What's your favorite vintage Klipsch speaker?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by russk, Apr 12, 2015.

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  1. jhw59

    jhw59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rehoboth Beach DE.
    should add, I also use a SVS sub as the Heresys drop off around 60 htz I believe. After all, the woofer design is why they are called heresys!
     
  2. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    The better Tannoy coax drivers are superb, better than the Altec IMO, but the Altec is somewhat still supported. Tannoy refuse to make the good old Tannoy driver available as a driver, so regretfully I don't have tannoys, but for the record they sure were great in the day.

    The Klipsches are, however, more efficient.
     
  3. Tony L

    Tony L Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    The classic Tannoy drivers are still fully serviceable with recone kits and compression drivers available via Tannoy through specialists such as Lockwood Audio and the crossover design is very well defined in the public domain, i.e. if you want big classic Tannoy drivers to build into your own cabs then don't fear going vintage. Assuming they've not been hopelessly abused or stored in damp conditions they are fully serviceable, and to be honest many of the 'hard-edge' generation (Golds and earlier) are still in fully working condition to this day (my current pair needed no work). Soft edge HPDs will need reconing, but it's no issue and brings them right back to spec. The very best of the modern range (Canterbury, Westminster etc) still use the same Alnico magnet and 'pepperpot' horn technology.
     
    russk likes this.
  4. HAmmer

    HAmmer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee WI
    Beautiful!
     
  5. HAmmer

    HAmmer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee WI
    Not vintage just out of print :p
    RF-83's

    [​IMG]
     
  6. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Could you explain?
     
  7. kt66brooklyn

    kt66brooklyn Senior Member

    Location:
    brooklyn, ny
    Very lucky forum member! Mine are the 12" Monitor Golds with the rubber surrounds which have held up very well. They are may all-time favorite speakers!
     
  8. jhw59

    jhw59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rehoboth Beach DE.
    Very briefly and I hope correctly, Paul Klipsch who did pioneering work with Bell Laboratories on sound felt that anything but a horn presented sound in an inaccurate fashion so when he designed small speaker he had to use a paper cone for the woofer as there wasn't enough room for a horn for the lower register. So, he called the speaker a "heresy" as it went against his theory.
     
  9. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    N
    Not quite correct.

    Paul Klipsch's signature speaker, and the oldest speaker that is currently been in non-stop production is the Klipschorn. The Klipschorn is a corner horn speaker, as one would place one speaker in one room corner and the other in the opposite corner. Traditional wisdom in placing speakers in a rectangular room was to place the speakers along the short wall to project into the long portion of the room.

    Paul Klipsch, had an idea to place the corner horns in the corners along the long wall and place a mono speaker in the middle between them, a different idea, to be sure.

    Here is a bit of info from klipsch.com:

    The eccentric touch and no-compromise spirit of Paul W. Klipsch has indeed become part of the consumer electronics industry, the practice of engineering, and acoustic research itself. For example, Mr. Klipsch related that when he was developing a smaller speaker for use between two Klipschhorns, an acquaintance declared that he couldn't possibly introduce it to the public because it was in direct violation of Mr. Klipsch's own corner horn principles, and amounted to acoustic heresy.

    "The hell I can't," Mr. Klipsch said. "And that's exactly what I'm going to call it!"

    A year later (1957) the Klipsch Heresy loudspeaker was introduced and, ironically, it became a bestseller in the church sound reinforcement market.

    The Klipschorn was introduced in 1946 and had a 15" paper cone bass speaker, which was mounted in a folded horn cabinet, same as today.

    F.Y.I - The Klipsch La Scala, also a folded horn bass speaker, has the same components as the Klipschorn (and Belle Klipsch), but in a smaller, more compact cabinet, designed to be more portable for P.A. use, first built in 1963.
     
    Last edited: Apr 20, 2015
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  10. jhw59

    jhw59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rehoboth Beach DE.
    thanks!
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  11. MiYYZ

    MiYYZ New Member

    Stumbled into this forum. Glad I did. I don't feel like a relic anymore :)

    I'm still running my original Forte set (walnut, oiled). Hard to believe I have actually carted them around through so many house-moves since 1984-1985 and still have the original boxes, invoice, inspection labels.

    Am no audio whiz and have had troubles over the years finding the right amp/tuner which works with these beauties. Finally found an Onkyo setup that sounds great.

    Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
     
  12. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Had both Klipschhorn and Cornwall and enjoyed them.
     
  13. Capzark

    Capzark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ink, Missouri
    I've had just about all of the various speakers in the Heritage line and prefer the La Scala's for their super tight bass and bright, articulate mids. I would not classify them as mellow by any means (they are very detailed which makes them seem hard and harsh), but if you are looking for a bullet proof speaker that will go as loud as you can stand, La Scalas fit the bill.
     
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