HAIR TRIGGER DYNAMICS, NATURAL SOUND, BIG SOUNDSTAGE

HUGE, REQUIRE CORNER PLACEMENT THEREFORE CAN NOT BE MOVED AROUND TO ADJUST FOR ROOM ACCOUSTICS

When I wrote a review for the La Scalas over a year ago I commented that I would love to have the Klipschorns, if only I find two corners to put them in. Well when I saw a pair advertized on this site, I decided to rebuild my basement listening room into a home theater using the scalas and the klipschorns. I had to move and downsize a door to get a corner I needed. ( When I recently recarped the room I discovered that I will have to tear down the door and part of a wall if I ever want to get them out!)But that was only the begining. At first the Khorns sounded terrible and I realized that I could not adjust for the rooms acoustics through experimental positioning as I had done with the Scalas. What I would have to do was adjust the rooms accoustics to fit the Khorns. I had to learn about sound defusers, bass traps, sound absorbtion and reflection, etc. etc. What a lot of work! What a great adventure! What a reward! I can only echo the praise for these speakers found on this site! I can also now understand why some reviewers hated them. I now know that one of the biggest variables in developing a home system is the room acoustics. The Khorns forced me to learn this. I am now in audio heaven!
But beware, your recordings will never sound the same again - great recordings will be revealed but so will poor recordings to a degree that I had not experienced before! Ignorance is bliss! I now have to play some of my 50s rock and roll on another system to experience the indestinct blend of sounds and the juke-box boom I associate with these recordings! Their limitations, as compared with better recordings are now been made painfully evident by the Klipshorns and my room acoustical treatments. But a great recording in the dark can make me feel like I have crossed into the twilight zone - when and how did live musicians sneak into my basement and when and how was I transported from my basement to Carnigie Hall? DOWNRIGHT CHILLING! Higly recommended to anyone who wants to expend the effort. Buying them used means I have obtained the best (or as close as I need) at a price I can easily afford. And to think I could sell them tommorrow for what I paid or more! That means, unlike my car, I could keep them for years and they would cost me nothing. But this won't happen; they will be inherited by my children.

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KLIPSCH LA SCALAS

Terrific for Public Address use, like all Klipsch horn-loaded speakers. Easy for DIY'ers to tweak/repair. Fetishized / collected as precious antiques.

Extraordinarily strident, canned sound. Not high fidelity. No sense of spaciousness to the sound. Ridiculously huge, heavy, and overpriced for home use. Only available used, and often have been used very roughly over the years. Woofer surrounds may be distintegrating, horns may be burned out etc.

Buyer beware of the raves for Klipsch speakers. These speakers appeal to people who feel proud to be able to, in the words of one enthusiast's review (below), "blow you out of the room." That's not the goal of true high fidelity sound reproduction...

Nobody with a normal-sized listening room needs this degree of efficiency, and the trade-off in sound quality definitely isn't worth it. Infinitely better sound quality can be had from any number of normal-efficiency speakers.

Conversely, anybody who is trying to fill an ampitheatre-sized room with sound is likely to have a budget which will allow them to skip this mid-fi solution and spend what it costs to get true high fidelity sound (with good drivers and high-powered amps).

Klipsch horns are impressive to people who have never heard a true high-fidelity loudspeaker. When I first heard 'em as a teenager, I was wowed too.

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SIMILAR: A megaphone; it also has incredible efficiency at the sacrifice of sound quality!;Voice of the Theater; Yamaha PA/club speakers; Virtually the entire Klipsch line of horn-loaded & acoustic suspension speakers at one time or another. VERY DIFFERENT: Any traditional, truly high fidelity loudspeaker from $200 - $10K.

If you know Klipsch then you know what they sound like

NONE!!!

I have to agree with jonny..... what other speakers could he be talking about. i do know some of you all from the klipsch bb and if you get a hole bunch of klipsch fans together you probably not going to win the fight but the Khorns don't need us it can stand on its own and blow you house away!

A Klipschorn listening experience about 20 years ago was one of my first exposures to high quality audio, and they were not being driven by a tube amp
but a 375 WPC SAE amplifier. This system rocked my world. Clarity and force you to blink dynamics left me speechless. Now, being able to afford a high
performance system, I went searching for Klipsches and wound up buying KG4.5's.
While not the renowned Klipschorns, they still have the great up front
midrange and crystalline highs. Sure there's some sibilance but I'll live
with that to get the rest of the package. And as much as I like the KG4.5's,
they are NOT K-Horns. Let's face it, in the audio world there are few classics.
The Klipschorn must be at the top of that short list. I envy you guys that
have these. Five stars is surely not enough for this classic.

Dynamics, detail, Image size, Out of the way in the room.

Perfection of tone, image depth

I don't like describing my self as an "audiophile" anymore because I know that those people are on a slippery slope. Buy, sell, buy some more, lose your butt, etc... I have been there and done that. I have spent more time in audio salons than I care to admit and I have wasted my money on expensive power cables, interconnects, line conditioners, and "tweaks". Do yourself a favor and buy some speakers with high sensitivity that also have excellent tone. If you do that, the rest of this hobby gets much easier. You can buy any amp that suits your taste and budget, from tubes to recievers. The Klipschorns give up a little in the way of "perfect" tone, but that is really digging. I have heard better image depth, but It was from electrostats which give up almost everything else. There is nothing that the K-horns can't play at live levels, with the proper image size. From jets to harmonica they will do what they are asked without strain. Make sure you have them "sealed" to the back wall with some weather stripping. It is a $7.00 tweak that REALLY makes the base tighten up and get even more punchy. It also helps out the mids and highs.

Mark

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Altec voice of the theater, VMPS supertowers, JBL, B&W, Proac

Every so often I take a few of my CDs that I am familiar with and like the bestfor different reasons eg: the music, the sound, or, in the best of cases both and go out to listen to the latest speakers that are currently being raved about in the audio press. I have to say up to this point I have yet to hear a pair of speakers that would make me want to replace mine. At least nothing short of a tri-amped, pro, multi (read tens of thousands) grand system.
I have had these Klipsch corner horns since 1980 and have driven them with various electronics. They are currently being driven by an OCM 500 power amp (excellent, I really like this amp) that is in turn being fed by a N.E.W. P3 tube preamp (exceptional, the smoothness and detail provided by this preamp for the price involved is mindblowing).
These speakers are fully capable of reproducing a musical event at realistic sound levels and have only one major concern other than their size and, having to have the space and proper corners to place them in. The concern or benefit or shortcoming is that these speakers are not "voiced" the way many speakers that are on the market today are. That is, they are not designed to sound good or pleasing on most music even if the recording isn't what it should be. With these speakers you get back what you feed in to them. If the recording is thin and bright and harsh that is what you get and it can be unlistenable if it is bad enough. On the other hand if the recording is good they transport you into an emotional involvement with the music, something just not possible with lesser speakers. In short these speakers mirror the source material and electronics that drive them. Sure, there may be better speakers out there but, not at any price that I am likely ever to afford.
If there was something higher than a five speaker rating I would give it to them.

Lasting pleasurable sound experience.

None.

I heard my first K-horns as a youngster back in 1980. At that time I gave no serious consideration to purchasing a pair for an obvious reason, (lack of money). But hearing them for the first time changed me forever. Someday I would have them. That day came in 1987 when I finally was able to purchase a pair of my own K-horns. In many respects, that was one of the smartest decisions of my life. I've listen to everything from Jazz, rock, R&B, & classical on these speakers. In the process I've also heard an ungodly number of other speakers over the years. B&W, Magnepan, Infinity, JBL, ALtecs, Bose, Carver, Cerwin-Vega, Polk-Audio, I've heard them all! To this day I've yet to hear anything even close to matching the K-horns power, accuracy and detail. I must be missing something! All the experts seem to snub the K-horns for the "better speakers" out there. Trust me on this one....there are no better speakers out there!

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Altec 14's

accurate music reproduction at all levels

must build your amplification system around them!

I've had these speakers since 1982. Fell in love with the sound of these behemoths when I first heard them in high school, 1972. Had 2 pairs of Heresys before I got the 'horns, but there is NO comparison betwen the two, except maybe value for your buck in both cases. The only drawback is some solid state amplifiers bring out the worst in the KHorns. Too much top end, shrillness (for lack of a better description) sometimes overbearing. This will all be noticed when playing digital sources, i.e. CD's..Never had a problem with SS when using vinyl. However..yes it's retro, but as it has been stated before, horn loaded speakers respond well when using tube amplifiers. I finally purchased a SET 300B amp (by Sonic Frontiers, "Assemblage") in March of this year, and have everything I was looking for! The only mod I made was ditching that 6SN7 tube that it came with (Russian made Sovtek) for an old '40's Sylvania VT231. Big diff!!
I too get the reaction from others when they hear these speakers! They cannot believe the things that they were missing! For all the people who reviewed the 'horns, and gave them bad marks, I don't disagree with you, with what you heard, but I feel (speaking from experience) that you had a bad room, or a bad amplification system, or a combo of both!!

I wholeheartedly recommend KHorns (bought mine new, man the price has gone up in 18 years!!) but as many others have stated, get the correct electronics!!

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Klipsch Heresys

Too many to list

none that I can find

These are 1977 Klipschorns.In 77' a very good friend of mine bought 72'K-Horns,that is when I fell in love with the wonderful work of Paul W.Klipsch.My friend still has his and has heard a lot of speakers and still feels the way he did in 77'.Someday,I thought then,I would own Paul's best work.I still have the Heresy(one)that I use as a center channel.A month ago I bought my dream,funny thing they just happen to be from the same year my love for Klipsch started.I know there are those of you that think there are so many other speakers out there that are so much better,that is an opinion and this is mine.Their sound is like nothing you have ever heard.If you want a small sound go for it.K-Horns take up some floor space,but they are so worth it.I had to build some false walls for them.I am using these in a system that does music and Home Theater equally well.
I don't think there is any better speaker out there.
It is hard to find a speaker that will last as long as Klipsch does,these are 23 years old and not had a thing done to them.All original,that says a lot for them.
I found these on the market place on this site.

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Klipsch in order of ownership:Heresy,KG-3,KG-4,Chorus,Forte

Incredible dynamics and realism.

Strict room and placement requirements.

If you're careful in setting up the K-horn, amplification, connections, room, etc. this is the best home speaker in the world at any price. You just have to listen to them properly set up and you will be amazed at how lifelike they will sound.

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Nothing comes close