Klipsch Loudspeaker Placement

Brian Tambe

Active Member
Hello my fellow Klipsch Forum Friends , I am new here and have been enjoying , very much, the discussions topics , etc. regarding Klipsch Loudspeakers and am beyond thrilled that there is a Forum exclusively dedicated to Klipsch owners. I thought I would take a moment to share how incredible I personally think the " Vintage line " is such as the Heresy , K-Horn , KG , etc. I thoroughly and completely enjoy these speakers beyond ANYTHING else that I have heard over my 40 years of listening to them. I was first introduced to them at a George Benson concert in 1978 " Weekend IN LA " Tour and when George started to play " On Broadway " I went right up to the front of the stage with the most enormous crowd and I noticed that on each side of the stage were these Monstrous speakers and I looked closely at the brand and saw for the first time the name " K L I P S C h " and have been a fan ever since. Little did I know that these speakers were originally made and produced for " Live " Concert hall performances and that is how and why they sound like you are there in person while enjoying them in your own home. Thanks to the incredible engineering by " Paul W. Klipsch " himself.

I personally own a pair ( purchased brand new in 1988 ) of KG 4 ' s in absolutely pristine condition ( not 1 mark or scratch on them , because I am a fanatic with them ) and use them as my front mains for my Home Theatre system. I , way back in the year 2000, purchased the Synergy Series SC-1 center channel Loudspeaker and at the same time purchased the Synergy Series KSW 12 Subwoofer. I feel bad saying this , however , I went with the Bowers and Wilkins Monitor Series for my rear channel speakers because they were so ahead of their time for surround sound Satellites at the time , I couldn't say no once I heard them.

Anyway , on to my topic of speaker placement. How many of you have noticed that it is crucial to place these incredible speakers at the best possible location in your listening area? How many of you have noticed that the farther away you are , whatever model you have , the more they come to life and sound better? Also , keep giving them volume and they say " Thank You " like a Ferrari does with the accelerator pedal. The bass hits you right in the chest and you feel the music like you are there. I personally enjoy my system the most from about 20 feet away from my main's ( subwoofer is on the same wall to the farthest right corner ) The sound is incredible and I don't have the biggest or most expensive Loudspeaker from this company , not by a long shot I don't. I have , of course , replaced the diaphrams in the tweeters of my KG's and have thusly taken the harshness from the " Highs " that we all know these can produce. I have a 300 square foot " Great Room " for my home theatre system and can't imagine needing anything larger than the KG 4 's for my mains. I don't see how the room can properly benefit from a larger Loudspeaker , such as the Forte III 's or the famous " Cornwall's ". Again , I say this because , I have my speakers placed ideally for my listening area and that is why I wanted to give my input on how important it is to place your speakers in the best place possible in your room to allow your speaker system to perform to their potential. If anyone reading this thread ( sorry it's so long ) and think that I would benefit from the Forte III's or the Cornwall's , please give me your input because I would hate to purchase either one of these if they wouldn't out perform my KG 4's based on the room size that I have , again , approximately 300 square feet. Thank you all for reading my first thread and hope to hear some responses and takes on what I have covered here , thanks again and happy listening.
 
Every room is different, and everyone's ears are different. I started with KG4s, which I loved. They were used in a large room, but did quite well. I later found a great deal on a pair of Cornwalls which were more in line with the room size, and they were spectacular. A few years later, I finally found the Khorns I had always wanted. The room is big enough for them, but the placement is less than stellar. They still perform better than I had expected. Luckily for me I chose not to sell either of the others, and we are planning a move and downsizing. The Khorns may have to go to a new home, so I will still have the luxury of 2 pairs of smaller Klipsch to play with.

The nice thing about Klipsch speakers is that as long as you don't get stung when you buy them, there seems to always be a market for them. If you find a rare deal on any of the larger ones, give them a try. If they aren't an improvement, you can turn around and sell them.
 
Part 0f the reason for the distance required is because the speakers generating centers are so much different with the Heritage systems and because the horns are so directional. It takes that distance to allow the rooms acoustics to integrate smoothly and the horns to blend. If you sit to close and on axis its like listening to headphones . Everything is just close and to intimate. Especially with the longer mid horns of the La Scala and Klipschorn. For some recordings I like that closeness. But for most things I prefer Cornwalls of all the Klipsch models. They do have an off axis issue with a fairly narrow horizontal dispersion . Having used room equalizers with Corner Horns and Cornwalls the difference in sound when finished is at least magnitude better experience for me. The honkyness goes away most of the time, the bass tightens up and will buckle your knees if you want. Once balanced having tone controls with1 db steps is a real joy. One or two db change can really make all the difference in getting the presentation just right. Having a Mac pre-amp with the 5 band controls is a real joy touch up old Lp's and early CD's. I down loaded some President's Own Marine Band records yesterday. A three volume set. And the first volume, the quality is all over the place from being Miked to close or to far with mids that are either over or under emphasized with the bass being compromised. The highs are all over the place, with cymbals and snare sounding like mush or screaming covering everything else I'm going have to listen to each number rebalance it then dub it band separately to CD after making different corrections teach selection. That ought to take a full day. Fortunately volumes 2 and 3 are so much better. But you can't do it right unless you know your speakers are performing their best in your environment. Some friends like what Audessey can do others say Room Perfect is the answer.
 
I’ve found you may have to re-run audessy a few times before you get satisfactory results, adjusting the microphone positions each time.
 
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