I Bought Klipschorns :)

[meagain]

Christmas present I guess. We just got home a little bit ago. Got them in the house without too much trouble till I lost my side and it took a tad of a thump on the floor. I think it will be OK - Wow are these tanks or what? They are imposing in the room.

Interesting day. Interesting fellow we bought them from. He's a producer/engineer. Beautiful recording rooms, gear, etc. It was interesting for hubby being a musician, etc. Cool guy. He bought the Khorns from an elderly gentleman about 1.5 years ago who moved out west & his wife gave him a heads up. "I" feel they are in beautiful condition. He had them in a non-proper room hooked up to a cheap new receiver. They were well away from the corners AND the walls but we got a quick listen and yea - we liked. I'm not used to such clarity! That's how I would describe it on first glance - "clear".

We don't have the idea setup for them, but we will. We have a new Harman Kardon avr-430 receiver and I know you won't approve. We also have this little Sonic Impact amp gadget. We'll be wanting to do right by these things and will be looking into the amp issue & the various upgrades available.

My only gripe is the tone of the wood is a bit muddy to me. I expected that, but I'm probably going to want to tweak it. I'd like to lighten it a bit & warm it up. I think they could use a hint of red. They seem dull, flat, poop brown. Wood feels perhaps a tad dry? Seller said he put some mineral oil on it. I have a bit of experience with refinishing and I don't think that's the right thing?

We're still in the market for more speakers. I'll post pics in a bit, Hubby is ready for our first listen. [] Fingers crossed.

Oh - they are Serial numbers 18w628 & 29 Walnut.

[bhendrix]

Congrats on your new purchase! From your description of the cabinets, I assume they are an oil finish, not lacquer. The serial numbers will have WO on the end for Walnut Oil, or WL for Walnut Lacquer.

If they are an oil finish, you can restore the beauty of the natural walnut, including drawing out some of the natural red in the walnut that you are looking for, by applying severals coats of Watco Danish Oil. This was the oil Klipsch recommended to us way back in the 70's for maintaining the finish. You can buy it at Lowes for about $7 per can. Try this before you get too carried away with alterations to the finish.

Happy listening . . .

[travisc]

congrats, I think there are worse amps that you could be starting with. The tripath t-amp will give you loads more clarity than anything costing $300 more.

81 walnut klipschorns, well done!!

[ranjith]

meagain , Congrats on the Khorns! Do post a few pics and thoughts after a long listen

[garymd]

Congrats! You have SO MUCH to do to get the best out of those. Where to begin........... First thing is to get em sealed in the corners.

Just let us know when you're ready to spend some money and we'll be glad to help.[]

[Bill H.]

Garymd stated "Just let us know when you're ready to spend some money and we'll be glad to help."

Spoken like a true Banker!

Meagain- congratulations............now your going to be like Alice in Wonderland..........your in for a Wild Adventure!

[Jeff Matthews]

Speaking of amps, I am not knowledgeable as to the spectrum of makes out there, but I'll say my Crown Microtech 1200 is enough to drive them to their limit - and then some. I cannot turn it up all the way.

I can assure you that you will have no problem turning your HK all the way up, so don't chicken out. You'll see. BTW, I've seen the Crowns like mine used for pretty cheap - like $400 or so. Not a pretty amp, but it is definitely serious. I think it's intended for a professional PA amp for touring bands.

Enjoy your speaks!

[tigerwoodKhorns]

A sincere congats! K Horns were my first klipsch too. You will like them.

You can make a huge difference for cheap when the time comes. Get 'em in corners. If no corners are available, take a close look at the false corners that I made (or the ones that Dean made). If you do woodwork, they are not that difficult.

You will need a good source. I have a Philips 963 SA dvd player that made a huge difference (its not for sale). You cna pick these up on Audiogon for about $200. Add a $25 blackgate capacitor and you are set. If your budget has a little more in it, go for a used AH! Njoe Tjob CD player. About $650 on audiogon. Awesome piece of gear that you will not be quick to replace. You can then add an upsampler after a while.You will want a set of Russian Rocket tubes (about $20 to $30 for both). Big difference is bass.

Next, you need a good amp (I don't know much about the receiver that you are using, but HK makes a good product). You may not believe this, but a Panasonic '55 receiver (forget the entire number) costs about $225 to $250 at JR music. This is a receiver with class D digital amps. Really nice clean amp that does not sound harsh with horns. Unbelieveable bargain (I am selling a $4,000 Denon 5800 and replacing it with one of these).

Finally, you probably need x-overs. If you have type A or AA's, rebuild them if you are on a budget (Bob C can help you). If you have more in your budget, Check out Bob C's, Dean and Al's crossovers. All get rave reviews here.

Oh yea, I forgot to tell you. Just hook them up and listen for a few months until you know the strengths and weaknesses.

Again, congrats. You were laboring the decision and wound up with the big boys from the start. Don't look back!

Chris

[meagain]

He hooked the khorns to the sonic t amp & the KG4s to the new harman.

KG4's sounded richer/fuller/warmer/bassier. Heard more 'stuff' from the khorns, but somethings almost were harsh. Vocals "S" & "T"'s were almost like knives in my ears. Was getting a bit sad, till he put the khorns on the Harman. MUCH better. The bass came back & we both felt it sounded more comfortable. He's now hooking it up to do a proper a/b situation. I know it's silly to do this given they are so far apart on the foodchain, but why not eh? They do sound much better through the Harman.

Also, the harsh S's & T's from voice went away as we walked back in the room.

I now need to listen to something bombastic. I've no trouble with the depth of the bass, I now need to feel if it's punchy enough for me. I'd like to KNOW I'm going to like them before putting money into them. They are imposing, dark & large and won't exactly be in the basement, so I'm giving up alot to have them here - so they need to amaze me.

Right now it occurred to me that I can place speakers in FRONT of the Khorns. I like the idea (if needed). There's a thread here called 'subwoofer with khorns' or such and I need to read it. I still want to hear Cornwalls.

Jeff, I'll crank it. Been a bit afraid cuz I'm not clear on this amp issue and didn't want to hurt anything. Hubby said the receiver can be too much power for these? IDK

EDIT: Here's a pic. Overexposed. New camera. The color is more mud/poop than this. Actually, if I can attain more the warm/color shown here, that would be nice. I also think I'd want to give these a slight sheen though I tend towards more natural finishes. But for this, I think I'd prefer some semblance of shine. They are clearly Oil. Side grills aren't on yet, but they are pristine. I'll probably take another pic tomorrow, the flash on my cam is far too strong (you can see through the grill!) and I don't yet know how to use my extra flash.

Thanks for your well wishes everyone! And your help. Am I real yet? I was actually going to have me in the photos with the speakers, but by the time we finally got home & wrestled these into the house, I wasn't exactly in the mood to have my pic taken.

[Speedball]

I also think I'd want to give these a slight sheen though I tend towards more natural finishes. But for this, I think I'd prefer some semblance of shine. They are clearly Oil.

I bought my Oak KG4.2's in oil new long ago and recently wore tired of cleaning them. I lightly sanded and gave them a couple coats of "Satin" Polyurethane, brought out the richness of the color and is now a great easy to dust low sheen finish.

[Mighty Favog]

Heard more 'stuff' from the khorns, but somethings almost were harsh. Vocals "S" & "T"'s were almost like knives in my ears. Was getting a bit sad, till he put the khorns on the Harman. MUCH better. The bass came back & we both felt it sounded more comfortable.

meagain-

Yes, I'm envious but this is coming from someone who has been there regarding my next suggestion. If that "Sonic Impact" thingy is what I think it is...take it out of the system fast! I had a similar piece of gear in my system before and after I got my KLF-20's, it was a dbx 4bx Series II. It did two things that Klipsch's don't like; 1.) it squelched minor neuances when the incoming signal is below the "threshold" point and 2.) it easily clipped the amp when signals reached over the threshold and sends dangerous DC voltage to the tweeters. Klipsch's being as sensitive as they are don't put up with that for long. I wound up replacing the tweeter diaphrams twice because of this. After I took the 4bx out of the system and toned down the equalizer a lot (to no more than +1db and only on the bass), all was well and nairy a problem since.

[DizRotus]

Is one of these the one with the "broken" horn?

[meagain]

Tom - Yep, we removed it.

Neil - Yes, you were 100% correct. It was an optical illusion. Hubby thought so also and sure enough, I was wrong. They look really nice. Everything's really clean in & out.

[Jeff Matthews]

I still want to hear Cornwalls.

Jeff, I'll crank it. Been a bit afraid cuz I'm not clear on this amp issue and didn't want to hurt anything. Hubby said the receiver can be too much power for these? IDK

You don't need to hear Corns anymore. The KHorns are definitely better. I have both.

HK-AVR430 can be too much? Not on your life. It's 65 watts, while KHorns are rated to handle 100 watts continuous w/ I believe 400 watt peaks. If there's any issue with too much coming from the HK, it would be too much distortion.

Anybody here doubt she could crank the HK all the way and walk away, leaving it blaring unattended? No doubts on my end, unless distortion gets too bad on the HK.

I cranked my old Marantz 1180DC (90 w/channel) all the way on Corns. Plus, keep in mind, your HK will run more efficiently with the KHorns, meaning you can crank it much higher before it peaks/clips.

I did blow one of my tweeters in the Corns many years ago from distortion coming from my Marantz. Klipsch sold me these doo-woppees called zeener diodes. Cheap gadget for protecting the little tweets from damage.

But anyway, you'll see as you get used to them and a little more confident. I had to adjust to being able to crank my Crown higher through my Khorns than through my Cornwalls. I posted a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.

[meagain]

Jeff - Thanks. I wanted to post my impressions last night but couldn't get on. It really freeked us out how much better it sounded with the HK receiver. Like a whole different speaker! I know my KG4's sounded better with it than the old Yamaha I had.

We cranked it last night and it was wonderful. I didn't get tears in my eyes, but question if I would have if I wasn't 'studying' things so much. Sounds were so clear & crisp. I've read posts with people saying they 'envelops/fills the room' 'makes you feel like you're there', etc. and I see that. I get it.

I'm seeing a big difference in recordings. Some parts like a snare drum were too in my face - over other stuff - and I almost felt like I wanted to have control over it. I found by moving back in the room & standing there, made much difference. Hence I think we don't have them positioned optimally. We also are missing one wall. It shows in the pic. It's a fireplace wall with protruding ledges. We had a piece of 3/4" or 1" MDF and shoved it in there. It's as tall as the bottom part, but only extends perhaps 1 foot beyond the speaker side.

I'm really curious what new crossovers will do and if we'll hear a real difference. Mine say AA and look really nice & clean. I also have no clue which one to buy if I go that route.

But right now, we are loving them!

[Jeff Matthews]

Looks like you definitely have an issue w/the fireplace. That would seem to scatter the bass all over the place.

How high could you turn the HK? 1/2, 3/4?

Sorry for skepticim earlier - occasionally, we see some pranksters that love to bait us into a frenzy.

Plus, give them a good test on a clean song - something like Steely Dan's "I've Got the News," "Home at Last," or "Babylon Sister." You'll see how crisp they are.

Now, how high could you crank it?

[Duke Spinner]

I, and D-Man ...

might suggest that you want more Power...

my KH are driven w/ 500wpc, and it really extended/ tightened up the Bass response over a 100 wpc amp

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Those speakers are absolutely beautiful!

As far as power, I am using a 200 wpc (measured 20 to 20K not just at 1khz) and my K Horns love it. You cannot go wrong with lots of clean undistorted power (as long as the amp also sounds good at low levels).

Chris

[meagain]

Jeff - Hubby pulled his Steely Dan last night but we didn't get to it. I can't even imagine how good it will sound.

I cranked it loud enough to where my left ear was buzzing so I had to cock my head a bit to make it stop. Hubby said it got to 'damage ears' level. Some things I can go higher with than others. But to our ears, we heard no change in the quality fully cranked. Wow is that nice!

We're still learning this receiver. Just got it a couple weeks ago. When I turn up/down the volume on the remote, I see a db level on the screens. Is that what you want me to measure?

I have to recheck the false wall issue. We have a larger slab of 1"? MDF we could switch it out with. Then again, I don't think MDF is the right thing to use either? We just had it on hand. The general area of the house we want sound/video is bad. There are 2 rooms separated by that fireplace wall & we want to knock it down & create one big room. When we do this, it will be 28' wide. So either someday, we put them on the 28' wide wall, or go to the side which would be anything we want it to be. If we keep the khorns (which is lookin' like a no-brainer), we would design the space perfectly for them.

Duke - Do you mean that by running a 500wpc amp over a 100wpc, that even at lower, non-cranked volumes - it tightened the bass? Or would that be just for very high volumes? I don't really understand the technical aspects of this.

EDIT: Tiger, I guess I thought the opposite. I thought that these require very little power and one didn't want too much. It's sounding like I have things a**-backwards? I want to try to understand this as our HK AVR-435 is so new that I 'might' be able to return it without a restocking fee? Should I have gotten a beefier version?

[Coytee]

*I thought that these require very little power and one didn't want too much. It's sounding like I have things a**-backwards? I want to try to understand this as our HK AVR-435 is so new that I 'might' be able to return it without a restocking fee? Should I have gotten a beefier version*

As for returning the HK, I have no idea & will leave that advice to others.

With that said, the range of power "requirements" with these is (imho) all across the board. I've heard them with 2A3's and a 400 wpc on the other extreme.

BOTH amps sound great under different circumstances.

I for one, like the idea of two amps, one low powered for more of a background listening with company over, and a higher powered amp for when I want a LOT of controll over the bass [A]

If perchance, I can find a single amp that will do both, then I'll be just that much happier, until then, I'm content with two different amps and a A/B switch.