 1999 and 2001. I may well be hooked...

I am on my third copy of Brain Salad Surgery. Goldman disappeared from my radar screen in 1976. Mike's (Bill's?) is no longer there. I still love Sonic Burger No. 2.

[notneB]

1979, age 18. I was doing landscape work for a client who had them in Little Rock, and I said "what are those?". He floored me with those khorns. Also a friend had some Heresy's later. I had to have some horns.

Benton

[WMcD]

Thanksgiving 1974 was when a buddy took me to a dealer in Ithica. I was impressed beyond recovery.

This does mean that I was the guy dealers dislike. I never bought any Klipsch products from them or any new.

Gil

[DRBILL]

16 Years Old, 1955. Klipschorns in an old residence that Paul was using as a showroom in "downtown" Hope, Arkansas.

I knew I would never be the same. I had to have some. It only took me 48 years!

DR BILL

[jt1stcav]

It was back in '79 on a hot summer day in CT. I was playing in our backyard with my younger brothers and our friends when our dad pulled up into our driveway and opened the doors to his van and revealed the biggest pair of white boxes I've ever seen! He traded in his four BIC Model 44 bookshelf loudspeakers for a pair of raw birch "Decorator" Cornwalls, and it was like Christmas in July when our dad unpacked the largest loudspeakers this 17 year old had ever seen!

Ever since that day I've been hooked on Klipsch, and so were two of our family's friends...upon hearing dad's Cornwalls, one also purchased a new pair of birch Cornwalls; the other purchased no more than two pairs of walnut Klipschorns for his huge music room!

While stationed in Germany with the US Army in '84, I almost purchased a new pair of oak Cornwall IIs at the PX, but I settled on a pair of discontinued JBL L112 Century II monitors instead due to their attractive sale price and to size restrictions while living in a tiny two-man room in the barracks. The JBLs sounded great, but they weren't horns, and I had to wait until 2001 to finally aquire dad's fabulous Cornwalls!

My life is now complete...

[skonopa]

I may have heard Klipsch speakers when I was younger, but never really realized it. I honostly don't even remember if my brother had those KG 4.2 when I was over at his house several years ago.

The first time I actually knowingly heard Klipsch was in 2000 when I bought a set of ProMedia V2.400s for my computer (since I wanted better speakers than the bookshelf system I was using as speakers, plus, at the time, there was really nothing else that appealed to me in the computer speaker market, except the Cambridge Soundworks MicroWorks speakers). In fact, I am listening to those right now as I am typing this.

The first time that I actually heard the "real" Klipsch was when a local dealer finally opened up that carried Reference speakers. I heard the RF-3s and I instantly fell in love. I listened to several other brands and models, but I kept coming to the Klipsch. Once I got some RF-3s in the house, and after reading to much of this forum, I got to really get the joneses to try out the RF-7s. Well, I ended up trading all the '3s for some '7s, and I am audio nirvana.

The first time that I actually got to hear the Khorns was this past summer in Indianopolis. I sure would love to get a pair, but geez - where to put them. As awsome as those sounded, it sure made me appreciate my RF-7s even more, since I thought they held their own quite well, especially when paired to a good amplifier (that trip inpired me to get a much better amp than what my Denon AVR3802 was capable of putting out, after here those '7s with that Aragon gear - very nice indeed, but so is my B&K amp! ).

[jephdood]

I first heard Klipsch in 1992, my freshman year at the University of Washington. I heard a pair of KG 3.2's at the old SILO electronics chain within walking distance of my dorm. Picked 'em up after a short listen and still have them today in my office here at home. One of the best purchases I ever made.

It's also sad that I still have never heard any of the real vintage Klipsch line.. but then maybe I don't want to. My ears would probably instruct my brain to tell my hands to quickly reach into my wallet. And my bank and girlfriend might not like that idea.