Klipschorn Poll

Rate the Khorn

  • Love them, great speakers.

    Votes: 30 34.9%
  • They sound good, but priced too high, even used.

    Votes: 7 8.1%
  • Sound okay, but not my cuppa tea.

    Votes: 6 7.0%
  • Sound way too flawed, can't listen long, fatigue.

    Votes: 10 11.6%
  • Hate them, sound sucks... honky, shrill and completely unlistenable.

    Votes: 3 3.5%
  • Never heard them, but would like to.

    Votes: 30 34.9%
  • Never heard them and could not care less.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    86
They are on my list of speakers I would like to own and have been for around 35 years or so. There are three issues. The first is the price. Even on the used market in decent condition, they are out of my price range. Second is they almost never show up locally for me. Third, they are so big and heavy, it would be tough getting them into my basement. Other than that, I would love to own a pair.
 
Not saying i'm one of them, but i don't see an option for those who liked them, would own them, but do not have the appropriate room/corners for them. IMO, there are a significant number who fall into this category.

I am in this category. Although, if a pair fell into my lap, I would just do a little remodel to my basement...
 
The first really good system I've heard (around 1976) was composed by a Thorens TD124 + Shure V15 Mk 3, HK Citation I & II and a pair of Klipshorns in a vast guests room ( IIRC, about 10*20*3 meters). The room was full of books and I felt that the acoustics was excellent. In that enviroment, the KHs sounded superbly. Listeners were located a few meters away from the speakers, so none of the usual bad aspects associated to the horns were present. So my vote goes for the "great speakers" option, with the caveat that the KHs require a very large room to perform at their best, IMHO.
 
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Not saying i'm one of them, but i don't see an option for those who liked them, would own them, but do not have the appropriate room/corners for them. IMO, there are a significant number who fall into this category.
Exactly. Without the room to support a pair, the other options are moot.
 
Not saying i'm one of them, but i don't see an option for those who liked them, would own them, but do not have the appropriate room/corners for them. IMO, there are a significant number who fall into this category.
Exactly my dilemma. There's a very nice pair locally for about half the current going rate. The problem is I cannot squeeze them in the one room I have available and they're not able to bump either pair of speakers I have in other rooms that will accommodate them.
 
I have heard Belle's but not the Klipsch horns. The Belle's sounded old to me. Frequency extremes had noticably dropped off and I thought they sounded boxy.

Upstream equiptment was good stuff
 
Don't let the size distract you. They are big, but in my opinion they blend in the room so you don't really notice them that much.

Moving them is a whole nuther problem
 
I used to go to the DC area audio shows in the late 1970's and always one of the loudest rooms was the Khorn room. They were powered by a Revox A77 with the 10 watt/channel amp built in.

The first time I ever heard them was at Meyer-EMCO in Falls Church. They were powering them with an Ampzilla (White Sides) and Matching preamp. Thorens TD125/SME 3009 II improved and MicroAcoustics 2002 cart. Source, Phillips Collection "Last Night of the Proms" 1970. 5000 folks, the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus at Royal Albert hall with the Pipe Organ singing "Rule Britannia". I will always remember that afternoon. I had never heard big time classical playd at realistic levels. Even blew away my favorites at the time the Crown ES212's.
 
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Not saying i'm one of them, but i don't see an option for those who liked them, would own them, but do not have the appropriate room/corners for them. IMO, there are a significant number who fall into this category.
I fell into this category, which is why I bought La Scala instead of Klipschorns. I later switched to Linn Saras because, in direct comparison, I simply found the Saras to be a more revealing, musically engaging speaker. I still think the Klipsch classic line is great (including the incredibly adaptable Heresies), but for my ears, room, and listening habits, there are better options.
 
I've owned K-Horns and Heresy's. The K-Horns blew me away with their ability to just keep getting louder and louder, especially in the bass, with seemingly no limits. However both speakers gave me listening fatigue, they just had this kind of flat sound to them.

I've mentioned before on AK, the guy who bought my Heresy's brought along a tube amp with him, and that amp transformed those speakers. I really wish I'd tried the K-Horns with tubes before I let them go. My feeling is that era of Klipsch speakers was probably originally voiced for tube amps, and my ears just don't like them with solid state amplification.

bs
 
I'm in the haven't heard them but would like to camp. That said I doubt I would be moved to such extent that I would ever unload my jbl L200's and buy the big Klipsch. Not that I wouldn't be open to it if they were a big improvement and if I lived somewhere in the lower 48 and had access to buying and selling big speakers with local pickup . Just no market here to either buy or sell locally such large speakers and shipping costs rules out any sort of long distance transactions.

Besides I suspect my L200's are fairly similar enough of many aspects and could hold their own, but that is baseless without an audition , thus why I would like to hear the K-Horns for myself.
 
They do sound great.
I have had 2 pairs but not an appropriate listening space.
They need a large room with good corners and an accommodating spouse.
 
People love them and for good reason. They certainly can rock the house.

I owned a pair for several years, did all the improvements and tweaks I read on the Klipsch owners forum and other places on the web to make them sound good to me. New Crites Crossovers, reinforced corners (I had 2 good corners to start with), rope calk on the (aptly named) squaker, SET Tubes, Hi Power SS, etc.
Some music sounded very good, but 75%+ of my library was un-listenable and in the end were replaced by much smaller, less expensive Tekton speakers.
 
Not saying i'm one of them, but i don't see an option for those who liked them, would own them, but do not have the appropriate room/corners for them. IMO, there are a significant number who fall into this category.

Wish I'd included that, bowtie, but it didn't occur to me at the time, even though it's a well-known issue. Placement in my room (15' x 32') is far from ideal, and one corner is flawed, but they still sound great. I know of no speaker that I am willing to place in its optimal position in here, so any speaker is compromised. The mighty Khorns at least are out of the way, where they kick ass. Audiophile terminology, very descriptive, eh?
 
K-horns reproduce the attack of a bass drum or string with an immediacy and realism that I've never heard from another speaker. Room fitment is the biggest issue that I see. I've only owned one pair. The only room I had available with perfect corners put the listening spot about 6ft from the same wall ... a tad close for a horn.
 
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