DTLongo Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 I was noodling on epinions.com and happened across three Klipschorn reviews there. The third, posted by a person who had often heard Khorns but did not own them, was somewhat negative. I posted a reply review to that whose text is repeated below. The pic is a current one of my array here in Delmar. (begin text) I hope you have an opportunity to own a pair of Klipschorns someday. Having kicked around with this audio hobby since the 1950's and known about "the mighty Klipschorn" by reputation since then, finally at the age of 61 I purchased a new pair of them in 2003 (list $7500, I got them for $6500) plus a new Belle Klipsch in '04 to use as a center channel. Yes, the Klipschorns are big but are surprisingly unobtrusive when snuggled back into their corners as they should be. The sight of the handsome Klipschorns + Belle arrayed together begets audiophile-reverence before even hearing them. But yes also, the Klipschorns are idiosyncratic, idiosyncratic being defined as their being merciless in showing up program- and amplifier imperfections and deficiencies. The Klipschorns are VERY amplifier sensitive. I have run them with at least four home theater receivers, three of which, the newer models, were designed to feed an external powered subwoofer. The fourth, a vintage-1990 obsolescent Pioneer Pro-Logic receiver (VSX-5700X) does not have a powered subwoofer output. To make a long story short, with the three newer amps the Klipschorns sounded lousy, very clear and precise but with no or nil bass, very thin sounding. Reaction: "I paid $6500.00 for THIS?!" But with the old Pioneer, holy cow! The Klipschorns BLOOMED. Tight pure deep effortless bass like you would not believe, and fine solid crystal-clear sound and imaging all the way up the spectrum. Same speakers, same room but what a difference. It was dramatically and instantly noticeable. Since the old Pro-Logic Pioneer drives the center channel with only a synthesized signal of approximately AM-radio quality, the Belle is underfulfilled so to speak, but still anchors the center soundstage nicely. I'm happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samac Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Hey DT, Thanks for posting your thoughts and pictures of the K-horns. Always enjoy reading how people feel about them and really enjoy picures of them and how they are set up. Happy Thanksgiving. Cheers, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTLongo Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 I ought to note that the Velodyne sub mentioned in my system profile is there but rarely used. You can see the sub peeking out beside the filing cabinet at the lower left of the photo. It's connected to the "B" front speaker outputs of the Pioneer. But I switch it in only for below-35-hz stuff such as deep organ pedal, some electronic music and the like. Plus, I am on the board of a local symphony orchestra (www.midatlanticsymphony.org) and I make camcorder archival recordings of some of their performances. I have a small LCD TV/monitor on my desk outside the picture to the left, so I can see the performances while listening through the Pioneer amp. The camcorder audio is remarkably clear but bass shy, and I can crank the Velodyne to compensate. Now THAT is an experience, listening to those "live" performances through the Klipschorn/Belle/Velodyne array Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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