Review: Klipsch Klipschorn Speaker


Category: Speakers

What can I say about my K-horns? As do many of us, I have spent most of my life searching for "perfect" speakers, moving up the pricing ladder and trying different technologies (planar, ribbon, dynamic) always looking to get the sound "right". Well I came to these Klipschorns by accident. An acquaintance was moving and could not manage to take them with him (they ARE huge!) For only $1,500 I grabbed'em and have never looked back! Way below the budget amount I thought I would have to spend for my "perfect" speakers, and certainly not falling into any of the technology categories I imagined such audio bliss would come from. These "horns", these megaphone-type speakers. How can they produce "right" sound? LOL! Well after a few short days of listening I knew I had found what I had been looking for all along. I thus have come to two conclusions as a result of my experience with the K-horns; 1. That listening tests are the only true way to pick components, forget specs and 2. That price and reviews are not reliable guides. I thought I knew what I was looking for, but that was the problem; looking instead of listening. I won't recommend the K-horns to you, but I will tell you this they give you a unique perspective on music, one that is coming back into vogue (look at the reviews of the Avantgarde speakers), one that is emotionally involving and one that, for me, gives me the most enjoyable window into my music. Let me tell you what the K-horns excel at; they have dynamics like no other speakers, dynamic contrasts virtually explode from them. their level of detail in the mids and highs are something like no other speaker I have heard, clarity, definition, speed. That is the third major strength, speed, they produce and release a note, a sound, faster than almost any other speaker I have heard. The closest "speedy" speaker I have heard were Magnapan units, but they could not produce the dynamics that a K-horn can. Do K-horns go down to 20hz? Forget the specs! No they don't but they produce strong, tight, bass down into the low 40s/upper 30s and that is quite enough for what I listen to. I have never heard a K-horn owner complain about lack of Bass. They probably don't go all the way up to 20mhz either but the cymbal, piano and bell sounds that emanate of them provide me with a level of realism I have never experienced before. Imaging? superb! great, wide soundstage with images well placed. One warning, you need extremely good upstream components with these speakers, since they are ultrasensitive (>100db) they reveal every nuance of the source, the preamplification or the power amps they are mated with. I suggested tubes, tubes, tubes. There is also a healthy tweaking community that can help the audio enthusiast get the last little bit of audio nirvana from their K-horns. Don't worry about getting them set up correctly, you have to place them in the room corners, no choice, they use the walls as the finishing touches on their bass horn enclosures. If you don't have the appropriate space forget these speakers (go for Belles) Do I read the audio magazines and pine after B&W 801s and Revel Studios? Well yes, but after walking into stores to listen I walk out with the realization that my speakers are truely unique and the differences in sound are just that...differences, neither better or worse than any other. What works best for you and your music? How do you put together a system that reproduces for you what you hear in your head? The only way to find out is to get out there and listen, I recommend that you audition a pair of Klipschorns, they just may be the speakers you have been waiting to hear. If you are ever in San Salvador, give me call and we'll listen together, but watch out! You may be bitten by the K-horn bug and shipping in Central America is Hellishly expensive!

Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System

Similar products
Magnaplanar MG-3, Paradigm reference 100s, JMLabs Electra,Polk.
sunnysal
for Jim and Sal,
These are the kind of speakers that make owners evangelists! Though I have not sold my HT setup I am sure that a k-horn based HT would be incredible! Like Sal mentioned, I have yet to hear any other system that can get as much quality bang for the buck as a k-horn based system. My system has modestly priced upstream vintage components and it blows the doors off all my friends high-end systems. they hate to come over to listen to something at my house because later on they all mention how dull and veiled their systems sound when they return home! Sal, if you can swing it, keep your electronics and trade the speaks for a pair of k-horns or Belles...like many of us the k-horns will be your "last" speakers. warm regards, tony
that is a topic of debate...I would say no smaller than 15X20X8 but visit the klipch forum www.klipch.com and the members can give you their varied opinions...tony
By All means Buy Klipschorns! I just sold some Mcintosh XRT20's and they sounded really good. I sold my sixth pair of Klipschorns to buy the Mcintosh's. The first thing that I noticed was a really wide soundstage, clarity and deep bass. I thought that I finally something that beat Klipschorns! Then I started digging out older albums and Cd's that I was really familiar with. Duh! What happened to the sound I was used to hearing. It simply was not there!
True, I will never sell my Klipschorns again. I've had Magneplanars, Carver 60in. Ribbons (Sounded great), Listened to the Crown Ess 224 (Electrostatics, really sounded good) and countless other speakers throughout the years, but NOTHING beats the Klipschorns for overall realism of sound. Period! I use the older Yamaha V-fet power amps, the B-1 and B-2. They really mate good with the Klipschorns. Listen for yourself at about 2 watts. You will hear music, not specs, not someone's opinion or writeup. Judge for yourself. They are quite expensive now for a new pair, try to buy a used pair. It will be worth the search! I respect each and everyone's own personal opinion. I'm just saying what does the magic for me. I will never sell my Klipschorns again. It's like the SR-71 Blackbird-Performance made in America, Decades ago!
I once heard some Klipschorns produce the Telarc Digital cannon from the 1812 overture. They were mated to some Mcintosh 2205. It was the most awesome audio demo that I ever heard. It was like the cannons were there in the soundroom. No other speaker has ever been able to do this. I realize that this is not music, but it does show the operating parameters of this fine loudspeaker. Happy listening to all!

Mike
Mike you've found the magic combination too: classic Klipsch's driven by fet's are the only way to fly.
I have an audio salesman / friend who has the XRT20's, but when he really wants to sell someone who's "on the fence" he'll bring them not over to his house, but to mine. These vintage classics are now 25 years old, but they can sure still captivate with their dynamic realism. We break out the Telarc's & the newbie customer just HAS to buy something - funny that it typically doesn't even resemble the rig that they just heard, but now they know just what hifi in the home can sound like & they're in love.
If you've even given consideration to tweaking your Klipsch's to an even better performance level then drop me an email - that goes for anyone too.