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What attracted you to Klipsch?

1994, MusiCamp at Bemidji State University. There was a pair of LaScala hanging on the wall of the huge band room. It was very clear they had no bottom end in that space, but the sound of the cheesy "Music Minus One" jazz improv recordings was amazing. The drums and especially the growl of the upright bass just grabbed me.

20 years later, finally grew up and got a job. KG2.5 with Crites upgrades on stands became CF2 when the baby started crawling. The Epic series was definitely something special.
Need More Horns. Need More House first.
 
rebos123 said:
Walked into a high end audio store located at a Springfield, VA mall around 1979. Heard a pair of KHorns playing Classical Gas by Mannheim Steamroller. They were being driven my McIntosh amps. I was hooked. Took me 32 years to finally acquire a pair.
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Making up for lost time Fast, I would say! LOL.
 
I could have also said I had owned Altec Carmels and I didn't like the HF roll off of the 811B horn using the 806 driver and the overly pronounced sound from about 2000 hz down to 400 HZ. So when I heard the Cornwall all those complaints had almost totally been answered. It was just that a Bozak Symphony did even a better job though I had to give 5+ db of dynamic range and needed 2.5 times the power needed for average levels produced by the Cornwall. Cornwall was rated to handle 30 watts in the 60's before the upgrades and changes to the crossover. The Bozaks could easily handle 110 watt peak capability of a MC 240 running mono. So a Cornwall maximum out put rating back then was about 1`13 to 114 db. Where the Bozak was capable of around 111 or 112 db. Of course in the late 60's the drivers of the Cornwall had been up graded and the crossover changed so the efficiency went up and the speaker could handle 100 watts RMS. So that meant the speaker supposedly could out 120 db, but actually the limit was about 116 t0 117db do to woofer compression. So there fore the Cornwall could be 5 db more dynamic. Something Bozak could never match. Even a Bozak Concert Grand bi-amped fell a couple of db short of a Cornwall from the early 70's. I added 4 celestion HF 2000 tweeters in a vertical row to each Concert Grand and tri amped surpassing the Cornwall finally. But could never reach the levels of a cornerhorn. the Grands had the extension in the bass and highs without the midrange horn honk and is why I still have them today. But they are now part of a HT system featuring all Bozak speakers. Bozak and Klipsch were the best of the best in the 60's and it a shame the dueling hasn't continued to this day. With Grands having almost a 96 db rating with todays 1 meter standards the speaker would be considered above average in sensitivity. With a response from 23 to to over 18,500 HZ flat they are still quite a capable speaker. Also being line arrays they have the definition of a good horn speakers but with out the negativities of most horns being crossed over to low giving the honking sound. With Bozak speaker arrival times being very close together Bozaks give a more natural presentations the Klipschorn with mis aligned drivers cannot. . Only Altec and a few JBLs have the voice coils of the HF and LF drivers aligned guaranteeing matching arrival times of the HF and LF drivers emissions. Altec having the same directivity coefficients of their HF and LF short horns also guaranteed a very smooth transition of sound from above the crossover frequency to the woofer covering below the crossover frequencies. Remember JBL had worked for Altec and developed the 515B , 604, and 800 series drivers and therefore new about linng up the voice coils for proper arrival times. So he used some of that knowledge when working and running JBL corporation in the early days. Thats why the Altec 515B woofer and the Altec 604, 605, and 601 co-axials always have the Lansing name on the drivers. I don't know if Great Plains audio continues the tradition. But the s-l1200.jpegoriginal Altec did. Did you notice the # 1 terminal was positive on the 515B Altec speaker? That's different for sure!!!
 
1992 ish........heard CF-4's cranking Metallica at Simply Stereo in Hoffman Estates, IL. It was right up my alley.

I've tried almost all of em. I've owned two pairs of fully restored-modded-upgraded KLF-30's since 2009. Never did own CF-4's but I'd love to, though. However upgraded/properly working 30's are hard to beat.

Me so happy.
 
A little Pub on the college campus at SUNY Purchase had Heresy's in 1977. Klipsch had very little presence in NY stereo stores at the time, so this was my first taste of Klipsch.
 
The mid 80’s, my dad used to borrow La Scala clones from DJK for PA stuff at church events.

2000 or so, we go over to John Albright’s house and listen to his LS system.

2002, I buy a pair of H1’s while living in Orlando for college.

2003, I bought my dad a pair of H2’s for his birthday/Father’s Day.

2021, my dad is on his second pair of LS and is looking to downsize his system.
He also has a pair of MWM bass bins in his living room at this point.
He gives me the LS, he sells the MWMs and immediately regrets it.

I wait a year before I start modding the LS.
My dad then buys some snail cabinets which he has yet to populate.

I like older Klipsch as a starting point but as time goes on I think I really just like big horn speakers.
 
I got into HiFi in 1969. It didn't take long to discover the big names - JBL, Klipsch, Bozak, Bose, etc. So, as an avid maniac, I heard them all by hanging out every weekend at all the fabulous audio shops. Every few years I get pulled into the Klipsch vortex. The first time I got a good demo on Khorns (1972 or so) I almost pooped my pants! I've had about a dozen pairs from the KG-2 up to the Belle Klipsch. I like them for a while, then get bored and want to try something else.

They have a very STRONG personality - if you like it, that's cool, many people don't - so what? My favorite was probably the KLF-30 which had the largest balls of any speaker I had owned - OMG that thing could play rock! But sadly, the cabinets were janky, and I got out of them. The only one I had that I hated was the Heresy.

Right this second I'm in my office listening to Frank Sinatra "New York New York" on a pair of Klipsch RP-600M - a fabulous "best buy" kind of speaker that rocks like hell for $350.

If I found a pair of Chorus tomorrow -- - I'd buy them. I'm in the mood for that kind of big sound.
 
I don't really recall exactly why I got my first pair of Klipsch, even though it wasn't that long ago. I had gotten divorced, moved out of my house into a very small (<300 sq.ft.) apartment and wanted to get my stereo going again after years of disuse. My old speakers needed work so I remember finding a pair of KG-3.2 for $75 and went and picked them up. I liked them fine (though I wouldn't say I became a true "fan" yet) and as I continued to peruse Craigs List I saw a pair of La Scalas for $400 listed under "computers" of all things. I even have a bit of a thread somewhere here on AK about deciding to buy them. You might think I was insane for waffling on the purchase for $400, but remember the size of my apartment! Anyway, I got them and enjoyed them as near-field monitors for several years before moving to a bigger place where they are better able to do their thing. I passed the 3.2s to a friend who is still using them every day and I got a pair of 2.2s for my kitchen. The La Scala's were surprisingly enjoyable (extremely so) at whisper quiet levels.
 
Just purchased my first pair of Klipsch speakers. Picked up a pair of Forte IV’s.

As a teenager back in the 70’s, I dreamt of one day owning a set of Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre speakers. Had a good friend who’s brother had a pair of them he bought back to the states after his military tour of duty overseas. I absolutely loved those things, but they’re HUGH! As I just retired I decided to build the vintage stereo I couldn’t afford back in the day. So I went on the hunt for some AL Voice of the theater speakers. Guess what? They’re still HUGE! Decided to research more and came across the Klipsch line of speakers. Since I was trying to keep the build vintage I was looking at Heresy I's. Most I found were in very rough shape. Sounded ok though. Stumbled across a guy who had a pair of Heresy and Forte II’s that i listened to but once again they were rough. One had a hole in the rear passive radiator. I did like the sound of the Forte over the Heresy.

So I decided they’re still building these great speakers so let’s go new, and I did. Purchased a Marantz 2250, a vintage Pioneer turntable and a new pair of Klipsch Forte IV’s. Absolutely love the sound of those speakers with the Marantz. Next up a nice reel to reel.
 
Went to a prominent GA audio dealer on a whim one day and decided to listen to some speakers and see if any were worth me selling my beloved Adante’s

Listened to Golden Ear, that did not for anything for me.
Listened to some B&W’s , same again.
Listened to some Monitor Audio Gold towers that they wanted to sell me for a really good deal because they were being replaced by new models.
The salesman loved these speakers and said they were his dream speakers and honestly, I loved the way they looked. But, the sound just was not captivating me. I wanted to like them, but could not see dropping $7k on them if I didn’t absolutely love the sound.

Then as I was walking around the store, these beautiful Cornwall’s in Walnut were flirting with me. To that point, I had only heard Forte III’s at Axpona 2019 (of which they were impressive)
I sat in the listening chair and played a myriad of my favorites.
Omg. Was this what I had been searching for?! @ClaudeJ1 says it best, paraphrasing, no other speaker does live music justice like Klipsch.

Of all my rabbit hole chasing of imaging, soundstage, space, air etc etc.
I had finally found a speaker that moved me. To the core. I could not stop listening. My daughter was with me and she was so irritated that I just wanted to sit there and listen non stop.
So I bought the floor pair (didn’t want to wait) and took them home that day.
They have been in my setup ever since and I have had ZERO urge to change them as I am in awe every time I fire up the rig.

This right here is what would propel their business model upwards if they could capture this in marketing and promote to the next generation in their terms.
Alas, I think they are more concerned with corporate profits now than “Heritage”

But I am grateful to have this pair of which will be in my possession until I go see my Savior.
 
In the 1970s, as a teenager living in the Midwest with an evolving system (Marantz, Phase Linear, Sony, Akai, Technics, ADC, Teac, Bose 901s), I subscribed to Rolling Stone, Audio, Hi Fidelity, and Stereo Review.

I first learned of Klipsch in magazine advertisements. The magazines had those postage paid reader service cards with numbers that corresponded to manufacturers’ advertisements. You’d circle the numbers of the audio companies from which you wanted more information about their products and send it back to the magazine. Then, a few weeks later, the literature would begin to arrive.

I circled Klipsch, among others, including McIntosh, and I pored over the glossy literature, dreaming of one day, as an adult with a house, having some big Klipsch (or other brand) speakers and McIntosh separates. In the meantime, I auditioned Altec, JBL, Bose, Marantz—and bought and upgraded equipment.

But it took a few years before I found an audio dealer, two hundred miles away, who sold Klipsch and McIntosh. We happened to be in the neighborhood and my father drove me there; but, after stepping inside and seeing the price tags on McIntosh—and saying something to the dealer and me about a new car being less expensive than a stereo there—he told us he’d wait for me out in the parking lot.

That day—though under duress, with my impatient father waiting in the car—I quickly fell in love with the sound of the Klipschorns (a beautiful, polished rosewood(?) pair) driven by McIntosh. The warmth and smell and colored glow of all that stereo store’s equipment—and especially the sound: THE SOUND!—was like an elixir. I was hooked.

A couple years later, reading that Paul Klipsch would be giving a demonstration, I met PWK at that same dealer and talked with him briefly, explaining that, one day, I hoped to own his Klipschorns. He gave me a yellow bovine button.

I moved to NYC in 1985, where most high end dealers dismissed Klipsch out of hand as being outmoded and outdated. Even then, no speakers those dealers ever played for me equaled the live, dynamic sound I remembered from the Klipschorns. I had to go to Audio Classics in upstate New York to find any love for Klipsch. And, at that time, I couldn’t really accommodate big Kilipsch speakers in my small apartments, anyway. I lived with my 901s.

During those years, my brother purchased two pair of Fortes and, eventually, two pair of La Scalas (he still doesn’t have room for Klipschorns). But it wasn’t until 2004 that I finally got a house that could properly accommodate Klipschorns.

Right now, a modified, beat-up, mismatched ‘60s-and-‘70s walnut pair of Klipschorns sits in our living room, powered by McIntosh tubes. And, although I now dream of owning Klipsch Jubilees, I do sometimes—while listening to Nina or Ella or Frank or KD or Johnny or Miles or Bon or you name it—have to pinch myself:

It’s not a dream…It’s not a dream…

With the KHorns, when the tubes are glowing and the music is flowing—and even though the Doomsday Clock outside might be at ten seconds to midnight—life in my listening room is pretty damn good.
 
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A couple of years ago Klipsch started pushing out their Heritage models to reviewers, both in print and on YouTube, etc. The speakers all got great reviews. I had a pair of Spendor A6s that were just too smooth for me.

I visited my local dealer in Dubai and asked for a listen. He had a new Heresy pair hooked up to a McIntosh all-in-one TT/amp. We listened to a few of my selections and I was sold.

Ordered Forte IIIs after considering the space available in my apartment. Pretty happy with them but now regret not getting the then new Cornwall IVs. I still have fantasies about flipping the Fortes for new Cornwalls.
 
What attracted me to Klipsch? Audiokarma! After deciding to get a vintage receiver to replace a newer one that was giving me trouble I started sliding down the rabbit hole. I had some albums from my teenage days and went TT hunting. A guy on market place had a MCS table for 50 bucks he also had a pair of KG4’s with Mundorf and Crites upgrades. After reading everything I could find on AK my mouth was watering but 500 bucks was not in my budget. After hearing the MCS and the 4’s I bit the bullet and offered him 400 for the TT and speakers. Not happening! 425 he couldn’t do. 450 and I was headed home with them. It’s been a love affair with the KG4’s since then. Thanks again to everyone here on AK for all the info.
 
Bushikan said:
During those years, my brother purchased two pair of Fortes and, eventually, two pair of La Scalas (he still doesn’t have room for Klipschorns).
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Cornwalls and, especially LaScalas, take up more floor space than Klipschorns, when placed in corners. Look for a sale on tape measures and see for yourself! I had KG-4's in my car! I have owned too many pairs of the Klipsch Heritage and Pro stuff to count. I havel 8 Super Heresys in my Atmos HT.
 
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