Moderators Amy Posted January 10, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 10, 2008 Ran was unbelievably kind to work up an "unofficial" translation for me in a short amount of time. We will (eventually) be getting an official one, but in the meantime, here's the first glimpse: The Mild Wild One 100% dynamic and 0 coloration: The Palladium is the boldest project thatKlipsch has had in 60 years. Music needs dynamicsand every once in a while has to be aggressive. The changes between loud and quietnotes, the soft passages, but also theoverwhelming tones that shut off all other senses awakens music to life.Without dynamics, music would be as interesting as a handy ring tone. We agree thus far. On the other hand thereare different views to the question, how far can you make compromises to theother important Hi-Fi criteria in order to maximize dynamics? 6loud decades Klipsch has alwaystaken a radical position in this discussion, wherein “always” means 60 years.This is how long the legendary Klipschorn (with a “H”) the galleons figure intheir model program and the epitome of their principles: The company that Paul Klipsch in 1946 foundedfittingly on an former artillery test area in Hope, Arkansas, should deliverdynamic, dynamic and more dynamic. The Klipschorn isstill being built and is still setting rock fans in ecstasy and shocking thesensible classic music lover. However from this day on the “órn” is getting support from an equivalently expensive 16000 eurohighly modernized grandchild, which is supposed to combine elementary forcewith an all rounder. His name: Palladium P-39F. Afleet of smaller models will follow but of course the honor goes to theflagship to prove in these tests that the US based company cannot only builddynamic speakers, they can at the same time meet all HiFi criteria and at worldclass level. Hightechnology horn As in the 40´s and50´s Klipsch classics, the Palladium is being supportedin the high and middle tones through horns. Horns you say, don’t they colorize?Not if you construct them correctly. In the last years amazing things havehappened. Unlike Paul Klipsch who had to develop and fine tune his first hornwith intuition, the developers of today can model in extremely efficient Finiteelement simulations. With these you can see how the magnetic fields react inthe drivers, the heat dissipation over the basket or how the smallest change ofthe geometry affects the frequency response of the throat without having tobuild a model chassis. This work has lead toa completely new driver set: three 22”bass, from which the topmost one adds to the mids. These drivers are made of analuminum membrane backed with rohacell ridged foam which reduces vibration aswell as reinforces. A total of 3 strategically placedNeodym magnets per chassis guarantee that the long moving coil follows a fullyhomogenous path even by maximum movement (a whopping 18 mm.) Comparatively thehorns have to handle microscopic movements which exert a lot of power. The 4inch cone of the Palladium middle tone is covered to 80% with an aluminum phaseplug whose back builds a pressure chamber in connection with the front of themembrane. On this and the horn (named “Tractrix” after the geometrical form ofits wall curvature) the developers researched and filed to get rid of the lastof the feared throat resonance. The highhorn (with 25mm titan driver) takes over the tones from 3,5 kilohertz rangewith the same attention to detail. As you can see in the waterfall diagramsprovided by the TESTfactory the Paladium is as clean “as a house after springcleaning” in the high and middle tone area – this is a sensation for a hornconstruction. Aftergenerations of Klipsch speakers with more or less a tone which one has to getused to, the Palladium in the listening room by Audio provided amazingastonishment. “Huh, which speaker is running now?” The Klipsch played soperfectly that even the colleague Malte Ruhnke who is known for is allergyagainst coloration had to search long in his CD collection to find a certainBaritone with a very minute flaw. Power without regret Even theold school Klipsch fans who say “Blaa how booring.” will love these speakers.It is not their coloration which make them exciting, rather their unrestrained fantasticdynamics and the fact that they are so efficient they can be pushed by everyamp this side of single ended triodes. When you can hear crescendo, modulationand fine passages where there were none before this means the speaker who playsthem is better than the one where you did not hear them. The firstworthy challenger was found with the KEF Reference 207/2 which brought aboutheavy discussions but no clear winner. The British with their hyper real tonalspace and clear transparence on one side and the Americans with clearly directsibilance and deeper bass as well as compacter and not so authenticalillustration on the other. Indifferentto which you like more listen to both and be amazed! Result Thedynamic of the Klipschorn (almost) and the music detail, without the “horn”problems and they look much better. The Palladium is an electro acoustictour-de-force, whose perfection I was not counting on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I dunno.... seems to me like they liked it....[:^)][Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Great review Amy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el jopez Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Wow. These are words I do not need to be hearing right now. My first big purchase will not be a car or house out of grad school [H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnyholiday Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 "Angled ports to eliminate standing waves in tube" [][^o)] K tubes woot,......what degree of angle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
germerikan Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Here is a translation of the reviewers thoughts: I am not an Audiophile so some of the terms in German were direct translations (heck sometimes I don´t understand the terms in English []) and one guy I thought was talking about wine and not a speaker. Bon Appetit!!! Loud and clear Led Zeppelin opened the session with the live version of their blues classic „Since I’ve been loving you.“ - a home game for the Klipsch. The Palladium polarized stronger by classic and jazz. Wolfgang Bors“Tie!! I liked the Klipsch a lot, for all the new Symphonic line. KEF has it´s plus points as well though.” Dietmer Pfeffer“The Klipsch has no chance against the huge 3 dimensional panorama of the KEF. Their plus is the extremely tight, lively reproduction of modern music.” Rüdiger Fröhlich“The Klipsch has everything that a world class quality speaker needs: clean highs, strong bass, lack of coloration, dynamic. I find that the KEF is more “correct” on classic though.” Hans-Dieter Rausch“At my sitting position by 2,5m the illustration of the Klipsch was to “in your face”. The KEF was more rounded and won by a nose.” Andreas Lucewicz Sorry cannot translate properly (he writes very Audiophile), basically he said that the Klipsch´s tonal coloration is to dominant. So to say did not like them to much. Boooooooo[:^)] Ralf Scheerschmidt“The Klipsch are more present with strong bass which makes them more reliable (tonally). The KEF seems to be slower, analytical, however their soundstage is deeper.” Paulo Fernandes“Two completely different sound philosophies meet each other: the very open, tight, natural sound of the KEF and the powerful, impressiveness of Klipsch.” Ran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Just listed to you podcast Damon. Very informative. I can't wait to hear these[] JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Here is a translation of the reviewers thoughts: I am not an Audiophile so some of the terms in German were direct translations (heck sometimes I don´t understand the terms in English ) and one guy I thought was talking about wine and not a speaker. Bon Appetit!!! Loud and clear Led Zeppelin opened the session with the live version of their blues classic „Since I’ve been loving you.“ - a home game for the Klipsch. The Palladium polarized stronger by classic and jazz. Wolfgang Bors“Tie!! I liked the Klipsch a lot, for all the new Symphonic line. KEF has it´s plus points as well though.” Dietmer Pfeffer“The Klipsch has no chance against the huge 3 dimensional panorama of the KEF. Their plus is the extremely tight, lively reproduction of modern music.” Rüdiger Fröhlich“The Klipsch has everything that a world class quality speaker needs: clean highs, strong bass, lack of coloration, dynamic. I find that the KEF is more “correct” on classic though.” Hans-Dieter Rausch“At my sitting position by 2,5m the illustration of the Klipsch was to “in your face”. The KEF was more rounded and won by a nose.” Andreas Lucewicz Sorry cannot translate properly (he writes very Audiophile), basically he said that the Klipsch´s tonal coloration is to dominant. So to say did not like them to much. Boooooooo Ralf Scheerschmidt“The Klipsch are more present with strong bass which makes them more reliable (tonally). The KEF seems to be slower, analytical, however their soundstage is deeper.” Paulo Fernandes“Two completely different sound philosophies meet each other: the very open, tight, natural sound of the KEF and the powerful, impressiveness of Klipsch.” Ran From what I am reading, if you like your fully horn loaded speakers, you will probably like the P39's. The reviewers are saying that they are very dynamic and powerful, like the older horn designs. Come on everyone, drop the Jubilee vs P39 debate and all Klipsch-o-philes unite against other brands. It has to happen eventually anyway. The debate will turn to dynamics vs the british sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Very good work there, Damon! Did you (or someone) take any photographs of Chris and Jim during the interview? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted January 11, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 11, 2008 Did you (or someone) take any photographs of Chris and Jim during the interview? Boo! Why didn't I think of that??? I'll try to snipe a photo of them this afternoon. Won't be the same, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Thanks, Amy. Try to get shots where they look like they're pondering after hearing one of Damon's questions. You know, chin rubbing, cheek tapping... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted January 11, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 11, 2008 Come on everyone, drop the Jubilee vs P39 debate and all Klipsch-o-philes unite against other brands. It has to happen eventually anyway. The debate will turn to dynamics vs the british sound. Well said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted January 11, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 11, 2008 Just for fini.... "Damon's Palladium Podcast" starring Jim Garrett (left) and Chris Perrins! Playing the role damonrpayne, a small rubber duckie. Filling in for microphone, introducing: A Stapler! podcast.bmp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblio Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Shouldn't the stapler be red ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Oh, you guys are the best! Very funny indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Playing the role damonrpayne, a small rubber duckie. hehehe does the duck have red hair??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Just for fini.... "Damon's Palladium Podcast" starring Jim Garrett (left) and Chris Perrins! Playing the role damonrpayne, a small rubber duckie. Filling in for microphone, introducing: A Stapler! Great stuff, Amy! Jim and Chris are good sports, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Love the reenactment! This doesn't look like the same room as the picture of Damon over in Amy's blog? Different room or was the picture of Damon compiling notes in a different room after the fact? [*-)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted January 11, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 11, 2008 Yes, Jim and Chris are very good sports. Great senses of humor. Plus it's "Colts Friday," so we're all a little punchy. Dress code is also a bit slack. The podcast was done in the library down in engineering, same as the reenactment (we tried to make it look authentic [] ). The photo of Damon was taken upstairs in marketing while he was interviewing Mark Kauffman (as seen in the daily photo just before Damon's photo). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Wow, I love the Stapler Microphone [Y] lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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