Incredible! The only thing better is live music -- 'nuff said.

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Live Concert

Best Sound

Room Placement

It's interesting that when I called Hope Arkansas, and said
I wanted more "punch in the bass" they actually took the time to write me a letter! They explained that I could update my drivers with newer "state of the art" stuff.
(in other words they admit that there is room for improvement even in corner horns) The cost at the time was somthing like $1500.00 So I looked at the low end drivers, and found very cheap looking speakers installed in the "folded horn"! I couldn't believe it. My corner horns will: POSITIVELY BLOW YOU AWAY! I can "blow you out of the room" with the CLEAREST sound you have ever heard! It's hard to believe I get such great sound out of... small magnet speakers. SO; apparently, with the high eficiency of the folded horn, (why do you think Edison used horns for his unamplified cylinder record player) you don't need those
"Hi gauss" magnets. (which must be used in a low eficiency "normal speaker configuration") If the sound reproduser is fighting: air resistance, "box" harmonics, (all boxes have
resonate frequencies), etc.. distortion will be introduced.
So, the key here is efficiency. There is much less distortion in an efficient system.
Also, what do you listen to? Saxaphones, Trumpets, french horns, clarenets, oboes, etc. These are all horns.
Can you imagine any of these played out of a box?

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Acoustat Electrostatics

Very high efficiency (1 watt produces 104 dB @ 1 meter)
Great dynamics with extremely low speaker distortion
Clear, concise, live sound.

Requires corner placement.
Large, heavy speaker.
Midrange crossover @ 400 Hz; wish it could be 200 Hz.

The Klipschorn is a stellar performer which operates in the MILLIWATT power range during normal playback levels. Expensive solid state and "big hog" pentode tube based amplifiers do not produce favorable results when coupled to the Klipschorn. Zero feedback directly heated triode (SET and well designed push-pull)amplifiers (300B,2A3,50,45) provide outstanding sonic results with the Klipschorn. Also, some of the vintage designs (McIntosh MC225 and Fisher 500-C) can also produce favorable sonics.

The Klipschorn, especially vintage designs with the Alnico magnet drivers and oil-filled (PCB) capacitor crossovers, provide unparalleled fidelity compared with new, expensive, modern speakers.

The secret to ultra-fidelity with the Klipschorns is to provide very linear, naturally distortion free amplification for the first few watts (milliwatts). Only the vintage triodes can give this performance. The old adage, "Garbage in = Garbage out" holds true for the K-horns. They are very sensitive and require quiet, "hum-free" amplification.

Listen to the Klipschorns with the right equipment and you won't be disappointed! An exciting loudspeaker system!

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Older JBL models, Dahlquist, Klipsch Cornwall and Heresy, Tannoy dual concentrics.

Sounds like real music. Resale is unrivaled. Built to last. Company stands by their products.

Lack of affordable/quality electronics to do these speakers justice.

I have searched the audio world for over 20 years, and listened to $100,00 plus systems (including most of the sterophile megabuck class A speakers) looking for the speaker that will force me to abandon the Klipsch Cornerhorn. My conclusion? There simply isn't a another speaker that compares.

I have read comments that these speakers are overated and outdated, expensive, they don't go low enough, they don't go high enough, blah, blah, blah. If anything, these speakers are underated. They still are the most realistic lifelike speaker on the planet. Expensive? My friends, the quality and beauty of the cabinets alone are worth the asking price. They don't go high enough or low enough? As Paul Klipsch has continually emphasized most music rarely extends below 45hz, and most peoples hearing seldom extends above 17khz. These speakers get it right in the area where it can't be measured, and that is in the emotional realm. So if you are into organ music and dog whisles these speakers are probably not for you. But if you are into goose bumps, foot tapping, and the emotional high that comes from real music, then your search is over.

Yes, Yes, Yes! For these speakers to strut their stuff, they must be matched with carefully selected quality electronics, as they will produce inaccuracies very accurately. However, I challenge anyone to show me another speaker (matched with the same lowend electronics), that will sound as good as the K-horns. I had a 20 watt Radioshack receiver hooked up to my K-horns once, and the neighbors could not believe the sound.

Those who have truly listened to a properly set up pair of K-horns and then write these speakers off, are either being dishonest or they have possibly experienced a stroke without knowing it, and I would highly recommend that they seek immediate medical attention.

These speakers continued popularity even 40 plus years after their introduction tells you that their basic fundamental design is correct, that the laws of physics are still true, and that ears still function very well.

Cornerhorn owners rarely sell their speakers unless they are in dire straights. Other audiophiles trade their state of the art speakers on a regular basis. Why is that? It is because they are boring. K-horns are the antithesis of boring.

Be not deceived! Logic will tell you that all of these loyal Klipsch owners can't be wrong. Have you noticed how the few negative ratings are always 1's, and that they never tell you what speaker is better. Beware of these naysayers.

K-horns are for the true music lover, both young and old, both rich and poor, from rapp to classical, and they work superbly in audio as well as home theater applications. THEY ARE THE MOTHER OF ALL SPEAKERS!

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Other Klipsch products

Good resale

require special placement

These are in my garage and i use them when exercising.These are older units.I have always owned a pair of these, or so it seems. Occasionally I'll drag them into the house and give em a go with some vintage tube amp.I can only take a horn speaker for so long before being fatigued. Curiously I enjoy them up to that point.It's tough to compete with my reference speakers that tip in at 85,000.Maybe that's what it takes to get better, I don't know. And as long as I hold on to the old k-horns I don't have to make that decision.

just listen--SMOOTH LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE--can whisper or recreate the live sound of an orchestra.

they are large, but fit snug into a corner, not out in the room

AKS is intitled to his opinion--but, its obvious he hasn't listened to many speakers and certaintly isn't familiar with real high fidelity---He has visited several Klipsch review sights here at AudioReview to trash Klipsch products---said pretty much the same thing in each "review"---he has a grudge for whatever reason. Klipsch original Heritage speakers have been manufactured for over 50 years (still are, by the way), and you hardly ever see them for sale--hundreds of thousands have been sold. People that buy them--keep them. Other speakers come and go--constantly change trying to get it right or better. Paul Klipsch got it right the first time-over 50 years ago--no need to change!

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listened to most everything

Everything

hi (over 17k) and low end (below 35 Hz)

I owned K-horn for over 12 years. As a serious audiophile, I would rate K-horn for 5 stars as a hi-end system with the following conditions (otherwise I can only rate K-horn for 2 stars):

1.Use only single ended tube amplifier, such as 300B, 211, or 845. (add one star).
2.Use pure silver wires for signal, power and speaker cable. The interconnecting wires inside the speaker need to be changed also, especially for the tweeter wires (add one star).
3.Change the tweeter (only go up to 17 kHz) to TAD ET-703 (can go up to 45 kHz). This can directly replace the old one with new one because they have similar impedance, sensitivity and directivity pattern. (add one star)
4.Add two active high power high speed subwoofers, one for each channel for the low end below 35 Hz. (add half star).

After the above modification (with all your heart to fine tune this too sensitive monster), no other speaker can compete with it.

Size, size of room requirements, no point source characteristics. They have a crossover.

Price was in 1974. They are still available so I guess someone below knows not of what they speak.

There are more efficient, life-like speakers, like AER MK-1 full range drivers in Hedlund Horns, but K-Horns deliver great bass that full rangers can't.

If you want faithful reproduction with full dynamics from 16 Hz to 20 kHz K-Horns are still pretty hard to beat in single cabinet enclosures.

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Klipsch Heresy - Belle - La Scalla - Cornwall,
JBL, Voigt Pipes

This speaker is a beautiful example of time standing technology. I have listened to these for years at several dealers and have always came to the same conviction on these. They are by far the best sounding speakers for the money whether new or used. From my experience with repairing consumer electronics I have yet to find a speaker that lasts and sounds as good as this one. The heads of these units come off easily and make transporting them a little easier.

Size for moving purposes and their specific corner placement needs.

Get a set used while you still can affordibly.

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None I can compare to.

Terrific sound, responsiveness, sensitivity.

None, if you take your listening seriously and are willing to make compromises.

This review is written mostly in response to some of the weaknesses listed in previous reviews.

First, as far as imaging is concerned I agree that the corner placement can be a problem and leave a hole in the middle which is why some people recommend a center speaker. I overcame this problem by separating the mid and high horn sections from the bass horn cabinet and turning them outward to suit the particular geometry of my room.

Second, one reviewer noted that the bass response changed depending on the distance from the speakers, a phenomenom which I also noticed in my listening room. Again, turning the upper horn sections outward solved that problem for me because I was able to focus the upper horns on the area in my room where the bass response was best.

Third, the upper horns sound very bright and don't really like digital music. Let me correct that: they don't like cheap digital music (never had a problem with upscale labels). I tried eight different amps and five CD players before I found a combination that gave me the warm sound I was looking for, the sound I remembered from my first encounter with Khorns over 20 years ago, before the era of CDs. The Khorns are very sensitive to what you connect them to and even small changes to your equipment will become audible.

Fourth, yes, they are big and demand special placement but if you were to consult the present literature you will find recommendations for placing regular speakers on stands and certain distances away from walls, etc. In fact, some manufacturers would have you place their speakers almost in the middle of the room which to me is far more intrusive than a corner cabinet.

When I separated the upper horn section from the bass cabinet I was sure to maintain the seal necessary for the bass horn performance by placing a piece of plywood, which was the same size as the bottom plate of the upper horn section, on top of the bass cabinet (Khorn owners will know what I am talking about). As I was doing this I wondered if Paul Klipsch hadn't meant for the upper horns to be separate or "swivable" all along and had only fixed them to the lower cabinet as they are now to make the speakers more suitable for home living room designs. My solution of separating the units certainly ruins the original sleek design but the sound is great and the speakers were not damaged in any way which brings me to my main point about Khorns:

To me the modular design and high sensitivty of these speakers are very positive attributes because they allow me to tweak the speakers to suit my listening environment and my personal taste. They are like sonic chameleons and can assume very different audio personalities. As I said above, I tried several different amps and CD players. I also tried several types of interconnects and speaker placements and everytime I changed something the sound was noticably different. These speakers will tell you immediately what they like to be fed. The sound is big, clear and room filling without compromising pianissimo passages and I always feel like I am sitting in the front rows of a venue. Be it classical or acid jazz, the Khorns produce what I like to hear - but it did take a special effort to come to this point which I don't mind because you can't expect to get good sound straight out of the box.

My gear: Khorns, Otari Professional CD player/recorder, Denon CD player and DAC, Creek integrated amp, Thorens turntable with Grado cartridge. Room dimensions: 16x26x9 feet.

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JBL, Quad