Dealers say Klipsch Suck

[JJkizak]

I bought my K-horns and Cornwall center channel in 1965 after reading up on the tests performed by Bell Labs. Working with much Bell Labs designed electronics manufactured by Western Electric and marveling at the reliablity and performance I figured if the K-horns were good enough for Bell Labs they are good enough for me. I bought them without ever hearing them and never looked back. Everyone that has heard them remarked at how clear they were, and the knee bending bass, and that was in 1965. The wall of sound cannot be explained, just heard and experienced, as was described by Bell Labs after adding the center channel as fill-in.

JJK

[franczyk]

Well, that is probably why they are called "Heresy".

[franczyk]

Well, seriously, I think most dealers think mainly of the lower end klipsch speakers that are much more common than the Heritage and other upper end klipsch.

I think most high end manufacturers think everyone listens to small scale classical and jazz... and that rock and rap is best left to Best Buy. Darn it!! Even jazz needs to be able to "rock out".

Ive found that some good shops will recognize Heritage lines and admit that there is something good there... The best shops will have a pair of khorns in the corner.

From what I have seen, the Khorns are hands down the best value in high-end audio.... Lets see: you can pick up a used pair for less than 2k, power it with a soft breeze, it has the fastest bass available, gets effortlessly loud and is one of the most dynamic and alive sounding speakers.

[fastlane]

My company recently participated in a Home and Garden show in the Louisiana Superdome. A guy came buy my booth and I noticed his nametag. Pompous ASSthetic Home Theater, or something like that. I asked the guy what lines of audio he carried. He got my attention with Denon receivers and amps. He named a couple of speaker brands that I'm not familiar with. I'm sure fine in their own right. Then I asked him did they carry Klipsch. His response was: (nose in the air) "humph, Why?" He could see the contempt in my face and whatever he had said about Denon had just escaped me. "We find them to be too bright, but I could probably order them for you." Sorry dude, you lost me at why.

[J.4knee]

If they say they suck ... there is an easy explanation they are deaf. I rarely if ever listen to sales people, their opinions are rarely unbiased and IMO invalid. I was in Good Guys and one of the sales reps was dissing my La Scala's as being too bass heavy. I kind of looked at him for a second thought and said yeah most people who've never heard them might say that. He left me alone and quit try to sell me his bipolar what ever they were. I am sure there plenty are good sales people out there, I just don't meet too many of them.

[Guest Anonymous]

Well Guys-

Here is my thoughts, Keep in mind that I like Klipsch heritage and I like the Klipsch sound, but horns were created to make a speaker that had a great deal of efficiency and low distortion right? They were created in a time when little power was available and therefore it was important to create a speaker that got loud and had very little distortion with very little power. Well now, the only limit to power is how much you want. This in theory would make horns "out dated" technology. This is the approach that I think many dealers take. I am not sure what to think about this matter, but even if its "out dated" technology I still like the sound all the same and think the heritage is a great line and sound.

Good night

George

[khorn58]

Its true klipsch speakers suck and sound like Blose with out there great reflected sound.

At the moment I am heating my house with wood and can get ride of your old (pre 63 klipschorns ) they have mostly real wood in and burn much better than the newer ones.

so send me you old junk Khorns I will burn them for free.

I can also burn Cornwall,lascalas and heresy but would have to charge a small fee to burn.

[chuckears]

markus,

How do those Martin-Logans sound in your Heritage Klipsch dealer's shop? I listened to an M-L 5.1 system a couple of years ago while auditioning HT processors, and I thought my Klipsch Fortes would give them a run for their money.

[tillmbil]

Just bring your speakers to the dealer and hook them up. THat will teach him.

[Thumpelstiltskin]

I always said Klipsch sucked when I worked for Circuit City. Then I went to work across the street for a Klipsch dealer and stopped telling lies.....well, that one anyway.

[michael hurd]

Ha, I say dealers suck! Most of the time going into A/V stores here, it is common to find that the salespeople know less than you do about the products you sell. Ask them some questions, and if they have a blank stare on their face, then walk right back out the door.

When shopping for Klipsch, and a salesman tries to sell you something else, ask him to explain how a speaker that is less efficient will suffer less power compression, and generate less distortion than a Klipsch, which utilizes horns. Better yet, get him to describe what a horn actually does.

[Audio Flynn]

There are 2 types perhaps

HT Dealers and Audio Dealers

Ht dealers make money buy wrapping the price into a new home mortgage.

Audio dealeers are becoming extinct;

1. because they cannot reinvent themselves to a new progressive level of service

2. they have no control over crappy new artists that make compressed fatiqueing music that does not insire consumers

3. digital format wars

[garymd]

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

On 3/28/2005 10:34:44 PM tillmbil wrote:

Just bring your speakers to the dealer and hook them up. THat will teach him.

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

Doesn't matter. He'd still say they suck. Even if you got customers to come over and give their opinions, he'd tell you they're idiots. There's no way in hell you can change these audiophool's minds, especially if it's in their financial interest to dislike Klipsch.

[markus111]

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

On 3/28/2005 10:33:20 PM chuckears wrote:

markus,

How do those Martin-Logans sound in your Heritage Klipsch dealer's shop? I listened to an M-L 5.1 system a couple of years ago while auditioning HT processors, and I thought my Klipsch Fortes would give them a run for their money.

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

The ML's sounded mighty fine - very detailed, transparent highs, clear mids. They have them hooked up in an all Mac system. Even so, they don't have the authority of Khorns for reproducing clean bass. I bought a Marantz receiver from them, and it was nice that they could hook it up to a pair of LaScalas so that I could get an idea of how it would sound when I got it home. We need more shops like this!

Mark

[seti]

When I was finally shopping for La scalas or Belles I went to one of the only audio shops in Little Rock and it was a horendous experience. They had some khorns but wouldn't play them for me can't remember the reason why but i was sad. I was curious about the new klipsch line and while they did show them to me they assured me that the latest b&w were better but to me both sounded ok but I had gone to hear the mighty khorns. At this point I felt pretty bummed out and at last I asked about tube gear wooooo you'd of thought I shat right there on the floor in front of everybody. Then I was told how some niche groups liked tubes but I should look at their yamaha gear. I left the shop thinking how cool it would have been if they had only let me hear the khorns but never returned and have bought every piece I own off the internet or from friends. Who needs arrogant salesmen we have ears.

[colterphoto1]

At last, a thread we can all agree upon! Frzninvt, your comment killed me! Way to tell em DEPENDS! LOL

I've taken to using Picky's reference level of -10 on my Yamaha receiver with Cornwalls when I demo my HT to guests- really blows em back in the seating- you can see em sink in about an extra inch! And that OMIGAWD expression is priceless.

Michael

[edwinr]

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

On 3/28/2005 6:02:37 PM jpm wrote:

Now considering they could easily sell Klipsch if they wanted to...

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

You may find this is not the case. Klipsch, and other leading brands, have become very selective as to who can become authorised dealers. I understand that some dealers are only authorised to carry certain Klipsch stock, but not the Heritage line.

[doudou]

i ve heard that some "audiophile" think that horns cannot provide a natural sound.

it can explain why some dealers said that...even if it s not true.

it shows that some dealers don t know a lot of thinks about what they sell.

[TheEvan]

My first KHorn experience was in a stereo store and I was demoing some other speakers with an organ recording. salesman throws a switch, and suddenly a huge fluttering sound fills the room...actually pressurizes it. I asked "what's that noise?" Sales guy says that's the record. Huh? How is it making that sound? He said it's just a low pedal. "But why couldn't I hear it before and now I can?" He pointed to the KHorns in the corner.

But that's not what convinced me. It was when my wife & I visited a friend after she had inherited her daddy's audio gear. It consisted of a '54 & '58 KHorns in piano balck, Mac C-22 & 225 amp AR table. I had just come from the record store and had only classical guitar music in hand...which I listen to a great deal. It was the stunning reality & presence of such an intimate & small sound-even at low volumes-that sold me. Horns aren't just about volume & low distortion. They are about speed & presence.

Later, our friends moved & we babysat their system for 3 wonderful years. After they picked them up, I went right out and bought a set for myself.

[speed3]

Klipsch suck?!?! Here's a quick little story. A friend of mine was going over to our local hifi dealer last week to pick up some furniture for his HT and invitied me along. The place was pretty slow, about 45 minutes before closing on a Wednesday and we got talking to one of the salesmen. I was asking him about the 60" JVC HDILA they had in one of the rooms and how they liked them (how were they selling). They were all fairly impressed and proceeded to pop in a DVHS tape of Master and Commander. The gentleman was trying to show off the HD capability of his own personal deck in reality, and the system was hooked up to an RF7 package. Once he popped that in and turned it up, I swear we were all transfixed by the system. A couple of other customers came in and were immediately drawn into the display. I'll tell you what, that combination was a showstopper in the store, absolutely impressive. I know my friend, who owns Paradigm speakers, discovered a new level of respect fro Klipsch since he couldn't stop talking about it afterward.

No fast talking, no Bull****. Put up or shut up!!