Jump to content

speakerlab khorns?


turbobusa65

Recommended Posts

Has anyone A-B tested Speakerlab Khorns against Klipsch Khorns? my Lascalas or comming in next week, but I also have a chance to pick up a real nice set of the speakerlab khorns at the same time for a very good price! will they sound better than my Lascalas? and what would be a fair price to pay for them?? I have a choice he said I could not buy the Lascalas and just buy the Speakerlab Khorns, but i really had my heart set on the Lascalas. Maybe I'll get them both!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats on your LaScalas coming in. I haven't heard Speakerlab Khorns, but would expect them to sound good, but not better than LaScalas. The Speakerlab Khorns probably would have more bass extension, which may or may not make them sound better than LaScalas.

Depending on the age of the LaScalas you might need to have the caps replaced on the crossovers. They are good for about 20 years before they start to drift off spec. It is not an expensive proposition to recap them, though, that's the good news. I've been surprised at the pleasant improvement in sound in restoring Heritage crossovers to essentially what is their old factory spec.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are different versions of the speakerlab khorn.

On the higher end you have the model with the t-350 tweeter, the hd-350 mid horn, the pd5hv mid driver, and an 8 ohm version of a woofer very simular to the k-33. There is no reason not to expect this config to sound as good as any khorn and certainly will out perform a LaScala. The HD-350 mid horn is identical to the k-400 horn in every detail. The cast job of the HD-350 is superior to the cast job of the K-400.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depending on price, buy them both and experiment. At least have the seller let you listen to both, for the education. I think you can make the best determination of what sounds best.


La Scalas were my first Klipsch buy. Soon after, I purchased a set of SK's, and still use the bass bins. With a pair of AA networks, Altec 511B's with University mids, and University super-tweeters, I can't imagine much better sound. The Scalas were taken out of the living room, and haven't returned.

I found the Scalas to be "tiring" and almost shrilly at sustained listening levels, while the hybrids are very comfortable and natural sounding.

$.02

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll differ to SpeakerFritz, of course.

On the tweeter end. Speakerlab had, to my knowledge,

1) a cheezy plastic horn tweeter, or

2) the EV T-35 which was pretty much the K-77.

3) If SF says there was a 350 that would be good, that is the super model from EV and valuable. I can't say better, just more efficent because of a bigger magnet. Plated with chrome?

On the mid horn:

1) They used a thin fiberglass horn (not like the K-401, and later

2) Their cast metal clone of the K-400, called a 350.

On the bass horn:

1) Some of these were MDF

2) Some were plywood.

On crossover, for good or bad:

1) Some used L-Pads

2) Some had switches.

The ones I saw had a band pass for the mid. So they are not like the Klipsch.

In bass horn construction on the SK plans. There is an issue of whether to cut a notch to allow the back chamber to communicate to the wedges (?). It is in the plans but a correcton sheet says not to do it. Of course you can't tell by looking at a give unit.

Midrange driver? I expect these were all Atlas and fairly close to Klipsch.

Bass drivers, tough to evaluate.

- - - -

How much to pay? Sometimes badly beat up real K-Horns get down to below $1000 per pair. I'd say you should offer $700 and then bargain depending on what you hear and conditions.

Gil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do a "search" there is some information on the Speakerlab K and photos here on the forum. I did A-B a pair of Speakerlab K's against a pair of '77 Klipschorn's. The Speakerlab K's I had did indeed have the EV T-350 (HT-350) mounted vertically adjacent to the metal HD-350 horn and the Altas PD5V (K-55V equivalent) with spring terminals attached.

There were ceramic L-Pads installed to control the HF & MF levels, the bass bins were solid as they were built by an engineer from a kit and he did a great job on them. The crossover networks were the weak point, cheap parts and wire but that is easy to remedy and correct.

Since Speakerlab for a time custom built there own woofers to match the parameters of the bass bin to my ears the bass response of the Speakerlab K's I had was better than that of the '77 Klipschorn's. The top end was just as nice and undistiguishable from that of the Klipschorn.

I would hands down take the Speakerlab K's over a pair of La Scala's if they are equipped the same way mine were, the latter built and designed units had much cheaper components as Gil pointed out. The better bass response alone is a reason to go with the K's versus the Scala's unless you have a very competent subwoofer or subwoofer(s) to back them up. With a pair of Dean's or ALK networks installed in the K's that I had they would have been equal or better than the '77 Klipschorn's I had and the bass response was certainly better.

I got mine for like $350 which made it a no brainer decision for me, but I already had 4 Klipschorn's so I sold them to my wife's girlfriend for her basement game room. They sounded great with a cheap 20W per channel receiver and really came to life with a little bit better 150W per channel Kenwood preamp/amp combo. They pressurized her large basement game room with ease.

Either is a good choice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow!! Daddy dee, Speakerfritz, mungkiman, Mr.Mcdermott, and Frzinvt, Thank you for your all the great information!! I'm most shure he said it was the more sought after S K'S. He used to own his own audio store and said it was time to get rid of all the extra gear he's collected over the years. He's supposed to email some pictures of the S K's and some Mcintosh amp's wich he said was all in great shape and in working order!! And if they look anything like the Lascalas it will be a go! Again thank you for your input and time!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read thru the old thread. Seems to be the same questions in this thread. I have all the speakerlab materials, their catolog, price list, asembly instructions, as well as owning 2 pairs of them. One point I want to clarify, the altas driver sold by speakerlab for the HD-350 horn is the PD5HV. This is the same driver used as the k-55. The only difference is that speakerlab sold it with ferro fluid. The HT3500 is the T-35 which is the alinco K-77 and the HT350 is the T-350.

Now it is true that a lot of DIY folks did their own thing and put what ever they had in these cabs.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank's for the heads up on the Lascalas Daddy Dee!! Already talked to mr. Bob. As soon as they come in I'll get back with him so he can tell me wich one's would be best for me!! Thank's again!!!

I can let you know from my experience, the ct125 and 4500 khz modded type A is a very good way to go. It made a substantial difference in my Lascalas.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some old and poor quality copies of SpeakerLab catalog pages. Wish I had bought the HT3500's (350's). Instead I got suckered into the WA4000 junk. Fortunately it was a K-77 with a cheap plastic horn. I was able to get real metal horns off of Ebay.

The mids were fiberglass with the early Atlas driver. At least the horn was a K-400 clone.

SpeakerLab's main weakness was their crossover, IMHO. When I put an ALK universal in them they came to life.

post-22684-13819359467024_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My SK's came with Atlas drivers that look exactly like PD5VH's without the dent-caps, but they were PD-4's. With many variations, and kits, who knows the history on these. The PD-4's were mounted to thin fiberglass horns, which I couldn't give away on this forum for the cost of shipping. Are K-401's still cheap, anybody? The tweeters were round magnet, with metal horns, and looked exactly like the K-77's.

These SK's were splits. If I ever cared to, I could lengthen the "legs" of the top sections, re-grill, and house the horns I'm using now.

Other than the builder using screws to mount the woofers to the motorboard (hard to remove / replace), the build quality is good. They were cheap, even compared to $465 La Scalas, and local, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks munkiman.

It was the WA4000 which one of my buddies had. I thought it was a budget item but I see it is more expensive than the T-35. I do suspect it was cheaper for SpeakerLab to buy and they hiked the price to make it seem more desirable. Perhaps I'm too cynical.

That is the same schematic I have. Note the passband design in the midrange.

I've often commented on the 8 kHz glitch in midrange drivers. It is interesting that the graph posted seem to show it. I've read that it is only there with some drivers. But I've never seen a graph of a K-400 type horn and driver without it. A P-trap is designed to eliminate it. My guess is that the new Klipsch crossovers address it. BTW, IMHO it arises in part from the horn which has extra gain at high freqs because of narrowing of the pattern.

It is also interesting to see comments about SpeakerLab's plastic horn. It was no K-401.

Bruce Edgar had some harsh things to say about the SpeakerLab woofer. I'm not so sure it is without merit.

I do have respect for SpeakerLab. I do find the design of the top unit annoying. Maybe okay if you really needed to save a few inches in height.

The prices were just not right for what you get. OTOH, there is a lot to say for building anything yourself. Some people would pay extra.

Gil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...