What speakers did you own before becoming Klipschheads?

[dtel]

A few no name {cheap,cheap}

JBL ? all bass nothing else

DIY 15'' bass horn mid horn high , sounded better than all i had before Klipsch

Baby advents , still have them in workshop

Some other can't recall name big 15'' bass ,mid and high cones sounded ok,dull .....Gave them to son in law with old prologic receiver

Synergy sb3 ss1 sc1 better than many, Gave them to friend this past christmas ,he lost everything in the storm,never had Klipsch before. He loved they way they sounded ,i did warn his wife it would cause him to want more Klipsch .She laughed, she has no idea what i started.

Forte ll

another pair Forte ll a few months later

still need one more pair

This is not the end of this story.

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Here are my speaker purchases in a nutshell with commentary added to establish timeframe:

Grew up on my stepfather's Bose 601's (1970's) - thought they were awesome, had the 1970's shaggy hair, tube socks, a BMX and flip flops.

1988 Bought JBL L60T's (Realy wanted L100's but could not afford them). This is where I learned that the whole "direct reflecting technology" is pure crap that ignores the recording engineer's efforts. I learned what "stereo imaging" was. I also bought two cerwin vega subwoofers and had custom cabnets made for them. Had a mullet, Calvin Klein Jeans and a 69 Camaro.

1989 Added Bose 201's for a workout room, best sounding speakers for $200 at the time - later sold them to a buddy for $50 and he just recently gave them back to me. Mullet getting longer - decided Calvin Klein Jeans were not cool and went bak to Levi's.

1992 - small pair of JBL bookshelf speakers for surround speakers. Mullet hitting full plumage - added Simpson's tee shirt.

1996 - Klipsch KLF30's - had them for three weeks then returned them because they were "too harsh" - mullet gone, had long hair to shoulders usullay in a pony tail - flannel shirts, muscle cars and old Corvettes are cool so maybe a little grease under my fingernails too. Thought that every car should have a Rockford Fosgate amp and subwoofer.

2002 - saw an ad in the paper for K horns in Tigerwood - remember thinking they were cool when I was a kid (never heard them) and bought them even though they were in the middle of the room, hooked to a JVC receiver and sounded like crap. Short hair - corporate cut, had to start wearing dress pants and polo type shirts, drove a Ford ranger because it was practicle and got good gas mileage (at least compared to a big block Chevy).

2003 - Couple of pairs of Heresys. Same short hair & corporate cut and truck.

2004 - Belles, an SW 15 and an Academy. Add several Armani suits and Ties to the corporate cut - the runners call me "sir" and I am realizing that I am becomming a cog in the system working for very closely with "The Man".

2005 - sold the JBL L60's, Bought Magneplanars, was given a set of JBL L55x's and my old Bose 201's. Also picked up a set of factory built Speakerlab K Horn clones, JBL 2404's, JBL 2470's and Altec 511b's. Reatained corporate cut, but went in-house counsel and could finally stop wearing suits and ties (Anyone interested in several Armani and Calvin Klein Suits and Ties in 42 regular (seriously)?) - drive a Lexus and can't understand why anyone would want to hear the exhaust from their car. Now think 'The Man" is a great guy and he even took me for a ride in his helicopter.

2006 - JBL L100T's - finaly got these! Not quite as good as I though when I was a teen, but then again they were really cheap, in perfect condition and work great in my workout room. This year I anticipate unloading the K Horns, one pair of heresys and possibly the academy. Can happily report that the corporate cut is holding up well and not receeding much - get to wear blue jeans (not faded ones) on Fridays and think that is cool because I can't seem to remember that I used to wear jeans every day. Also railroading toward 40 and need to prepare for my impending midlife crisis. I love my wife and don't plan on cheating on her so how the hell am I going to afford a Ferrari?

Chris

[yaffstone]

Some no-name crap out of the back of a white van. Really! This was the last year of college and I hadn't learned much so I went to grad school and used guaranteed student loan money to get a pair of Fortes. Those were my first speakers worth mentioning.

[Jeff Matthews]

Reatained corporate cut, but went in-house counsel and could finally stop wearing suits and ties (Anyone interested in several Armani and Calvin Klein Suits and Ties in 42 regular (seriously)?) - drive a Lexus and can't understand why anyone would want to hear the exhaust from their car.

2006 Can happily report that the corporate cut is holding up well and not receeding much - get to wear blue jeans (not faded ones) on Fridays and think that is cool because I can't seem to remember that I used to wear jeans every day. Also railroading toward 40 and need to prepare for my impending midlife crisis. I love my wife and don't plan on cheating on her so how the hell am I going to afford a Ferrari?

Chris

LOL, Chris! I'm a 42! However, I share your same problem. I wear suits to mediations, court and some (but not all) depositions. Blue Jeans and boots the rest of the time.

I'd stay away from the Ferrari unless you have cash to burn on it. My deal is to live below my means to a significant degree so that I can choose to do whatever the heck I want when I want before I am 45. Fortunately, I'm on track.

I just don't see the value in setting up a budget to buy whatever one's credit lets one afford. Just think of how many hours of life are committed to driving nice cars. Bundling all those hours together and getting them back would be like living in semi-retirement.

If you're thinking like me at this point in my life, you begin to realize that mortality is serious and working too hard for artifacts (consumer goods) is an impediment to easy, early retirement. Plus, who wants to do the same thing for 30+ years anyway? I'm going to real estate after the house is paid for.

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Actually, I never wear suits or ties anymore.

I agree Jeff. Working the amount of hours many law firms want you to work is a waste of a life. Live below your means, make friends with "The Man" and invest with him. Keeping up with the Jones's is a game with no winners and an empty task.

Chris

Don't want to hijack this thread - back on track everyone - but what else was going on in your life when you bought your speakers?

[tkot]

radio shack 10in 2ways

fisher 15 in 3 ways

poineer somethingoranothers

ampex 15 in 3 ways,my first w/horns(in den now)

sansui spz-99's (in the garage now)

then the cornwalls and i've never looked back!

jay

[ranjith]

Well my audio journey started last summer, picked up a single Kenwood 3-way with a 10inch bass woofer, 4inch midrange and a 1.25" tweeter. It was a single speaker, and to make things better the midrange never worked. It was housed in this crappy fragile cabinet. But on the brightside I paid $10 to my neighbour for it. Then in Nov. 2005 I paid half the amount for a Kef iQ3 bookshelf speaker, found the forum a few months prior to that... changed my mind the last minute, got my payment refunded and paid a forum member for my current KG2s. Wow , finally I got two completely functional speakers... music has never sounded sweeter. This is only the beginning of the journey for me, I'm already saving up for an upgrade later

[jacksonbart]

First speakers I brought were Boston Acoutsic T-830 in college, listened to them regularly for about 11 years until I got the RF7s.

[Gilbert]

The very first pair that I can remember were some used Sherwoods or something like that, then Jensen's, and finally, my first real pair of speakers (my parents actually) were some JBL L250's in Teak. The folks still have'em too.

While growing up, I use to frequent my cousins audio store, "Audio Systems". His parents had sold some river front property, and used part of the money to start him off in business. And man! he had a hell of a store. The store originally opened back in the early 70's, and he stocked all the audiophile dream gear. It was a real wet dream to walk into his different showrooms. It was there that I saw and heard my first pair of Klipsch.

I never owned them (Klipsch), or even considered them because of the prices that I remembered my cousin store. Then one day, my brother in law "Frzninvt" CB brought the prices of used heritage to my attention. And today, I now have....

5 Pairs of Cornwalls......1960, 1961, 1967, 1968, 1977 and 1989

2 Pairs of Khorns........1964 (San Diego Road Trip Specials) and 1990

2 Pairs of Indust. Heresy's (Special woodveneer finish)

and lastly

2 Academy's. WO

Still looking for my Belle's..........

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Gilbert,

How do the JBL L250's compare to heritage? I heard them when I was a teenager and was in awe, but that was a long time ago and my benchmark has been raised quite a bit since then. I just picked up some JBL L100T's and they have a nice "warm" sound that is forgiving on harsh sources, but lack the detail of horns. I'm curious about the L250's (I'd buy a pair and integrate them into a room as "art" if they were locally available used for the right price).

Chris

[jt1stcav]

Before Klipsch:

1972 Precor fullrange speakers (that came with the Model 1018 AM/FM stereo receiver with toploaded BSR record changer)

1978 Audiotek 2-way bookshelf loudspeakers (no-name house brand from local hi-fi store, model unknown)

1983 JBL L112 Century II 3-way bookshelf monitors (excellent TOTL bookshelf loudspeakers at that time, recently sold after 31 years of faithful, troublefree service)

1995 Magnepan MGLR1 planar loudspeakers (the best loudspeaker purchase I had ever made up to this point in time, and still one of my personal favorites)

1979 Klipsch Cornwalls (aquired from my dad and temporarely stored until I can relocate my present audio system to a bigger listening room)

After Klipsch:

2003 Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 satellites and powered subwoofer (still in use on my updated PC)

2005 Athena Technologies AS-F2 2-way floorstanding tower loudspeakers (to replace the Cornwalls in my small room)

1998 Triangle Electroacoustique Zephyr 2-way floorstanding tower loudspeakers (to replace the AS-F2s. My youngest brother is using them in his bedroom system, and they're also one of my favorites)

2001 Loth-X Audio Amaze fullrange single-driver, crossoverless bookshelf monitors (next to my Cornwalls these are my personal favorites! I started out with a pair of fullrange Precor single-driver speakers...awful sounding...and now I end up with another pair, the Loth-X Amaze...amazing sounding, and the next best sound IMO to Klipsch horn-loaded loudspeakers!)

[DaleR]

Radio Shack Realistic Mach-1's. I think they were water cooled...Before that I had a couple of crappy speakers that came with one of those all-in-one systems.

Dale

[Gilbert]

Gilbert,

How do the JBL L250's compare to heritage?

Chris

To my ears, they are on the same plane. It's been too long since I've listened to them, to be able to be more specific.

But I do remember cranking them up one day, little by little, waiting....waiting.....and waiting for either the carver amp or the speakers to start coughing. The sound was just so clean and clear, I was truely amazed. But then, like bat's leaving the cave, my mothers figurines started vibrating off the fire place mantle, and I had to stop my tests.

[ZAKO]

Jeff wrote....Who wants to do the same thing for 30 years.....Well i worked in the same company for 30 years. & was never on the same project twice. We put a man on the moon,,,Designed & built the best fighters in the world,,,designed Hypersonic transatmosferic planes,,,Fusion reacter designs,,,,fired corporate bean counters & lawyers,,,All this activity produced for me a great home (all paid in cash) A JBL Paragon,,,JBL Metragon,,,Klipschorns (4 units),,, tube equipment,,,plus solid state Krells,,,cars up the ying yang,,,,I stay away from sports cars. You know what they say about sports cars & a old fart driving them.. Its been a good life , wife is happy I,m happy. Im sitting on the edge of a beautiful lake sipping my port. taking it all in.

[gaspr]

Started with a cheap Sears Combo...then a big step up to a pair of

Altec Model 15's (my sister still owns these)...then one day out

of the blue, my friend wanted me to go with him to shop for

speakers. One of our local dealers had just begun selling Klipsch

so in we went to check it out. My friend came home empty

handed, but I came home with a set of KCBR's. Love at first

sight I guess. Oh to be young and foolish again. Never

regretted it though, I still got em.

Garth

[Soundthought]

I didn't have many speakers, before I discovered Klipsch.

One or two sets...maybe.

But.... once I got bit by "the bug".. it has been down hill, ever since.

Now, some 80% of my collection is of the irreplaceable type.

regards,

John

[Duke Spinner]

Altec's all the way .... Baby...

i probably once owned everthing they sold

bought JBL L-36's .. in '76

smaller speaker to replace some Heath/ Altecs that wouldn't fit in a rented room ...[]

[colterphoto1]

Had some early Cerwin Vega's 10" 2 way I believe. Loud as heck, but not really that clean. Then traded up to Altec model 7's 10" 3 way ported. Still have the boxes in the garage, but all drivers long since toast.

Bought my first pair of Cornwalls and never looked back.

NEVER a Bose speaker crossed my path!

Michael

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Come on Colter. I was waiting for for a complete list of your klipsch purchases. 2 speakers listed, what fun is that.

OH yea, don't forget, I have had two Bose speakers cross my path (I am getting my JBL's woofers re-foamed tomorrow and had to hook up my Bose 2.2's today for my workout room) but I still have the coveted Tigerwood K Horns.

Chris

[colterphoto1]

Well Tiger, it said 'BEFORE" becoming a Klispchhead, so I figured that was all that needed to be listed.

My sig line has the entire current inventory of the 'House of Klipsch'. I can't remember all the tales now, suffice to say that all but that first pair of CW's happened in the last 18 months!

Michael