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Need speakers to compliment Klipschorns for 5:1


meagain

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Hi. We're getting more & more music done in 5:1. Also concert DVDs. We just scored on a pair of Klipschorns and are wanting to learn what speakers would complement them in a 5:1 system. What we currently have is 'ruining' the great sound of the Khorns. I have my old KG4's I could try if that's appropriate. Besides 5:1 music, we also want them for home theatre.

Can anyone advise me as to what Klipsch models are a possibility here? Ones that won't detract from the khorns? Thanks much!

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Meagain, every other speaker will detract from the K-Horn. The BEST ht will be K-Horns in all 4 corners with a Belle or LaScala for center. I currently have Cornwalls in the rear and center and that's pretty darned good. There is a gorgeous pair of Belle's in Kansas City that I wish someone would buy so I won't succumb to the temptation of driving 154 miles and loadin' 'em up.

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LaScallas are best. Try to get a K400 sqwaker in between your Khorns if possible.

Any of the old Heritage line works. Including the Forte, Quartet

and Chorus. I would stay away from the KG line if possible.

In my 7.1, I have a custom center K77, K400 and two woofers. The rears and sides are Heresys. Sounds great.

JM

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Seriously, why bother?

If you are listening to music then 2-channel is fine (perhaps supplemented with an additive center). When you go beyond that, then you are in the world of gimmicks and effects.

You have a wonderful set of speakers, enjoy them!

If you have upgrade-itis, and it is understandable, then why not spend some time on room treatments and tweaking the speaker placement. As I recall, you were a candidate for a false corner.

If the disease is serious, then look for a very clean and quiet amp (the K-Horns are ruthless in revealing distortion, hiss and hum)

There really is no need to mess things up with extra speakers.

Good Luck,

-Tom (I guess I am a purist)

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I just added a pair of Belles to go with my K-horns. I'm using them for the center channel and they match the K-horns perfectly. I have heresy's for the surrounds. Both the K-horns and the Belles have ALK universal networks. If you have the room, Belles or La Scalas are the way to go unless you can do more K-horns.

78 Khorn

pictures posted on the forum under 78 Khorn

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My front array (when the room is finished this spring) will be Khorn-Belle-Khorn. The Belle makes a great center channel and was formerly pulling duty between two old Cornwall II's in my previous home. A LaScala would also be great as well. Either are no-brainers between Klipschorns.

Question for you guys ... I have to decide between two speakers for the rears in the room (29L x 17D x 9H). Either:

(1) Cornwalls for the side surrounds and two KS-525-THX mounted on the back wall, 3' from the seating area

or

(2) a seamless array of four KS-525-THX across the back wall.

http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=741

My challenge is the size of the Cornwalls (huge) just kind of overwhelm the seating area and an array of the KS-525-THX would be a lot easier on everybody. It would also be nice to keep the Cornwalls up in the apartment with my 2-channel SET gear.

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As you can see, everybody has an opinion. Here's mine:

When I had k-horns and expanded to 5.1, I used a belle in the center channel position. Technically, not as quite as good as a la scala, but tons better looking. That would be my choice for your set-up too. For surrounds, I tried RS-7's, then went to heresys. I thought they were a great match and that is what I would suggest for you.

To me, k-horns as surround speakers are gross overkill. And to those who think surround for music is unnecessary or gimmicky, I would suggest you never should go to any good music hall to hear live music. All those gimmicky reflections from the walls will drive you nuts![;)]

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Khorns, Belles, Lascalas, Cornwalls and Heresys all match up pretty

well... but offer different convenience factors. Right now I'm

using Heresy's all around except the Khorn mains, but I'll be upgrading

my centered to one using a K400 to match them exactly.

Multichannel music and even sci-fi movies don't put as heavy a demand

on the surrounds as the three front channels. I feel that this

allows us to reasonably use a smaller (more convenient) heritage out

back.

Question for you guys ... I have to decide

between two speakers for the rears in the room (29L x 17D x 9H).

... My challenge is the size of the Cornwalls (huge) just kind of

overwhelm the seating area and an array of the KS-525-THX would be a

lot easier on everybody. It would also be nice to keep the Cornwalls up

in the apartment with my 2-channel SET gear.

May I ask the obvious... why not use Heresys or KTP-250s... they would seem to be a closer match?

ROb

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May I ask the obvious... why not use Heresys or KTP-250s... they would seem to be a closer match?

ROb

Hi Rob, hope you're well. It's been fun watching your basement work over in architectural. What you're doing is WAAAAAY over my talent level [;)]

As far as the KTP's, I looked at them and thought they were very much like the Heresy. In fact, Tom Adams mentioned them as well. When I looked at the spec sheet, though, I see that they are also the same size roughly except they are tapered to accommodate the downward firing angle. The THX surrounds, on the other hand, are roughly half the size. I just think they'll be less intrusive in the room.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Yesterday, we hooked up our KG4's for surround to glean how much music is pushed through on various mixes. Listened to a few 5:1 CDs, concert DVDs, and also LOTR DVD.

We previously assumed the music pushed through the surrounds would be minimal. Nuances. Nope! It's significant. We learned alot yesterday. Lesser quality speakers only detracts/ruins the sound of the khorns. Darn. $$$ & size.

What I'd like to know is.... How do you guys manage a big heritage speaker as a center if you have a TV there? I'm at a loss as to how to pull that off. I've seen some pics of TV's resting on sidways LaScalas, etc. But I question how that sounds with the horn vertical and the other problem is vibration but moreso, the TV would have to be pretty high up. I think many people have their TVs too high. Not eye level.

Is it possible to rig 2 speakers on each side of the TV as a center somehow?

Or, has anyone split the 2 horns from the bass bin? Somehow mounting the horns above the TV with the bass bin on the floor?

I just can't work out in my head how to incorporate a big heritage center with a TV & I'd appreciate any enlightenment. Thanks!

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Chris - Thanks. Your system must sound great. Judging from your pics, we sit closer to the tv and also have a dlp which has a bit more stuff at the bottom of the set. I'd really like to retain eye level viewing (eye level being in the center of the screen).

I'm either going to have to build something or buy a true center channel - which is a shame. I just can't see any other way around it.

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"KLF-C7 makes a good center for K-horns. " - NOT!!!! Who are you trying to kid here? I am not saying that it won't sound good, but it is certainly not a match at all. It was designed and built with the Legend Series in mind KLF-10, 20, and 30. If you heard the correct center you could pick that KLF-C7 out like a sore thumb.

Find a way, the minimum I would use would be a Cornwall, Heresy if you just can't make anything bigger happen.

Choices for Center from a timbre not aesthetic perspective:

1. La Scala

2. Belle

3. Cornwall

4. Heresy

I had to lay my La Scala on it's side with my current TV, but that will be resolved shortly.

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Frz! I've been dieing to see a pic of your setup. I can't imagine how great it must sound. We thought about putting one Scala under the TV. Not desireable, but I 'think' I could stomach it. The TV would be 5" higher and that's not too bad. A sideways Cornwall would be even higher. Any issues with the horn being sideways?

Can I ask the size of your room? If the TV is in the center, it seems your khorns are pretty close together. Perhaps like mine.

Frzninvt - I'm curious as to how you will change your center setup. And also, your Scala looks quite pretty and I'm wondering what stain, etc. got it to that point. I think I'd have to tweak these if I buy them.

Also, does anyone know if it possible to use ONE LaScala as a rear? And how this would be wired? Or is that a silly idea?

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It is an older photo and my system has already changed quite a bit since it was taken. I have some newer ones at home this was the only photo I had at work to give you an idea.

The Cornwall is the same width as the La Scala ~24" so it would be the same height laying on its side. The Cornwall is only 15.5" deep, vs. the 18.75" for the Belle, and 24" for the La Scala.

I have to lay the La Scala on its side otherwise the screen would be too high! I want to get a flat panel 42" LCD, Plasma, etc. so I can stand the La Scala right side up and a flat panel with a center mounted stand would be the only way to go. You could also use a split La Scala which gives more placement flexibility. Having the horn off axis from some of the seating positions has not been a problem but then again I have special DeanG Auricapped network in it and it really shines. My spot on the couch I look right down the horn throat so it is not really a problem for me at all.

The Khorn's only look close together because of all the gear stuffed between them, the Velodyne subs are 20" cubes, the Khorn's are on a 18' Wall. The rack was custom made from northern pine by a local craftsman that I know. It has a door but I took it off.

The La Scala is a 1978 finished in Birch Raw and has no finish applied, I just use Scott's Liquid Gold on it every 6 months and it makes it almost the same shade as the Oak Oil Khorn's.

Yes you can use a single La Scala in the rear, but they are deep - a full 2 feet deep.

Hope this helps.

Yes, it sounds killer! To say the least.

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"

Seriously, why bother?

If you are listening

to music then 2-channel is fine (perhaps supplemented with an additive

center). When you go beyond that, then you are in the world of gimmicks

and effects."

PT, for 2.0 sources, three words:

seven "channel" stereo

gimmicky? yes. the right kind o' gimmicky? oh yes, 'specially for parties. [<:o)]

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meagain--

If you really want to get anal and do the thing right and get the best timbre match possible, you'll not only need to match the speakers as closely as possible, you'll need to match the drivers as well: e. g., K-55-V with K-55-V, etc. In other words, you would need to stick with speakers that were made at about the same time as your Khorns. I would also suggest that you match the size of the horns as closely as you reasonably can: e. g., K-400 with K-400 or K-400 with K-500 (K-600 at a minimum; the Heresies just don't have a full enough voice to do justice to many rear tracks).

If more Khorns are out of the question (quite understandable), then I would suggest La Scala (for purely sonic reasons), Belles (for sonic and aesthetic reasons), or Cornwalls. A Belle would be a good choice for the center channel, since the viewer looks in that direction the most, and the Belle is the most beautiful speaker Klipsch made. In my opinion the best sonic and aesthetic compromise--if you're going to compromise--would be three more Belles.

You also need to match the crossovers to the extent possible--even the individual components in the crossovers, since they can have a significant effect on the sound as well.

If you do all that you'll have a guaranteed seamless 360 degrees of fantastic sound, which in my opinion is worth the care and effort it takes.

In movies, anyway, I agree there is a lot of gimmickery in the rear channels, much less so in music considering music's concert hall and/or audience ambience. However, the gimmickery in movies is lots of fun, especially when some jet or bullet in an action movie comes screaming past your ears from left front to right rear or birds in a jungle picture call from all around you. It makes you look over at your partner and grin.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

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