Klipsch Chorus: Gutless?

[william.keith]

I have a pair of Chorus I speakers that I purchased new in 1987. I have always powered them with McIntosh amps which I found provided a tight and solid bass. However, a few years ago I added a McIntosh powered subwoofer and set the high and low pass pass filters at 60Hz. The Chorus speakers came alive. I now have deep bass in combination with that Klipsch sound in the mid and upper octaves. I am so glad that I kept the Chorus speakers.

 

[hellhound94]

Well, I'm not sure if any of you are still following this thread but hopefully you are as I have some news.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who posted their thoughts on this matter as it got me thinking about a lot of different things in regard to the Klipsch Chorus. I even received a couple of feelers from people who were somewhat interested in buying these babies. This in turn forced me to see what I actually had to sell.

This is what I have:

One set of Klipsch Chorus Ones.

Walnut cabinets, original black grills.

Consecutive serial numbers.

No boxes.

Purchased new by me on October 22, 1988.

I have the original bill of sale.

I have a nice glossy Klipsch Chorus sales flyer in near mint condition.

I have a nice glossy tearsheet in near mint condition from the February 1988 edition of Stereo Review containing a review/test report of this model speaker.

The speakers have received a lemon oil treatment every other week ever since I've owned them.

They've never been around pets or children.

They contain the original drive units, all of which are working.

The cabs, grills, and logo plates are in absolutely near mint comndition. I'd put this set up against any in the world as far as condition is concerned.

All of that being said, I disconnected these speakers from my system about a week ago and hooked up a set of JBL L-100's that I had in the attic. I played the living hell out of these JBL's using every kind of music imaginable as often as I could through this time period. I played 'em quiet, played 'em loud, and everything in between.

Last night, I disconnected the JBL's, hooked the Chorus' back up, adjusted the placement as best I could, and I have to admit, they sounded utterly fantastic! I hated to shut the system down as I could have listened all night.

So now, I'm re-assessing my decision to sell the Chorus' until I've had a chance to spend more time with 'em.

Hope I haven't bored everybody to death with this long-winded tale. Thanks again for everybody's thoughts and support.

 

[cabinover]

Damn, and I thought I was confused about which direction I want to go.

You aren't my brother are ya?

 

[william.keith]

QUOTE:

"Last night, I disconnected the JBL's, hooked the Chorus' back up, adjusted the placement as best I could, and I have to admit, they sounded utterly fantastic! I hated to shut the system down as I could have listened all night."


Not surprising. When you get away from a Klipsch Heritage or Classic speaker for a time and then come back to it you realize just how good the Klipsch sound is. Many other speakers, regardless of brand and cost, sound almost compressed compared to the Klipsch. I thought that McIntosh power in combination with McIntosh speakers would make for the perfect match but found out otherwise. I will admit, however, that my Chorus speakers do sound much better with a powered subwoofer. The sound is more solid and provides a greater degree of ambiance and dynamics. :thmbsp:

 

[hellhound94]

Cabinover, I guess one thing I've learned from this exercise is "don't shoot from the hip when you're playing with expensive equipment." I plan to keep experimenting with placement and listening to as many different kinds of music as often as I can and see what comes out of it.

And William.Keith, I am certainly not ignoring your advice about the subwoofer. It's just that I don't have one. I will attempt to borrow one, however, because I'm really curious as to what difference it will make.

Again, thanks for your continuing interest in this subject and stay tuned. I will continue to report on what's going on as long as there appears to be interest on anybody's part.

 

[Snade]

Cabinover, I guess one thing I've learned from this exercise is "don't shoot from the hip when you're playing with expensive equipment."

Exactly. Once you get these big, heavy speakers in your house, don't give them up unless you are sure you won't miss them.

And the high efficiency of the Chorus make them very versatile. You can experiment by matching them with some interesting low-power amps or receivers and get some amazing results.

Glad you are keeping them. Cheers. Snade

 

[alteklipsch]

Chorus Speakers

The Chorus rocks, it is one of my favorite Klipsch speakers at the moment. I do think the mid needs to be padded down a couple of dB, with the autoformer in the circuit I am not sure how to go about it.
About them sounding thin, I felt similarly until I was able to put them in the corner, I believe that is important to get the level of the bass even close to the horn 1/4 space 1/8 space boost and all that.
I have not been able to compare the Chorus II to the Chorus, maybe someday I will get lucky on epay and when some II's for cheap...

 

[DrWho]

I will admit, however, that my Chorus speakers do sound much better with a powered subwoofer. The sound is more solid and provides a greater degree of ambiance and dynamics.

I feel the same way :thmbsp:

 

[Danger Boy]

my friend has some Klipsch Chorus II's.. and on both speakers.. the woofer surround has started to dry out and crack along the folds of the surround. I can't tell what material the surrounds are made of.. it appears to be accordian folded paper material. that has lowered his bass output some. not by much though.. but you can hear it, that there is a rip in the surrounds now.

So carefully check the surround folds on your woofers.

good luck.

 

[Shain]

I will admit, however, that my Chorus speakers do sound much better with a powered subwoofer. The sound is more solid and provides a greater degree of ambiance and dynamics.

Adding a sub to ANY set of speakers will usually add to the bass, dosen't matter if they're Kilpsch, Pioneer, Altec, .. ....whatever

I've used several different size amps (250 wpc down to 14 wpc), different receivers, tube type equipment, and solid state.....and so on.

Most sound a little different than the one before.

The Klipsch are high efficiency, so tube stuff works well. Don't need power necessarly

 

[alteklipsch]

Yes, subs help also, I must admit I like the Choruses more than ever since I have had the HSU 1220HO on that system.

 

[hellhound94]

The saga continues....last night, after alot of furniture and system maneuvering, I was able to get my right Klipsch into a corner position as recommended by Klipsch and do some serious listening. Wow! I can't believe how good these things sound after a two-week break away from them.

During the two weeks, I had disconnected the cables from the Chorus and hooked them up to a pair of JBL L100s. After the two weeks, I re-connected the cables to the Chorus.

The sound seems so dramatically different now that I am wondering if perhaps mhardy6647 was right in an earlier post when he questioned whether or not I was hooked up in phase. I have probably hooked up thousands of speaker connections in my lifetime and so it seemed so unlikely to me that I didn't even check 'em out. Now I'm wondering.

At any rate, I still intend to try a subwoofer but in the meantime, I'm happy to have my Klipsch Chorus sounding good again.

 

[JAK]

Dead thread no doubt but I just wanted to say my 2¢. My Chorus I’s were waiting for big SS WPC....well 250....the bass is thunderous. 10x my 683S2’s. IM IN LOVE. I am also a bass fan

 

[fredgarvin]

Dead thread no doubt but I just wanted to say my 2¢. My Chorus I’s were waiting for big SS WPC....well 250....the bass is thunderous. 10x my 683S2’s. IM IN LOVE. I am also a bass fan

Did you try the port extensions?

 

[JAK]

They are in the mail. The Crites crossovers and diaphragms will be here Monday. With the tubes close to follow

 

[Chorus1fan]

They are in the mail. The Crites crossovers and diaphragms will be here Monday. With the tubes close to follow

Which port tubes did you buy?

 

[JAK]

Which port tubes did you buy?

I believe the ones u recommended. Did diaphragms and xovers last night. I will post on the chorus upgrade thread when I install.

 

[JAK]

Btw diaphragms and crossovers are a stunning change when I first brought in the Chorus they basically pushed my B&Ws out of the way and said MINE! Post upgrade it’s like the Chorus ate my 683S2’s and assimilated (Borg) I would say that these are truly the opposite of gutless and I’m smiling all the way.

 

[AlTinkster92]

How do you connect the speaker inputs to the back of the speaker?

 

[silversport]

remove speaker you are trying to connect, remove the two leads on the back making sure to note which is positive and which is negative, attach new leads from Bob's crossovers to the corresponding positive and negative connections and that you are connecting the leads from the same speaker (woofer to woofer, etc.)...place crossover at the bottom of the speaker cabinet inside and replace speakers...enjoy

Bill