Allow me to add my 2 cents: I currently own several speakers, including the newest revision of the venerable Klipschorns. The Magnepans, Martin Logans, Thiels, Piegas, Soundlabs, etc. that have graced my room in the past couple of years have impressed me with the detail, accuracy, staging abilities and all other "hi fi" attributes; however, none has provided as much enjoyment as the Khorns. I know, empirically, that these speakers do not better some of the aforementioned designs in any individual category, yet, taken on the whole, they simply reproduce music in a way that sounds and, more importantly, feels right. This is a difficult concept to describe; one just has to experience them. I am not familiar with some of Klipsch's lesser offerings, but I can tell you that the Klipschorns are still among the finest speakers on the planet. And feed them with low-noise tube amps, but not the flea-powered SET jobs that some people swear by. The bass doesn't come alive until some real power is intoduced, despite what the 104db efficiency will suggest.
Help: I've been Klipsched
I finally took the plunge into high-efficiency speakers and bought a set of Klipsch Chorus for a good price here on Audiogon.
When I first hooked them up they sounded okay, but a bit overbright in the upper midrange/lower treble region. After warming them up for a while and putting AQ Sorbothane half-sphere-type footers under the solid-state amplifier, the sound has smoothed out and much of the upper-mid agressiveness has been tamed.
Now they are very dynamic, fast, detailed, and they actually image quite well, which surprised me. The highs are much purer and more extended than expected, and the bass is articulate, though a little plump around 70 Hz and not that extended in the low bass. In truth, the Klipsch are faster and more dynamic than most speakers I have experienced. I can't believe I can get this level of performance so inexpensively!
My much more expensive system using AP Virgo IIs is still better, overall, though it is certainly no faster or more dynamic. But I have to say I think I'm having too much fun listening to the Klipsch with only a CAL Icon II, Perpetual Technologies P-3A and an old Onkyo TX-2500 receiver. No one would believe how great it sounds. It's really terrific on retro-swing like the Squirrel Nut Zippers stuff, and it just killed me on Cassandra Wilson's "Strange Fruit". Yikes!
I'm contemplating going to a nice little tube amp, but I honestly can't complain about the sound from the Onkyo and wonder how much improvement is possible.
Has anyone else had this type of experience?
When I first hooked them up they sounded okay, but a bit overbright in the upper midrange/lower treble region. After warming them up for a while and putting AQ Sorbothane half-sphere-type footers under the solid-state amplifier, the sound has smoothed out and much of the upper-mid agressiveness has been tamed.
Now they are very dynamic, fast, detailed, and they actually image quite well, which surprised me. The highs are much purer and more extended than expected, and the bass is articulate, though a little plump around 70 Hz and not that extended in the low bass. In truth, the Klipsch are faster and more dynamic than most speakers I have experienced. I can't believe I can get this level of performance so inexpensively!
My much more expensive system using AP Virgo IIs is still better, overall, though it is certainly no faster or more dynamic. But I have to say I think I'm having too much fun listening to the Klipsch with only a CAL Icon II, Perpetual Technologies P-3A and an old Onkyo TX-2500 receiver. No one would believe how great it sounds. It's really terrific on retro-swing like the Squirrel Nut Zippers stuff, and it just killed me on Cassandra Wilson's "Strange Fruit". Yikes!
I'm contemplating going to a nice little tube amp, but I honestly can't complain about the sound from the Onkyo and wonder how much improvement is possible.
Has anyone else had this type of experience?