Klipsch Jubilee & Klipschorn Experience

@mijostyn wrote:

I have never heard Jubalees but have a lot of experience with K horns. They do not image well as the drivers are not time aligned and the mid bass is colored which is euphoric for some people. It would be very interesting to digitally tri amp them and get rid of the group delays.

Indeed, that would bring out more of their potential.

I am guessing that the colored mid bass is due to the large, complicated enclosure. Large panels resonate as a function of size as related to panel thickness, the ratio. Think stringed musical instrument.

Relatively large they may be they’re actually too small as a bass to lower midrange horn (corner placement by virtue of extending the horn helps make it act as a horn lower down), which is only exacerbated by several horn path bends up to 180 degrees. Some compensation can be attempted here with a higher compression rate, i.e.: a smaller slot area in front of the woofer to aid upper range extension, but this in turn can create new issues related to upper bass irregularities and colorations due to horn path constriction and air velocity. Cabinet resonances are likely part of the problem as well, but I’d wager they’re really not at the core of the issues mentioned.

I am a horn lover / owner for 50+ years, but I do feel very large horn speakers ( like the Jubilee ) requires a greater distance between them and the listener, as my experience tells me. I cannot enjoy my ears feeling that they are inside the horns. I have heard many super large stage / pro / commercial speakers by Klipsch and others, and the greater distance between them and me, in almost all cases, was better...." to me ". Whatever makes you happy. I have said many times, each of us are different, in how we hear, how we listen, and how we determine what we like. My best, and ENJOY ! always, MrD.

@mrdecibel wrote:

I am a horn lover / owner for 50+ years, but I do feel very large horn speakers ( like the Jubilee ) requires a greater distance between them and the listener, as my experience tells me. I cannot enjoy my ears feeling that they are inside the horns. I have heard many super large stage / pro / commercial speakers by Klipsch and others, and the greater distance between them and me, in almost all cases, was better...." to me ". Whatever makes you happy. I have said many times, each of us are different, in how we hear, how we listen, and how we determine what we like. My best, and ENJOY ! always, MrD.

To my ears: more than horn size (and segment use) per se wrt. required listening distance is the importance of the overall design specifics, like the distancing between the driver/horn elements, and not least how many of them there are. Very generally, and at least some things being equal, I’d say the bigger horn the less it sounds like a horn. To me it’s quite important for a horn to actually act like a horn in its frequency range, and this is about approximating proper size (as well as a suitable flare geometry) for the horn to "behave" well and maintain directivity control. Also about matching those directivity patterns at the cross-overs and further aid integration and coherency. A large Synergy horn with a summed multi-driver output into a single point source will gel perfectly at the LP at a very close distance. Of course splitting up the driver sections into individual large horns will create spacings between those sections and thus necessitate some distance (and delay fiddling) for them to cohere properly at the ears, but with fewer large radiation surface sections with matching directivity patterns this is less of an issue. And the perceived "ears feeling that they are inside the horns"-sensation to me is really about the specific horn geometry and the quality of the amps used. With a proper, large horn flare and highly resolving amps the sound won’t crawl into your ears - even fairly up close. What such a combo will provide is a relaxed presence, solidity of tone and visceral imprinting that I find wins out vs. a smaller, more compact horn implementation. But that’s just me :)

Anyone have any info on what amps work well with the Jubilees? Im assuming nobody else owns a set. 

I’ve been a fan of Klipsch’s bigger speakers ( La Scalas & Klipschorns) for a long time & appreciate what they can offer w/ good quality amplification, especially good tube amps. If you want truly “live music” sound, good horns are unmatched. If you want etched, hyper detailed, pinpoint imaging, “hifi” sound, some good quality narrow baffle, super hi tech cabinet speaker w/ heroic amplification will be more to your liking. 

Recently, I’ve found Volti Audio speakers which are similar in some respects to Klipsch but across the board better in every way; driver quality, crossover components, cabinets, wiring, terminals & most importantly sound. Greg Roberts started out offering serious upgrades to the big Klipsch models which were much improved over stock units until he started built his own designs. 
 

If you have an opportunity to hear any of the Volti’s at one of the shows, check them out. They’re a truly excellent, artisan made, American product that sounds great & fun to listen to!!