Klipsch Jubilee & Klipschorn Experience

@willywonka wrote:

I want to be clear about this. Everyone I overheard talking about the Jubilee’s or talked to at the show had the same exact impression on these speakers. In fact, even the major publications commented about it. My impressions AREN’T guessing but was in fact the popular opinion at the show by many people!

I didn’t mean to imply that your impressions of the sound of the Jubilee’s was a "guessing game," but rather that whatever specifics accounted for their lack of performance to your, and apparently others’ ears as well, was up in the air.

Also the fact that some people are blaming the amplification seems odd. The Manufacturer (Klipsch) provided this, and you would think that they would know what they are doing. Amplification was Michi P5 preamp, and Michi S5 stereo power amp.

To start with one would expect the representatives from Klipsch had some level of critical assessment and final approvement of the overall sound coming from the Jubilee’s at named show, and apparently they failed here, so whether it was down to the choice of amps, active filter settings, acoustics, speaker placement or other, well - who knows?

But being you were actually there, what more specifically threw you (and others) off wrt. their sound, and did you listen to other larger horn-loaded speakers to make for some comparison perhaps? What type of speakers do you prefer generally, if you even do have any preference based on the speaker principle involved?

I have no doubt these speakers can sound amazing, but they just didn’t sound right at that show

If they’re present at Axpona this year hopefully it’ll turn out more successfully for them and the listeners.

Large horn-based speakers, perhaps not least of the all-horn variety like the Jub’s, can be an imposing and rather different listening experience compared to the more typical segment of low eff. direct radiating speakers of vastly smaller size. To some that’s a blessing, and to others it may be too much or simply too different an experience for them to appreciate and savor. Well-made and -implemented large horn speakers don’t necessarily sound "imposing" per se, but one has to remember these are very different animals compared to the more "standard" fare of speakers; the uninhibited dynamics, presence, scale/size of sound and physicality can be quite startling, certainly at prodigious SPL’s that are often displayed at shows. That said not trying to excuse the Jub’s performance at Axpona ’22, however they might’ve performed to my ears.

I have used ss with horns for years, and admittedly, some ss can be harsh. But I would blame the room and set up, more than the amplification. Phusis, in his last paragraph of his latest post, makes a lot of sense. I know people who cannot handle the dynamics, and / or other horn traits, because it is too much for them. A correspondent of mine cannot listen to Miles Davis, because he says the horn hurts his ears, and this is through some Maggies. To each his own. My best always, MrD.

@ditusa @phusis @mrdecibel @johnk : ...Loving this discussion and hope to hear the new jubes at some point soon.  Do you have plans to hear the new Jubilee's? Would love to hear your thoughts on them.

@phusis - can expand upon your criticism of the new Jubilees' ported bass horns ... do any other manufacturers' or DIYers bass horn place the woofer is in a ported enclosure (vs the typical sealed)?  I think Roy said this was his invention and he patented it.  I understand the intent is for lower extension, what is the tradeoff in your opinion?  Is the bass horn just being asked to perform too far out if its range and start impact the sound negatively? I have seen some folks on the klipsch forum with the older underground jubilee's who have done what you recommended, ie, tapped horn for the lowest octaves, Jube horn up to say 400-500hz, then let the K402 take over.  I'm not sure Klipsch would dip into tapped horns, as that tech belongs to Danley sound labs, no?  

At Axpona last year, what space were they playing in, and what was their placement within that room?  I have seen videos where the new Jubilees are out in the middle of the room playing, as opposed to being placed in the corners like the klipschorns and underground jubilees.  Perhaps the bass horns are sufficient in size along with their onboard DSP as to not require the corner bass reinforcement, but maybe that comes as a tradeoff in sound quality? Maybe they would still benefit from corner placement for more natural playback...

Have any other companies/DIYer's utilized the Celestion Axi2050 in their horns? I've read they are similar in sound quality to a TAD 4002 with out the high frequency extension, and extend down to ~250hz.  really, i want to know what Celestion envisions as the perfect horn for the Axi2050. 

It's been a year, so I don't remember the specifics of exactly why they didn't sound good, but I do know they had no synergy at all. Considering the efficiency of these speakers and how well they match with good tube amplifiers, I was very surprised Klipsch decided to match these with the Mitchi electronics. I would have thought Klipsch would want these sounding their best considering it was a new speaker demo. Nothing against Mitchi but I assume they could have done better. Could this have been a marketing decision and agreement with Rotel? I will definitely be going back to their room on the 14th. I'm looking for some new speakers and will also be evaluating the Volti speakers too although I have heard them before. I need some speakers in the $5K-$7K range that sound good at low listening levels. Both the Volti Razz and Klipsch Cornwall's look interesting.

I was lucky to get my hands on the axi2050 before they hit the market and was asked to give my opinions on it in different horns sized enough to take advantage of it. Celestron has a CD horn they suggest it's good if you want to use CD EQ DSP and not a tweeter. But I found axi sounds best with tweeters and has a nice roll-off after 3000hz. All horns I used it in have a 150hz-250hz lower range. I greatly enjoyed it in massive multicell and a huge biradial I have. It also did well with more narrow 40x90 radials. I updated my pic to show system axi is used in now.