What do Klipsch owners think of this?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by aceman400, Jun 12, 2003.

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  1. aceman400

    aceman400 Power to the Metal Thread Starter

    Location:
    mn
    Best Buy Adds High-Performance Klipsch Synergy Loudspeakers to Audio Offerings
    Thursday June 12, 11:50 am ET


    INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2003--Best Buy, the nation's leading retailer of technology and entertainment products and services, and Klipsch Audio Technologies, maker of the nation's number one specialty loudspeaker brand, reported today that high-performance Klipsch Synergy Series loudspeakers and home theater systems have begun shipping to all of Best Buy's stores across the United States. According to executives for both companies, the new retail relationship brings premium quality audio to the thousands of home entertainment possibilities Best Buy offers consumers.
    Klipsch, which currently controls 9.2 percent of the total U.S. home loudspeaker market and 17.7 percent of the audio/video specialty market (SOURCE: NPD Techworld), is one of America's oldest speaker brands and is known primarily within traditional "audiophile" or serious audio enthusiast circles.

    Fred Klipsch, chairman and owner of Klipsch Audio Technologies, explained that this is the first time the Klipsch home loudspeaker brand has ever been available outside of the company's core business of distributing to independent, boutique-style retailers. He said consumer shopping habits have changed over the last few years and having a solid presence with the Synergy Series at Best Buy stores nationwide will help to continue the 20 percent annual growth Klipsch has experienced since the turn of the century.

    "Klipsch Synergy Series loudspeakers deliver the power, detail, and emotion that consumers would expect from a premium brand," Klipsch said. "We believe Best Buy is an excellent retailer who will expose new customers to the Klipsch sound experience and increase future demand for high-quality, premium audio products."

    John Maskel, audio business team leader at Best Buy, said early Synergy Series sales at about 400 Best Buy stores are very promising, considering neither Klipsch or nor Best Buy has started promoting the availability of the loudspeakers. Starting June 15, however, Klipsch will be part of a national television commercial and will appear on the cover of the Best Buy advertising circular, which reaches 140 million households in the U.S.

    "Best Buy is committed to bringing customers complete solutions to their audio and video needs," said Maskel. "The addition of the Klipsch line to our product mix demonstrates this commitment. It increases the variety of solutions we can offer customers who are looking for top quality systems for their home theaters."
     
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    (Puts hands over mouth making crude funnel horn):

    "Can you hear me now?" "Can you hear me now?"
     
  3. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    That said, Steve, they'll still probably be the best speakers that Best Buy sells. ;)
     
  4. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Heh. I think you're right.
     
  5. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    There was a Genesis, or half Genesis, line of speakers at Best Buy for a while. Dunno, if they sounded good, because even if they did, you couldn't tell in a cramped demo space in a noisy Best Buy.

    P.S. Steve, did you ever hear any of the monster Genesis 1's? Maybe at a show? I've never even seen a pair in person, just wondered what your impressions were if you had. Thanks.
     
  6. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Never heard them. Never heard the Klipsch Synergy Series either actually. My neighbor has some cheaper Klipsch's that he used for his Home theatre system. Ouch. That upper midrange could take your head off. I taped a piece of Kleenex over the horns for him.
     
  7. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    That was the impression I got of Klipsch speakers one day at high school. Somebody (the Navy maybe?) had a traveling multimedia display in a semi-truck trailer that had Klipsch speakers. They must be magic to guys who listen to jets and guns all day. They had them cranked, and were bragging that they had them much louder earlier that day. Ouch. I thought a pair of Klipschhorns looked very impressive sitting ominously in a corner, but I never heard them.
     
  8. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I never dismiss anything that makes music. Klipsch speakers make music.

    Some models are more colored than others, that's all.

    I like the big ones the best.
     
  9. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    my experiences with klipsch go like this. (and i am not stroking here).

    every DCC and MOFI cd i listen to sounds stunningly wonderful.

    older cd's also sound very, very good.

    the newer, overly loud on purpose, cd's do tend cause some ear fatigue.

    the cd i have noticed as the hardest to listen to, except at a very low volume, is the new fleetwood mac. unbelievably shrill at loud volume. i thought it was the cd, but maybe its my klipsch.

    renny

    p.s. steve, were you joking, or does taping a piece of kleenex really help with the "shrill"?
     
  10. HeavyDistortion

    HeavyDistortion Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    I have older Klipsch speakers, 1976 Cornwalls, and as rjp says, DCCs, MOFIs and older original CDs sound wonderful through them. Since getting my first tube amplifier, the Scott 299-D, I'm convinced that tube amplification is a better match for my Cornwalls. They are much smoother and warmer sounding, with a much better bass response and no harshness, compared to the brighter sound that I sometimes got through them using my Krell solid state amplifier. I do occasionaly read the Klipsch forum, and I often see references as to how tubes tame the harshness and/or brightness that some say are inherent in horn speakers.





    Ed Hurdle
    HeavyDistortion
     
  11. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    Best Buy is only good for audio neophytes--their demo system is terrible, usually a low-buck receiver locked away in a cabinet, controlled by remote "idiot buttons" so you can demo six styles of what they call "music" (all garbage at our local stores, IMHO), with volume up and down buttons next to them. And let's see, they're either stacked next to each other on the floor or piled on shelves on the wall.

    Aaaah well, Klipsch will learn the hard way...your typical Best Buy speaker buyer wants boom-boom, tweet-tweet. So their over-compressed CDs sound "kick ass, dude!!!".

    *sigh*
     
  12. Drew

    Drew Senior Member

    Location:
    Grand Junction, CO
    I heard my SET amps thru some Altec Voice of the Theatre horns about 6 months ago and it sounded pretty good. The moment we hooked up the solid state equipment those horns really began to ring.

    I'd love to audition some vintage Klipsch speakers but I can't find anyone locally who has any. I realize the speakers Best Buy is selling are the smaller, newer models but who has perfect corners in their homes for cornerhorns?
     
  13. RDK

    RDK Active Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I know a lot of people with flea-powered SETs who swear by Klipsch...
     
  14. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    IMHO Klipsch ARE a tube powered speaker. SS just doesn't sound right through them for some reason.
     
  15. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    Yeah, I wouldn't knock a whole line. Well maybe BOSE, just cause it's fun. But the Klipsch demo I heard was probably powered by SS car audio gear. It was in a semi, after all.
     
  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host


    renny,

    I wasn't joking. Try it. If it kills too much, try a piece of TWO-PLY toilet paper. If that is too much, remove one of the ply's.

    It's not rocket science but it works....
     
  17. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    steve,

    ok, i will try this. thanks for the tip. i'll let you know what i think.

    Renny
     
  18. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian

    Dave, Over the years I've used a wide range both tube and SS with my Klipschorns and it really depends on the quality of the equipment how the ultimate sound will be. As of the present I am using SS and find it better than ever.
     
  19. grbl

    grbl Just Lurking

    Location:
    Long Island
    My first set of speakers when I bought my first real stereo in 1986 (Linn Sondek turntable, NAD receiver, Nakamichi tape deck replacing my Radio Shack Realistic "system") were Klipsch Fortes. I still have them in my basement system. For the $1100 I paid for them, I still consider them pretty good speakers. They don't compare to my N802s by any stretch, but they are definitely not shrill or harsh. I do think that Klipsch's current speaker lines are not up to the standards of their older models. The Fortes were purchased at a reputable audio shop in NYC which dropped Klipsch a couple of years later when they went the mass market route.
     
  20. MARKM

    MARKM Member

    As a general rule of thumb the best marriage is between tubes and horns - not SS.......

    PP - great - SET - even better IMHO.

    In saying this I can only refer to experiences with horns using Lowther-type drivers.

    Enjoy,
    Cheers,
    MarkM.
     
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