What got you into Klipsch?

[Smokering]

We had Khorns in the Band hall at the University of Arkansas. Always wanted some Klipsch speakers made in Hope. I picked up some KG 3.2 at Habitat for Humanity. I plan to buy some Cornwall’s after my McIntosh system is complete.

 

[Pigboat659G]

Hi All
Klipsch RF-82
RF-3
RC-3
Run the two towers 2ch, RF-3 seem to do a good job filling in the mid's
Never use RC

And way in the back, not used, not appreciated,but pretty,

Klipsch Quartets, virgin, no updates, 8.5/9. ($49.99 - 35%, do the math, Goodwill)

Anybody in Tampa area with RF-7's. want to trade(am I allowed to say that?)

Yesterday Realistic Optimus -9, $14.99

Love my KLIPSCH, horns and all.

Pigboat659

 

[maxhifi]

I had a tube amp which didn't go loud enough with normal speakers. I bought Klipsch for the efficiency, and stayed with them for the sound.

 

[moray james]

so tell us about your rig? Knowing what you have used successfully will help others to figure out what components will work well with Klipsch.

 

[maxhifi]

so tell us about your rig? Knowing what you have used successfully will help others to figure out what components will work well with Klipsch.

Got a thorens td-124, with and SME 3012, and an Ortofon 2M Blue, a little bear tube phono preamp in a proper enclosure, a passion audio line preamp, and a single ended triode amp I built myself.

The speakers are 1980ish industrial La Scalas, painted black.

I have used the speakers with a variety of amps, and found that they have some real synergy with the single ended triodes (2A3)

One issue I had, is they tended to vibrate/buzz a bit when I got them, I had to go through them and tighten every screw.

I also use the same sound system for home theater, and I firmly believe that dialogue sounds best though horns.. It just projects the sound so clearly, and makes the music and special effects match the scale of the screen. I actually am also a fan of old movies, and I have found that on some poor quality sound tracks, the ability of the k400 horns to clearly project mids, makes the difference between being able to understand the soundtrack, and a garbled mess.

 

[RamblinE]

My taste in headphones is detail. I ended up with an all-tube amp for my high impedance and low sensitivity AKG K240 DF headphones. In 2010 I built a tube amp kit that was 8wpc and a pair of Klipsch SB1 Synergy bookshelf speakers worked really well with them. I shouldn’t have let them go when the kit amp kicked the bucket due to poor build quality but I did.

Pair of “compact” KG2s always looked like a nice compromise. Now that I have them I run them on stands with a sub and they sound a lot better all set up with my Yamaha receiver. I’d love to try them and the sub with my tube amp (Musical Paradise MP301 MkIII) but I’m worried about what kind of load the amp would see. And a remote is nice.

So I guess the TL;DR is sensitivity and detail.

 

[moray james]

Got a thorens td-124, with and SME 3012, and an Ortofon 2M Blue, a little bear tube phono preamp in a proper enclosure, a passion audio line preamp, and a single ended triode amp I built myself.

The speakers are 1980ish industrial La Scalas, painted black.

I have used the speakers with a variety of amps, and found that they have some real synergy with the single ended triodes (2A3)

One issue I had, is they tended to vibrate/buzz a bit when I got them, I had to go through them and tighten every screw.

I also use the same sound system for home theater, and I firmly believe that dialogue sounds best though horns.. It just projects the sound so clearly, and makes the music and special effects match the scale of the screen. I actually am also a fan of old movies, and I have found that on some poor quality sound tracks, the ability of the k400 horns to clearly project mids, makes the difference between being able to understand the soundtrack, and a garbled mess.

That is a very nice and extremely cost effective high end rig that you have there. I bet it sounds great. Do you play vinyl exclusively or do you also have a digital front end set up? I have a
ASL Tulip 2A3 amp and have been curious to try it set up for a pair of 45's If you have the efficiency in your speaker rig (and you certainly do) I have heard from many that if you like the 2A3 you will love the 45 but it is a drop in power I had thought about bi amping with the 45 on the mid/top.

 

[maxhifi]

That is a very nice and extremely cost effective high end rig that you have there. I bet it sounds great. Do you play vinyl exclusively or do you also have a digital front end set up? I have a
ASL Tulip 2A3 amp and have been curious to try it set up for a pair of 45's If you have the efficiency in your speaker rig (and you certainly do) I have heard from many that if you like the 2A3 you will love the 45 but it is a drop in power I had thought about bi amping with the 45 on the mid/top.

Probably 50% vinyl, 40% video duty, 10% analog tape. Almost zero digital, I have a Philips CD-101 I use from time to time to play CDs. I do like how it sounds, but generally speaking I just never got into digital seriously, I like collecting records too much.

My 2A3 amps have a Mullard EF37A capacitor coupled to the JJ output tube, with Sowter transformers. I haven't tried 45s, but I suppose I could, all I would need to change is bias resistors in the amp.

Also am set up for 16mm films, the Klipsch excel at making dialogue intelligible on old films.

 

[moray james]

Probably 50% vinyl, 40% video duty, 10% analog tape. Almost zero digital, I have a Philips CD-101 I use from time to time to play CDs. I do like how it sounds, but generally speaking I just never got into digital seriously, I like collecting records too much.

My 2A3 amps have a Mullard EF37A capacitor coupled to the JJ output tube, with Sowter transformers. I haven't tried 45s, but I suppose I could, all I would need to change is bias resistors in the amp.



Also am set up for 16mm films, the Klipsch excel at making dialogue intelligible on old films.

my very first CD player was the Philips CD101 which was modified extensively over a number of years of very good service. Recently I have been very impressed with the non oversampling dac's by Metrum in Holland. Some years back I made a last attempt to revive my analog rig purchasing a top of the line TT and mechanical linear arm from Bo Hansen in Sweden it uses Bo's Cantus mechanical linear tone arm on the Continuo turntable sold under the Opus 3 brand name. I had some issues at first which Bo was helping me with when he unexpectedly died. I put the table away for a time and never went back to it after that. One day perhaps I will set it back up for now it remains in storage. Thanks for sharing about your set up. Last week I spent an evening with a friend listening to vinyl. The marvels of moving nail technology never cease to amaze me.

 

[maxhifi]

my very first CD player was the Philips CD101 which was modified extensively over a number of years of very good service. Recently I have been very impressed with the non oversampling dac's by Metrum in Holland. Some years back I made a last attempt to revive my analog rig purchasing a top of the line TT and mechanical linear arm from Bo Hansen in Sweden it uses Bo's Cantus mechanical linear tone arm on the Continuo turntable sold under the Opus 3 brand name. I had some issues at first which Bo was helping me with when he unexpectedly died. I put the table away for a time and never went back to it after that. One day perhaps I will set it back up for now it remains in storage. Thanks for sharing about your set up. Last week I spent an evening with a friend listening to vinyl. The marvels of moving nail technology never cease to amaze me.

Sounds to me like you've got a really interesting system. I've always found linear trackers fascinating, hopefully you can get yours going. At the very least it should be the most visually interesting part of the system! I see you're in Calgary? Are there any good techs locally, or is it a design flaw? I've repaired enough linear trackers to know the things to check for are cleanliness, cleanliness, level and adjustment, in that order. An aerosol can of compressed air and a paint brush are your friends for keeping the arm's moving parts clean.

I'm curious what you did to the Philips. I've held on to mine simply because I enjoy the sound, and have no real desire to invest much money into digital. It's not because of some ideology, or belief that analog is best.. I just focused my efforts on records because I like collecting records, so it's natural I would try and find the best way I can to play them.

 

[freakdaddy25]

Well I just picked up a pair of Cornwall's for $75......so I thought, how could I go wrong?
They sound pretty amazing hook up to a Pioneer SX-880!

 

[moray james]

Sounds to me like you've got a really interesting system. I've always found linear trackers fascinating, hopefully you can get yours going. At the very least it should be the most visually interesting part of the system! I see you're in Calgary? Are there any good techs locally, or is it a design flaw? I've repaired enough linear trackers to know the things to check for are cleanliness, cleanliness, level and adjustment, in that order. An aerosol can of compressed air and a paint brush are your friends for keeping the arm's moving parts clean.

I'm curious what you did to the Philips. I've held on to mine simply because I enjoy the sound, and have no real desire to invest much money into digital. It's not because of some ideology, or belief that analog is best.. I just focused my efforts on records because I like collecting records, so it's natural I would try and find the best way I can to play them.

Maxhifi: the issue was with the table and not the arm and Bo helped me sort it out before he passed. Regarding the Philips CD101 man that was many decades ago the usual stuff power supplies regulating things some better parts but a lot of circuit changes done by a buddy here in Calgary. I was involves with Highwood Audio and we merged with Meitner/Museatex Audio of Montreal and they moved here and joined my company at the time. My good buddy John Wright who owns Museatex now did/does all the electronics service and upgrades and tries my ideas out when they make any sense.These days I do tweaks to entry level DVD players which are the best bang for the buck there is in audio though I think you got a good return on the investment that you made on your 101 after all these years, think I kept mine over ten or twelve years before moving on and the next owner ran it near as long, it got a lot of use.

 

[moray james]

Sounds to me like you've got a really interesting system. I've always found linear trackers fascinating, hopefully you can get yours going. At the very least it should be the most visually interesting part of the system! I see you're in Calgary? Are there any good techs locally, or is it a design flaw? I've repaired enough linear trackers to know the things to check for are cleanliness, cleanliness, level and adjustment, in that order. An aerosol can of compressed air and a paint brush are your friends for keeping the arm's moving parts clean.

I'm curious what you did to the Philips. I've held on to mine simply because I enjoy the sound, and have no real desire to invest much money into digital. It's not because of some ideology, or belief that analog is best.. I just focused my efforts on records because I like collecting records, so it's natural I would try and find the best way I can to play them.

I have attached a photo of Bo's Continuo (wood base) with the Opus3 Cantus Tonearm. My table is the Synthetic resin concrete version in hi gloss black finish. I have also attached a photo of the current version being produced in Sweden by Bo's successor the cosmetics have changed a little but the design is fundamentally the same. I just found a third picture of a Continuo which looks much the same as mine does though I have the gold anodized Cantus arm on my deck (same as shown on the Wood Continuo).
Contact info for those who may be interested, yes they do speak English there.
http://www.continuo.se/foretaget.html

 

[maxhifi]

Maxhifi: the issue was with the table and not the arm and Bo helped me sort it out before he passed. Regarding the Philips CD101 man that was many decades ago the usual stuff power supplies regulating things some better parts but a lot of circuit changes done by a buddy here in Calgary. I was involves with Highwood Audio and we merged with Meitner/Museatex Audio of Montreal and they moved here and joined my company at the time. My good buddy John Wright who owns Museatex now did/does all the electronics service and upgrades and tries my ideas out when they make any sense.These days I do tweaks to entry level DVD players which are the best bang for the buck there is in audio though I think you got a good return on the investment that you made on your 101 after all these years, think I kept mine over ten or twelve years before moving on and the next owner ran it near as long, it got a lot of use.

I got mine used, in about 1994 or 1995. At the time I was impressed by the solid build quality, and the fact it was made in Holland. I used it for years, and several times tried to replace it, but I preferred how it sounded to whatever I replaced it with. The only repair, was a failed coupling capacitor, which resulted in distorted output. I changed two capacitors, and it works properly now, but I think at this stage, it would benefit from a replacement of all electrolytic capacitors. One thing I like about it, is how it's at the tail end of vertical integration in manufacturing. The semiconductors, resistors, capacitors, and probably even screws are all made by Philips - try and find a product like that in today's world!

I have attached a photo of Bo's Continuo (wood base) with the Opus3 Cantus Tonearm. My table is the Synthetic resin concrete version in hi gloss black finish. I have also attached a photo of the current version being produced in Sweden by Bo's successor the cosmetics have changed a little but the design is fundamentally the same. I just found a third picture of a Continuo which looks much the same as mine does though I have the gold anodized Cantus arm on my deck (same as shown on the Wood Continuo).View attachment 1278353
Contact info for those who may be interested, yes they do speak English there.
http://www.continuo.se/foretaget.html

Absolutely beautiful, I can see exactly why you went with it!

 

[131east23]

300.00 dollar pair of original 1980 Cornwalls... I had five pairs of speakers at the time including JBL L112's and JBL L65's... Now I just have the Cornwalls.

 

[zebra03]

Because Genesis Physics Speakers went bankrupt .

 

[Ramseybella]

I found a mint pair of Heresy II for $60.00 and thought it was a no brainer.
Now i am getting the point of these speakers and my many others are collecting dust they are that different from them.
The new flavor of the month may stay in my freezer for a long time with these.

 

[mimalmo]

I've owned a few pairs over the years, talked one of my girlfriends into buying a pair of KG 3.2 (I think it was the .2 series...) in the early 90's at the tender age of 18. Then sold them to customers in the late 90's when I was a salesperson in a hi-fi shop. Recently came back to the brand after discovering a pair of CF3 v1 in February of this year.

 

[BillWojo]

It was after I picked up my Mac MC40's. My buddy, kve777 on AK told me I really needed horns and to look for some Klipsch speakers. Found a set of Heresy 1.5 on CL and fell in love with the sound. A while later another friend introduced me to his Altec Model 14 speakers and I found I really liked a two way much better. So I now have HeathKit AS101's, basically Altec Valencias in much nicer cabinets but with the same load.
That said, I could live with Klipsch if something happened to the Altecs, I think a set of Fortes would be nice to try.
Tubes and horns are made for each other.
I'm glad that Klipsch is still around and offering the Heritage line. With all the "advancements" in speaker technology, there is still a lot to be said about how they used to do it. I'm not impressed by any of the "modern" speakers I've had a chance to listen to, give me horns!

BillWojo

 

[healyc139]

Klipsch Pro Media 2.0 in college. A bunch of friends bought them as well because they liked them so much. They were great, and lead to a pair of Forte's and now a pair of Quartets. Absolutely love them.