After 75 hours with the AK4

[consistent]

AFTER 75 HOURS WITH THE AK4

Hi All

I thought some of you may be interested in my experiences with the new Klipschorn AK4 I took delivery of a couple of months ago.

History

I had been chasing a pair of well looked after Khorns for a while, having owned Heresys, La Scala and Forte IIs over the years. I did borrow a pair of Khorns in the mid 80s to see what they were like but my budget and wife said no at the time. Used Khorns in Australia are hard to come by and I didnt fancy spending lots on freight and packaging (most did not have original packs), so much to the disgust of my wife I went new!

The Delivery

There were a pair of Khorns that had my name on them (so the local dealer told me) at a price close to the US equivalent and were being shipped within 2 weeks, so I dived in feet first and put the deposit down. They arrived about 6 weeks after the order and the dealer brought them to my home with one of his assistants. We unpacked the 4 boxes and set up. They were unmarked without dimples or nicks and cuts but on further inspection we noticed that one of the mid horns had lost its nut and bolt that held up the horn to its bracing bracket. I later found both on the tweeter magnet. I also noticed that when looking behind the mesh into the bass bin, at the rear of the tailboard, the technicians had missed a couple of panels when drilling screws from the outside to hold the internal bracing in place, the incorrectly drilled screws split some of the internal brace boards. I was not particularly impressed; when you pay so much money you expect better quality. Klipsch had apologized and said it would not affect the sound quality.

The last time the dealer heard Khorns was in 1968, his assistant had never heard them. After some alterations to my wiring configurations we cranked up and sat back. At first they sounded boomy and flat. I had not undertaken any room mods to house these Khorns and knew that I would need to enhance my room acoustics. After about an hour the Khorns and equipment started to kick in and the assistant brought out some heavy metal that blew the room apart (it didn't need to get loud). He had not heard bass and guitar work that sounded like the real thing in your face thump. They later left me to it!

The Room

The most important thing that anyone can do, to get better sound from their HiFi systems, is to make sure their room is acoustically truthful to your needs, desires and the recording. If not, any system not matter the price, will end up sounding like something that you are not prepared to live with, ever! My room is 13(W) x 16(L) x 8.5(H), not ideal but after some panels, drapes and absorbent treatments the room has come alive and the sound improved immensely. I use the short wall as the room also doubles as a theatre room where the screen sits. I have created some cylindrical panels over some sound absorbers and made some bass traps (floor to ceiling) at the rear of the listening area. I have also pulled back the drapes a touch that are used to cover the projector screen when not in use. I have noticed in this room that these Khorns perform better with more solid odd structures to bounce sound waves off and lots of traps. All walls are made of brick. I am still experimenting but I believe I am getting closer to the ideal sound where the sound is capable of extension beyond the speakers, in all directions, and still maintain a full believable stage. I am also able to tune the bass in or out by moving my chair forwards or backwards a few feet. Bass is awesome towards the rear of the room.

The Sound

I must say that when I first heard these they did not impress. After spending four hours they became better and as the weeks rolled on they improved as I improved the room.

These speakers when driven with the right source material will impress to the point that most will feel the goose bumps. They are unforgiving. Feed them crap and you will get crap out! I have used both solid state and tubes and quite frankly believe that the AK4 has been voiced using solid state. They do have better extensions when using solid state. Female voices, guitar and piano stand out. Tubes will get you a better roll on the edges that some solid state cause and a warmer midrange, so why not keep both SS and Tube gear. I use a 6SN7 pre with an SS amp and this allows me the best of both worlds. However when I hook up my Morrison ELAD the sound has greater height and depth and yes the mids are thinner but not too noticeable. In good recordings instruments are well placed with intense detail and in silent passages, there is silence! The dynamics are what I expect from Klipsch, from a mosquitos fart to the roar of an elephant, its all there.

Klipsch appear to have the Atlas mid and EV tweeter. The tweeter I believe is a Klipsch tweaked T-35 version using EV parts. The tweeter still has break-up and becomes edgy when pushed in full dynamic passages, although it appears to have a better extension that what I remember. Transients I think can be handled better, such as you would get from the hybrid tweeter that Mirage make or those of JBL. If you have a dead or dull room, dont expect much performance from it. Open up the room and the tweeters open up. The mid horn does not have any of the metallic sound that I remember, nor does the tweeter for that matter. If anything the sound is more wooded and closer to a tractrix sound (if thats possible!). There seems to be better matching with the tweeter and both offer more punch. The K-33, with the tailboard gasket, is tighter with strong extension into the lower octaves. If you had a big room these boys would perform down lower than most would expect.

Overall I think the AK4 network has made the Klipschorn a more marketable product, coupled with what must be on the back of some minor improvements with the drivers. If Klipsch spent a little more time on the top end of the box and maybe considered a re-design you would have a speaker that could not be overlooked at any price. As it now stands run of the mill playback equipment is capable of offering performance plus, with wide dynamics, depth and clarity. The only problem is that most speaker manufacturers have missed this. Klipsch have always had it but just need to tweak their Heritage line a little more.

The AK4 Klipschorn is a magic speaker and must be treated with respect. Be preared to 'work' your room. Let it live in the right environment and feed it the right stuff and you wont want for much else!

Cheers!

Footnote:

The above is my interpretation, emotions and opinions using my equipment and room set-up and would obviously sound different in anothers environment using different equipment. I have used a number of my colleagues to also assess, some with Klipsch speakers, all have been impressed. The equipment I have used is a Morrison ELAD (pre-amp), hand built point to point 6SN7 (pre-amp) with separate power supply, Muse 160 amp, hand made tube amp utilizing Williamson circuits, Cyrus DVD 8 (24 bit dual DAC) with Cyrus PSXR power supply. All cables and interconnects are made by me using quality materials

[thebes]

A very informative post. Thanks for sharing.

[edwinr]

Thanks, Consistent. You're obviously getting the feel of your new speakers. I would suggest that your Khorns will continue to improve in sound quality over the next few months. I don't think 75 hours is very long with regards to 'breakin'. I recently upgraded my budget Jolida 202 with the same company's 302A fitted with Electro Harmonix tubes. I wasn't prepared for the difference in tonal quality - suddenly I've got bass! The Klipschorn's are chameleons, sounding like completely different speakers when driven by differing amplification.

I'm still waiting for funds before ordering my AK-4's. Haven't decided on veneer yet. Considering keeping my current Khorn's, doing a x-over upgrade, and using them as rears for the new one's. I've got to get that one past the other half yet. Other option is to sell my current Khorn's, buy the new one's, and then buy 2 pairs of Heresy 2's - 1 pair rears, 1 pair centres. It's always fun dreaming. Good luck in your finetuning.

[leok]

Congratulations on finally getting a pair of KHorns, at a very good price for Australia. Obviously your persistance has paid off.

The tweeter breakup at high level may be RF interference from power, or supplies and digtal sources within the system itself. If and when you get around to addressing that issue I suggest you lok there first.

Other sources of distortion such as ss nonlinearity, mediocre crossover caps, or amplifier feedback tend to impact low amplitudes first, making the sound there thin and harsh.

Leo

[consistent]

Thanks Guys,

I have isolated my digital gear (another socket and box) but you may be right, I still could have some RFI contamination. What could I further do to reduce RFI?

Cheers

[leok]

Do you have RF filtering on the AC lines? How does vinyl sound (with cd electronics off)? The CD source may be a problem if vinyl sounds ok.

Leo

[Audio Flynn]

Thanks Guys,

I have isolated my digital gear (another socket and box) but you may be right, I still could have some RFI contamination. What could I further do to reduce RFI?

Cheers

+++++++++++++++++++++++

I sent LEOK this 'white paper'.

You can acquire it from www.virmode.com they would have to mail it. and they do not have web orders only phone orders.

"radiation and resonance control" for CD players.

I can hear a significant reduction in jitter in my ChorusII.

I can imagine bad jitter in a K Horn is really bad.

[consistent]

Guys,

Vinyl is not bad on my system but I think the problem lies in the 'lines'. I have built a number of isolation platters and I use squash balls to further isolate and now believe it must be RFI. On the rare occasion I get a radio signal through the speakers just after I turn everything off! Talk about 'The Ghost in the Machine'. I am not sure about RFI filters, what works and what doesn't. Some cost heaps and do nothing except restrict the dynamics in the signal path and others I wonder about, as I can't here the difference. I'm not a 'snake oil and beads' man and some of the claims made by these so called experts have me worried. Any body have some positive experiences with RFI treatment that works?

Cheers.

[leok]

The reference supplied by "Audio Flynn" above is very comprehensive. Good place to start, and maybe all you need.

Leo

Belkin makes a good isolator: "F5C980-TEL" it's sold for office equipment (thus the -TEL capability) but it's much less expensive than the ones sold through audio channels and is quite effective).

[consistent]

Thanks guys