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Got questions about Palladiums?


damonrpayne

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I'm about to crash and I've been up for so long I have a serious case of The Stupids.

I have a podcast I will be posting as soon as may be, a 3 way conversation between myself and the very excellent Product Manager and Acoustic Engineer who worked on the Palladium. Most of the information you seek will be in this interview...

  • P-39F has the most amazingly smooth/clean mid range, has to be heard to be appreciated. A different mid range than the heritage sound, I think it's more "real". I hate the ridiculous terms audio reviewers use so I will say more after I consult the thesaurus.
  • All other things being equal I would take the Palladium over the 60th anniversery k-horn without furthur thought
  • $15,000 MSRP means all other things are not equal.
  • Doing a back to back comparison with big Heritage will not be a common experience. Everyone at Klipsch is excited about the Palladium for good reason

Damon, I'm looking forward to hearing your podcast.

In looking at the P39's specs, I noticed that the midrange low end is 500hz. This is way different than the Reference line where the woofers were made to run too high of frequency IMO. I am glad to see Klipsh went back to the squawker pulling the midrange meat and potatoes again. That said, I will bet that most heritage guys will love the sound of the P39. Unfortunatly the price tag is a tad too high for me [:(]

So, how long will it be before someone takes the P39 squawker and tweeter and mates it to a horn loaded woofer section?

JM

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Damon, I'm looking forward to hearing your podcast.

In looking at the P39's specs, I noticed that the midrange low end is 500hz. This is way different than the Reference line where the woofers were made to run too high of frequency IMO. I am glad to see Klipsh went back to the squawker pulling the midrange meat and potatoes again. That said, I will bet that most heritage guys will love the sound of the P39. Unfortunatly the price tag is a tad too high for me Sad

So, how long will it be before someone takes the P39 squawker and tweeter and mates it to a horn loaded woofer section?

JM

I am the furthest thing from "made of money", but is the price of the P39 really too high? I mean, yeah......$15K is pricey, but if we compare this speaker to other speakers that it's intended to compete against (which IMHO is not the Khorn), I think we'll see that the pricing is right where it should be. As far as it being affordable for us loyalist here, well.....let's face it, the bulk of us are cheap sumb*tches. Through our glasses we see $500 and $1000 and $2000 Heritage goodies on eBay and get all giddy. We begged & begged Klipsch to update Heritage speakers and even bring back the Cornwall and how many here have bought new Heritage?? Then Klipsch comes out with their homerun hero at $15K and we crap our pants and say no way hosea! Yet how many of us have, and do, pile $15K worth of Klipsch speakers in a HT room or into whole house audio?? Good lord folks....ya spend $6K on a 25W tube amp, $2K on a preamp, $3K on a record player [;)], and then ya go dumpster-diving on eBay for a $800 pair Cornwalls. Sheesh... [;)] [;)]

Listen......don't mind me. I'm just doing everything I can and grasping at every straw imaginable and creating every bit of silly logic I can in order to justify buying a pair of these things.

One day. [:D]

Tom

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According to this list, posted in another thread, the Palladium is the cheapest of the top 16:
http://www.audio.de/fm/145/aud0108Bestenliste.pdf

To be honest, I think the only other speaker that belongs in that top16 list is the JBL Everest...of course, that's cuz none of the others use horns [:D]

I would be interested to see a list like this generated where the reviewers don't know what they're listening to (aka, blindfolded). Heck, our hearing perception enhances when we can't see, right? I just get the impression that everything "high-end" is about the aesthetics - which is a shame really [:(]

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We should obviously see n hear these in June at the Klipsch Weekend in Indy.

I think the excitement is not to bridge the gap kinda speaker.. but hear me out..

Heritage has it's own followers.. Horn Purists

The Reference series has it's own followers as well.

This "HALO" type product, maybe it is the pinnicle, top of the food chain, best designed speaker for both camps to aknowledge, OK.... Klipsch has moved on and really done something here! Those of us in here on the forum are probably not the "true" audience for these due to the price. I am not so sure I am either, at 15k... But might like to think I am at some point as well? So maybe if I am so moved, like a lot of things in life.. I will find a way.... to find a way thing?

So it seems (dare I say it) What if current Klipsch people have made a product better than anything we currently have before this? Do we accept it, even though it is not Paul designed, when we know that it might be better than what we have heard before? (I can hear it now that it does not have a horn loaded lower end.. so maybe not a true Klipsch speaker...) That argument is silly in 2008 IMO, get over yourself.

Not to rush to judgement, but this may be the best thing for Klipsch going forward as well. Have something that is just so outstanding it helps to sell everything underneath it. Top down selling.

We know there will be 3 sizes... So the 15,000 price tag for the top dog will fall with other models. We have also seen some HT type products to melt with these too. (Someone let pics slip out.) maybe a 15K, 12.5K, and 10K version? (Again I know nothing of the pricing here, just guessing.) It seems with who is involved with these..... this is the big gamble... either make it right... Or do not do it at all.

Looks like the few lucky enough to hear em they seem to be in awe in a good way.. Indy Klipsch 2008 maybe has done it..

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Good lord folks....ya spend $6K on a 25W tube amp, $2K on a preamp, $3K on a record player Wink, and then ya go dumpster-diving on eBay for a $800 pair Cornwalls. Sheesh... WinkWink

That is really funny.

These speakers are beautiful, furniture quality, and have a small footprint. Convincing your wife to allow you to put these in the living room of a $1,000,000+ home should not be difficult. They are also priced well, about equal to a B&W 801D. All they need is a few good reviews (maybe they already have them, I don't know, this is the first time that I saw them) and we have a new audiophile contender.

In that category, people will also buy the lower models in the line and move up to the flagship.

Very nice.

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LOL, I somehow doubt they'll be giving these away. Not only is the MSRP very high but there are some rare materials in the driver construction so the cost to Klipsch is not trivial either.

Roger's comments are interesting considering how skeptical the orignial reaction to the Palladium announcement was.

Keep in mind, guys, that only the P-39F carries such a steep price. If you read the article I wrote here (http://www.klipschcorner.com/BlogDetail.aspx?guid=9d616bd8-01ce-400e-90af-bc1528b7f032) as it turns out I was incredibly close at estimating the price spread of the other floorstanding models. A mere $7k investment can get you into Palladium 2ch land.

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LOL, I somehow doubt they'll be giving these away. Not only is the MSRP very high but there are some rare materials in the driver construction so the cost to Klipsch is not trivial either.

Roger's comments are interesting considering how skeptical the orignial reaction to the Palladium announcement was.

Keep in mind, guys, that only the P-39F carries such a steep price. If you read the article I wrote here (http://www.klipschcorner.com/BlogDetail.aspx?guid=9d616bd8-01ce-400e-90af-bc1528b7f032) as it turns out I was incredibly close at estimating the price spread of the other floorstanding models. A mere $7k investment can get you into Palladium 2ch land.

$7K is between the price of a pair of B&W 803D's ($9,000) and 803S's ($6,000). If these things catch on, buyers will work their way up the chain. B&W dealers give a customer their full purchase price back on trade in toward a higher level pair of speakers. As you can guess, upgradeitus bites a lot of people and they just keep upgrading every year (I'm sure that Klipsch is well aware of this).

The one thing that makes the B&W's tough is that they require very expensive amps to drive the 802's and above. I wonder what the impedence curve is on the P-39F's. I'm excited to see and hear a pair of these.

A Stereophile "Class A" is all that it will take to launch these. Amy, have Klipsch start buying some really expensive ads in Stereophile to "earn" a Class A rating for this line of speakers.

The only problem is that it only takes a few bozo's to hook them up to a stereovox receiver from 1982 and then claim that they sound harsh on Audio Assylum...

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I am the furthest thing from "made of money", but is the price of the P39 really too high? I mean, yeah......$15K is pricey, but if we compare this speaker to other speakers that it's intended to compete against (which IMHO is not the Khorn), I think we'll see that the pricing is right where it should be.

Hey Tom,

You're absolutely right. As someone else posted in another thread, Audio Magazine ranked the Palladiums higher than any other when compared to speakers in the same price point, and even does better than pricier speakers. I realize it's in German, but you can see where it's ranked here: http://www.audio.de/fm/145/aud0108Bestenliste.pdf, and also see how it compares ($$) to others.

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So it seems (dare I say it) What if current Klipsch people have made a product better than anything we currently have before this? Do we accept it, even though it is not Paul designed, when we know that it might be better than what we have heard before? (I can hear it now that it does not have a horn loaded lower end.. so maybe not a true Klipsch speaker...) That argument is silly in 2008 IMO, get over yourself.

Well let me put it this way,

Paul stood on the shoulders of giants and so others will and have done the same with Paul's work and I wish the best for everyone at Klipsch that are doing this. His work should continue and as we learn more, have better materials and have improvements in our ability to test for things then these improvements should be made after all Paul was always looking for ways to improve his designs.

As far as "that argument being silly in 2008(in your words)" I agree that would be silly if you leave it at just because it doesn't have a LF Horn it's not a Klipsch since they have made many speaker models without LF Horn sections over the years.

What isn't silly in 2008 or any year for that matter is that a Founding Truth for Klipsch has been "That a Proper Horn Loaded LF section is superior to other types of LF sections. The Ultimate Klipsch has always been Fully Horn Loaded(Klipschorn) and actually it has never been the most popular product if you go by what most people have bought since Klipsch has been in business but popularity doesn't change the truth and unless something new has been discovered it is still true today IMO that a fully Horn Loaded System should still be the reference in sound reproduction.

If speaking the truth(Fully HORN LOADED) as I believe it to be makes it look like I or anyone who believes what I have mentioned above aren't supporting Klipsch or the new models then your very wrong on my part anyway. I truely wish them great success with these new models!

mike tn[:)]

"FULLY HORN LOADED"

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I am the furthest thing from "made of money", but is the price of the P39 really too high? I mean, yeah......$15K is pricey, but if we compare this speaker to other speakers that it's intended to compete against (which IMHO is not the Khorn), I think we'll see that the pricing is right where it should be.

Hey Tom,

You're absolutely right. As someone else posted in another thread, Audio Magazine ranked the Palladiums higher than any other when compared to speakers in the same price point, and even does better than pricier speakers. I realize it's in German, but you can see where it's ranked here: http://www.audio.de/fm/145/aud0108Bestenliste.pdf, and also see how it compares ($$) to others.

Amy, are these bad boy's ready to ship yet???

Please say yes.....

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