Other speakers similar to a KLH Model 5

[A-Wall]

Hi everyone, I was doing some speaker comparison today between my Dynaco A25's and my one good KLH Model 5. I've been listening to Norah Jones' latest album and they aren't even comparable, not that I was expecting them to be, they are very different speakers. The KLH does so many more things right, much stronger low end, a nice airiness to the midrange, overall more detail and that's before a recap. Norah's voice is painfully good from the KLH. The A25's just aren't as smooth, airy and full.

Now I loved the way my A25's sounded in my 8x11 room, and thought I was set, but now I've seen the light and just enjoy the KLH so much more.

My problem is, I only have one Model 5 that's in good shape, it's mate is destroyed. The cabinet is horribly scratched and dented, the woofer is missing and the tweeter is dead...

Now ideally, I'd like to find another pair or get extremely ambitious and try to restore my pair. It's going to take a lot of time searching for parts and doing the labor or searching and finding another pair locally.

If a pair pops up, bonus! but in the meantime, what other speakers are out there that sound similar to the Model 5 that I could also be looking for?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Hi everyone, I was doing some speaker comparison today between my Dynaco A25's and my one good KLH Model 5. I've been listening to Norah Jones' latest album and they aren't even comparable, not that I was expecting them to be, they are very different speakers. The KLH does so many more things right, much stronger low end, a nice airiness to the midrange, overall more detail and that's before a recap. Norah's voice is painfully good from the KLH. The A25's just aren't as smooth, airy and full.

Now I loved the way my A25's sounded in my 8x11 room, and thought I was set, but now I've seen the light and just enjoy the KLH so much more.

My problem is, I only have one Model 5 that's in good shape, it's mate is destroyed. The cabinet is horribly scratched and dented, the woofer is missing and the tweeter is dead...

Now ideally, I'd like to find another pair or get extremely ambitious and try to restore my pair. It's going to take a lot of time searching for parts and doing the labor or searching and finding another pair locally.

If a pair pops up, bonus! but in the meantime, what other speakers are out there that sound similar to the Model 5 that I could also be looking for?

Thanks in advance.

Getting a woofer and tweeter for a KLH 5 shouldn't be difficult at all, considering how many pairs of 5's are out there. If you don't mind the scratched cab for the time being and also have a complete crossover in both cabs.

 

[A-Wall]

Getting a woofer and tweeter for a KLH 5 shouldn't be difficult at all, considering how many pairs of 5's are out there. If you don't mind the scratched cab for the time being and also have a complete crossover in both cabs.

With shipping to Canada, so far I can find a woofer for around $60 and a tweeter for around $50. The cabinet is so rough it's embarrassing, I can't have it in the room even if it does sound good. I'd have to do something with it cosmetically. The crossovers are totally complete. I'm considering painting the pair, and then later on maybe try my hand at veneering. Unless a nice pair pops up.

 

[kaliph11]

wake up

Ehere is a pair on Detroit C-list

 

[gbroot]

With shipping to Canada, so far I can find a woofer for around $60 and a tweeter for around $50. The cabinet is so rough it's embarrassing, I can't have it in the room even if it does sound good. I'd have to do something with it cosmetically. The crossovers are totally complete. I'm considering painting the pair, and then later on maybe try my hand at veneering. Unless a nice pair pops up.

Have you checked the tweeter independently to verify that it is dead? Original caps in the KLH's are notoriously bad and after recap the tweets often return to life. As long as the veneer is still good I would suggest using several doses of tung oil on the cabs. I have had amazing results using Tung oil to hide scratches and blemishes. Woofers and tweets are fairly common on ebay and are interchangeable between the 5's and 23's. I guess it's a toss up as to whether you want to rebuild or look for one or a pair. Either way, a recap will be in order.

 

[ssmith3046]

The Model 5 is in a league of its own. For vintage speakers I own AR-2ax's and New Large Advents but the 5's are my speakers of choice. Years ago I owned AR-3a's and I still like the 5's better. Good luck on search.

 

[HTHMAN]

If a pair pops up, bonus! but in the meantime, what other speakers are out there that sound similar to the Model 5 that I could also be looking for?

Thanks in advance.

Radioshack made the Optimus 5/5b and the Nova 8/8b designed to sound like the KLH 6. I used to own a pair of Optimus 5b's and they were fine sounding speakers but I was never able to do an A:B test of them to the KLH. Nice thing about them is the surrounds. The originals used cloth surrounds and the b's used foam surrounds that did not rot.

 

[Zolton]

+1 on a bad cap causing the tweeter silence.
Check it with a multimeter to see if the voice coil is still OK.

 

[doctorolds]

The KLH Model 23 is also another nice speaker. I have both, two pair of 5's and a pair of 23's, both waiting for new caps. Keep looking, they will pop up.

 

[johnnyboy70]

The Model 5's are keepers. You can usually find parts on ebay for the 5's. Tweeters, woofers, etc. I've had the Model 6's, and Original Large Advents and I still like the KLH Model 5's the best, especially after a recap, it does wonders

 

[cnolanh]

Another thumbs up here for the Fives. My tweeters came back to life after recapping -- do test your tweeters directly before assuming they're bad.

As for comparing them with other similar speakers, I recently sold my Original Advents and KLH Seventeens, in favor of keeping the Fives to represent that speaker era. Compared to a more modern acoustic suspension speaker like the ADS L620, the KLH Five has deeper and tighter bass, and a beautiful midrange ease, but the extreme highs are rolled off a little compared to the exquisite ADS soft-dome tweeter.

 

[A-Wall]

Have you checked the tweeter independently to verify that it is dead? Original caps in the KLH's are notoriously bad and after recap the tweets often return to life. As long as the veneer is still good I would suggest using several doses of tung oil on the cabs. I have had amazing results using Tung oil to hide scratches and blemishes. Woofers and tweets are fairly common on ebay and are interchangeable between the 5's and 23's. I guess it's a toss up as to whether you want to rebuild or look for one or a pair. Either way, a recap will be in order.

+1 on a bad cap causing the tweeter silence.
Check it with a multimeter to see if the voice coil is still OK.

I thought I had tried the blown tweeter on the crossover of the complete speaker but couldn't remember for sure, so I just pulled it out again and tested it with the multimeter and it is indeed shot.

I'll post some pics of the speakers, the really bad one has rounded edges, looks like it was dragged around on cement. They would both need to be veneered to look right again.

Radioshack made the Optimus 5/5b and the Nova 8/8b designed to sound like the KLH 6. I used to own a pair of Optimus 5b's and they were fine sounding speakers but I was never able to do an A:B test of them to the KLH. Nice thing about them is the surrounds. The originals used cloth surrounds and the b's used foam surrounds that did not rot.

The KLH Model 23 is also another nice speaker. I have both, two pair of 5's and a pair of 23's, both waiting for new caps. Keep looking, they will pop up.

Thanks, I'll do some research and keep an eye out for these.

The Model 5 is in a league of its own. For vintage speakers I own AR-2ax's and New Large Advents but the 5's are my speakers of choice. Years ago I owned AR-3a's and I still like the 5's better. Good luck on search.

The Model 5's are keepers. You can usually find parts on ebay for the 5's. Tweeters, woofers, etc. I've had the Model 6's, and Original Large Advents and I still like the KLH Model 5's the best, especially after a recap, it does wonders

Another thumbs up here for the Fives. My tweeters came back to life after recapping -- do test your tweeters directly before assuming they're bad.

As for comparing them with other similar speakers, I recently sold my Original Advents and KLH Seventeens, in favor of keeping the Fives to represent that speaker era. Compared to a more modern acoustic suspension speaker like the ADS L620, the KLH Five has deeper and tighter bass, and a beautiful midrange ease, but the extreme highs are rolled off a little compared to the exquisite ADS soft-dome tweeter.

It's starting to seem like for me it's Model 5's or bust....

 

[A-Wall]

Ehere is a pair on Detroit C-list

Thanks for the heads up! Those are only about 25min away from, minus the border crossing.

 

[A-Wall]

 

[dsx123]

A lot of the old klh stuff is fantastic..

If re-capped.

The 6s are fantastic.. I think in some ways better sound then the fives. Just something in the crossover sounded weird with my fives even after crossover rebuild, not that they weren't amazing...

My favorite klh in order:

6/17/5/12. Then: 24/10. The 14s are great too.

Can't really go wrong with klh if willing to put the effort into rebuilding them..

A lot of them used the same drivers, those tweets were used in like 10 models.

They developed things and once they got them right stuck with it...