earliest surviving KLH Model 6 ?

[markus]

so this summer at one of the MIT Swapfests with some of the other AK guys, I came across an orphan KLH model 6 . . . early epoxied version, no grille cloth, working condition unknown - price ? $10 :thmbsp:

Being a KLH addict I could not say no . . . upon getting her home, I investigated a little further . . .

SERIAL # 0066 !!??!!??

I'd never seen a KLH 6 (or any other speaker for that matter) that was this early in a production run. Best part, it's fully functional :thmbsp:

check out the funky joinery on the corners, and the marine plywood (later models used cheaper quality plywood, and simpler corner joints. Also, the woofer is epoxied into the speaker as are all early 4's, 6's, and 7's . .

The sound :

very nice - classic KLH 6 sound. . . . Like my low serial # KLH 7's, I don't push this rare bird hard, but it sounds great playing jazz, classical, and most other music :yes:

 

[jpdylon]

wow! Those are low numbers. Shame that someone replaced the original tweeter with a later model 6 tweeter.

0066? Man, that must be around what, 57 to 58?

 

[imready]

heck, hopefully i will forget by morning that i want to see how early my 6's are.both tweeters don't work since i aquired them so i really don't know what they sound like. i expect they sound like kloss! merry xmas!

 

[johnda]

I have a pair of sixes in my basement and my AR4x's are sitting on them. I don't go into my basement much anymore because of a lung problem and upstairs I don't have the room for them, but I just moved my Kenwood KA6100 amp down there along with my Tecnics SL-2000 turntable. Everything works just fine so I think I'll be doing some wiring up and spend some limited time down there, just for old times sake.

 

[MRX37]

Those things look quite ugly. I'm sure they sound great, and are probably worth a small fortune, but astethically pleasing they are not.

Sound is better then looks anyway.

 

[kfa888]

Yep ugly, nope not worth a lot, yep, sound great. Vintage KLH and AR speakers are fugly.

 

[MRX37]

LOL I see that. Ah, but I've owned some fugly things that do their job well, so looks aren't everything.

Still, yes, they are fugly. LOL

 

[motorstereo]

I can't begin to count the number of ar's and klh's that I've passed on simply due to their cosmetics. Used to think there's no way something that ugly can sound good. Ahh live and learn. Keep the grills on and enjoy the sound.

 

[markus]

heck, hopefully i will forget by morning that i want to see how early my 6's are.both tweeters don't work since i aquired them so i really don't know what they sound like. i expect they sound like kloss! merry xmas!

I have another pair of 6's like that . . . I've been toying with the idea of making a little Janzen-looking three tweeter array using some model 6 tweeters so I can enjoy them too . . .

currently, I use them as the low frequency section of my DIY KLH line arrays :thmbsp: (you can't see them in this picture, as their stuffed in the corners)

 

[cabinover]

Got your favorite program on too Mark.

 

[markus]

Got your favorite program on too Mark.

AAHHHH ! ! ! BLUE MEANIES ! ! !

 

[Nat]

As pointed out, that's a replacement tweeter. The really early ones were epoxied in, and didn't have the protective metal grill, so if the the cloth grill was removed or poked, the tweeter (and the very thin wires that projected in front of it) were very vulnerable. Probably not a lot survived as is.

 

[markus]

Yep ugly, nope not worth a lot, yep, sound great. Vintage KLH and AR speakers are fugly.

yup. . . 'back in the day' I passed on a TON of advent / KLH / AR's for that reason . . . many look like they're cooked up in someone's garage

can't complain about the tweeter . . . I've got a pair of KLH 7's with original (non-screened) tweets, so when I wanna go 'all original' I break those out.

I kinda look at this 6 like a 58 chevy with factory 'under warranty' engine swap . . .