question- "Why Klipsch"

[horn player]

My Klipsch story began in 1977 in high school my geometry teacher was a big audiophile and talked a lot about the physics of speakers. He was into the horn loaded Klipsch speakers. The first set of really great sounding speakers I auditioned contained one 1958 JBL Klipschorn licensed copy and another JBL horn loaded something (Patrician, maybe?) Anyway, that was my first exposure to big speakers! This also was in 1977. My geometry teacher actually started to build a pair of Khorn copies that I ended up buying when he moved across the country. They had Altec 511b mids and atlas horn tweeters and 4 ohm Eminence woofers. They sounded pretty good! I got my first Klipsch speakers in 1982 pair of Walnut Heresys for 300. Loved them, but sold them like an idiot after a couple of years. In 1985, I bought some Cornwalls while at my in-laws and carted them home 600 miles hanging out the trunk of a Monte Carlo. Had them a couple of years, then along came a new house and kid #1, and one income went away, so I had to part with them along my homemade Khorns. I got by on lesser makes and built a big set of bass reflex speakers (6ft3, Eminence 15, 96 oz mags, etc.) trying to capture the Cornwall sound, but didn't quite get there. Still have them and they sound decent. My big break came in 94 when I picked up a single LaScala for 200. I ended up buying the raw components and xover from Klipsch to build a mate, but never did! In 99, while perusing Classifieds 2k during lunch, a pair of Khorns were for sale less than 2 hours away they were in my house that evening! Then a couple of months later, I picked up a pair of Belles locally. Also recently picked up a great Yamaha receiver, Eq, CD, Turn Table and KG4s for a song. I love Klipsch speakers because they sound so real - like a 1986 Audio mag stated - when they recorded a door slamming and played it through a Khorn, it really sounded like a door slamming, whereas the other audiophile speaker made a "thudd" sound. I play brass instruments and when I play a brass recording through the klipschorn - it sounds like someone is playing right there in the room (or singing or strumming, etc.)

Paul Klipsch is my hero God bless him!

[Klipschguy]

Hello Jon,

You can buy a new K33-E woofer from Klipsch for about $100. It should be a direct replacement driver for your sweetly gotten Cornwalls.

By the way, my first experience with Klipsch were 1st with K-horns which blew my mind, even as a kid of 11 or 12. Then later, at about the age of 17, I heard Cornwalls with a good McIntosh set up. The Cornwalls sounded so sweet, I knew I was destined to get a pair. I aquired a pair of Cornwalls about 10 years ago, and I must say I am impressed and smiling everytime I listen to them.

It is so true that other speakers sound good until you hear a properly set up pair of Klipsch.

I had a friend visit me recently that I hadn't seen in a number of years and I had been telling him on the phone that Klipsch made a good speaker. He was rather sold on Polks, however. When he heard my Cornwalls, he sat there with his mouth open, periodically laughing in disbelief. After an extended listening session he said "Man! That's the sound I've been looking for." He had difficulty containing his enthusiasm the rest of the evening.

I must say, I love letting an audio enthusiast listen to a big pair of Klipsch for the first time. Similar experience as above when another friend, who has a huge pair of Magneplaners and tube-hybrid equipment, when he heard the mighty Cornwalls.

Horns just sound better, IMHO.

KG

[boomer9911]

It would be 1978 and I heard a pair of La Scala's at a friends from High School...WOW! It wasn't until 1993 that I ran into Klipsch again, when I was stationed in Germany. Our Canadian Forces Exchange store got a good percentage of it's audio gear through the American PX

in Frankfurt(Adcom,Polk,Klipsch,CVega, etc). Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a set of speakers that brought back fond memories, the Klipsch La Scala. Next to it was a set of Belle's, and next to them was the mighty Khorn. I asked the guy there about them, but he knew nothing. Later that evening I young kid who knew his stuff gave me a test drive...and what a test drive!

In short, that was the very first time that the hair on the back of my neck stood up, "Horn Heaven". I'll never forget that one moment for as long as I live. I thought at the time they were quite expensive (serviceman's salaries suck, in any country)at 4900DM, which in 93 worked out to 2400CDN(our dollar was actually worth something back then, SURPRISE!). Of course I had to get a set of Hersey II's for Pro Logic and it's multitude of sound fields(jazz,rock,theatre) at 400CDN(to broke for the Belle's or Scalz). I had no idea what the MSRP was for these monsters. Now I'm glad I did get them, so thats what real music sounds like .

[frantic frank]

Been so long I'm having trouble recalling. Had to have been about 70' or 71' or so. Heard a friends' cousins'rig, a pair of unfinished Cornwalls pumped by a pair of black Nakamichis, EQ'd w/r.t.a. equiptment, input from a B&O table.

OH MY!

Wasn't untill 81' I bought a pair of new, oiled oak Corwalls, new Denon pma-770 inter-amp, table & tuner.

Got a new mutt at the same time. Thought I had the thing house broke but, a noticable odor permiated the place and one evening I saw the son of a bitc hoist his leg on the back of one of the speakers. Well I didn't shoot him but he did get THE BIG RIDE !

Sold the cornwalls. Hope that buyer never noticed.

Bought new Heresys' Loved em, but missed the big sound of the Cornwalls. Sold the Heresy's to a good friend.

Ordered a new pair of Factory finished, Walnut Lascalas and never looked back! Started shopping for the ultimate sounding electronics a couple years back. Got tired of having to use EQ,s / expanders / compressors /numerous inter cons. stuff, stuff and more stuff.

Traveled far and listened to some pricey stuff ( Mc,Classe,Lynn,Cary) Stopped in to our local audio lab and heard a good piece of demo gear, an Anthem rig. Ordered bottom of the line Anthem, Couldn't kill it, disected to evaluate the build hipe and was pleased with the quality.

Ordered the top of the Sonic Frotiers line, traded the Anthem rig against it.Gave the Denon away.

Will prabably never change the rig again and definently never use a tuner! Mainsteam Radio is a tragedy.

Shure don't miss that dog

Love the KT88,s

------------------

sonic frontiers; line 3se, power 2se.

monster 2500 pwr. cntr.

marantz sa-1

wire world equinox 3 intr. cons.

kimber 8TC spkr. cons.

lascala's

sonus stands (2).

mothballed;every thing else!

[Jim Cornell]

Klipsch

When i was younger like 14, i thought that Klipsch was a german speaker!!

Also, back in the 70s, when i spoke of Klipsch it was like power, kinda like a Lamboghini countach!!

I had a couple of horns and tweeters from a pair of la scalas, and 2 crossovers, didnt know what to do with them with no woofer, so i traded them for a motorcycle!!

I first saw a set of Klipsch for the first time in 1989, after hearing so much about them, and never seeing them, i thought the were just for comercial, after seeing a set of kg4s, in a freinds house, i went nuts!!

Now i knew they were out there, for public purchase!!

Anyway, after hearing about klipsch, for so many years, i finally achieved 2 pair of cornwalls!!

Now i have the power, the lamborghini, right here in my house!!

I bought 3 pair, and many more new scince 1989, but was the happiest with the cornwall 1s, these are one incredible set of speakers!!

I took me 10 years to get the kg4s, after the cornwalls, i had to let them go, i gave them to a freind, so now he has 2 pair of kg4s!!

I couldnt hear them!!

Ive never been this happy, with any other speaker!!

These will last the rest of my life, and my kids will enjoy them from there!!

YEP, back in the 70s, if you said Klipsch, everyone went quiet, im sure the rest of you seen that!!

Lets all ejoy these marvelous speakers, each set, is its own jewel!

Regards Jim

[wvu80]

Somebody bumped a FOURTEEN year-old general topic that didn't even get any interest 14 years ago? 

[Ceptorman]

It's funny when people respond to an old thread without noticing the date

[Karsoncookie]

How does the initializing date necessarily have ANY connection to a "timeless"  question??

 

Its not about a Clist ad that will be gone tomorrow.

 

The OPO date may or not have been noticed. Is there a law about not responding/ resurrecting old posts?

 

They may have March 2015 value. As I feel this unquestionably does.

 

The comments in this thread were, are, and will continue to be relevant for some years to come.   Lars

[Fjd]

How does the initializing date necessarily have ANY connection to a "timeless" question??

 

The comments in this thread were, are, and will continue to be relevant for some years to come. Lars

 

 

Somebody bumped a FOURTEEN year-old general topic that didn't even get any interest 14 years ago? 

 

 

[question- "Why Klipsch"] you find too old and too general of a topic to discuss, not interesting, not important or not relevant?          

 

I have to agree with Lars on this one.

 

This is only one thread of many addressing the same topic of 'why Klipsch' through the forum ages.  Have you no respect for "heritage"?

 

What better opportunity to experiencing hi-fidelity by standing on the shoulders of the giant that created the Klipschorn?

 

Why don’t you just say that today is the day that the music died?  The impact would be the same.

 

I have never seen such lack of respect, desecration, irreverence, sacrilege, wickedness and downright blasphemy of the great Klipsch heritage. 

 

What are we going to do with you?

 

Maybe we should send you into a room with perfect corners for Klipschorns; however, the room will be full of Bose speakers and you will stay there for 14 days and 14 nights listening to a stead dose of Justin Bieber?

 

Maybe we should banish you to the Polk forum for six months?

 

Have you even read the “Eight Cardinal Points” that started all this and remains the "state of the art" well over a half-century later?

 

Maybe we should have you study the Paul W Klipsch paper titled “Eight Cardinal Points in Loudspeakers for Sound Reproduction" published in 1961? 

 

https://community.klipsch.com/forums/storage/3/442564/Eight%20Cardinal%20Points%20by%20PWK4.pdf

 

After you are done studying then maybe we should have you write out the Eight Cardinal Points one thousand times and mail each copy to a different person?

 

Here is another “to do” item.  Please tell us your opinion of the best loudspeaker for orchestra and opera?  For any serious listener of this type of music, the response received was pretty much an overwhelming "Klipschorn!" response.  

 

Yes, around here we often just take it for granted, but there is a sound scientific reason for this.  Nobody yet has been able to improve Paul W Klipsch's design for optimum everything, including cost, in a truly accurate speaker.

 

Here is your challenge; you are tasked now to show us a loudspeaker other than Klipsch that anyone of us can purchase that can produce an accurate sound, at less power, with more bass, and at the same size or smaller.

 

We're waiting.......

 

 

Disclaimer: As used in this post, terms such as "lack of respect, desecration, irreverence, sacrilege, wickedness, downright blasphemy, Bose, Polk" and other terms were not used or meant to be taken in any disparaging way by any forum member or by anyone reading these threads (specifically wvu80) and/or lurking. As always, please note that the information presented by this author is meant for fun, sometimes thought-provoking, and is not intended as insult or otherwise!!!

[garyrc]

I haunted stereo stores when I was in high school, and never found a sound system that came even close to the 70mm/6 channel magnetic sound at a few great movie theaters in my area.  Then, in college, a new friend said I should hear the sound at Berkeley Custom Electronics, because it was so balanced and "free floating."  I did -- they had a pair of Klipschorns, Marantz electronics, and Ortofon/SME/Thorens front end.  That sold me.  Later I found a similar set-up at Pro-Audio in Oakland.  Both stores were owned and at least partly staffed by engineers.  An employee at Berkeley Custom was John Curl, later a designer at Parasound.  I now have 9 Klipsch speakers.  The Khorns are amazing.

Edited March 19, 2015 by garyrc

[cradeldorf]

Because they came along.

[twistedcrankcammer]

My dad was always big into audio when I was growing up. Nothing really high end, mind you, strictly mid-fi but as a result, there was always extra gear laying around. He never had any Klipsch in the house but I can remember him speaking fondly of K-horns on many occasions. Alas, poor dad, with 3 kids and a stay-at-home wife, the horns were just not in his future. He settled for a pair of Pioneer hpm-100's, which were pretty nice since they were built before the fall and subsequent rebirth of Pioneer as a serious audio manufacturer.

Anyway, when I moved out of the house, dad let me take whatever extra stuff he had lying around to put together a system. I didn't have anything fancy but it was adequate, and free. A year or so later, he called me one day and told me that a place called Home Entertainment was clearing out their inventory of Heresy II's and that he thought we should go over and take a listen. I'd never heard horn speakers of any kind and at the time, I was in a fluster over Bose 901's, thinking they were the ultimate in home audio bliss(but I'd never heard those either...marketing genius). Lo' and behold we walk into the store and there are a pair of 901's sitting on the floor. Needless to say, I totally forget about the Heresy's and start making a fool out of myself fawning all over the 901's. While this is going on, my dad has quietly told the saleman that we were interested in the Heresy's since, with the discounted price, they were in my price range. The salesman, indicated that there were none on the floor and that he would have to pull some out of the boxes so we could hear them. He also, off-handedly said something to me along the lines of "Ya like those 901's, huh?". "Of course!" I gushed, "these are what I would REALLY like to have!". What he said next still sticks in my mind as something notable. "Well, they're a trade in, and I could put you in in those 901's for about the same price as what the Heresy's are selling for, but, if you're serious about good sound, let me unbox a pair of Heresy's and you listen to them, you may not want what you think you want, after that."

Frankly, he could have sold me the 901's right there with no further hassle. Instead he vanishes into the back for 10 minutes and then comes out with a pair of HII's, still packed in their boxes. He spends another 20-30 minutes unpacking them, getting them hooked up and properly positioned, plunks me down into the sweet spot and runs 3 or four CD's through them. After he finished I looked over at the 901's and quietly asked "do those sound ANYTHING like these?". "Not even close" he said through a wry little smile.

Needless to say, I walked out with a pair of Heresy's and never regretted it. And at a bargain price of $679.00. Heck I just paid $600 for a used pair off of ebay (surround speakers)a few weeks ago.

That was 1991 and the salesmans name was Mike Lang. I don't know if he was a true Klipsch guy or just wanted to move the Heresy's out of the storeroom but either way I'm better off. I didn't hear a pair of 901's until quite a few years later and while they didn't sound as awful as some would lead you to believe, I'm sure glad Mike was in the store that day and that I ended up with my Heresy's.

My brother has my dad's old pioneer speakers, now. They're going on 25 years old now, I think. Still sound good. Dad has a pair of KG5.5's and a ksw-15. Nice combo, I must say. He never did get his K-horns.

------------------

--Elliott--

Heresy Mains (Birch)

Heresy Surrounds (Walnut)

RC-3 Center

(Because a C7 won't fit!)

SVS 20-39cs/Samson S700

Denon 2801

JVC D-Series

Pioneer DV-525

Good old thread...

Edited March 19, 2015 by twistedcrankcammer

[Mallette]

Still 4 or so of the original posters around.

 

Dave

[wvu80]

(snip, snip)

[question- "Why Klipsch"] you find too old and too general of a topic to discuss, not interesting, not important or not relevant?  

 

I have to agree with Lars on this one.

(snippity snip snip)

 

What better opportunity to experiencing hi-fidelity by standing on the shoulders of the giant that created the Klipschorn?  (funny!)

 

Why don’t you just say that today is the day that the music died?  The impact would be the same.

(snip snip snip)

 

What are we going to do with you?

 

Maybe we should send you into a room with perfect corners for Klipschorns; however, the room will be full of Bose speakers and you will stay there for 14 days and 14 nights listening to a steady dose of Justin Bieber?

 (snipper)

 

Here is your challenge; you are tasked now to show us a loudspeaker other than Klipsch that anyone of us can purchase that can produce an accurate sound, at less power, with more bass, and at the same size or smaller.

 

We're waiting.......

(yet another big Snip!)

 

A magnificent rant!    But I was a little shocked. 

 

At one point you accused me of "wickedness."  What the heck do you do for a living, write show tunes for Disney?  Only my wife is allowed to call me "wicked."   And "no" you cannot see the pictures from when she calls me that. 

 

However Mr. FJD, I'm afraid I had to flag the post due to your extensive use of profanity, which include the dirty words B*se and J*stin B*ieb@#r. 

+++

 

/still laughing

 

But seriously, where do you live?  In honor of your Klipsch Forums POY nominee (post of the year) I'd like to send you a token of my appreciation, a subwoofer worthy of your talents:

 

 

The Top-of-The-Line in The Extreme Performance Series - The US $2 million ULTIMATE

If Transmission Audio´s ULTIMATE was to be compared to sports cars, you probably would have to combine the specifications of Ferrari, Maserati and Koenigsegg in one chassis. This is the ultimate in audio reproduction, intended for the largest listening rooms.This is Formula 1 on steroids!

The system, containing 4 separate dipole Subwoofers, (seen in the middle), made from a total of 40pcs of 15" woofers, followed by 1 dipole panel per channel, each containing 24pcs of 8" units, in turn followed by 2 full MF ribbon dipoles per channel plus one HF panel per channel, containing a total of 68 meters of true ribbons, has a sensitivity of +100dB/1W/1meter and can continUously handle 15500W with +3dB headroom. A total of 31000 Watts, equaling 146dB SPL.

 

 

 

 

And Mr. FJD, before you call me a cheap arse for sending you only one, in my defense this sub does play in stereo, and they are two million a piece, after all. 

 

Enjoy!  

Edited March 19, 2015 by wvu80

[Max2]

I traded a boat propeller for a pair of KG4's back in 1985 and I was floored by the sound and how they trounced my larger Advents. I couldn't help but to imagine what their larger speakers were capable of.  A couple years later a local charity auctioned off a set of oiled Walnut Cornwall II's which I was the highest bidder. I still own the KG's and a good friend still owns the Cornwall II's.  Fast forward years through Belles, KLF 30's, LaScala's, K-horns, yes I would have loved to keep them all, but I settled with what I just could part with.

[Rivervalleymgb]

I first heard Klipschorns in 1976 at the Klipsch listening room in Hope. PWK and Bob Moers auditioned them for me. A couple of Khorns with a Belle in between powered by McIntosh gear. Needless to say, I was blown away! I had heard Heresy and Cornwalls at friends in Hope. I bought my first pair, Heresy in raw birch with rounded front corners, at the factory for $429 for the pair. Discounted since i had done quite a bit of work to help Klipsch. IIRC, employees at that time could buy a pair for $180. Everyone thought I was nuts to have the front edges routered, but I still liked them. Never stained them.