• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Damn I love KLH 23's . . .

markus

markus

Master Procrastinator
The KLH Model 23 has eluded me for YEARS . . . mostly 'cause I'm cheapskate, as I've had the chance to buy them a few times on ebay, but cost, and not trusting someone to pack and ship like I would discouraged me. For those that don't know, this was essentially a speaker with a beautiful beefy cabinet with real wood veneer, containing the woofer from the KLH Model 5, and the tweeter that can be found in the 5, 6, and 12. Henry Kloss was a friggin' genius :yes: They just sound RIGHT.

About three years ago, I stumbled across a pair, along with a rotel amp and some other goodies from a porch full of 'free' gear up in Erving MA. The owner of the house was no where to be found, so I loaded up the car and headed home. Upon getting them home, and falling in love with their sound I returned the following weekend to thank the owner, and see what other goodies he had. He was a super nice guy, but informed the KLH's, and Rotel were not meant to be free - he had put them out for someone who had actually paid for them. Disappointed, but observing proper audiokarma, I returned the 23's and Rotel :tears:

I ended up macguyvering a pair, stuffing a set of KLH 5 woofers in my model 6's . . . they sounded great, but I really love the model 23 cabinets. fast forward to last weekend . . .

Did a trade with AKer relaximus, trading a pair of minty Rectilinears for his KLH 23's :banana: I've been running them off a little 5 wpc Magnavox 197 that I modded per the AK Brain Trust, and DAMN they sound nice . . .

I don't even use an 'audiophile' source right now, just running my laptop straight into the maggie, and I couldn't be happier.

KLH speakers are *just* starting to creep into Acoustic Research territory for price and collectability, and for good reason . . . Henry Kloss made some great speakers ! Hell . . . I saw a minty pair of 17's go for $300 on you know where, which is crazy . . .

grab a pair of 17's, 6's, 5's, 23's, 12's, etc while you still can cheaply. . . you can't go wrong . . .
 
Register to hide this ad
markus said:
The KLH Model 23 has eluded me for YEARS . . . mostly 'cause I'm cheapskate, as I've had the chance to buy them a few times on ebay, but cost, and not trusting someone to pack and ship like I would discouraged me. For those that don't know, this was essentially a speaker with a beautiful beefy cabinet with real wood veneer, containing the woofer from the KLH Model 5, and the tweeter that can be found in the 5, 6, and 12. Henry Kloss was a friggin' genius :yes: They just sound RIGHT.

About three years ago, I stumbled across a pair, along with a rotel amp and some other goodies from a porch full of 'free' gear up in Erving MA. The owner of the house was no where to be found, so I loaded up the car and headed home. Upon getting them home, and falling in love with their sound I returned the following weekend to thank the owner, and see what other goodies he had. He was a super nice guy, but informed the KLH's, and Rotel were not meant to be free - he had put them out for someone who had actually paid for them. Disappointed, but observing proper audiokarma, I returned the 23's and Rotel :tears:

I ended up macguyvering a pair, stuffing a set of KLH 5 woofers in my model 6's . . . they sounded great, but I really love the model 23 cabinets. fast forward to last weekend . . .

Did a trade with AKer relaximus, trading a pair of minty Rectilinears for his KLH 23's :banana: I've been running them off a little 5 wpc Magnavox 197 that I modded per the AK Brain Trust, and DAMN they sound nice . . .

I don't even use an 'audiophile' source right now, just running my laptop straight into the maggie, and I couldn't be happier.

KLH speakers are *just* starting to creep into Acoustic Research territory for price and collectability, and for good reason . . . Henry Kloss made some great speakers ! Hell . . . I saw a minty pair of 17's go for $300 on you know where, which is crazy . . .

grab a pair of 17's, 6's, 5's, 23's, 12's, etc while you still can cheaply. . . you can't go wrong . . .
Click to expand...
Congrats. :thmbsp: The 23's are indeed very good speakers. I got mine the easy way: my father-in-law gave his to me. My original thought was to sell them, since I have a pair of recapped 6's, but I'm rethinking that. I'm not sure I can part with them. Anyway, I'm glad to hear you finally found a pair.
 
I've had a pair of 23's. I sold them. They aren't bad, they just didn't do that much for me personally. They definitely aren't offensive in any way, they sound pretty good.
 
89grand said:
I've had a pair of 23's. I sold them. They aren't bad, they just didn't do that much for me personally. They definitely aren't offensive in any way, they sound pretty good.
Click to expand...

I'm a simple man with a thin wallet, and being addicted to tubes, I'm happiest with period correct gear :D

And just wait a week, I'll be gushing about the synergy of a different pair of speakers and amplifier. Part of the fun :yes:
 
markus said:
I'm a simple man with a thin wallet, and being addicted to tubes, I'm happiest with period correct gear :D

And just wait a week, I'll be gushing about the synergy of a different pair of speakers and amplifier. Part of the fun :yes:
Click to expand...

True, when I first got mine I really liked them. It was only after a few weeks that it sort of wore off. I happened to have some Boston A-150's and DCM Time Windows (my current favorite), so I just didn't need them really. I bought them because they were cheap and wanted to check them out, plus they were right down the street from my work.
 
Considering the low price I sold mine for, I kind of wish I just kept them, to be honest even though I had no real use for them.
 
Another KLH fan here, I have 6's and 17's. Although I have some speakers that "better" (?) the larger 6's in some areas, they are still a constant favorite. There is just something across the board "right" with the way Kloss voiced His creations IMHO. I am actually seriously considering swapping them back in my bedroom system for a while to "replace" my Polk Moniter 10's this weekend.
 
Yes, I too enjoy a set of 23's and they were one of my best scores. No sense in sayin' how much...I got 'em and that's all that counts. Recapped 'em with some basic Dayton's but might want to try something an little nicer in there. At any rate, I was introduced to the family Kloss through a set of 6's but the 23's, with their real wood cabinet and classy trim work, are just a purtier little speaker. And their ability to dig a little deeper into VLF territory suits me just dandy. And the two models stacked is just as sweet as a kiss from that little doll in my Avatar.
 
markus said:
I'm a simple man with a thin wallet, and being addicted to tubes....
Click to expand...

With a thin wallet you must mean you bought A tube not a stereo tube amplifier. :D

I have a pair of recapped 5's and 12's but the 12's are going because of extremely low WAF. I love the 5's, both acoustically and visually.
 
Glad to hear you finally scored some 23's Markus. Your old 5's, and some 12's 17,s and 24's have all come and gone through my set ups. But my recapped 23's are still here and probably always will be. They're one of my favorite 2 way speakers that just seem to do everything right. I know you're a tube guy but don't be afraid to throw some decent ss power to them either. They can take it and sound wonderful when driven by vintage ss gear.
 
jlovda said:
With a thin wallet you must mean you bought A tube not a stereo tube amplifier. :D
Click to expand...

heh heh . . nope. this one as with most I have came from cheaply scored consoles. Hard to go wrong with a $10 SE tube amp :thmbsp:

motorstereo said:
I know you're a tube guy but don't be afraid to throw some decent ss power to them either. They can take it and sound wonderful when driven by vintage ss gear.
Click to expand...

oh yeah . . they were fine at low to medium volume, but they were definitely underpowered . . . especially with some White Stripes blasting. I've still got a ugly but *mostly* functional Marantz 1152DC :scratch2:
 
I have a line on a set of the 23's. How do these sit in the vintage KLH hierarchy in terms of sound quality? I don't think they are cheap. Is there a "best" model to keep an eye out for? (I tend to prefer 2-ways).
 
bobbyonions said:
I have a line on a set of the 23's. How do these sit in the vintage KLH hierarchy in terms of sound quality? I don't think they are cheap. Is there a "best" model to keep an eye out for? (I tend to prefer 2-ways).
Click to expand...

23's are top of the heap for 2 way KLH's . . . if they are in perfect shape, they might be worth it . . .
 
:scratch2: I may have to take another look. Cabinets were nice as I recall. I'm running a pilot sa260. Right now it's pushing dynaco a25xl's and I like them alot. I wonder how these would compare with the dynacos?
markus said:
23's are top of the heap for 2 way KLH's . . . if they are in perfect shape, they might be worth it . . .
Click to expand...
 
markus said:
For those that don't know, this was essentially a speaker with a beautiful beefy cabinet with real wood veneer, containing the woofer from the KLH Model 5, and the tweeter that can be found in the 5, 6, and 12.
Click to expand...

I agree, the Twenty-Three is a great speaker especially for jazz and acoustic guitar. The tweeter is not the same one used in the Model Six, however. The tweeters used in the Model Twenty-Three are shared by the Five and Twelve only. Model Six shares the same tweeter as the Seventeen, Twenty and the rest. They look the same and the DCR measures 4 ohms like all the others but it's voiced a little differently (more articulate and less "squawky"). The only difference in it's outward appearance is the use of brown glue vs. tan glue used on the Six and others.
 
audiojones said:
I agree, the Twenty-Three is a great speaker especially for jazz and acoustic guitar. The tweeter is not the same one used in the Model Six, however. The tweeters used in the Model Twenty-Three are shared by the Five and Twelve only. Model Six shares the same tweeter as the Seventeen, Twenty and the rest. They look the same and the DCR measures 4 ohms like all the others but it's voiced a little differently (more articulate and less "squawky"). The only difference in it's outward appearance is the use of brown glue vs. tan glue used on the Six and others.
Click to expand...

that is pretty interesting - I always assumed they were the same . . . as soon as I get a new laptop (thanks in advance Santa!) my buddy is hooking me up with his company's software, Smaart; it's used for pro audio applications, but it allows for speaker measurement - frequency response, sprectral decay graphs, etc. . .

it'll be fun to get a real view of differences like this.
 
How do these compare to the 22/24's? I have one of each of those, which I find to be okay, but my Smaller Advents sound much better so I don't listen to them all that much.
 
I had two sets driven off a G8000 Sansui that flat rocked. Sounded awesome on everything and I'm not a stacker. Great speakers.

378510757_ad9XJ-O.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom