Paul Klipsch and the Electrovoice Aristocrat

[macaltec]

Thanks for the info and welcome guys. I got my hands on some plans to build the Arisocrat. Pretty straight forward, should be a nice weekend project. I ran across some pics/plans for the Georgian on ebay. I must say I like the looks of that as well. Wonder why it looks so familiar[^o)]???

[garyrc]

I definitely remember the Aristocrat being advertised in very late 1950s catalogues (BA? Lafayette?) as a Klipsch design. In fact, it was in one of these ElectroVoice ads that my circle of teenaged instrumentalists first heard the word "Klipsch." My guess is that PWK let them adapt and miniaturize the corner horn in exchange for his use of some of their drivers.

In about 1958, we visited Joe Minor's Berkeley Custom Electronics (a "hole in the wall" store, but the best anywhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, often visited by PWK when he was in town) and auditioned Klipschorns in stereo (from 15 ips two track tape). One of us described the sound as "free floating" (a good thing). We had never heard reproduction that so nearly resembled the natural sound of the traveling orchestra in which we all played, except for the sound in the 70mm Todd-AO version of Around the World in 80 Days(1956, ran almost 2 years in 70mm), with it's 6 channel magnetic sound (double system), reproduced over gigantic JBL theatre systems. Amazingly, Joe Minor's two Klipschorns, Marantz tube electronics, and tape source, sounded just about as impressive as 6 channel Todd-AO, and slightly purer and more effortless at times.

Naturally, none of us could begin to afford K-Horns, but one bought Aristocrats, with an EV two-way speaker system. They, too, produced "free floating" sound, without the usual stodginess and groundedness (a bad thing) that the usual boxy sounding bass reflex and infinite baffle speakers of the time. The EV T35 tweeter (K-77) was cortex tingling. A joyful experience all around. The Aristocrat enclosure did quite well in the upper bass, but seemed to roll off very severely below 80 Hz (we never ran a curve), as did the popular JBL C34 and Karalson horn speaker enclosures. All three of these enclosures (with appropriate speakers) seemed to reproduce more effortlessly than all other speakers at the 1959 Hi Fi fair, except for the Klipschorns, and the JBL Paragon. The latter two were by far the most orchestra-like of all speakers there (including AR, the Bozak Concert Grand, and the EV Patrician). The Klipschorn seemed the best balanced by far, with much more realistic bass than the overall runner-up, the Paragon. The AR (1?) had smooth bass, but was undynamic, and, unfortunately, as muddy as hell.

Musically, the Aristocrat held its own. I ended up with improved Klipschorns 23 years later, and never regretted it. Now, 47 years later, I'm about to install the AK-4 upgrade. I'll let you know what my family and I think of them after we have lived with them a few months.

[Parrot]

Excellent post, Gary. Please write more when the feeling moves you. What instrument did you play?

[SilverSport]

oh yes, yes...you can paint a picture...thank you...Bill

[garyrc]

Parrot,

In answer to your question, in the orchestra, I was in the kitchen, i.e., I was a percussionist. Naturally, I became a fan of unrestricted dynamic range, shimmering cymbals, and bass with authority and depth. At home, I fooled around & improvised on the piano endlessly, but rarely with anyone else present. One advantage of being a percussionist is that there are many long rests, and, if you know the music, you don't have to count. During the rehearsals, we percussionists would slip out into the audience area during the rests and listen to the orchestra from various close-in seats. This, playing in many different halls, and listening to competing orchestras gave us a good sense of what live music sounded like. It sounded like music played through Klipschorns, and a little less so, through Paragons.

It's interesting that you should ask what instrument I played, because when we went traipsing off to Hi Fi fairs, sound stores, and the like, we noticed a relationship between instrument played and speaker preference. At the top, there was more or less a consensus that the clean sound of the Klipschorn and the Paragon won out, but with less expensive speakers, the preferences were telling. The brass section liked JBL, Klipsch, EV, and sometimes Altec. The little EV Aristocrat, with the T-35 tweeter, did well and was less expensive than most. Violins, violas, and cellos liked Bozak, and the smaller Bozaks seemed more integrated to them than the Concert Grand. Upon discussion, we found that the preference for Bozak was 1) for the "wood sound" of the cello, and 2) Because the Bozaks had less of a tendency to make massed strings harsh or steely than other speakers. Nonetheless, we concluded that the natural sound of massed strings was well nigh impossible to record. For one thing, the gutty, "phasey," (?) marvelously exciting sound that seems to grow out of position differences, and slight time differences in attack on the part of the many players, is almost always missing. The first time we heard it reproduced was, once again, in our favorite 70mm 6 channel mag sound theatre, during the overture in Ben-Hur. Over the decades, we found that a few of us had been trying to recapture that sound, from any massed strings recording that presented itself, and from Ben-Hur in particular. The Lp (not even the true soundtrack, due to a contract dispute) sucked in this regard, as did the VHS, the Rhino CD, and the DVD. Until now. Finally, with PWK's "Wide Stage Stereo," two Klipschorns and a Belle in the center, I've got it -- but only from certain seats.

I'm convinced that nearly any speaker that purports to be good, can sound pretty good if positioned and tweaked with tender care, in an acoustically good room. My friends and I almost always disliked the Bose 901 series, finding it muddy and lifeless. But I've been visiting Alphonso's Mercantile in Mendocino Village, CA every 5 years or so since he got his Bose 901s in 1972. Every time, the sound is great, incredibly natural, in a room that is an acoustical marvel, by design, or by accident. The little craft and music shop is a small, L shaped clapboard affair, overlooking an inlet in the ocean. He has a great music reference library, music from all over the world, and encyclopedic knowledge of classical and contemporary orchestral offerings. He introduced me to music I would probably never have otherwise known, like Kabelac's Mystery of Time. Whenever I buy CDs from him, it takes several hours to get them to sound as good on my home system. Some of us are getting long in the tooth -- I hope Alphonso is still there.

[homemadeheresy]

I can't find my book about PWK right at the moment, but the REBEL comes to mind. I think it had a folded rear section for the backwash, if you will, of the primary driver. If I remember correctly PWK didn't like it very much. Don't quote me I am probably wrong, but when I come across my book I'll double check.

[macaltec]

I just got my "Do it Yourself" build the Aristocrat speaker enclosure detailed manual. The guy I got it from did a top notch job of the reproduction. Lots of details and instructions. Related to my original post on this speaker the the first page has this printed at the bottom:

"These designs are covered by Klipsch patents 2,310,243 and 2,373,692. Home construction for personal use is expressly granted by Paul W Klipsch, but construction for resale or commercial purposes is forbidden."

Guess he had something to do with it after all. I'll check the patent numbers later.

Posted this on AK as well

[pmsummer]

I have been a Klipsch fan for for 30 years.

Welcome to forums. Glad to see the "Klipsch Klubhouse" has caused some cross-pollenization!