Gigantic
A big, big love
IIRC, you're using a SET valve amp? Could have been the amp clipping and feeding back into the speakers. 8 Watts wouldn't have damaged much, but it could still make an awful sound.
Need Help Diagnosing Possible Damage to Klipschorn
- Thread starter Parallax982
- Start date
Bacek
Member
Generally I would not fix anything unless it's broken.
Play music and listen to potential problems.
babadono
Active Member
I'm biased but to me they are a vast improvement. The bass from a KHorn is very good if they are setup perfectly. The Jube frees one from strict corner sealed against wall placement. And the K402 horn compared to the K400 is ....well there is no comparison.
babadono
Active Member
So things got unplugged and you plugged everything back together...sometimes that's all there is to it. As long as you're at it..loosen all the connections at the crossover(s) and re tighten
I loved my vintage, stock Klipschorns. And I love them now, modified. The KHorns are in their own niche. Properly set up, they are unique and impressive (you already know this). Their bass can pressurize a room.
That said, vintage, stock Klipschorns can be improved upon (just my feelings from having tinkered considerably with them); and they can be made worse, less coherent—with tinkering—too. They are very sensitive, very temperamental transducers. They are not perfect.
Though related to the Klipschorns, the Jubilees are on another level altogether. If you love the Klipschorns, you can’t help but be gaga over the Jubilees, which improve considerably upon everything that the Klipschorns do well; and which don’t do anything that the Klipschorns do questionably.
With Jubilees, the bass is improved—tighter, deeper, more present and more natural. The dynamics are faster, more lively. There is more finesse. They are lighter on their feet—surprisingly for speakers with such massive footprints. Yet there is also more oomph. The liquidity of vocals and horns are improved. There are more details, more separation. There is also more coherence, more synthesis. More top end. Better midrange. More bass slam. And they are also more effortless. Unlike the stock Klipschorns (save the current model, with the optional Jubilee’s DSP), the Jubilees are also time-aligned.
While auditioning the Jubilees, on a live jazz album with which I was very familiar, I heard the spittle in the vocalist’s mouth, her lips brush the microphone, and the clear, faint sound, at a table nearby, of a ceramic coffee mug being slid across its saucer. I’d never heard these sounds before. They were not at all distracting. The music, the ambient club noise all just felt more present, more natural—live.
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jvstratman
Well-Known Member
Gigantic; It's hard to imagine what you've been through recently. I'm glad your medical team finally figured this out.
Here's to wishing you a Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous 2026!!
Here's to wishing you a Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous 2026!!
Parallax982
Super Member
Wow, brother. You've really been through a lot. I have a cousin who suffers from Crohn's, which I guess is in some ways similar to what you're going through. He's from the wealthy part of my mom's family. Descendants of my grandmother's sister, who married a rich dude and counted the days until he died. The lot of them are terrible snobs, as if each of them earned their money in some way that makes them better then everyone else. He was a wonderful child but a jerk since he was around 10. Still, I feel terribly sorry for the guy. All the money in the world doesn't make up for challenging health problems. Ironically, the money has done most of them no favors. Some of my great aunt's grandchildren and great great grandchildren became drug addicts. My cousin married a woman from a far richer family, because everything's all about money to them, and he's now stuck in a horrible marriage with a terrible bitch. He really enjoyed being a dad but it was explained to me that he can't divorce her because she'd leave him with nothing -- and when someone thinks they are their money, that's a fate worse than death.
Alas, none of that has anything to do with you. I'm so sorry for your struggles and hope you're feeling better now (and in the future). My surgery was invasive but not related to anything life threatening. Just the kind of age-related stuff one has to deal with from time to time. Though my life has had challenges, I've been fortunate around health issues so far. The worst thing I've encountered is that my wife and I almost lost our son, and he was 3 days in the Seattle Children's ICU, 5 days in the hospital. He had type one diabetes but it had been misdiagnosed and so he came close to death. Thank God he's alright now. It's a chronic condition which we have to manage but we've gotten good at it and the technology that's around today is really helpful. At Seattle Children's, I met parents and grandparents who were dealing with stuff so much worse.
Parallax982
Super Member
Wow. Hard to imagine anything sounding better than my KHorns but I believe you. I've listened to systems that cost north of $100k and didn't like them compared to what I have, so I'm not looking for more or better. I wonder why Klipsch didn't bring those to market. Do you have any insight into that?
Parallax982
Super Member
She wasn't using the SET tube amp but it is about 8 watts of tube power. So, yes, that could be it. The thing is she turned it off very fast. She says within five seconds. And then let it sit. It was when she turned it back on that she thought she heard weird stuff. I get home a week later and everything seems fine.
Parallax982
Super Member
Thanks.So things got unplugged and you plugged everything back together...sometimes that's all there is to it. As long as you're at it..loosen all the connections at the crossover(s) and re tighten
babadono
Active Member
da nada...40+ years in electronics. If I had a dollar for every time something turned out to be a bad connection......whether an external cable or more common in my work between the components themselves inside a piece of gear.
Parallax982
Super Member
Here's an update. Tonight we were watching football on our downstairs system, which runs through the KHorns. My wife said that, with the sound off, she could still hear a little something in the right speaker. When i put my ear up to it, I could too. I then tried it with one of my amps that I use for music and I did not hear it. So I think the problem is in the amp. The FrankenLowrey. An old Lowrey pulled from an organ and reworked into a stereo highfi unit. Super dynamic. One of my favorite amps, particularly for dynamic cuts. But the tubes (Electro-Harmonix 7591s) are on their way out. I bought some replacement JJs but the unit loses some of its dynamism when I put them in.
I'll run the amp by my tech. At least check the bias with the new tubes and see if that takes care of the noise in the right speaker. Wish it were possible to get new Electro-Harmonix tubes. Perhaps they'll return one day.
I'll run the amp by my tech. At least check the bias with the new tubes and see if that takes care of the noise in the right speaker. Wish it were possible to get new Electro-Harmonix tubes. Perhaps they'll return one day.
babadono
Active Member
Well they've brought the Heritage Jube to market and they kind of did the underground Jube but it became part of the cinema line as a 3 way to get the high frequencies through the movie screen.. You could get any finish you want as long as it was black
. PWK wanted to improve on the KHorn and make it a 2 way and bring it out in 1996 the 50 year anniversary of the KHorn hence the name Jubilee. When the new bass bin design got mated to the K402 mid/tweeter horn it became a challenge to make it "handsome" for home use.
babadono
Active Member
and IMHO you still need to scrap Klipsch's active crossover and get one you can set up ALL PARAMETERS on. Klipsch's is one size fits all and you only have control of the bass and high levels. No ability to adjust filters or delays or crossover point.
babadono
Active Member
20dB gain at 22Hz? so they sound "bassy" in the middle of a room? But what if I place them closer to walls and corners?
There seems to be a recurring series of posts on the "Class D amps" thread over at the K-forum. There isn't anything wrong with the amplifiers, per se. The problem is in the placement of the 2nd-Gen (Heritage) Jubilee bass bins away from room corners and in the lack of subsequent bass EQing down to flat response if placed closer to the room's walls.
Here is a Bode plot of the voltage levels that come out of the fixed-EQ Klipsch-provided DSP box (bass bin channel):
Note that this is 20 dB of boost at ~22 Hz relative to 100 Hz and above(!). This is far too much...
Here is a Bode plot of the voltage levels that come out of the fixed-EQ Klipsch-provided DSP box (bass bin channel):
Note that this is 20 dB of boost at ~22 Hz relative to 100 Hz and above(!). This is far too much...
Parallax982
Super Member
All very interesting. I'm happy with my KHorns and know from experience that sometimes it's best to be happy with what one has. I'll use the analogy of a relationship. If one has a great marriage, it's probably not wise to even think about who else might be out there. Best to invest one's energy in appreciating what one has.
It would be useful (essential) if Klipsch would address this problematic issue with a new and more versatile DSP (especially at the DSP’s ridiculous MSRP of $3500). Seems, from what I understand, that the boost is there because the Jubilees are not required to be placed in/sealed to the room corners. But what if you don’t put them out in the middle of the room? There should at least be a kill switch for this.20dB gain at 22Hz? so they sound "bassy" in the middle of a room? But what if I place them closer to walls and corners?
There seems to be a recurring series of posts on the "Class D amps" thread over at the K-forum. There isn't anything wrong with the amplifiers, per se. The problem is in the placement of the 2nd-Gen (Heritage) Jubilee bass bins away from room corners and in the lack of subsequent bass EQing down to flat response if placed closer to the room's walls.
Here is a Bode plot of the voltage levels that come out of the fixed-EQ Klipsch-provided DSP box (bass bin channel):
Note that this is 20 dB of boost at ~22 Hz relative to 100 Hz and above(!). This is far too much...