Warning on Klipschorns

[sheltie dave]

This set on EBay has about the most bodged up back panels I have seen since the set that had a chain saw taken to it! Caulked particle board, birch called walnut, and has been in substantial standing water more than once. Someone told the guy about the bad back panels, so he dropped them from the photo series. I hope no one on the forum is bidding on these unless they know EXACTLY WHAT IS BEING OFFERED.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=61378&item=5710410705&rd=1

[Bill H.]

Dave,

I (thankfully), checked with some of our board members on this one.........and got the same response as you stated!.........even with his new pictures, you can still see water damage............So, So sad to see these abused speakers.

[Cornwalled]

I had a post on here about those same ones "Alert...Frankenhorns..." and I'm glad I posted here first. Man, that's just shady. He makes no mention about the cabinets at all! As if they're just fine- even goes as far as to say they're in good condition cosmetically.

'bout all they're worth is the crossover and the mid/hi horns and drivers as the woofers are probably rotted too, depending on the extent of water damage. Some poor guy's getting duped out of $455 for them so far.

It's nice to have a forum of knowledgeable people willing to help.

-Jon

[Bartdude]

Seen those and didnt wanna touch em with a 10' pole. So about the wheels? K-horns usually have wheels on em?? I read the ad for em when they were first posted, saw the p-board and caulk, read about one missing the wheels and thought wtf?

[Piranha]

What do you think about these early 60's models?

[Tom Mobley]

Long ways from home, that's what I say.

[Piranha]

Tom,

For you and I yes. Maybe not for someone down in the South?

I am looking for a pair of Khorns local to me. LA or OC local pickup only. I must be patient. Maybe I'll luck into a deal like you got? Not likely, but you never know????

[sheltie dave]

I talked to Ransom(the original owner) about these early '60s, Pirhana. He had the woofers reconed, and new Solons caps dropped in the crossovers. Done by the company in FLA that handles all Radio Shack speaker accounts. They are raw birch, and he took grille cloth, wrapped it entirely around top and bottom, and stapled it in the back. These are the "modern" Khorn all around, so I offered him four bills. He wants what I offered times two.

FWIW, he considers them to be exactly equivalent to a gorgeous pair of oak or walnut Khorns. He wants to get lucky - like all of us

[Flason]

I thought the KHorns built around that time were made from fir? My '69's are fir, not birch. Those '66 on ebay are around 45 minutes from my house. I'm not even tempted because I think mine look better. Now if they were oiled oak type b's, that would be a different story.

[sheltie dave]

You are right, Flason. I need to get out of the habot of interchanging birch and fir. Was Klipsch using Douglass fir, then?

[Flason]

Douglas fir, huh??? Looks like I have 2 new tree's to decorate around Christmas!!

[sheltie dave]

Merry Christmas! HOho ho ho...

[HDBRbuilder]

With the exception of the bass bin front panel and the decorative upper panels on K-horns built before around 1975 or 1976 or so, marine-grade fir plywood was used in the bass bin construction, after that it was birch cabinet-grade plywood for the 3/4" material and around 1976 or 1977, the 1/2" material changed to baltic birch. The finely veneered panels for the front of the bass bin and upper cabinet (except on D-style models) was lumber-core plywood until sometime around 1990 or a bit later, when they went to veneered MDF for those panels. D-style front panels and upper H/F area construction were initially 3/4" marine grade fir plywood until the changeover to 3/4" birch plywood, a very few years BEFORE the baltic birch began to be used on the bass bin construction...around 1972 or so for the changeover to birch plywood for those panels.

Initially, the reason for the changeover to 1/2" baltic birch in bass bin construction was due to exceptionally good deals on purchases of odd-sized panels of baltic birch imported from USSR in the mid-70's, both for cost savings to the company and for the extra stiffness afforded by the baltic birch as compared to marine-grade fir plywood.

Both baltic birch AND marine grade fir in 1/2" were being used interchangeably for a time, around 1976, due to fluctuating availability of baltic birch to the company, then it went to just baltic birch around 1977 or 1978, as steady supplies became more common from the USSR.

You will find SOME Heresys and Cornwalls with 3/4" baltic birch fronts in them from the mid-70's (around 1978), but only on the mitered versions, NOT on the Decorators. It was only on a few hundred Heresys and a handful of Cornwalls, though. Stapling in those front panels was a real bear. The density of the baltic birch caused production-time problems with staples folding-up instead of penetrating the plywood, so that idea was dropped rather quickly after a run or two of fronts that had already been routed were used up.

[hwatkins]

Damn Andy - good stuff as usual. We always miss you when you are on hiatus...