Yard Sale Speaker’s Spotter’s Guide: 4: AR and Klipsch

The “Klassic Klipsches” are the Heresy, Cornwall, Belle Klipsch, La Scala and Klipschhorn. These, plus a few odd bits such as the Shorthorn, were those designed by or at the direct supervision of Paul W. Klipsch.

Klipsch’s biography and the things he wrote for various magazines and his “Dope From Hope” newsletters should be regarded as key reading by anyone seriously interested in audio.

PWK was past middle age when his speaker business really took off and he had served in Army Artillery, meaning that the treble end of his hearing was often considered suspect by competitors and the occasional audio columnist. (He lived to nearly 100 and was active almost to the end.)

The characteristics of Klassic Klipsch speakers are pretty well agreed on: effortless natural bass in the bigger models, good efficiency, great articulation of formant sounds (listen to trumpeters, the tonguing is clear and distinct) but often a harsh treble presentation. And complaints of “edginess” and “excessive brightness” are common in the larger models too.

The culprit is usually the T35 EV treble driver, an inexpensive OEM part that really is harsh, shrill and not very detailed.

There are upgrades available that make the bigger Klipsches into really magnificent speakers. The are not garage sale priced items, but the end result is quite competitive with ten thousand dollar systems. Less ambitious or well financed users may consider Heresy or Cornwall systems with less expensive upgrades, the crossover badly needs upgrading, the metal horns need damping applied, and some sort of attenuator is often helpful on the treble driver.

The other thing that needs to be known about PWK designed systems is that they often do not work very well with amplifiers of very high damping factor. The ONLY amplifier PWK ever specifically recommended for his speakers was, early on, one version of the Brook triode amplifier. When Brook went out of business, he simply said any amplifier would do if it wasn’t too powerful, since his speakers were so efficient. One thing casual users usually did was to use thin zip cord for speaker wire, which cuts down on effective damping factor substantially when it is a very high value to start with. Audiophiles use heavy cables, which did away with that inadvertent but effective fix.

Most any smaller push pull tube amp with moderate feedback will work fine. Neither zero feedback designs nor those with complex feedback schemes seem to do as well.

Thanks for sharing, Damon. 🙁

Klipsch speakers used inexpensive parts and first rate cabinet work to achieve gain and efficiency. JBL and Altec speakers used expensive parts in boring, unimaginative cabinets. (Exceptions exist, Paragons and Hartsfields.)

Hi There, I would love to upgrade my Belle´s, I love them, any chance you give me directions on where to get this upgraded crossovers I guess ?

Thanks

Pedro