What's the best s.s. integrated for Khorns?

Those Khorns love/crave/demand/tubes. In my upstairs system 1980 K's they excell with the 24watt Eastern Electric M520 integrated. They will go louder then what I care to listen at at half the wattage used.

I would strongly second Bignerd's suggestion to seek out older Vintage Khorns rather than the newer ones. They can be had MUCH cheaper, and sound better to my ears in the various systems I've heard each with. As far as SS, don't even go there!!! If you are investing in the Khorns, run them with tubes; you will be MUCH happier with the sound. I've always found the Klipsh horn speakers from the Heritage line to sound rather harsh under SS amplification. If you absolutely must have SS I'd consider something that does not exhibit classic SS traits, but rather strives for more tube-like performance stressing midrange. SS Amps may also be tricky matches with the Khorns. With 104db horn speakers I'd be very careful in my selection of amps, and definitely try to audition, or buy at a price you can easily resell for. SS amps that fall into the category of the type I mention above are mostly lower wattage. The Portal Panache integrated would be the exception at 100wpc, but it has a wonderful midrange and is not at all harsh. Pass Labs Aleph 3 or 30 would be another, but you'd need a pre. You might also check into the Sugden amps, the First Watt amp by Nelson Pass (check on this before buying as that is a very proprietary design and reputedly does not work well with all speakers). Again, I'd really be careful with SS as a mismatch can really ruin your day. On the other hand it would be hard to go wrong with a tube amp. I like the Quicksilver line and would say the Horn Mono's would be a nice candidate. My own personal preference would be in lower powered SET amps (which I use with my LaScalas), or a low-powered push-pull using a pair of direct-heated tubes like 2A3s or 300Bs.

Good luck!

Marco

I agree with those who say don't go near ss with Klipshorns and don't consider such power as all you need is probably 1 watt. When I had them, I used a 1.56 watt 45 tube SET.

How did you end up with Klipshorns?

khorns sound fine with any good amp....a mac602 for example only uses about 3 to 6 watts to drive khorns and the sound is far more natural than many low watt tube wonders

ive owned klipsch horns & i ran them with tubes & solid state,i prefered solid state any day over tubes,you hear all the time about how loud 5 or 10 watts will be with 104 db speakers,not 100% true,that statement is subjective to what each person thinks is loud & i will gaurentee you that 10 watts or even 30 or 40 watts will not even come close to giving you the listening level you described in your post.

the thing about khorns or any other 104 db efficient speaker is that they easily expose any weakness in the gear driving them & the biggest weakness of tube amps is the lack of a good strong bass & at loud listening levels the bass will become very loose & weak,allmost strained,from my experience people who like seriously loud music also prefer a good strong thumping bass & with tubes you wont get it.

try not to get too caught up in the whole plastic vs metal horn deal either,ive had all the horn types including the original wood type horns & at the listening levels you described none will make a difference.

klipschfan's suggestion is the best ive seen for what your looking for,try to stay away from midfi gear such as adcom,rotel,parasound ect & stay with top end gear,my personal favorite was the krell ksa 150 class a,that combo was like thunder & the khorns absulutely loved 150 wpc class a amplification.

mike.