Seems two camps of Klipsch heritage fans, purists and the diy crowd, obviously I'm in latter. How some can like with ss and stock form is beyond me, exponential horns, metal in some models, talk about timbre liabilities!
Fortunately, stock Klipsch heritage has many positive attributes diy crowd can build upon. My one of a kind Klipschorns builds on all those positive attributes and delivers wonderfully natural timbre and tonal balance. I've been through numerous box and open baffle speakers over the years, some extreme modifications, heard mega buck systems at shows and other's homes, nothing compares to sense of real performers in room these Klipschorns deliver.
My take is Klipsch gets bad name from listeners who hear the same speaker liabilities I hear from stock units, may also be unsympathetic partnering system. Being an inveterate modder, I saw those liabilities as fertile ground for mods, this allowed me to listen past those flaws and hear the positive attributes.