Who has these speakers and do you think this is a good price? I know they sound amazing but value wise, could I do better for $600? They are in mint condition, cosmetically and apparently (haven't heard them yet) the speakers are also in very good condition for their age.
I'm quite keen on getting them, just need a nudge from a couple of people who may know them better than me.
I've had (and still own some) Boston Acoustics, Monitor Audio Gold 10s, B&W 683s and 602s, DBX SF-150s, Bose 301s and I've heard and like the Klipsch KG4s
Note that upgrades exist for many out of production (or simply upgraded) Klipsch speakers, so you could arguably make 'em even better if need be. I'm a relatively recent convert to Klipsch "Heritage" designs (Heresy IIIs) and can't imagine returning to the low efficiency world of most home speakers. If I ever feel the need for larger things I'd buy a pair of La Scalas immediately.
If they are in decent shape that is a super price and they won't last long. 101db efficient and super good sounding Chorus is my favorite heritage Klipsch speaker. Make sure you re-cap the crossover if you get them as all those old caps are out of spec. Aftermarket parts and technical support from other users is second to none.
The Klipsch Chorus, either the series 1 or 2, was never a Heritage model, although I suspect, if production continued, as happened with the Forte, they would become marketed as a Heritage model. Because I feel PWK was a brilliant guy, I initially took offense of the Forte becoming a Heritage model, as the 5 original Heritage models, were designed by PWK himself. Marketing has made the Forte a Heritage model, as they are 100 % built here, at the Klipsch factory, with matching veneers. As far as the Chorus for $600. is concerned, I would suggest you listen to them, and if you like them, determine if they will work in your room. As wolf mentioned, there are parts, tweaks and updates available, that can bring them up another level or two. If you like the KG4, you will like the Chorus quite a lot. Enjoy ! MrD.
On another positive note, the Chorus 2, went from a front ported enclosure, to a sealed enclosure, using a rear facing passive radiator, and was much more successful in sales, and was produced for twice as long, as the series 1.
"
About the crossover swapout, are these really necessary? What difference
would it make to the sound vs. just leaving the speakers at factory
spec?
" OK if those capacitors were in spec there would be no reason to rebuild. I use a B&K 885 meter to measure inductance and capacitance and I will tell you flat out those appx 30 year old capacitors will have high ESR at the least and the capacitance may have drifted too. I have gone through dozens of sets of old Klipsch speakers and not one set of crossovers was factory spec. If you know how to solder this is easy to do and won't cost much. Last set of Chorus I's I had were pretty sour until recapped and I wish you could have heard the difference before you asked this question.
Yes, $600.00 in good shape is a very good price. As far as refreshing crossovers with new caps, make sure it is needed before purchasing new ones or even just new caps. Previous owner may have already performed the update.
Going to pick them up tonight. Thank you very much for the advice. Will be looking into the crossover recap/rebuild. I am comfortable with soldering electronic components and reading schematics. Never tested a capacitor before so I'll need to lookup how to do that properly.
Mangist, If you go to the Klipsch forum there is a member named Moray James. He has posted extensively on Klipsch mods. I did them all on my Forte I.
-Deaden horn bodies and woofer struts with dynamat or a substitute. A car renovation shop often will have a generic Dynamat that you can buy much cheaper, in a sheet. I used a 2”x2” piece on the inner and outer aspect of EACH strut on the Forte woofers. You’ll probably need 3”x3” or slightly larger on the 15” Chorus woofer struts. Fit one, precut the rest, and lay them out. Makes it quick and easy.
-On the outside chance you are in So Cal I can give you some spare Dynamat I have left over.
-On the horn bodies, leave about a 1/2” space b/t the front flange of the horn body and your matting so they fit back in properly. Otherwise the front cabinet baffle gets in the way.
-Brace cabinets with three 1”x3” wood struts going from front to back. Again, get a good first piece and them pre-cut the others. Some people screw them in to draw the cabinet together (not unlike Monitor Audio’s use of a single long screw going from the back of the cabinet to the center of the driver motor). You don’t have to do that. Just get a tight fit and use Gorilla Glue, which expands substantially as it dries. Put one brace centered between mid and tweeter (laid flat so it doesn’t get in way of horn bodies, and two-oriented upright on either side of the woofer-but spaced slightly wide between woofer and mid. I used a small level and a rubber mallet to tap each piece into proper orientation.
-add a little weight to the back of the passive woofer, a 2oz washer on the Forte passive tunes it down even lower. Moray could advise on the Chorus.
-Get titanium replacement diaphragms from Bob Crites for the tweeters, smooths them out. 15 minute job and not costly. -Bob also sells matched Sonicap capacitors for the crossover, again very affordable. I initially did a recap but a problem with one of them (I didn’t notice the original owner had mixed and matched Forte I and Forte II crossovers!) led me to buy the entire crossovers from Bob. Don’t even hassle with testing the old caps. Just get the ones from Bob. He’ll prematch them. Bob ships immediately and uses priority mail, so you would get the parts quickly. I’d order them today and have them by Saturday if I were you.
Go ahead and seal the rubber grill grommets with some silicon. You know you have a good seal if you can gently push on the front woofer and see a response on the passive.
As @Mahlman notes, there are a lot of easy mods. For probaly under $900 your modded Chorus will go toe-to-toe against $5-8k speakers. I’ve had my modded Forte in a shootout with the big boys, and it was usually a win, at worst a draw between comparably good but different “flavored” speakers.
@rmclain Thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to write that out. I have been reading since I found the Chorus II and I think I will do all of those suggestions. I want to hear them "stock" first so I can make a good comparison of the before and after mods.
The only issue was when I CUT THE END OF MY THUMB OFF DIAGONALLY with a table saw when modding stands mounted on casters!
My wife was at a lady’s wine party across the street and I show up with my hand in a towel, blood splattered across my face, and a piece of thumb on my shirt. I didn’t know how I looked, but figured it wasn’t good when my neighbor, who is Chinese-American, actually got very pale and wobbled in her tracks.
So, I get to the ER, sure I’ll lose my thumb to the first knuckle. I was the 3rd or 4th guy in there with a home improvement hand injury at the same time. The crazy part: since I only went halfway through the bone, IT GREW BACK. Like a lizard tail.
The doctor says, “let’s stitch it up and see if it reestablishes itself.” I actually laughed.... I said, “reestablishes itself? You mean like a business?” I was really only worried in that I’m a pretty dedicated rock climber, and wondered how I might climb with half a thumb. That said, I only took two weeks off and climbed open-handed on four fingers and a hard thumb splint two weeks later. Tommy Caldwell, one of the best climbers in the world, cut off his index finger with a table saw....
The end of my thumb is about 1/4” shorter and mostly scar tissue, but it isn’t noticeable. However I cannot swipe a smart phone with that thumb as the screen doesn’t recognize it, and it doesn’t have much feeling.
Last, even if you are ‘only going to make a “quick and simple cut,” don’t get complacent!
@rmclain damn! That sounds painful. I will stick to a soldering iron and screwdriver!
I ended up buying them, and oh man, these Chorus IIs are HUGE! Wife not super impressed although she did comment on how nice they looked. Trying desperately now to find a good place for them to live for the next year or 2 until we get a bigger house.
Already spoke to Crites, going to do the crossover rebuild myself using one of his kits. Got the Dynamat on the way too, just have to find the 2oz washers and measure up some wood for cabinet supports. I will hold off on the diaphragm update for now.
@rmclain I have these receivers at home, which do you think would be best suited for the Chorus IIs? Marantz 4270, Marantz MM7025, NAD C372, Adcom GFA 6000, Kenwood KR-V9010, Kenwood KA-6000, Sony STR-DE725, Krell 300iL?
I was going to start with the NAD or the Marantz MM7025, they both sound phenomenal on B&Ws, or my Monitor Audio Gold 10s.
Unfortunately as it stands at the moment, I have not ventured into the world of tube amps. Something to check out in the near future.
I am happy for you, as I know you will enjoy them. But I was surprised you went for another large speaker after not keeping the DBX you let go because of their size. As far as which amp will work best, use your own ears, as everyone will have a different opinion.
@mrdecibel I never claimed to be a smart man :) But in all seriousness, yes size was the issue and I did not completely understand the massive size of the Chorus speakers until I saw them in person.
I don't regret the purchase by any means, I'm pretty excited. I know that at least with these, if I did need to pass them on, there are many willing bodies out there who would like them. The DBX (while being incredible speakers) were just a little awkward with their Soundfield tech and shape and no-one knew the name so they were difficult to sell.
I am not questioning you smartness, believe me. Just enjoy them ! I always liked the old Marantz receivers, as I thought they sounded good with Klipsch, Altecs, and JBL horns I paired them with. If yours is in great shape, using it is stereo mode, it will give you some pleasant sq, and I believe it has a midrange tone control as well.
great buy! I had Chorus I's oiled oak back when they 1st came out...I chose them over Forte's not based on sound but the brochure. I had a huge living room in those days and powered them w/Carver amps....1st the 200 wpc stereo amp then the 375 wpc stereo amp that supposedly emulated a tube amp...back in those days nobody sold tube amps around here or even had one that I knew of. Wished I coulda paired them w/tubes but have great memories of concert level party sessions.....what? I can't hear what you said? LOL...
@richopp why what? I got the speakers, I'm very happy with them. Demo'd last night on my NAD C372. I can't believe the efficiency of them, I could barely move the volume knob 10% and they were already loud enough for me. Great sound out of them.
Ahh @richopp yes, I guess I'm always curious about trying new components that I've read about or heard about and not experienced for myself. The reviews and the almost cult following that the older Klipsch speakers have led me to believe that there was truly something there to be heard. They were right, the speakers are incredible. Definitely the best speakers I have heard in my life and I'll be holding onto these for as long as I can.
The next task is going through and trying all the different amplifiers I have to see what fits best. Would have got to the Marantz 4270 last night but it doesn't take Nakamichi plugs which is what I had wired up to the Chorus IIs and I was too lazy to swap out for regular speaker wire. I may do that over the weekend. I'm pretty excited about all of it.
My wife was blown away by the sound quality, she was grinning the whole time going through her iTunes library playing all her favourite tracks. Great night.
@Mangist, it wasn’t too painful, surprisingly! It was actually pretty funny in a weird way. As @mrdecibel notes, his Klipsch sounded very nice with the Marantz, so I’d go there first. I can’t speak to the others as I’ve not heard them, although I had an Adcom amp for a while and I thought it was too forward with the Klipsch.
I’ve run my Forte on a 3-5 watt SET and it was plenty loud. I’d try the Marantz and Kenwood first. I cannot emphasize this enough however, the Chorus and a rebuilt Scott, or perhaps a Fisher, will give you a gorgeous synergy.
I have a NOSValves Scott 299b and the Forte I. I’ve had a LOT of gear, much of which was excellent with the Forte, but the Scott always finds it way back. It bested, in a photo-finish, a beautifully rebuilt Sansui AU-717. The Bob Latino Dynaco ST-70 was beautiful with them, but ran very hot in summer. Sansui 881 was very good, Luxman R-1120, etc.
The Scott’s lush tubes and the Klipsch dynamics somehow work beautifully together. I temporarily pulled the Scott and I’m using nothing more than a little Tandberg TR1020-also a very nice combination.
So, with my Forte, I’ve settled on Scott, Tandberg, and occasionally my Fisher 500c.
Trust me, Scott and Chorus, you won’t be sorry. I’d consider letting go of a couple of pieces and Scott shopping.
@mangist There you go! Now that you have the speakers you love, auditioning electronics is the next fun. If you have a great dealer, you will be able to work with him/her to try various pieces and find the exact system that pleases YOU.
As a former dealer, I would be all over you when something new came out that I thought you might like in your system and I would be calling you to come in, see if you liked it, and then take it to your home and set it up for you to give it a try.
With so much new technology and approaches these days, you are probably never done tweaking, but keep yourself and your love of your music first and the gear second and you will always be happy.
Well, prices keep going up, but that's another story!
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