klipsch speakers,be honest

I can confirm first-hand just about all the points that Sean makes regarding the vintage Klipsch. My LaScala's have improved significantly with modifications Sean mentions. The only thing I have not done is rebuild the bass cabinet, and that is the only area I feel the speakers are currently lacking (bass currently takes a nose dive at 50hz). Here's my take on the improvements I've done:

Internal wiring harness: Replaced with DH Labs silver wires - a noticeable difference in clarity and detail. The stock harness is simple 16 ga. copper wires.

Swapped out the stock tweeter with Fane 5020 - this made a HUGE difference in the upper register bringing out details I'd never heard on these speakers before, making the entire range sounded more coherent, and musical. These tweeters required padding down as their 110db sensitivity is too hot as-is. Of the modifications I've done, this one certainly made the most significant difference to me.

Replaced stock AA crossover with ALK's crossover. Here's where I'd take some exception to this as a 'rule' for guaranteed improvement. In my much smaller listening room at home I preferred the 'softer' and more dimensional sound of the stock AA crossovers. Though the ALK's exhibited more clarity and focus, and were imediately recognizable as an audible difference, I still liked the AA's better in this space. I tried all different settings with the ALK's and swapped back and forth for many days and sessions. I ended up sticking with the AA's as they just sounded more dimensional and natural to me. It reminded me of the difference between a 'tubey' sound and an SS sound, the later being the ALK. Later I moved my LaScala's to a much larger listening room (my work space) where they had room to breath. Here in this space the ALK's won hands down delivering both laser focus, clarity and the width and breadth of soundstage they seemed not to in the smaller space. I think perhaps there was some element of 'fatigue' in the smaller space that just doesn't occur in the larger one with the ALK's. The soundstage seemed to equal that of the AA's in the larger space, whereas in the smaller space the AA's seemed to provide a wider and deeper stage. I'll leave that one to Sean to try to explain as I was baffled.

I have no doubt the bass could be improved as well, and the cabinet is merely adequate in construction (as far as speaker cabinets are concerned) and stands for much improvement in reinforcement to assist in this realm.

Still, the clarity, the transparency and the speed of these speakers in my system, to my ears, has kept me spoiled in a sense as everything else I listen to falls short somehow. Granted, this is only a personal preference, and I certainly have not heard all there is to hear.

Anyway, good advice by Sean!

Marco

Jax,
We traded a few posts & emails a month or two ago as I was trying to improve the sound of my Chorus I's. Since then the SS equipment is gone and replaced with all tube from the CDP through power. Tubes made a BIG improvement in the sound of the Chorus speakers, but I still suffered from listening fatigue. Like you, I think it has a lot to do with the relatively small room (13.5 x 18 x 8). For the time being I've jumped into a nice pair of Snell's that are very easy to listen to, sound great, and quite different from the Klipsch Chorus. But...I haven't given up on the Chorus I's yet.

Sean/Jax,

Any specific suggestions to improve the Chorus I's? For the time being they are out of my system & available for some surgery. I have no plans to get rid of them in the foreseeable future as they would probably be a good option to try out with a SET system of some sort. It sounds like they might be ripe for some tweaking...

Hey Fishboat - The closest experience I have with the Chorus speakers is with their smaler cousins, the Fortes. These speakers use the Tractrix horns and forward firing bass drivers, so are quite different from my LaScalas. I did enjoy the Fortes as great speakers for rockin' out. In a smaller room I wonder if the Chorus aren't giving you problems with bass-loading the room? They do put out a significant low end if they are anything like the Fortes. You may try fiddling with speaker position and room treatments to address that. Doesn't have to be proprietary treatments, you can use things like curtains, rugs and plants to help. The 'fatigue' I mentioned only happened with the ALK crossovers in a smaller room and had more to do with the mids and highs than the bass. Your Chorus speakers produced significantly lower bass than my Scalas do. As far as 'surgery' on the speakers themselves, without any direct experience I'd be at a loss to give you specific advice. From experience with many other Klipsch products of that era and earlier I'd guess swapping out the wiring harness with better wires and reinforcing the cabinets would be at the top of my list of where to start. But honestly I'd try addressing the room first if listening fatigue is the problem. As you know, I certainly do prefer tubes to SS with the vintage Klipsch products so I'm not at all surprised that step was, as you say, a significant improvement.

Marco

I think Klipsch got a bad rap from what is mentioned above. (Improper System Matching)In the audiophile community you will see brows wrinkle when Klipsch Speakers are brought up. Most of these opinions were formed hearing Klipsch speakers hooked up up to an Adcom Stack in a hi fi store or hearing a pair of Heresey Pros in a club being played ear bleedingly LOUD. I always hear people say, yea, those Klipsch sure are BRIGHT!

When paired with a tube amp and the right setup, they can sound great!

Jax,
The fatigue for me is the mid to top end of things. The horns seem to be in my face too much. The bass in the Fortes are lower than the Chorus, even though the Chorus runs a 15 inch woofer. The Chorus-I rolls off around 45 Hz(the Fortes go down to 32Hz). Actually the bass on the Chorus isn't that "big" unless their backs are against the wall & even then not large by any means.

Chorus I specs

I have played around with speaker placement & again this helped, but didn't eliminate the in your face aspect ("shouting" at me?) The room is fairly dead I think as it's carpeted and has too much (soon to go) over-stuffed furniture in it. I haven't done any room treatments yet as I'm just researching such things now. 3/4's of one wall is open above a half-wall to the kitchen. For comparison's sake...the Chorus were terrific on a very narrow slice of music styles (strings/harp/acoustics & female vocals) ..your El Cant De La Sibil La sounds wonderful...huge dynamics..however as soon as I switch to jazz..well..the speakers get shut down. Compare this to the Snells and, while the sound has a different 'feel' to it, all types of music sound very good & non-fatiguing. Soundstage & imaging has definitely improved..a lot...the speakers completely disappear. Bass is much better. Cymballs are smooth & shimmer...not 'loud' (as they were with the Chorus, even at lower volumes). All this with the Snells in the same room, basically the same position as the Chorus were (~5 feet off the back wall & ~3 feet off the side walls), and my listening position in the same place....though I've moved things around to sort of come back to where I started.

I picked up the Snell E-IV's as I got a good price on them & they were local. A friend has the CV Snells & they're very easy to listen to while sounding very good. With the new equipment I 'needed' something to listen to so I took a flyer on the E IV's. The Snells are not the end of the road by any means, but at least I have a nice-sounding and listenable system until I figure out what's next.

I may be looking for a different house before long. I figured I keep the Chorus as one never knows what type of room I'll get into & how they will sound. Naturally, if I can work through any well-found tweaks on them in the mean time, so much the better.