Buying a pair of Klipschorns !!

[scott0527]

I purchased my first klipsch speakers 20 years ago and still have them. I have 5 brothers and we all have Klipsch, ranging from Khorns to Hereseys. Oh, well. Some people might not agree, but when Paul designed the Khorn speakers they were designed around tube amps. You will see "Horn's like tubes" everywhere in this forum. And they are right. Good luck finding the right combo, that's most of the fun. You have a great set of speakers.

Oh no, I hope the Crown cronies don't read this.[]

[Marvel]

Don,

The KHorn, when snugged into the corner properly, has the front facing the room at a 45 degree angle. To be on axis with the mid and tweeter, you will be very close to them on the short wall. Some have made false corners for them to fit into, which can then be turned out a bit. A search on false corners should yield a lot of info on the subject.

Still, try 'em out and see what you like. They must be tight into the corners, though, or the bass won't work right.

The Belles you can angle in with no problem, and will make great rear channel speakers.

Bruce

[Coytee]

Oh no, I hope the Crown cronies don't read this

We have the Crown Cronies and the Tube Talaban! I'm glad I've got some of both so I can play Billery Clinton and pick which ever one suits my current needs!! []

[davis419b]

Hey Scott.... Thank You for your reply! I would like to make a template but the Klipsch specs dont give all the dimensios. Would you happen to know them. It gives a width dimension and a front to back but no dimension of the return on the base

Thanks, Don

[Coytee]

Don, I don't have Khorns anymore so my numbers are going to probably be conservative (meaning too big) for Khorns. If you go to your corners and measure outwards 36" on each wall and have no obstructions, then the Khorns will probably fit perfectly fine. I think you can really get by if the first 24" of the wall are open but I KNOW you'd be ok on 36" As for depth, I'd say from corner to face of speaker, also about 24".

As for the LaScalas, I think they are about 2'x2' so if you looked at something like those then that would be a good number. The Khorns though, will probably be much less room intrusive than the LaScalas (I have LaScalas and had Khorns) Even if you shoved the LaScalas into the corner, since they are square and not 'triangles' like Khorns, they won't fit as tight.

[davis419b]

I am currently running 4 Bose 901 with 2 hooked to the left channel & 2 to the right. I have been told that I am now running them at 4 ohm instead of 8 ohm, is that correct. I want to use the Horns as fronts and the Belles as rears, what would be the correct way to wire them?

Thanks, Don

[ByteWrangler]

Welcome, Don. Congratulations on your find.

I, too, have a set of 1980 Khorns in oiled walnut and they look and sound spectacular! They still have all-original type AA crossovers; replacing those (or just the capacitors in them) is a project for the future since they still sound great now. I drove to North Dakota, rented a trailer and hauled them back to Oklahoma a year ago in December. They were worth it.

The Klipschorn footprint is an irregular pentagon shaped like a stylized house. The "roof" of the house-shaped pentagon is the part that fits against against the walls with the "peak" in the corner, each half is 22". The "sides" come out from your wall at 45° for 12 1/8", and the front of the speaker is the "floor" of the "house", it is 31 1/4" wide, meeting the sides at 90°.

Here's a picture of a Khorn "top hat" upside-down, with dimensions, that should make the above clearer. I had to add a little width to move the speaker forward because of trim molding in the corners of the room, thus the added strips of wood.

Is this what you were looking for?

[davis419b]

Thanks Wrangler, That is absolutly perfect. I considered an enclosed trailer but was afraid of the road vibrations. Looks to me like you went alot farther with no problems. I only have to drive 4 hrs to get them. A box truck is going to be expensive!

Thanks, Don

[scott0527]

That's a great diagram Wrangler.

Now put that footprint on your floor and bring it up 52" tall and you can get an idea of the size. Belles are about 30" wide, 19" deep and 36" tall.

[funkyhambone]

a 5 x 7 covered trailer is fine. just use tons of blankets around both speakers for protection and tie em snug. be sure to remove the side grills. they are really the only thing that are semi fragile. i've done this more times and more miles than i care to admit. no regrets. just smiles. i do think tube power is the way to go. the detail is far more than i expected. i compare it to the high def vs. reg def picture on your tv. once you have experienced a proper setup, it's difficult to go back. good luck and ENJOY!

[davis419b]

I am going to be back with these tomorrow night and I know the first thing I want to do is hear them. Is there anything special I have to do to hook them up to a 2 channel amp. Khorns as front and Belles as rears.

Thanks, Don

[oldbuckster]

If it's not a HT receiver I don't think you can go front and back : if I'm not mistaken you need to do A/B speakers, I would not wire them the way you have the 901's or one set to one amp : the other set to another amp, then patch both amps together .......... I would just hook-up the Khorns first ... alone ... then in a couple of days, hook-up the Belles ........... others here can explain this better than I can ...........

[davis419b]

I have 3 different Adcom Amps , they are all listed in my beginning post. Right now I have 2 901s wired up to the left channel and 2 901s wired to the right of only 1 amp. Just wasnt sure that is ok to do with the horns and belles. I definatrely dont want to mess anything up!!

Thanks, Don

[DTLongo]

"Welcome aboard. Seriously, the very first thing I would do is box up those 901's, return them, get your money back and put that towards buying the Khorns. For your info Bose products are almost universally scorned among serious stereo folks for being overpriced and massaging the sound they produce"

For whatever it's worth, I don't share the conventional religion on these Klipsch forums that ALL Bose is schlock. I've had my 901 Series VI's since 1988 and they still satisfy. On the other hand much of Bose's stuff IS schlock, greatly overpriced for the audio quality that you get. There's only so much oomph you can get out of those small speakers in the bass modules and tiny satellite speakers.. Analagous to auto engines, cubic inch "displacement" in audio does count.

By the way, I have a pair of 2003 Klipschorns and a 2004 Belle in my adjacent main listening room in a three-channel audio setup. The Klipschorns sound, er, pretty good too - as in awesome. Someone mentioned a 1000 hp. big block Chevy monster engine. Get a recording of one and play it on the Khorns at full equivalent loudness. Trust me, they will not disappoint. You will BE there, aurally.

[ByteWrangler]

I am going to be back with these tomorrow night and I know the first thing I want to do is hear them. Is there anything special I have to do to hook them up to a 2 channel amp. Khorns as front and Belles as rears.

Thanks, Don

Yes! Turn down the volume!

One huge difference between Bose 901s and these is that the Klipsch speakers are far more sensitive. That is, they are way better at converting electrical energy from the amp into sound energy you hear. Probably by a factor of 10 to 100. You won't be able to stay in the room with them when your amp is running more than a few Watts output. Seriously.

Both these are 8Ω speakers. If you drive a Belle and a Khorn off a single amp channel, together the two will be equivalent to a single 4Ω speaker. If your amp was happy driving two Bose 901s per channel like this, it'll laugh at these. If you have an amp setting for speaker impedance and are using either by itself, select 8Ω, if using both at once in combination, select 4Ω.

[scott0527]

I have 3 different Adcom Amps , they are all listed in my beginning post. Right now I have 2 901s wired up to the left channel and 2 901s wired to the right of only 1 amp. Just wasnt sure that is ok to do with the horns and belles. I definatrely dont want to mess anything up!!

Thanks, Don

Ok, this being the 2 channel forum, I am confused. What are you trying to do? Are you listening to two channel stereo? Are these amps 5 channel amps? Or two channel amps? Hooking up two speakers to one channel and putting one in front and one in rear as a surround is not what you want to be doing.