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What was your first exposure to Klipsch???


michael hurd

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My first exposure to Klipsch was when I was 16, a friend of my brother had a pair of Klipschorns, driven by a Carver M1.0T amp. I had heard them a few times at very moderate listening levels, and marvelled at the sound coming out of thes beheomeths. One day he put on a CD, and told me to "fasten my seatbelt".... and proceded to crank "Burning down the house" by Talking Heads.... Nearfield, it felt like someone was kicking me in the back.

Needless to say I was hooked from then on.... I was Dj'ing at the time, and could not ever come close to the incredible clarity and dynamics that those Klipsch presented.

Many years I went without while friends bought and changed stereo's ( DJ stuff belonged to another brother, I just used it ), I kept thinking about those mighty Klipschorns. My first real stereo was in my car, and even then it did not hold a candle to the clarity and dynamics I craved.

Fast forward a few years, and I was finally able to afford Klipsch for the first time. Nirvanna at last...

So what is your story?

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My first exposure to Klipsch was in the mid to late 70's..

I was in a Hi-Fi shop just killing time and happened upon a cool looking console stereo. It had a nice looking wood color and had cloth the top part and cloth around the speakers below.

Hmmm..I wonder if it has a TT and an 8 track in it.

So, first I try to open the top to see what's in it...It's not budging. I just assumed that the store locked it down so no one would mess with it.

I then proceeded to look it over one side down the other trying to figure out how this !#!#$ console stereo worked.

After about 10 minutes of sheer puzzlement, I here a voice from behind me.."May I ask what you are doing?"

"Just lookin to see if this console stereo had an 8 track player and a TT". I said boldly and confidently.

with a chuckle and a smile, the salesman says "Son, this isn't a stereo, it is a high end loudspeaker".

My cover was blown..I pretty much proved I didn't have any business being in that store and was all set to be escorted out by my ear.

Instead, the salesman asked if I wanted to hear a real stereo set-up that you will remember for a lifetime.

"Heck yeah, I said" and he was right..I still remember the sound to this day.

I don't remember what source was used but I do remember the speakers..

Klipsch Belles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JJ

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In Junior High my best friend's dad had some Klipsch K-horns. Although I didn't hear them much as he didn't let us monkey around with his stereo I remember they were something quite special and had room filling sound. Years later in College a friend of mine got the 4.1 computer system and I was amazed that a computer system could have that kind of sound - I got the 2.1 shortly thereafter and love it - I'm now looking into replacing the AR speakers I inherited and reached audio nirvana listening to some RF62s.. Never dreamt of this kind of fidelity. Recently heard some Khorns again and its still unbeliveable... unfourtuntately they're too big for my current living room, budget and wife... sigh... someday!

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In 1973 I owned a pair of Altec A7 in cherry.

I found a single 1953 Klipschorn in blonde with gold grill cloth at a music store. A guitar player had hooked his amp straight to the SAHF midrange driver and burned it out. I bought it for $90, and replaced the SAHF with an Altec 806. I liked the bass and the highs better on the Klipschorn. I liked the midrange better on the A7s.

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I went into Carlon Audio with a friend. Was 1978. I'd looked with some fascenation at the various Klipsch speakers and their unconventional appearance. I wanted to look at/get the Khorns but knew that was very impractical for me. I was 18 and soon heading off to college. I knew I'd be moving around and lugging those just didn't make any sense. The LaScalas however... made a touch more sense.

I pointed over to "there" and said I wanted to listen to those LaScalas. The (prankster) salesman put something on and proceeded to crank it up. I was very impressed with how loud they went (hey...I was 18 and going to college, what other measure was there?)

I did have a fleeting thought in the back of my head though... for a box that BIG, they sure had wimpy bass. I really expected a lot more bass out of something that huge. It was then that I looked over to see the salesmans face, beet red, laughing at my expense.

Seems they also had a pair of Heresy's (Heresies?) on top of the LaScalas and he pulled the old trick of impress them with the little one (thinking it was the big one) and then blow them away with the big one.

I knew I'd been had but it was funny. We all got a laugh at his trick. As my friend & I left the room, I distinctly remember patting one of the LaScalas on the top and saying to my friend "one day...."

I bought a pair of LaScalas the next year and still have them.

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I first heard Klipschorns in the early 70s at Almas Hi-Fi (powered by McIntosh) in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Birmingham, MI. I next heard them at about the same time at Hi-Fidelity Workshop (powered by Crown) in Royal Oak, MI. As many have said, I too was amazed by the dynamics and clarity. Nothing else came close to sounding like live music.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

That experience caused me to use Klipschorn clones in a mobile DJ business. Thirty years ago I dragged 4 Speakerlab K-horn copies (I know, no match for the real thing in quality, but they weighed the same) around greater Detroit. With 300 watts/channel of Dynaco SS power (into the 4 ohm load of the two 8 ohm speakers/channel), I deafened adolescents all over the <?xml:namespace prefix = u1 />Detroit

It would have been sacrilegiousand prohibitively expensiveto subject real K-horns to that abuse. I knocked down the plywood shipping crates to permanently attach false corners.

As I would roll the first one off the trailer using a dolly, people would gasp at the size of the flat black wooden refrigerator-sized speaker. When I told them that three more were coming, they'd freak.

The sound from those knock-offs was loud and clear, although I fried the T-35 voice coils regularly. EV gave me an open account. A call on Monday would have the new voice coil and a bill for less than $20 at my door in time for the next weekend.

One time a woman called to again book my services. She asked if the price quoted included the drummer. I had a difficult time convincing her that there had not been a real drummer the last time. She was not used to hearing horn-loaded bass speakers played at high volume.

Michael,

Where's the beef?

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1974 my first college roommate and I went to the audio place and brought back three pairs of speakers to audition for the weekend (no way that could happen now days). They were JBLs, the big Advents, and Klipsch decorator Heresys.

The JBLs looked cool but the woofer moved around like crazy just putting the needle into the lead-in groove. Overall they had a very plastic synthetic sound.

The big Advents actually sounded good but they did not really sing until they were really loud and eating about 30 watts.

The Klipsch Heresys sold themselves in a few seconds of amazment. My roommate bought them.

1975 bought a pair for myself. 1976 my roommate from 1975 year bought a pair for himself.

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Well, I do not remeber the year, late 70's early 80's. They were having a dance during the Hope Watermelon Festival or maybe it was during the fair and rodeo. But, the sound was all set up by Klipsch and Mr. PWK was walking around with earmuffs. Probably was not the best sound environment.

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Sometime during the summer of '78, my dad and I walked into a hi-fi store in Newington, CT looking at Nakamichi cassette decks. This establishment also carried McIntosh and Klipsch products, and while my dad talked to a sales associate about purchasing the 680ZX cassette deck, I wandered around one of their sound booths that had a pair of walnut Klipschorns hooked up to a used McIntosh MC275 and Mac preamp (model unknown) and an entry-level Nakamichi deck as a source playing jazz. Even though the Khorns were NOT butted against the corners of the room, these monster horn speakers sounded spectacular and clear, as if I was standing right there with an actual band performing live right in front of me! I was so mesmerized by their sonics that I couldn't move...after my dad made his purchase, he had to hunt me down searching the entire store until he finally found me just standing there, completely enthralled with the music these beasts were producing! My dad didn't act impressed; he was in a hurry to get back home and try out his new toy, so reluctantly I parted ways with the most realistic sounding loudspeakers I've ever heard.

Unbeknownst to me, my dad was just as impressed with the Klipschorns as I was (he didn't let on about it and kept his enthusiasm secret), so much so that several times after work he'd drive from Hartford to Newington just to audition the Klipsch lineup. In '79 when his budget allowed, he finally decided on the Decorator C-BR Cornwalls that our family still uses and enjoy today (although highly modified by my brother chops; see my system profile)![Y]

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I had not heard Klipsch until about 4 years ago when I went to a dealer to listen. But when I found them on the Internet I knew I would like them, because I had been looking at Altec for 30 years. I seen some giant Altec in a old theater when I was younger and liked the sound of them, but never could find a dealer to even see if they made smaller versions. The ones I had seen were much bigger than a Khorn, if I can remember correctly it was more than twice as wide and taller, it was huge. At the time there was no Internet and I had no way to find out if they had home versions, but I loved the horn sound.

Around 1975 I bought a book about speaker building and used it to build a pair of speakers, horn mid and high and 15" bass. I never thought about it until I first seen the Cornwall a few years ago. It was about the exact same size but not ported, and except for the ports could pass for a Cornwall with cheaper horn drivers. I had them until about 4 years ago when the horn drivers blew out and I had no use for them after finding Klipsch. I had kept them outside up 7' on a shelf on the patio to play into the side yard.

I had always liked the Horn sound so I have no reason to look any further. Wish I had found Klipsch many years ago, it would have saved me money in the long run.

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1975 at a store named Audio Classics in the city of Laredo, TX. Their original store inside Laredo's first attempt at an entertainment center "The Playmore". They had a couple shops, one of which was AudioClassics, they also had a rollerskating rink, a bowling alley and many video games and foose ball tables. My cousin cranked them up as a demo, trying to get some of the relatives to buy them. It wasn't until 2003 that I aquired my first pair of Heritage, before the klipsch, the nicest was a pair of teak jbl L250's.

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1977 or 1978 in Audio Systems in Nashville, near the Exit/In. I

was in the next room looking at stuff I could afford. They were

playing "The Fall of the House of Usher", from "Tales of Mystery and

Imagination" on Klipschorns powered by SAE gear and a Thorens

turntable. I thought the thunder was real and even went outside

to check. It wasn't and I HAD to go see what could do THAT!

Next up was "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmerelda;

the bass drum moved the denim of my bell-bottoms! I WILL never

forget it!

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Back in the early 90's I compared some KG-4's to some other brands at Sound Advice. I wasn't expecting to like the 2-way Klipsch's with the funky passive radiator on he back. The other brands I looked at were all 3-way and looked more like what I thought at the time speakers should look like. But the fact that they sounded head and shoulders above everything else sold me on them.

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I went into Carlon Audio with a friend. Was 1978. I'd looked with some fascenation at the various Klipsch speakers and their unconventional appearance. I wanted to look at/get the Khorns but knew that was very impractical for me. I was 18 and soon heading off to college. I knew I'd be moving around and lugging those just didn't make any sense. The LaScalas however... made a touch more sense.

I pointed over to "there" and said I wanted to listen to those LaScalas. The (prankster) salesman put something on and proceeded to crank it up. I was very impressed with how loud they went (hey...I was 18 and going to college, what other measure was there?)

I distinctly remember patting one of the LaScalas on the top and saying to my friend "one day...."

I bought a pair of LaScalas the next year and still have them.

Coytee,

Wow, deja vu time. My first experience was about the same year, 1977, I was a junior in high school. It was at a stereo store in San Jose, Ca. next to Valley Fair shopping center. They had a giant room dedicated to Klipsch, every speaker on display. He played the cornwalls and LS's for me on, I can't believe I remember this, an Acutrac linear tracking with laser tracking that would automatically find a particular track. After I heard the LS's I said to my self, "some day." I got KG4's the month after I got out of law school, I had student loans and there was no internet for finding good used stuff, so I had to wait another 15 years to get my LS's.

Thinking back, there was another store about a mile down the road that also stocked Klipsch. I wish I could remember the names of those two stores. One was a high-end store and the other was kind of a mid-fi, lots of ads on the radio type of place.

Thanks for the memories,

Travis

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Back in the early 90's I compared some KG-4's to some other brands at Sound Advice. I wasn't expecting to like the 2-way Klipsch's with the funky passive radiator on he back. The other brands I looked at were all 3-way and looked more like what I thought at the time speakers should look like. But the fact that they sounded head and shoulders above everything else sold me on them.

Your handle makes a lot of sense now that I see that you posted during the superbowl, or maybe you just don't like Prince.

Travis

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