KLH 6 vs 17, differences?

B

b-rider

Active Member
This is another old topic, but I'd like a fresh response:

Nice set of 17's for sale near me, reconditioned with good cabs for $100/pair. From what I can find, the only difference between the 6s and the 17s was the size of the woofers (12" vs 10"?) and a slightly narrower cab at the same height. Same crossover, same tweeter.

So sound differences would really be based on the difference in woofer and cab size?

I was looking for 6s, but I doubt if I'd be disappointed in the 17s.
 
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I would suggest that you need to make a comparison with your own ears. There are significant differences between these, soundwise. While the Model Seventeen is a very nice speaker, the Model Six is something quite special.
 
Won't disagree with you at all, P, my question just asked if there were OTHER physical differences between the two that contribute to the sound characteristics.
 
I have KLH Model Sixes, a pair of Seventeen, and a pair of Twenty. The Model 6 is sublime. I will keep these speakers for a long time. But I also listen to the 17s and 20s regularly. I will keep them for a long time too.

The larger woofer and larger cabinet of the Six lets them go a bit deeper. I don't have the flowery language down to describe it, but the Sixes do sound better. But a lot depends on the type of music you listen to. A lot of music does not go very low, but, instead, emphasizes bass that is reproduced well by the 17s and 20s. Although, there are some recordings and types of music that sound so much better on the Sixes.

If you have a choice and can only get one pair, go for the Sixes. But if the 17s are available and in good shape, I would not pass them by. I would verify that the woofers are original and untouched. If they have been touched, I would verify that the surrounds were redoped with the proper Butyl compound.
 
b-rider said:
Won't disagree with you at all, P, my question just asked if there were OTHER physical differences between the two that contribute to the sound characteristics.
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Same tweeter, DIFFERENT woofers, DIFFERENT cabinet volumes. One other difference is the crossover - not physical, but electrical. The crossovers for the tweeter are the same. The Model 6 has a 1st order filter for the woofer, which will reduce any ill effects from the woofer in the tweeter range. The Model 17 & 20 allow the woofer to run wide open with no filtering. The Model 6 woofer filter contributes to the solid upper bass and midrange of the speaker over the others, but that is not to say the others are bad.

I have not measured the cabinet wall thickness, but they seem to be the same or very close in thickness. Considering the small cabinet size (bookshelf) and as long as the cabinets are equally stiff, there won't be any sonic difference if there is a slight variation in cabinet construction.
 
I've had both, the Six is MUCH fuller and has more definition than the Seventeen. Also delivers everything effortlessly. As mentioned, however, the Seventeen is also a special speaker, better for a smaller space. We had them in a 14 x 15 room and they were perfect. Maybe keeping the higher frequencies away from the Six woofer is much of the difference. I only have Twenty Threes and Fives anymore, but there's a pair of Twenties close by and I'm tempted, but too pricey. They sound exactly like the Seventeens.
 
I have a pair of both and agree with RTally. I like the 6s better, but could live happily with either if forced to. Right now I am powering the 6s with a Sansui 9090, a match made in heaven.
 
I use the 17s in my cozy work room. They sit at the back corners of the 3x5 dining table that serves as the work table. So often I listen to them at arms length and they are nice sounding speakers. They were built in late September 1972.

I need to clear out some room so I can work on them, picked up a pair of 6s from 1971 curious to see how they sound. You could end up with both.

Don't have a good room for it here, but some time I will have to try the Sherwood S-8900A in Dynaquad mode with 6s at the front and 17s in the rear.
 
At one point, I used Seventeens as mids/tweets with some AR-2s. ARs hit the
low notes better.

Sounded fabulous, though I think the arrangement (hooked up parallel) finally
killed a Kenwood KR-4600.
 
Man I want to get my hands on a pair of 6's so bad! KLH speakers pop up regularly around here but in the multiple years I've been checking I haven't seen a pair of 6's listed.

I loooove my 23's and the 17's and 20's I've had were quite nice as well, but not to the level of the 23. Grabbing some 6's for comparison to the 23's is an ongoing goal.
 
RTally said:
Same tweeter, DIFFERENT woofers, DIFFERENT cabinet volumes. One other difference is the crossover - not physical, but electrical. The crossovers for the tweeter are the same. The Model 6 has a 1st order filter for the woofer, which will reduce any ill effects from the woofer in the tweeter range. The Model 17 & 20 allow the woofer to run wide open with no filtering.
Click to expand...

Thanks, TRally, that's what I wanted to know but didn't find mentioned anywhere else (the crossover for the woofer).

I talked to the seller, he lives a mere 19 min from me and is a cabinet-maker AND vintage speaker-restorer AND a KLH devotee!

So at $100, I committed to buying them. He confirmed the replaced caps and proper re-doping of the surrounds. At that price for plug 'n' play, I can't pass it up.

It gets even better: He has a couple of sets of 6s that he hasn't started restoration on yet, and he offered when he finishes on or both to let me look and "trade in" my 17s. $100 plus a local guy like that to deal with is Gold, Jerry, GOLD, IMO.

When I pick the speakers up I'm going to bring him the wooden cab from my SX-850 that has veneer flaking and my AR-3a's that I got cheap that have the cabs painted, and pick his brain on the proper way to strip them.
 
b-rider said:
Thanks, TRally, that's what I wanted to know but didn't find mentioned anywhere else (the crossover for the woofer).

I talked to the seller, he lives a mere 19 min from me and is a cabinet-maker AND vintage speaker-restorer AND a KLH devotee!

So at $100, I committed to buying them. He confirmed the replaced caps and proper re-doping of the surrounds. At that price for plug 'n' play, I can't pass it up.

It gets even better: He has a couple of sets of 6s that he hasn't started restoration on yet, and he offered when he finishes on or both to let me look and "trade in" my 17s. $100 plus a local guy like that to deal with is Gold, Jerry, GOLD, IMO.

When I pick the speakers up I'm going to bring him the wooden cab from my SX-850 that has veneer flaking and my AR-3a's that I got cheap that have the cabs painted, and pick his brain on the proper way to strip them.
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It sounds like you've found a reliable seller who knows what he's doing.
 
alteclipsch said:
It sounds like you've found a reliable seller who knows what he's doing.
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Yes! And close to home! I'm also going to rely on him when I open up the ARs.

So yeah, my listening area isn't that big (right now, I'm assembling a basement system), and my family won't let me turn up the volume that high anyway, so I'm guessing these 17s will sound richer than the wall-mounted Polk RTi4s (?) I have now.

I'll have to swap out the grill cloth, though. He refinished with new black cloth, and I like the white/cream.
 
Penn42 said:
Man I want to get my hands on a pair of 6's so bad! KLH speakers pop up regularly around here but in the multiple years I've been checking I haven't seen a pair of 6's listed.

I loooove my 23's and the 17's and 20's I've had were quite nice as well, but not to the level of the 23. Grabbing some 6's for comparison to the 23's is an ongoing goal.
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The Sixs and Twenty Three's sound virtually identical except the Twenty Three's go a bit deeper because of the larger cabs and larger magnet woofer which is the same as in the model Five, so it can handle more power.
 
To add to the conundrum: I JUST found a pair of Advent 5012s (Jensen-version of the Large, with dome tweeter?) with great cabs and blown woofer surrounds for the same price, $100, but almost 2 hrs away. Sometimes it sucks to search CL.
 
What conundrum?

I would be dealing with the seller you mentioned who seems to know what exactly he's doing and what you're getting. Why would you buy speakers with blown woofers? once you add in the cost for gas & mileage for 4 hr's of driving along with whatever repair costs then those $100 Advent's won't seem like a deal plus they might need to be recapped which is another cost.
 
Dswankey said:
What conundrum?

I would be dealing with the seller you mentioned who seems to know what exactly he's doing and what you're getting. Why would you buy speakers with blown woofers? once you add in the cost for gas & mileage for 4 hr's of driving along with whatever repair costs then those $100 Advent's won't seem like a deal plus they might need to be recapped which is another cost.
Click to expand...

Fair assessment. I'm greedy and want Large Advents, too. But yeah, I'll snag the 17s, bird in the hand kinda thing.
 
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