Recommend Speakers / KG4 viable in home theater?

[LarsenMTL]

Klispch Gods,

Background:

I'm currently replacing a tired and crappy Technics home theater (worst purchase ever). I just picked up a Yamaha RXV640 receiver and aquired on permenant loan a set up Klipsch KG4s from my brother-in-law.

Questions:

1.) Is it feasible to build my home theater around the KG4s or are they too old? They sound beautiful to this novice and I was most surprised to still see them going for good money on ebay.

2.) If I make a go of it, can you recommend me a good center channel that fits in nicely (this is the one that needs replacing the most)?

3.) While you are at it, what about some rears? You know, just in case my wife wants me to spend more money.

I'm primarily interested in movie viewing and television before music. Also, I'm doing this on a budget (I've got a baby on the way in two months) so please keep that in mind.

Thanks,

LarsenMTL

[gcoker]

To answer your questions in order:

1.) Yes.

2. You need to look for KV series center (KV 1,2,3) used.

3.) For rears I would stay in the KG series. Ideally 4's in the

back.

[RichardP]

I think you can build a great HT system from KG4s. KG4s are sold quite often on Ebay, and seem to go for around $200/pr, or even less, meaning a lot of speaker for little money. Get another pair if you want to have KG4s as rears, which is ideal for playing movies in Dolby Digital 5.1. If you can't or don't want to have large rear speakers, smaller ones from the KG series (KG1.2, 1.5, 2.2, 2.5) will work well, as previously mentioned. If the recommended center for KG4s is the KV-1, go with it (around $100 on Ebay). If space is not an issue, get a third pair of KG4s and use one as a center (as long as you can keep it a few inches away from the TV, to avoid magnetic interference); the 6th speaker could be a rear center (if your receiver has 6.1). You can easily remove the base from KG4, lay it on its side, relocate the Klipsch badge, and have a great not-too-large center speaker. Imagine 6 KG4s, a perfectly matched system, along with your CHT sub; you may only have to pay around $400-500 for two more pair. Try searching these forums for others who use KG4s. Search the HT forum for "KG4", "KG 4", or "KG-4" in both title and message; that should also allow you to see posters' system profiles (listed at bottom of the post) who use KG4s, so you can see what other configurations/combinations are being used.

[LarsenMTL]

Thanks for the replys. I didn't even think to search the forum for similar questions, what a load of information on here. I'm gonna hunt for a KV3.

Another question: I've heard that Yamaha's receivers and Klipsch speakers don't mix. Something about both there sounds being too bright. Any truth in this?

Thanks again.

[Flason]

Yamaha and Klipsch mix just fine. Both my RXV2095 and DSP-A1 were wonderful with my KLF30's and Cornwalls. I thought they both sounded better than the Denon 3600DTS that is currently in my daughters room. Only reason I got rid of the Yamaha 2095 is because I went with separates. The DSP-A1 came later for the bedroom system but has a really fine amp section, as do many of the upper end Yamaha models.

[RichardP]

LarsenMTL:

Check your private messages (login, then click "my profile")

[dougdrake]

Larsen - I put a KV-3 center with my KG-4s and it was very good. If you can, get the KV-3 rather than the smaller KV models.

BTW, your question is the exact way my journey started a few years ago, and look at my profile - I owned none of that gear when it started. Consider yourself forewarned.

[RichardP]

Larsen:

One thing you may find in your forum search is the goal of "timbre matching," meaning that the ideal match for a speaker is another one with the same or very similar midrange and tweeter drivers. The KG4 is a two-way system: the K-74 tweeter reproduces all freqs above 1800 kHz, and the other two K-8-K woofers reproduce everything below 1800; the passive radiator on the back helps extend the lowest freqs, but is not a driver itself. From the product links to older Klipsch speaker specs, it looks as if the KG 2 (not 2.2 or 2.5) has the most similar drivers, a K-72 tweeter and a K-9-K woofer (also with a passive radiator). In reality, there may or may not be a tremendous difference in sound quality between the KG2 and the KG 1.2/2.2 or 1.5/2.5 series. Other forum members may have more direct experience than I do and could comment on this. But it might be worth trying to find two good KG2s for your rears, and the KV3 center. I think there are two current Ebay auctions for KG2s, but they don't look very good condition-wise, if I recall. There seems to be at least one or two KG2 auctions every month on Ebay, and it may be worth waiting for the right pair to come along. I seem to see about the same number of auctions for 1.2/1.5s and/or 2.2/2.5s, i.e., 1 or 2/month. This past spring, I sold my 2.2s (front-center-right) to a friend, and we found two 1.2s on Ebay for his rear set; with a CHT-10 sub, it made for a nice smaller HT set-up. Another possibility is to post a wanted-to-buy message here (WTB:...), and see if anyone has these for sale.

[LarsenMTL]

Richard,

Thanks. Yea, I saw the two auctions for the KG2s. In one auction, a speaker is all busted up - bad tweeter and in the other the reserve is set at $400 (WTF?). There is a nice set of 2.5s though, so I'm curious if anyone out there has experience matching these of KG4s?

I'm so bad at waiting when I decide I want something.

LarsenMTL