Good, Affordable Horns?

Jax2,

HAving lived with Carver tube simulation technology for many years alongside the solid state, I'd say that it effectively "takes the edge off" the sound, or smooths it out dynamically perhaps as tubes might. It would probably help with horns, but I suspect I'd feel like I'd still be missing something much more enjoyable.

You are talking about Klipschorns I am talking about Klipsch in general. The heritage series is constructed a little better than all of there other stuff.

Mapman started the thread by asking specifically about LaScalas which are part of the Heritage series. Your immediate response was to criticize the construction of Klipsch speakers so I assumed you were referring to the same speakers that the post addressed. If you responded directly by addressing a criticism at Klipsch in general, I'm not understanding how that applies to what the post was asking about. Which Klipsch speakers have you tried and with what elecronics? Which ones ring like a bell, er, like thin wood?

I can think of a few electronics that people still rebuild or you can still by as new that are 50-60+ years old. Dynaco, McIntosh, Eico...ect

Speakers, JBL, Klipsch, Altec...ect

Which one of those you companies you mention has a product that has been in continuous production for 60 years and is still produced to this day? You are talking about stuff folks rebuild, or that has significantly changed over the time. That is not the same as KHorns. We are talking about a product that a major manufacturer has seen fit to continue to produce for 60 years continuously with only minor changes over that time period. A product in a consumer tech market which still enjoys great success amidst the competition of products that take advantage of all kinds of advances in technology. It is not a re-issue, or an anniversary model, or a special edition. Again, I don't think it's perfect, but it's an extraordinary achievement. Also, I'm not arguing that the Heritage series is constructed better or worse than other speakers. I have said what I thought of their construction, and it is pretty much in line with what you've said - they are deliberately utilitarian in design and could benefit from additional internal bracing. As far as Klipsch, the company in general, is concerned, the Heritage series is the only speakers I've heard from them, other than perhaps the Forte's and Chorus, that are worth listening to IMO. I have not heard that new $13K Klipsch P-39F Palladium they recently announced though.

Mapman - I've not heard Carver + Klipsch Heritage, but my guess would be you could do better with tubes. The downside of experimenting in the direction of trying a LaScala, or KHorn are that they are large and difficult to move around, and may be more of challenge to turn over should you not choose to keep them. Cornwalls may be a bit more manageable, but not by much. It's a major commitment, in other words, in spite of the relatively reasonable price. I wonder if you could find a local A'goner who has a good horn setup that you could listen to...that or a dealer or one of the shows could give you some sense of what, in very broad terms, to expect. In general, the advantages of horns is that they are lightening fast and very dynamic. They can be champions at soundstaging, and in my experience have an almost airy quality to their presentation. On the downside they can be very forward sounding, and even aggressive with the wrong amp (forward is otherwise not necessarily a bad thing). Some folks have described the sound they get from them as "shouty" like someone speaking through cupped hands. I have not had that experience of them other than poor combinations with SS amps. They are also very efficient in general, so require less power and can be driven by lower powered triode and single-ended amps.

Marco

I am going to tout my own Klipsch speakers, which are the Epic CF3's. They consist of 2 10" drivers, with a big horn between them. They are not bright at all, play tight bass down into the mid 20hz range. With their 100db sensitivity, they have a full bodied sound even at low volume and because they can also handle 250 watts continous, with 1000 watt peaks, they give you uncompressed concert slam when you crank them up.

Jax2, I don't toally diasagree with you about the low end bass response of the LaScala. But the amp/preamp combo I am running is more than adequate for me. It is comparable to my Cornwalls running with my SET amps.

Here is a response from Boa2 to a thread on Preamps...no bass or treble controls? 9-16-2005.
He owned LaScalas with a sub back then & running them with Wright 2A3 SET monoblock amps.

We have a George wright AU-1000 (a/k/a AG-1000 with a gold face plate) that has tone controls. With a slight turn of the bass knob, we"re able to get enough bottom end even with his 4 Watt SET mono blocks that we sold our sub. As others have suggested, recordings (and rooms) are not perfect. Have you heard Wilco's "A Ghost is Born"? When listening to that CD, I actually have to turn the bass down.

The Llano Phoenix CAS 300/VA2 mosfet/tube hybrid power amp is 300 watts x 2 @ 8 ohms. Which is way over kill powering my Industrial LaScalas. But the Llano amp/George Wright preamp combo sounds excellent to my ears. The Llano Phoenix amp shares many of the same attributes as my Mcintosh
MC 7150 power amp in that it is a smooth sounding amp. But the Llano has much deeper bass response and smooth more extended treble. Llano amps were known to have low end bass response like Krell
amps.

The George Wright AU-1000 preamp I own is actually the same preamp Boa2 once owned. He sold
it to a another guy. And I bought it from him.

I’ll comment as a Klipsch owner for the past 8 years, specifically the Chorus II’s and their successor, the KLF Legend Series (KLF-20’s). Both of these models can be bought for under $1K on the used market. I used them for a few years without modified/upgraded xover networks and for the past 4 or so years with modified/upgraded xovers.

I’m extremely happy with the overall sound quality of these speakers and can confidently say, these speakers will not be changed for other speakers. They heavily benefit from proper pairing with equipment. Tubes are the ideal match for Klipsch speakers. I’ve used my Klipsch speaker with an Eico HF-81 and currently with a restored H.H. Scott 222C and John Hogan integrated SET amp. I will also say that my Stan Warren custom built chip amp is amazing with my Klipsch speakers. One SS amp that worked very well with my Klipsch was Plinius.

I love the amazing dynamics of the horns and my KLF-20’s have plenty of low end slam along with extended highs. The Chorus II’s are amazing speakers also with a slightly better midrange than the KLF-20’s but slightly less low end slam.

It took me one evening to upgrade the Chorus II xover networks. The difference after modifying/upgrading the xover networks is incredible. You have not heard how good Klipsch speakers are until you have at least modified/upgraded the xover networks. I also modified/upgraded all my other Klipsch speakers and will do so with any future Klipsch speakers I own. Actually, I will not own any speakers that I haven’t upgraded the xover networks. The improvement in sound across the entire spectrum is too much to miss out on.