Where did your Klipsch "dream" begin???

[tommyboy]

I thought it would be interisting to hear where everyone first heard of Klipsch. I'm a Navy brat, and first heard about Klipsch in Japan, at AAFES. My dad bought his first Klipsch speaker over there. It was a KMC center. After getting it home, I thought this speaker is serious; all business! I told myself that one day I would have a totally Klipsch system. For now I only have a synergy setup (military pay isn't all that), but I'm gonna keep the dream alive, and one day move up to the reference's.

[Piranha]

18 years old (where had I been all those years?), United States Air Force circa 1978, Eglin AFB Florida

[filmboydoug]

My first Klipsch experience was listening to a pair of La Scalas owned by my high school band teacher back in 1980. Driven by a nakamichi 600 series system. I remember listening to Moon Martin and feeling some rim shots in my spine. Good days.

[Coytee]

My first experience was back in 1979 or so at the local dealer.

I was salivating over the sight of the Khorns but knew with college coming up and that Id be moving around. I knew that those would NOT be practical for me.

I pointed to a pair of LaScalas that happened to also have a pair of Heresys in front of them. I pointed to the LaScalas, and said, let me hear those he turned them on and I was very impressed, but I thought for their size, the bass was just a tad bit weak

Then he laughed, turned the Heresys OFF and REALLY turned the LaScalas on for a demo

After we picked our jaws up off the ground and as my friend & I left, I patted them on the top and said some day. I got a pair a couple months later from same dealer and had a KILLER stereo system through college. I played a number of frat parties/dances all the while getting paid. (as opposed to anything else that rhymes with that lol)

[WMcD]

It was the Friday after Thanksgiving in 1974 in Ithica.

A friend took (brought?) me to a dealer to hear K-Horns.

Everything changed.

Gil

[BIG BLUE]

It was summer of 1986 when I walked into a Klipsch dealer and heard a pair of K-horns for the first time. The guys were bored and decided to hook up a Sony Walkman to the "highly efficient" K-horns in the listening room. What a cool thing, I thought the walkman was the reason for making these speakers sound so good, then I got my first lesson in speaker sensitivity and efficiency. I was hooked on how great a speaker could sound.

The next day I walked in with just enough cash to buy a new set of KG4's and a Denon DRA-555 receiver to go with them (a $1000 bucks is a lot of cash to a broke 17 year old college bound kid) at the time the K-horns were "only" running about $3000 a pair so it was out of the question.

One year later I was going to "trade" my KG4's for a set of Cornwall II's but just couldn't part with them. Instead I bought a pair of Cornwall II's and Heresy II's on the same day and still own all three sets!!! (The Denon receiver still in use too!)

BIG BLUE

[J.4knee]

I first heard a set of Heresy's when I was in High school and though they sound great. I was probably hooked then on Klipsch but did not know how bad the addiction would become. Then I joined the Navy and was stationed in Japan for most of the 80s. I went in to the fleet exchange A-33 in Yokosuka one day and they had a set of La Scalas on display, this was the first time I saw them in person. They were set up in the Onkyo/Nakamichi section. I talked to teh rep and had him play em. I bought a set that day. I lived off base in a Japanese house. I took them home on a Friday night. My neighbors thought I had a washer and dryer in the boxes and they asked about them. Their Jaws hit the ground when I said no they are just a pair of stereo speakers I picked up on base. I joked I would have a set up of my La Scalas in the front and a set of Heresys to back them up. Well now I have a three La Scala front array, two Heresy IIs on the side for surrounds and two Heresy II front effects and I am looking for a single Heresy or Heresy II for my rear center. I guess it turns out I was not joking after all.

[TheEAR]

I heard a few audiophiles rave about the magical musicality of KHorns.Searched for a Klipsch dealer,did not find the Klipsch Horns but a few R series and purchased the whole lot

Now that the purchase sickness has eased,I am waiting for the upcoming Klipsch upscale speaker series.

[kenratboy]

I gave some dude at the pawn shop $100 and he gave me two big, heavy, old boxes that I loaded into the back of my dads truck and drive home.

Still cannot believe I paid $100 for those things.

[Tom Adams]

1978 - One of my frat brothers comes back from this audio store (Ideal Acoustics) that was owned by the dean of the school of Aeronautics and Astrophysics at Mississippi State University and he lugs in a Crown DC300A. Joe begins raving about these speakers he heard called Klipsch. So a few of us load up and drive over there to see what all the hub-bub was about. In the "back room" was a pair of Khorns, a Mac preamp, a Mac amp, and a Thorens TD125 TT with SME tonearm. We played this album Dr. Shepherd had there called the 1812 Overature. OMG - need I say more?

Tom

[colterphoto1]

I was always a 'band dude' and got a job with Calliope Pro Audio installing PA and lighting in discos, skating rinks, gentlemen's clubs, etc back in the late 70's. Just when I joined up, the owner purchased the MCM grand big momma killer PA of all time. Plus they were on our stage, so the bass bins were at ear level, top of stack about 12 feet off the floor!

I was in heaven man, first song John played over it was the Who's 'Who Are You' on a Nakamichi cassette deck, I have never heard swearing in a song other than Steppenwolf's 'The Pusher'. Hearing the Who rumble out of those monsters in our warehouse was earthshattering!

My standard PA at the time was 4 split LS stacks. Each DJ or band setup got 2 bass bins and two mid/high packs. Bi-amped (the man's way) with Crown PSA2 and Crown.

Pretty good intro to Klipsch, yes? Although it was more than 10 years later that I finally bought my first pair of Cornwalls for home use.

Michael

[mbajner]

first time was in 1978

I was shopping around for new main speakers

I had a pair of Utah speakers that I paid $99 for the pair

A local shop in the Chicago area had all the Klipsch speakers on display, wow

I forgot the name of the store but it was on 95th street in Oaklawn

they used Crown amplifiers from what I remebered

since I was on a buget, I could only afford Heresy

I remeber the demo of these like it happened yesterday

played some Genesis tunes and really had them cranked up

purhcaed a pair oiled walnut with risers for $636

at the time, this was a lot of money for me to spend since I was going to college and did not have a full time job

I still have these speakers and they still work and are in great shape

use them for rears on my HT setup

[fletcherkane]

I was 25 years old. I always loved music, but never invested anything in quality gear. A man at the church where I worked was getting ready to leave for the mission field. He calls me up and says, I have some pretty nice audio gear that I don't have a use for anymore. He asks me if I could provide his gear with a new home.

I said sure, not knowing what I would be getting. He shows up at my house with a pickup truck full of gear, including a pair of Flawless Walnut oil Forte's. It was powered by a 4 x 200 DBX B-3 amp, and a C-3 controller pre, it also included a DBX dynamic range controller, a 15 band eq, and a Pioneer 6 disc magazine style changer.

My wife hit the panic button when that stuff started piling up in the living room. But she let me keep it.

I honestly didn't know what I had. I had never heard of Klipsch before, and wondered what all that gear did.

(Understand, that my main stereo was a Magnavox system that I had paid 149 dollars for from Walmart when I was in high school. Talk about going from the gutter to the heavens...)

To make a long story short, the DBX amp died shortly after I got it, I pawned off the c-3 preamp (it was before the prologic days--simple four channel dolby--no center.) I purchased a Pioneer receiver--entry level dolby digital encoding etc.--(Still didn't have much money--but quickly realized that my Forte's would eventually need cleaner sound)

I still have the Forte's, but have sold the rest of the gear he gave me. My forte's are now paired with Kg2.2's in a 7 channel set up. (I'll never go back to Magnavox...)

[Duke Spinner]

well, i didn't really have the Klipsch bug ...

Altec was my thing

Klipsch looked kinda cheesy to me when i took the back offn' his Corwall to replace a bad woofer

definitely not in the JBL / Altec ballpark

years later, i guess it's the performance that counts

got fortes, chorus, cornwalls now, different flavors

as well as a boatload of JBL / Altec / Infinity / EV

[redtop]

October 1979...

Newly married and looking for some speakers at the local stereo shop. Heard some Lascalas and nearly pee-ed my pants. Soooooo sweet. The new bride saw the look on my face and walked me to the door. Probably saved our marriage (at least financially)... It took 15 more years to finally get some Klipsch, but it was worth the wait!

Still have the lovely bride and the Klipsch too... Life is good!

[SteelerFan]

September 1991. Went into the local Sound Advice for the very first time looking to buy my first HT. The salesman was pushing Klipsch KG4's and I wasn't having any of it. I thought the best speakers look like Cerwin-Vega's, big 3-way boxes. The KG4 with it's 2-8" woofers, little horn tweeter and passive radiator on the back was too weird for me. That was until he played them and they were WAY better than anything I'd heard. Yeah, it was around Labor Day of "91". Back when a good Hi-Fi VCR was $500!

[Colin]

at neighbor Ralph Karsten's house (Atma-sphere OTL amps), heard tube amps and Khorns, use to visit on Sundays to listen to music, back in the 70s, ( I was about, lets see, 10, yeah that's it! 10, no, no, actually 5, yeah that's right, 5, I was only 5 and I heard big ole horns)

[Indy_Cornwall]

First heard Klipsch speakers (pair of La Scala's) in 1974 (age 16) at a friend's house. I have been a Klipsch owner since 1980.

[SilverSport]

...about 1963...Dad playing John Philip Sousa on his homemade "Klipsch" driver and the Eico/Sherwood "HiFi" Monaural...my whole young life I hear Dad talking about Klipschorns...I remember because the name sounded funny to me...KLIPSCHORNS...he always wanted them BUT he had a family and was in the Army...NO disposable income...very different from my life today...anyway, fast forward to 1979 and I am buying my 1st "good stuff" stereo system...I buy Bose 301s...sounded like the best I could get in their price range...Dad says you should buy Klipsch...I CAN'T afford 'em says I...fast forward to 1987 when I am helping my big brother spend HIS money on a stereo...I end up getting upgradeitis...I am AGAIN doing it ALL AT ONCE and this time I buy KG2s...Big Brother buys Heresy IIs...we go into the "expensive" room and listen to the Klipschorns (and all the rest) and dream of someday...fast forward one last time to December 2004...I am FINALLY buying a HT system...all ready to buy Synergy but I find this place...everyone says listen to Reference...I go there and listen to Reference (RF-35 system) sounds nice...I ask about Heritage line but just for old times sake. Heritage??? Surley You Jest...then someone here mentions about how great the Heritage stuff sounds, simpler times, quality makin's America, Jets flying overhead, Eagles soaring, baseball, hotdogs and apple pie, etc.,etc.,etc...(darn you dodger... )...he makes me remember Dad...John Philip Sousa, those mornings when Dad was home...that homemade speaker (with the red and white striped pajama speaker grill)...and the love of horn loaded speakers...I FALL into a set of Heresys from 1978...then another (dodger and redtop...evil masterminds that they are! ) and then...omigawd an ACADEMY! (course I have been ripped off twice on ebay by this time...)...and who knows, perhaps some KHorns in the near future!

I am very happy for Klipsch speakers and for this place...Thank You!

Bill

[thebes]

Came late to Klipsch. Although I've been into music for it seems like my entire life, I never paid any attention to how it got to my ears. My college setup was a pair of drive -n movie speakers and a turntable/amp combo found in the trash.

Forward to mid 90's, once a year for several years I go to Atlantic City to make my self-described "Annual Donation to the Gambling Gods" I got $200 when I sit down mid-day, leave early the next morning with $8,600 in 100 dollar bills.

Pay some bills, buy a slightly better car, and think to myself, speakers! Hit a few stores, like the Marantz at Circuit City, the something or other at someplace else and walk into Audio Buys. Hear this, hear that, then the Klipsch. "Oh wow" I says to myself, these sound great at half the price of the others. Listen some more, compare models, pick the KG 3.5's and a little pro-forma dicker later I'm out the door with audio nirvana and a big smile on my face over what awaits me when I get home and hook them up.