Thoughts On Klipsch Speakers
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Lookie Lou's Episode 7: Going from worst to first with the KG 4 Klipsch Speaker! An incredible look back on one of Klipsch's legacy underdog speakers and how Audible Elegance gave them more than a moment of glory! A must see!
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#klipsch #audiophile #hifi #hifiaudio
Thanks for sharing that experience.
Our pleasure!
Sometime back in 1974 or so I visited my friends father who had one of the best vinyl collections (mostly classical) in New England. He had a music room in his home that was about 50" long by 30' wide. Had a Steinway concert grand in there and 4 custom built Klipsch speakers in each corner of the room. As I recall they were each approx. the size of a WWII era gas fridge. Had never really been a classical fan before. My friend lined up Bach's Brandenburg Concerto # 6 and I was instantly hooked. The sound experience was truly magnificent. Never heard anything as good since and probably never will.
That is the beauty of magic moments. They leave a lifetime memory. The trick is not get caught up in trying to replicate it. I refer to it as trying to have the same experience as smelling perfume on a girl the first time. Some folk just can never get past that search for the Holy Grail.
@@audibleeleganceinc so true
Paul Klipsch will forever be the God of loudspeakers. Of the real Klipschs they now call vintage and heritage. Not the ones made in China.
No way JBL
@@rudekid82 The vintage JBL horn speakers made in USA are good. Not the sound bars and ear buds made in China.
It is interesting that you say that. I had the rare pleasure of hearing some of the more advanced JBLs, the prisms and the like. Quite interesting but I never really had the time to play with them. I suppose most of those made are now in the Far East driven by triode amplifiers.
anything from china is just a cheap knockoff of someone else's work!
@@cayde-6.0 Yes but there is more to it than that. Virtually all companies based in the West have offshored their manufacturing base to China using cheap exploited slave labor to maximise profits and dividends for shareholders eg Apple. Japanese and South Korean companies do it as well. Relentless greed is the reason. However, China did and does make a good product called Oppo. It is wholly Chinese so that is why it is good. Pride in the product, like in smart phones. They made the best blu ray players with the Oppo name you could buy at a reasonable price which plays cds at audiophile levels. But of course they stopped making it. If you can find one, buy it. Taiwan products like tools are great. Vietnam, not bad too
I've been enjoying KG-4s for more than 25 years. Size of room and placement are probably optimum for them.
If you have not added spikes to them, do it. We used the old Thiel Audio spikes and drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the pedestal base. One front, 2 rear. Three points always form a plane. Also tighten the screws on the pedestal to the KG4s. Amazing difference. By the way, take the time to tighten the drivers more firm into the motorboard (front baffle). Very pleasant surprises await you.
I had kg4s...worked in some rooms and not in others. But I liked them alot in the right room.
Great story. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it
I had the lascala 15 years ago driven by. A Jadis orchestra reference tube, it eas pretty good. I sold them because of the room size i had it just was like having 2 washing machines in the room.
I went from that to quads,magnepans and definitely old classic infinity kappas series I and II have been ever since a revolving door. I even had the 4 tower rs1b which i really didn't care for at all....
But long story short 15 years later now ,should have a Klipsch kg4 drop in my room this weekend . Very curious to hear them
We added spikes to the wood base if you have those. Made a huge difference. Also, take the time to tighten the drivers down well to the front baffle taking care not to crack the horn mount. Corners baby, corners. Remember Paul Klipsch!
Enjoyed your story. Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks for the video. Your room is ringing very loudly and w Focal. Wow
Dennis, the room was recently repainted and the treatments have not been installed. Fine observation but we are on it. Otherwise, enjoy the content and forgive the circumstances.
I have a pair of tangent50 klipsch speakers ,they're very similar to the kg4 , using 3 8 inch woofers and one horn , a 12 inch passive on the rear. They sound very non horn like smooth high-end , 98Db . Not much information about them, but really like the sound 😊
And in the end, if it continues to bring you pleasure and happiness, well, that's what it is all about.
I bought some used Fortes in Y2K. A friend was blown away by them (me too) and started doing research with the result that he bought some KG4s without an audition. Then he brought them over and we A-B'd them against the Fortes. He promptly sold the KG4s and bought some Fortes. I found the KG4s to be quite dynamic but considerably more colored than the Fortes, which I still have but seldom listen to, because I also have a DSP multiamped system with Lascala bass bins, huge E-V CD horns, Japanese alnico ring/slot tweeters, and a pro cinema sub. To quote Fleetwood Mac, "...never goin' back again." In my experience, the sweet spots in the KG line were the 1.2/1.5, 3/3.2, and 5.2. Notably, they were all single-woofer systems, leading me to believe that the inevitable beaming of multi-woofer systems at crossover was simply too much for basic passive dividing networks to handle with sufficient grace.
My point was that Klipsch themselves had a lot to learn and yes, the demo room was specifically trapped with ASC to provide the ultimate performance achieved. But, more importantly, I awoke within Klipsch that they had more to offer than they realized. All those spikes today on Klipsch, that was me causing it. Nothing more People are free to choose and discuss these things as you mentioned. I think you are right about the .2 series by the way.
@@audibleeleganceinc Point well and entertainingly made. Many Klipsch, and speakers in general, can be optimized with relatively low-tech tweaks. That's how I started my audio journey in grammar school. Decades later, my Fortes were noticeably improved by jamming a toothpick between the floor and ceiling of the mid horn to dampen the panel resonances of the plastic lens. I now do the same with the LaScala bins, using birch dowels, with similar good effect. Cheers!
I sold Klipsch in the late 80s through early 90s. The only speakers are really thought could shine were the KG4s and the much more expensive Fortes. Set up correctly both of these could image very well and the horn resonance typically associated with Klipsch was negligible. Great dynamics at any volume too.
Tracy, I found much of that line promising. My personal favorite was locating a pair of Belle Klipsch speakers which promptly became two center channels for K-horn based systems. It really worked well driven by Bryston amplifiers. It was just that some of the line took a little more effort than others.
@@audibleeleganceinc - I just found the larger speakers like the Chorus and Cornwall a bit overwhelming. Kinda like listening to high quality PA speakers. I loved the K-Horns though. They were definitely at their best with a tube amp.
@@tracyblair3064 You should have heard them on a Naim Nait. That little 15 watter raised hell with them.
@@tracyblair3064 By the way, Paul was never satisfied with the K-horn. He wanted it as a 2 way. Just imagine what he could have built with today's materials.
Great video thanks for sharing! Did you ever experience the Kg 5.2's. A friend gave me a pair a few years ago and I love them.
Indeed I have, I sold them. They were the last series we sold before Klipsch, in those days, turned to the dark side and started to use Pyle car stereo speakers in their product.
Suggested speaker positioning these days is far away from corners and out from back wall. Many systems years back (like the Klipschorns) were designed for corner placement. Roy Allison speakers were designed similarly. Even EPI suggested shelf placement against a back wall and to increase bass, move the speaker closer to a corner. I'm not a fan of horn loading drivers but they are quite popular now. Also, all Gods speakers got vents today. Remember when few systems were (Thiele aligned) vented systems. E/V and Ohm experimented with this in early 1970's.
Each design has it's limitations. The blessing of a horn design is efficiency and dynamics. But, that's the catch. Trying to play them softly can be tricky. I loved the Thiel designs and Jim Thiel was a most gracious person. It broke my heart to learn that years of his notes were burned. The new owner just used the name and screwed everything Thiel ever stood for and got the just rewards. Dahlquist played around with things too but his speakers were about as efficient as a brick. They ate many an amplifier.
@@audibleeleganceinc- yowza, didn't know that about Mr. Thiel. I've only read about him thru Ohm Acoustics and Electro-Voice literature. Think Polk used his designs too back in the day. Truly fine sound from "correctly" vented systems was available in the 1970's. But alas, the efficiency does suffer. A reasonable trade for a smaller box, deeper bass and good power handling. I've found horn loading makes for a more P.A. sound. But a lotta folks do like them.
Thanks for the review. Interesting. I admit I do like Klipsch Heritage models they do things, despite their flaws, that no other speaker other than a horn type can do, period. I like many speakers including Sonus Faber, but these Klipsch are soul capturing. The uncontestable bottom line in this "hobby" is everything is subjective. Find out for yourself, forget about other people's (reviewers) point of view, hear a speaker yourself, hear an amp yourself and use your ears and brain to make up your own mind about any product.
One of the interesting facts about Paul Klipsch is that he worked in Hope Arkansas where the US Army had a proving grounds for munitions. To be exact: In August 1941, a few months prior to America's entry into World War II, Klipsch enlisted for active duty in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. He was assigned to the Southwestern Proving Ground in Hope, Arkansas, which was used during the war to test artillery shells. I suspect this had quite an influence on his appreciation for dynamics which his speakers excel at and many fail to meet.
Yes, I quite agree with you, but I think that it should be a diamond. That is, you need to work with noble material. If you try to make a diamond out of pebbles, then nothing will work out. It is necessary to feel whether this or that product is subject to cutting or not. You probably understood that this is exactly a diamond and it can become a diamond .
Indeed, you can not make a diamond out of another substance. In the States, the expression of "A Diamond in the Rough" means that you have found a diamond but that it is neither cut nor polished. Often times, many do not realize what they have found or what it is. Once cut and polished, it is recognized. That is why I used the expression because Klipsch representatives, at that time, did not realize what they had in their possession, so to speak. Thank you for comment and hope this helps your understanding of what I said.
Can you please make a review of Focal Kanta2 ,which is behind you. Can't find detail reviews such as bass, soundstage best synagatic amplifiers (solid state and tube amplifiers ) etc..
Thanks !
As I mentioned to you in another post, I am really not too interested in doing product reviews. There are so many others doing that already and with, in my honest opinion, questionable articles. Instead, I am going to concentrate on all sorts of details that are often overlooked that affect many systems of any quality.
That's a fun little story. I have a set of K-G4:s but i haven't really used them.
What are your thoughts on placing them higher up from the floor? I was thinking of getting a set of stands built for them, maybe a foot high or so. Yay or nay? Any other tips regarding placement?
I think at one time Klipsch may have made like 3 or 4" risers for them like the Forte and Chorus. This was ideal for us as we added spikes to those bases. As for raising them higher, well, I can see bass output falling off a bit as you have the corner effect of the floor just tilted 90 degrees. Depending upon your room, it could work. Mind you, KG-4s go to the corners or very close proximity. Otherwise, it truly is a trial and error game for performance. We learned go to the corners!
@@audibleeleganceinc Thanks for the reply! Yeah they do have the wood risers. Gonna give it a try and see where/how they perform best. Fun speakers.
Which model of the KG line would you recommend the most? I like the sound of the current Forte model and would like to get as close as possible to it on a shoestring budget.
A fine question but my personal knowledge and experience with the Klipsch Product line ended in the early 2000's after Paul Klipsch died. At that point, I recall it was a nephew in Indianapolis (whose claim to fame was running a chain of jewelry stores) took over. He proceeded to gut Hope, Arkansas, the original home of Klipsch, by buying a manufacturer of car stereo speakers and using those drivers in what had been Klipsch designs. It went all downhill from there and we walked away by 2004. The company has since changed hands, I recall twice, and so I have no accurate idea of what they are up to today nor experience with them in 18 years. Thus, I can neither give you a competent answer nor should I. In any event, if you are playing around with vintage speakers, make sure the drivers are tightly secured to the motor board by tightening the screws on the drivers. Take care when doing so to the horns or tweeters if they are made out of plastic.
@@audibleeleganceinc Thank you for the very kind answer! That's such a pity! The current Herritage range seems pretty good, the rest is to my ears pretty bad. I was wondering about the original products which were produced in Paul's times like the KG and KLF range from the 1990s and the older Herritage and professional models. But anyway - it was great to hear back from you.
@@dkokalanov I can say the KG-4s can be very special. The trick it to add spikes into the base that is screwed onto the speaker itself. For years, we used the round Thiel spikes that only required a 1/4" hole. Two holes would be drilled into the back plate about 1 inch from the corners. Then one would be drilled into the front plate dead center. Three points always creates a plane. No leveling issues like you have with 4. You would also tighten the 4 screws in the corners of the base holding it onto the bottom of the speaker.
Kg 5.5
I want a pair of La Scalas but I cannot set them up. Too heavy for my back.
I know your situation quite well.
You actually pestered someone. Impossible.
Oh, Tom, and I can do it so well. Tenacity is often misunderstood.
I have a pair of Klipsch RP-600m running with a vintage (80’s) Sansui amp for my office. Nice solid metal stands. I think they’re great and don’t understand all the upgrading nonsense. They’re on obviously made in China and this is problem for me. They’re going soon to be replaced by Focal chora.
If you have not already bought the Chora, look out for the new series coming to market very shortly. They are called Vestia. Looks like the picked up some of the work from the Aria series. Have yet to hear them, though.
Not a true klipsch speaker
Ouch, I have a set of kg4 and I'm ok with them. They're $400 speakers, not $2000 or $5000 or $20000 speakers and I'll put them up against any of the $400 garbage you find at a best buy or equivalent electronics store.
Oh, I don't think you really caught my praise for your KG4s and there is a tip for you. You can write me through our website as to how to add spikes to your bases if you have bases and then, a little secret to make them better still. No, we are not "modifying" them. We are going to bring them back to spec and you already have the tool you need. And, you are definitely right, there are a lot of speakers out there that are garbage even at 10 times the price.
I missed the kanta 2 on the second hand market because I didn’t have the money and it pains me watching this video 😢
To use the line from Aladin by Jafar to Lago "Patience Lago, patience." Opportunities come and go.
Slob 🥴🥴👎🏼
One of the unfortunate things as you grow old, and I am 68, is the need to take medications that have lovely side effects and in my case, weight. We don't have much choice in the matter but it does bring me to talk about a recent incident that I had traveling back and forth to my store in Cincinnati from Virginia. While driving on the West Virginia toll road a small pickup truck nearly ran me into the concrete barrier as they drifted into my lane. I avoided him and pulled off at the rest stop. Interestingly enough, he followed me in but parked way out on the edge. Having a wife who has managed to survive a heart transplant with 6 different near death events, I decided to check on them. As I approached he rolled down his window and before he could speak I asked "Are you ok?" He was an old tyke like me, but rough in condition. He responded "I'm sorry, I was starting to fall asleep at the wheel and I'm only 5 minutes from home. I am going to rest a bit." I went in and got a meal at Burger King but for a drink, I ordered coffee." Coming out I went straight to him and said "Here, I got a coffee for you." He was appreciative. Along with my knowledge of audio and video, I have also come to learn that it's often better to reach out in friendship to understand what is affecting someone because in the end, taking care of each other is what really matters. All I wanted was to see that he got safely home and didn't risk hurting anyone else. So, I hope you are enjoying the insights I can provide and can make great use of them. Please share where you can.