jcoddish Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Hello. I've recently come to have a pair of "vintage" K-horns. I'm told by the original owner that he built them himself from a kit on 1948 or 1949. After some moving around, they've been in the corners of his living room making music for about 30 years. The cabinets in excellant shape and the speakers sound just fine. The crossover circuits still use the original electrical componants. I can see the "Universal Driver Unit" on each horn: model SA-HF rated at 30 watts and 16 Ohms. I want to get some more information before deciding what to do but I'm hesitant to open up the cabinets to look for a serial number until I know what to look for. Any suggestions? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Wow please post pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 The serial numbers may be stamped on the tailboard , the piece that fits in the corner, or on a paper tag stapled or glued to the side of the woofer horn. There is a table of serial numbers and what year they equate to floating around. The very earliest Klipschorns sold commercially were made by the Baldwin piano compnay and then assembled by Paul Klipsch and his original crew at Hope, AR. Paul also licensed various people to build copies but he pulled all the liceneses by the early 50s. Shortly, many more responese, more detailed than I can give, will follow with good advice on how to handle these. It is generally accepted that any Klipschorn may be brought up to today's configuration without much in the way of wood cutting or alteration. However, it sounds like you have a very valuable clasic on your hands and as the say on Antiques Roadshow, don't clean or alter without expert advice ! Welcome to the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Yeah there aren't very many from this time period around anymore. Here is a pic of one of the earliest I have seen. http://homepage.mac.com/ikecarumba/PhotoAlbum19.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 PICS!!!!!!!!!! Look for those serial numbers or any other written information anywhere on the speakers. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 PWK told me (the one and only time that I met the man) that Klipsch never made kits, but they did license the Klipschorn patent to EV (and possibly others) who might have produced kits, but PWK would not have liked that. He was uncomfortable permitting EV to build something with his name on it, which is why the licensing experiment was short lived. It's unlikely that he would have been comfortable with kit Klipschorns masquerading as the genuine article. Perhaps the original owner started with the unfinished "decorator" model and finished them. Assembling everything but the bass horn is easy. Constructing the folded bass cornerhorn is extremely difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 It was common for Paul Klipsch to supply the bass bins and let the customer supply the HF units....Even up into the 70,s...Thats how i orderd mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcoddish Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 All, Thanks for the advice and links - I especially liked the link to High Fidelity Magazine (Vol. 1 No. 1 1951). The speakers look similar to the picture on page 10. http://www.hifilit.com/hifilit/Klipsch/hifivol1-2.jpg I'll post some shots of the front and back of the speakers this weekend. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 All, Thanks for the advice and links - I especially liked the link to High Fidelity Magazine (Vol. 1 No. 1 1951). The speakers look similar to the picture on page 10. http://www.hifilit.com/hifilit/Klipsch/hifivol1-2.jpg I'll post some shots of the front and back of the speakers this weekend. John We are looking forward to see the pics. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcoddish Posted February 17, 2008 Author Share Posted February 17, 2008 Pics attached. A - view from front, B - view from back C - removed side panel from top and moved to show bottom cabinet D- View inside, horn and crossover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcoddish Posted February 17, 2008 Author Share Posted February 17, 2008 View from back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcoddish Posted February 17, 2008 Author Share Posted February 17, 2008 Looking into the top cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcoddish Posted February 17, 2008 Author Share Posted February 17, 2008 A closer look. I've adjusted file sizes of these 4 pics to allow me to upload them to the forum. If there's something that looks interesting I can post a zoomed in view. The electronics look homemade and the horn looks like its made from plywood. Is it time to open up the bottom cabinet? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 That looks really nice! It has a closed back... Sure would like ot see the whole layout of the cabinet, to see the exact geometry. Notice the diagram by Paul Klipsch on the attached drawing... the sound goes out the back to utilize the corners at a continuation of the horn geometry. This is from a set of drawings made in 1945. That ad from the magazine is uncanny. The cats are almost perfect copies of the two I used to have. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 Sealed backs in the 1940's very cool. They are in great condition. Do you know the history of these? Were they built like this in the 40's or modified later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcoddish Posted February 17, 2008 Author Share Posted February 17, 2008 >>>Do you know the history of these? Were they built like this in the 40's or modified later? The only history I have is a 5 minute conversation with the gentleman who first owned them. He said that he had either built or bought these around '48 or '49. He mentioned that they were from a kit. As far as I know, they have not been modified. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triceratops Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 If this is a matched pair of Klipschorns it is unlikely both of them would have been built at the same time in the 1940s, because stereo didn't become a popular concept until 10 years later. Sometimes people did buy one speaker for mono and then procured a second one (and tried to match the first with a similar vintage) when stereo became popular. If the speakers couldn't be matched cosmetically, some hobbyists would redo both cabinets (new finish, new cloth, etc) to make them match. Again, it sounds like you are talking about a pair of older khorns, although it is difficult to see that from the pics since they are different views. It will be interesting to hear and see more about these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcoddish Posted February 20, 2008 Author Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hello the speakers are definitly a matched pair - the cabinets and insides are identical. I'm trying to find out when, and by whom, they were built. While I was told they date from 1948 or 1949, memories can be unreliable so I'm looking for some evidence I can use to date the speakers pictured in the earlier post. What's the earliest a hi fi enthusiast would of bought or built a pair of K-horns? Is the driver ("Universal Driver Unit" model SA-HF, 30 watts and 16 Ohms) any help in solving the mystery? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I would contact Jim Hunter as I don't know who else could answer that question. Perhaps Maron Hornzniac could provide info but I'm not sure. Not sure which contact he uses email or pm http://forums.klipsch.com/members/JRH.aspx If you have trouble reaching forum member Colterphoto is great at finding info regarding Klipsch products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triceratops Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 John, The University driver you mention was used over many years, but it could support the idea of these Klipschorns being pre-1960 or older. The cabinets look like they have been nicely decorated with veneer and trim, which is not a bad thing--they probably started life as plain, unfinished fir plywood, without grills or framework. Regardless of when they were made, the fact that they match is great--and puzzling. One of the struggles in dealing with very old K-horns is to come up with a matched pair, because they were sold as singles and there were so many cosmetic variations. At some point someone obviously did all the hard work and matched these up. If they sound as good as they look and the price is right, you may want to go for it. triceratops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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