80th-Anniversary Klipsch Klipschorn

[soundbound]

I’d really enjoy hearing a pair of Klipschorns ( 80th Anniversary active ) ( AK7 active ) ( AK7 passive ) and a pair of ( Jubilees ) all compared to each other.

 

[Panelhead]

I have seen and listened to many two ways with the horn sitting open on top. Most were 800 or 500Hz Altec horns.
But these were beaters and cost under 1,000.00.
Hopefully the marketing team will make them build a top hat. The bass cabinet looks great.
Fifty years ago I only was concerned with sound quality. The looks also factor in now.

 

[Gigantic]

Good post.

I doubt it’s a CD horn.

I think the old “house sound” is gone. We know what that sounds like and this new stuff doesn’t sound anything like it.

I'd posit that could be a very good thing. Not saying this horn is any good (or not), but the Klipsch House Sound is the reason that the mod community was so robust.

 

[Deang]

So you think Klipsch became one of the most successful loudspeaker companies in history because their speakers suck?

Anything can be made different or “better” but opinions regarding outcomes are subjective and typically all over the map. I already know people who don’t like the way the new stuff sounds. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A lot of people still prefer the vintage sound. They even prefer the K-77!

The mod community was made up of people who wanted to see what they could do with what they were learning. Not all of us disliked “the house sound.”

 

[Gigantic]

I think that two of the worst sounding speakers I’ve ever heard were Heresy H700/H1 and 70’s vintage LaScala. I don’t like Roy much, but he’s made Klipsch speakers quite listenable. His Forte IV, Cornwall IV and Hersey IV speakers I’ve heard all sound excellent. Vintage Klipsch? Not so much, unless you like no bass, sibilant treble and shouty mids; the K400 is one of the most awful horns I’ve ever heard. The speakers do a thing or two well, but in overall stock configuration? They’re not that great, but their flaws are easily remedied.

If the vintage speakers were as good as you say, what are you doing for a side hustle?

 

[Deang]

I serve both sides of the community. I’m getting ready to build another set of Vcap Type AA’s for the remnants of the Dave Mancuso crew across the pond.

People like different things and I still build pretty much anything as long as it’s for the big three.

 

[lissenup]

I'd posit that could be a very good thing. Not saying this horn is any good (or not), but the Klipsch House Sound is the reason that the mod community was so robust.
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I think your statement about a robust mod community is a bit misguided. Sure there are a handful that tinker with vintage or even newer Klipsch speakers, but I would think that the number of tinkerers is absolutely dwarfed by the number of total Klipsch owners that have coveted what you refer to as the Klipsch house sound. Sorry.

 

[Bushikan]

I think your statement about a robust mod community is a bit misguided. Sure there are a handful that tinker with vintage or even newer Klipsch speakers, but I would think that the number of tinkerers is absolutely dwarfed by the number of total Klipsch owners that have coveted what you refer to as the Klipsch house sound. Sorry.

I, for one, coveted that house sound from the very first time I heard Klipschorns, back in 1976, or so; and, especially afterwards, around 1979, when I met and talked with PWK and he gave me an autographed (“Pure Grade-A Bull Sh*t!—Paul Wilbur Klipsch”) brochure and a yellow button.

It wasn’t until 2006 that I finally got a pair of vintage Klipschorns of my own and, within a couple of years, began to update/upgrade/tinker with/mod them—at the suggestion, initially, of Klipsch employees.

I’ve probably improved them some from old 1970s stock. But in that long and expensive upgrade process, I eventually reversed a number of $$$$ modifications precisely because the Klipschorns no longer had that Klipsch house sound I originally fell in love with.