Kienker Neel Speakers??

Hello uncledemp - 

Sorry for the delay of 7 years, 5 months, but just saw your post.

I am in Fort Smith, AR and own a pair of Kienker Neel KNI-240 floor-standing loudspeakers.  Serial numbers are 8628103 and 8628104.  They are still ass-kicking speakers with 8 inch woofer and small tweeter below.  Ported cabinets allow the low frequencies to be reproduced quite well.

I work in manufacturing, and if my serial number knowledge holds true, these speakers were built in the 28th week (July) of 1986.  103rd and 104th product completed that week.

My wife's sister bought them new and we acquired them around 2000.  So these things are 36 years old and still pounding away to music like Thunderstruck!  Hahaha!  They are built incredibly robust and it's too bad the company is no longer around.  I cannot find anything about the company whatsoever.

You can still buy some awesome Arkansas built speakers with a thick wallet.  Klipsch still makes their high end loudspeakers in Hope, AR.  I was in the plant in 2007; all handmade with very little mechanization.  I'm sure it isn't too different today.

I'll post again if I find anything at all about the Kienker Neel company.

https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/corps/search_corps.php?DETAIL=53812&corp_type_id=&corp_name=eel&agent_search=&agent_city=&agent_state=&filing_number=&cmd=

Thanks for the response! I enjoyed them but sold them recently. I bought mine from a friend of the owner, but didn’t think to dig into the details. Hope you enjoy yours!

Do you know anyone that is still connected to any of the owners and who was it that actually owned the company and built the products?  I would like to make some contact and find out some additional history about the company if possible.  Otherwise, I'll just let it lie and move on down the road.  Thank you!

If you find anyone interested to communicate; they can contact me via email at  blawson@cox.net

Not right off, but I’ll let you know if make contact with anybody that can fill in the blanks.

Best!

I have a pair of the towers as well...purchased in 1989 for ~$500 a piece.

Partial serial number 8628?

Inspected by RL?

I need new drivers and some of the connection hardware.

Can anybody help me...$1000 worth of speakers that could blow the windows out!

My email is gregorymills25@yahoo.com 

If you’re still looking for information I’d suggest pull the drivers, photo the part numbers usually noted on the rear of the driver and submit to Madisound. They also carry a reasonable selection of accessories and electronics that might work for you.
 

I too have a pair of Kienker Neel floor standing speakers, "kni-40"-see attached pdf. I acquired my pair in 1985 from Cedric Neel. I had the bass driver surrounds replaced 10-15 years ago after the original surround started, de-laminating from the poly cone. Relatively inexpensive and easy fix. Any reputable speaker re-builder should be able to source replacement surrounds.

Both Fred Kienker(electronics) and Cedric Neel(box designer) are/were brother's-in-law to me. They teamed up to design/manufactured a line of flat response, transmission lines in the classic sense at Cedric's place in Fayetteville, Arkansas in the early ‘80s.

Cedric grew up in Hope, Arkansas and was an acquaintance of Paul Klipsh and Bob Morse. Cedric passed away a few years ago in Tulsa OK. He did recalled the 8” bass drivers being Gefco and the tweeters were Vifa, at least in my case. Fred is still around but has had no association with the business since it was dissolved in the early ‘90s.

As a side note Cedric Neel's living room housed two Klipshorn and four Heresy ( in quadrophonic arrangement-I can’t recall the preamp stage) driven by mono Crown(valve) amps and reel to reel at the source. He really enjoyed sharing his musical experiences with whoever was interested.