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Be Honest - Who Has the Oldest Klipsch?


Jeff Matthews

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It's interesting to think about the fact that these things have and will outlive generations. I have 1976 KHorns, and they probably belonged to someone's grandpa or grandma.

Okay, so mine aren't the oldest. Here's how this thread works. If yours are from a prior year than the to-be current post, then, post your year and make. Be honest! Let's see how far these go back.

Also, tell us whether they are still working, all original, and any other tidbits of interest.

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Well since I sold my 1962 Vertical Cornwalls to Sfellini my oldest Klipsch speakers are now my '77 Klipschorn's.

The '78 Belle's I bought with the money sure look purty though!

I think 58Khorn has some of the oldest Klipsch speakers (Klipschorn's and a single '59 Cornwall), my brother in law Gilbert has the oldest pair of Cornwalls - 1961's, he also has a single 1960 Corn. He will also soon have a pair of MINT '64 Khorn's damn he is gathering quite the collection!

I am just waiting for that 1960 pair or Cornwalls to pop up on eBay!

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I gave my son my single '55 Klipschorn to use where his band practices. It is a plywood theatre model, stained brown. It has the resin and wood mid and a retrofitted EV tweeter. The crossover chokes are wound with double cotton and parafin wire. It might not be the oldest, but it would be sure to win "most ugly". I can't vouch for the date. There are no SNs but 1955 is written in pencil twice on parts in the crossover.

I inherited it from a retired priest when he closed his home and moved to assisted living. It sounds remarkably good. It was paired with a 15" Jensen bass reflex enclosure and had a multi-cell Altec/L mid and a EV tweeter. The crossover was from a ShortHorn. It, too, was hard ugly but a remarkable match with the horn.

They moved out when my Klipschorns moved in (to my wife's glee).

DRBILL

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I have a pair of '57 Khorns.

I listen to them every single day.

They were bought 4 months apart.

I like to think of them as dual mono speakers.

Sure would like to tell much more, but.....I just spent about 30 mins typing a really detailed letter of my purchase and their history, then I pushed the wrong button and POOF, it was gone.

Grrrrr.

Little keys.....

Big fingers...

Pain in the ***.

Regards,

John

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I think I'm tied with Dr. Bill, who gifted the 55 Khorn to his son. I was recently given a 1955 Shorthorn made from a kit from my Great-uncle. Of course it's a single also. It works fine, but is a little limited bandwidth since it's a 15" with coaxial mid cone, not squawker or tweeter- he bought all he could afford at the time, being in college. But he thought enough of the Klipsch name to buy one.

Michael

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It's all good, Travisc. :)

Happy holidays to you, my friend.

Just so happens, that i've been struggling with this new cell phone i'm using.

I went from one of those "candy bar" phones to this newer "flip" model.

It's really cool......'cept that it could have come with a stylus, toothpick, or something.

Ha Ha.

Well, I just got the last of the kids presents wrapped and so i'll take this time to relax and try again to write this post.

Here we go...webtv don't fail me now. :)

I bought my '57 Khorns from the grandson of the man who purchased them originally...one at a time.

As the story goes,

The origial owner had bought himself a decent mono hi-fi for his new house, back in mid '57.

Not liking the speaker he bought, the search was on for something better.

A classic tale, for sure. :)

Having heard alot about Klipsch, he travelled from northern Indiana to Hope for one of Pauls Khorns.

He was very impressed.

Just a few months later, of course, he went and bought a new "stereo" hi-fi.

And as we all know, this meant he

would need another speaker.

What to do?

Obviously.... back to Hope he went to purchase yet another "mono" Khorn.

And......he lived hapily ever after.

Seriously.

Upon his passing, they were gifted to his grandson.

He enjoyed them for many years until, changes in his living arraigment forced his hand and he had to part with them. :(

That's where I come in.

After making an excellent deal with me over the phone and meeting me halfway between our homes, this really decent gentleman proceed to unfold that wonderful story for me.

I was touched.

I'm not kidding.

Good stuff, my friends.

His first words were this,

"I hope you will give them a good home","they've been in my family a long time."

He told of the many holidays in which he and the family would hang out in Grampa's room and listen to music from his old horns.

They would play Grampas favorites songs and everyone would sing along.

It was tradition.

From birthdays to weddings, and even lazy Sundays, the Khorns had filled a part in their lives.

I found it amazing.

Generations of a family growing up with the sweet sounds of Grampas old horns filling the air.

What can you say?

Now they were going to be mine.

There aren't to many old speakers, like this, that have the ability to outlive their owner and touch the souls of 3 generations the way these do.

I felt honored to accept these priceless heirlooms.

As of now, a year or so later, they have become an irreplaceable part of my life.

The kids and I, friends and family have had many a good times already, with the Khorns bringing good sound into our life.

Here's to many more.

Happy holidays, everyone. :)

Cheers.

Regards,

John.

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