Klipschorn Style Bass Horns

[3dzapper]

"Also, I remember a club that had 8 K-Horns; 2 in each corner, with the bass horns stacked and the mid-tweets stacked on top of those. Sort of how I stack my LSI's. Made me think that the K-Horn was modular. This was around 1977-78. Did Klipsch ever make the K-Horn in a modular config? Or did someone have fun with a sawzall?"

Bill, Khorns, unlike LaScalas, are manufactured in two pieces. The bass bin and "top hat" that holds the K-400 and tweeter. That club must have ROCKED!!!

Rick

[D-MAN]

very nice!

Ain't shipping a hassle?!

DM

[Guest " "]

earlier in the thread I refered to the unfinished versions that klipsch used to offer as model c's, but infact, after checking some of my old pubs, they are model d's. rough bass bin, flat mounting panel for the squaker and tweeter

[Bill Cain]

Bill, Khorns, unlike LaScalas, are manufactured in two pieces. The bass bin and "top hat" that holds the K-400 and tweeter. That club must have ROCKED!!!

Rick

Well, my LSI splits's are configured just as I saw those K-Horns. I didn't know how the K-Horn was constructed. But now I'll ask the question again.

Would Klipsch sell the K-Horn bass bin, unloaded, for those DIY folks?

Rocked? Yes, it did. []

Was in Philadelphia and called "The Second Story." Room was 40' or so square with a very high ceiling. Had been some sort of place of worship and was on the second floor of the building, IIRC. You could see the blue faceplates of a bank of SS MacIntosh amps, in the DJ booth, from the dance floor. I think the only thing they had besides the K-Horns were some JBL bullet clusters over the dance floor. Very clean, smooth sound in 1978 / 79 era.

[DizRotus]

They never have and probably never will.

[bluesboy]

That's why I'm building them. How much do you think Klipsch would charge if they did offer unloaded bass bins?

[Bill Cain]

How much do you think Klipsch would charge if they did offer unloaded bass bins?

Good question. In 1973 a University S-9 cabinet was somewhere between $150 and $200, IIRC. Are other components available? If Klipsch sells horns, crossovers, drivers or diaphrams, why not empty cabinets?

You'd then be able to use vintage stuff or get the latest Klipsch woofers. Once they have you locked into a Genuine Kipsch cabinet, you might be more likely to stay Klipsch, if only for the potential resale value.

They'd be great for the person who has cabinets that have been damaged, or if you want to have a set made of woods never offered.

For those who want to use different mids and tweets, oh well. []

Think of the custom club possibilities, with the bass bins in every corner, stacked 2 or 3 high, with each stack appropriately dalayed to coincide with flown mid and tweet arrays.

What about a stage-wide horizontal array, coupling with the floor?

Build it and people will use it. Don't and they won't If they sell 200 Klipschorns a year, great. To ignore another potential revenue stream, that can bootstrap component sales and enhance a vintage market, is kinda short-sighted.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. []

[formica]

Would Klipsch sell the K-Horn bass bin, unloaded, for those DIY folks?

They used to, but no longer do. You could have bought the LF bin

of the "D" models from Klipsch Pro... John Warren had a couple

himself. I don't think Khorns are even available from Klipsch Pro

any longer... which would explain why the LF aren't offered.

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/392293.aspx

I don't know alot about it though, but several oldtimers here could

probably give you more info. On the other hand, PWK's Jubilee is

now available as a LF cabinet. Those would make a great project IMHO...

ROb

[BEC]

And this thread:

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/654499.aspx

Gives the Klipsch position on sale of drivers to DIY folks.

Bob

[bluesboy]

Bill,

There you go. If a pair of 1973 S-3s went for 400 bucks then you would have to think 800 bucks for a set of K-Horn bass bins in 2006 would have to a bargin. I doubt if a DIYer building hybrid K-Horns is worried about re-sale value. So what difference does it make if it's a Genuine Klipsch cabinet?

Don

[Guest " "]

I looked at the link

sounds like oem can not think about selling parts to DIY guys unless the parts in question are for models that are 5 years old, and not used on later models.

since such stuff show up on ebay new in a box, with comments that they were obtained from oem employees, perhaps the only DIY folks that can get these, work for oem.

They probally fall into the same category as the ball caps that oem say's is not worth auctioning on e-bay.

[Guest " "]

btw, this must explain the belle's that oem put on ebay.

the cabs were stock, set aside for warrenty work, but since it has been 5 years....out they go.

[Bill Cain]

Bill,

There you go. If a pair of 1973 S-3s went for 400 bucks then you would have to think 800 bucks for a set of K-Horn bass bins in 2006 would have to a bargin. I doubt if a DIYer building hybrid K-Horns is worried about re-sale value. So what difference does it make if it's a Genuine Klipsch cabinet?

Don

<S-9's, actually>

Yes, $800 for a set of K-Horn cabinets would be a 'very' nice price, if they were indeed properly constructed. Of course, Klipsch never made MDF K-Horns, so we can't use that price point in discussing them.

That said, if someone offered to build me cabinets and was not concerned about re-sale value, I would look elsewhere. But that's just me.

I usually buy things for the long haul, and not for resale. The last equipment I sold was in 1979 and was yanked out of a disco I closed. I still have seller's remorse for a pair of TD-124's I sold.

I was cleaning out the attic, today. Found a walnut case for my Nakamichi 1000, in the factory carton. Didn't even know I had one. LOL

Good equipment is timeless. The better quality you start out with, the further ahead you'll be. []

[Bill Cain]

I looked at the link sounds like oem can not think about selling parts to DIY guys unless the parts in question are for models that are 5 years old, and not used on later models. since such stuff show up on ebay new in a box, with comments that they were obtained from oem employees, perhaps the only DIY folks that can get these, work for oem.

The definitive post said:

FYI: Klipsch only sales replacement drivers. We do not sale to the DIY guy to build his own speakers.

We keep parts around for 5 years due to our warranty. When they are gone they are gone.

If we were to sale them as DIY parts, we would run out of parts before the 5 years are up.

I fully understand that explanation.

After all, you have to support the product line and selling off items not made in-house could jeopardise that. So, drivers, and horns might be waaaaay out of the question.

But I would think that in-house products, such as cabinets and crossovers, might make a nice profit for Klipsch. It certainly would enhance the perception that.....

Klipsh builds timeless products. [8-|]

[Guest " "]

I am with you on this.

I have seen on ebay in the last 90 days

a. a set of bottom section klipsch model-d's, with woofers, and mid horn, less than 600 bucks

b. a klipsch model-d paired with a ev kd-2 section, kd-2 was birch plywood, both cabs had woofers, squawkers, xovers, tweeters, less than 600 bucks

c. numerous k-2 cab;s, mostly empty, plywood, 150 bucks and be low each.

d. seen fatboys and other offerings for more than 800 bucks, empty, but can't tell if anyone is buying.

[TRiv]

To anyone interested, the bass bins Don ( bluesboy) has offer are top notch quality from a construction and performance perspective. Having used these for a few months now, the price with shipping was well worth it. Having used and experimented with a pair of 1977 Cornwalls I purchased on ebay ( a bit rough @ $425) I wanted to upghrade to Khorns, and at the time mostly junk was available or sellers would not ship or I was outbid, I posted on the forum here looking for Khorn bins, and Don had a pair he built for sale. As others, I preffered a pair of factory built cabinets, but no longer wanted to look at cabinets from non shipping sellers, or cigarette smoke/ animal dander/ water damaged examples. so I bought these from Don.

As a tradesman/technician myself, I see the Klipsch/Speakerlab-K/ Electro- Voice KD-2 cabinets as very labor intensive to build, and why Klipsch may no longer sell a bare Khorn bin, costs too much labor time. I think his price is worth the quality of build and performance once assembled. I have done machining work to .0005" and am impressed with how close the panel fits are on these bins, as for nails on the cabinets, you can not see them hardly them, as they are from some fancy nail gun, and they are there simply to hold the panels together till the glue dries, unlike the big screws used in factory bins, or big nails used in factory EV Georgian/106 bins.

My 77 fair condition Cornwalls components K-33P, K55V. K77 along with a pair of Altec 511B's ( soon to be 203B's) and BEC typeA crossovers have a great home in these bins, and in my opinion are now far superior to the Cornwalls they came from, thanks to the K type bin.

P.S. these bins are new , and smell new

[bluesboy]

Thank you Triv.