Pending KHorn Purchase, Need Help Fast

[Parrot]

As others have said, these are definitely stained. In the 003 picture on audiogon, you can see the stain around the edge of the back, going in about an inch or two.

[meagain]

You might have to put some elbow grease into these.

[Daddy Dee]

KC BR= "K"lipschorn- "C" Model- "B"irch- "R"aw...mine were this way too...brings their worth down a bit from the "norm" but they sound just as sweet...nice score...enjoy! Bill

So if they are in fact Walnut then they will say KC WO correct? And on the wayoff chance they are black walnut like he says (he did not even know what cross overs where in them, I had to tell him where to look) any idea what would come after the KC? Did they even offer black walnut on a C model in 77, or just later on with the B?

DWILwayer,

Yes, that would be one of two designations for walnut veneer. WO for "walnut, oiled" the other would be WL for "walnut lacquered"

[LarryC]

Travis, see the pics and bookmatching in Klipschorn finishes --

Larry

[3dzapper]

Travis, Those are my Khorn's (SN 11R368 & 69) sisters. And I must say with a slight prejudice 68 and 69 are the best sounding Khorns ever made!!! They look exactly alike prior to my veneering mine with a nicely figured black walnut. Originally all four were clear unfinished, cabinette grade, baltic birch.

[jcmusic]

dwilawyer,

I have a pair of 1977 khorns, the s/n on mine reads KC-BB-R 316-317, that's black birch with # 40 sheen black laquer. Mine also have the round type tweeter k77 k55 k33.

Jay

[PrestonTom]

Looks like there is an adventure in store. I hope the deal works out for you.

In case you were unaware, the cabinets are very heavy. Fortunately, the top is easily removed from the bass bin (a pair of wing nuts). This will make it a bit easier to move.

My recommendation when you test them out is NOT to worry about the amplification, source, etc. Those differences are minor compared to the placement issue. What you should primarily worry about is that the cabinets are snug in a corner. Secondarily, it is important to listen with the cabinets directly facing you (at + & - 45 degrees).

Incidently, if you can't live with the dark stain, please do not assume that it is easy to strip or sand off the old stain and make it lighter. That is potentially a great deal of work and the results are typically less than perfect.

Good Luck,

-Tom

[Travis In Austin]

Thanks for all of the help, this is exactly what I needed to know. I am going to go look at them this evening and figure that these will need to be veneered by a professional, unless I can figure out a way to get wardsweb to do it.

3d: Those are beautiful? Where did you purchase your veneer?

Thanks again for all of the help,

Travis

[garymd]

Travis,

You can tell they are raw birch because you can see the plys on the edges. Dark walnut my arse!

I have nothing against "C" models (which mine are BTW) but these are nothing special. I also think the price is a tad on the high side for KC-BRs. They might be worth pursuing if you can talk him down some. They seem to be in good shape.

Good luck!

[meagain]

IDK - I think if you didn't like the stain (or it was put on poorly), you can tweak it pretty easily. I've done birch before that was stained dark walnut. Dark, muddy, blotchy. I changed it to what birch wants to be - light. It turned out quite nice. I just stripped the heck out of it.

Here's a nice birch cornwall redo. Pretty color, etc - http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/595306.aspx

I like the look of C's. Clean and zen.

[3dzapper]

"3d: Those are beautiful? Where did you purchase your veneer?"

Believe it or not. Ebay.

I watched and watched until this perfect, wide, highly figured, book matched lot showed up. It was was worth waiting for and I made sure my bid would win.

Rick

[Travis In Austin]

"3d: Those are beautiful? Where did you purchase your veneer?"

Believe it or not. Ebay.

I watched and watched until this perfect, wide, highly figured, book matched lot showed up. It was was worth waiting for and I made sure my bid would win.

Rick

Do you mind telling me what you paid and what size you were able to find that were "book matched."

Travis

[Travis In Austin]

To all those who responded thanks again, the information was very helpful. I went and looked at those speakers tonight and, like everyone suspected, they are KC-BR's, for sure stained. The seller said that he was made aware of the of the Birch vs. Walnut issue by someone else. The original owner knew what he was doing as far at the staining goes. As usual, the pictures do not do justice to the way they actually appear. Tops look like glass, no ring marks, no dints, dings, etc. There is only one ding on one where the right side meets the top.

Turns out the seller is really good friends with a gun dealer buddy of mine, the seller is a representative for a shotgun shell company and shotgun manufacturer, who knew a good friend of mine, blah, blah blan.

As far as the price, he said he really was fixed on the price even though he realized that the Birch are not as valuable as the wood ones. The impression is that he heard them as a kid, always wanted a pair, got a pair, hates the fact he has no room at the new place, really did not want to sell them, and came up with $2,100 as a price he can live with to sell them. He said he received one inquiry that had about 20 questions he answered, sounds like one of our forum members.

I have seen Oak sell recently for $3,000 on ebay, I don't know what BR's have sold for recently on ebay. Kind of debating whether to hold off on waiting for exotic wood and paying more, getting new for 7,500 or so from a dealer in Texarkana (Trey said he might be able to arrange for me to sign mine as my own insptector while at the Hope Gathering in June, or jump on these. I do know that there has not been a pair for sale in Austin in the last few years so I could be waiting a long time. If there was a good chance that I could get about $2,000 out of them pretty easily I think I would be tempted to jump on them since that would give me the option of lookiing at the new Khorns in Hope, and also be on the lookout for exotic wood newer herritage, or even possible go with a veneer job myself.

Went back to remeasure the room to make sure everything is going to fit correctly, and ran into a major WAF obsticle when my wife found out that I was going to need a pony wall in to form a right corner (picture will follow). Corner to Corner will be 12'8", and looking at the 45 degree angle from the corners it looks like they intersect about 7' from the wall, which looks way short to me. So any comments from folks who have Khorns on a 12 to 13 wall would be most appreciated.

Any thoughts, suggestions, comments would be most appreciated. Thanks again for all of the information given last night and this a.m., it came in very handy this evening. The seller almost fainted when I showed him that the tops came off with wing nuts, he said he was not aware of that and it always took 4 guys to move them.

Travis

[Travis In Austin]

Shot of the room they are going into., They will replace the LS's. Will need a pony wall for the right corner, wife is not too happy that it will have to extend 4' out.

Travis

[Travis In Austin]

Second shot shows more of the right speaker location, where pony wall (false corner) will have to go. The corner to corner length is 12'8"

[garymd]

Travis,

Mine are in 13' corners and I love them. The problem, as you know, is that the sweet spot is between 6' and 8' back. I don't mind and yes, they sound good sitting farther back but just not AS good. I'll be expanding my room down the road sometime and expect to widen them to about 18'. In the meantime, I'm very happy using them as headphones.[]

[Travis In Austin]

Travis,

Mine are in 13' corners and I love them. The problem, as you know, is that the sweet spot is between 6' and 8' back. I don't mind and yes, they sound good sitting farther back but just not AS good. I'll be expanding my room down the road sometime and expect to widen them to about 18'. In the meantime, I'm very happy using them as headphones.[]

Gary,

Luther (Wardsweb), when he was up here last month said "you should get Khorns." I then talked to you and, since you love to spend other people's money, (you work for a bank right?), gave me some great advice on this project which got the whole thing started.

Everyone that I have ever seen write about your Khorn set up has loved the sound, so that is a mighty strong vote in favor of moving from LS to Khorn for this room. Problem is they are going to have to dual as HT speakers in this setup whereas now, the LS are two channel only and KSP 400's are HT left and right speaker. There will just not be room to keep the KSP's in the HT configuration.

Travis

[Kudret]

Gary,

I had mine in 17' corners and I never liked the imaging I was getting.

Now they are 14' apart and not in the corners anymore. They are toed in

so that the sweet spot is 10' away and I like them this way better. Of

course, bass does not go as low anymore. I've been thinking about

building false corners, but I am not too thrilled about the looks of

false corners.

Kudret

[PrestonTom]

Gary,

I had mine in 17' corners and I never liked the imaging I was getting. Now they are 14' apart and not in the corners anymore. They are toed in so that the sweet spot is 10' away and I like them this way better. Of course, bass does not go as low anymore. I've been thinking about building false corners, but I am not too thrilled about the looks of false corners.

Kudret

Kudret,

I understand your concern about the look of false corners. However, with a bit of imagination & creativity they can be made to blend in pretty well. I, and others, have been able to do this sucessfully (in my opinion). Since it will certainly help the sound, it should be considered.

Good Luck,

-Tom

[rcarlton]

I have seen Oak sell recently for $3,000 on ebay, I don't know what BR's have sold for recently on ebay.  Kind of debating whether to hold off on waiting for exotic wood and paying more, getting new for 7,500 or so from a dealer in Texarkana (Trey said he might be able to arrange for me to sign mine as my own inspector while at the Hope Gathering in June, or jump on these.  I do know that there has not been a pair for sale in Austin in the last few years so I could be waiting a long time. 

Travis

Travis,

I found a mint pair of Oiled Oak in Houston last year. Got them for $2,500. Be patient...there is a pair out there for you.