KLH Making A Come Back?

[speakerman39]

Noticed that Crutchfield is now selling the KLH brand of loudspeakers. They appear to be new in design as well. Perhaps the KLH brand is in rebuilding mode? Here is a link:


https://www.crutchfield.com/shopsearch/klh_speakers.html


I must admit they sure look good. What do you think? Does it look promising for KLH?


Cheers,

Phil

 

[zieglj01]

Some of them tend to favor some of the former Energy speakers, the difference being now sealed instead of ported -- The new owner/designer use to work for Klipsch, when they owned Energy.

 

[zieglj01]

The marketing spec for the bass is really optimistic.

 

[speakerman39]

Yeah they do look a lot like Energy speakers. Perhaps, we will see good things come out of this. Guess time will tell. Certainly going to be rather interesting.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[speakerman39]

The marketing spec for the bass is really optimistic.

So is the sensitivity. Especially, in a small sealed cabinet. Just saying..........


Cheers,

Phil

 

[zieglj01]

KLH link
http://www.klhaudio.com/

http://www.klhaudio.com/klh-team/

 

[Verdinut]

With regard to their Kendall model, I tend to agree with Zieglj01. I doubt that two 6½ inch woofers would output 25 Hz at -3dB, and if they do, what is the distortion level?
It would take a serious review with appropriate testing to confirm or infirm the published specs.

 

[speakerman39]

With regard to their Kendall model, I tend to agree with Zieglj01. I doubt that two 6½ inch woofers would output 25 Hz at -3dB, and if they do, what is the distortion level?
It would take a serious review with appropriate testing to confirm or infirm the published specs.

Especially in a sealed cabinet. The speaker sensitivity will be difficult to attain as well. At least, that is how I understand it. Moreover, higher sensitivities are easier to obtain in a vented cabinet on less power when compared to a sealed. But, as always I could be wrong. Maybe Dennis or Shady can comment here?


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Verdinut]

Especially in a sealed cabinet. The speaker sensitivity will be difficult to attain as well. At least, that is how I understand it. Moreover, higher sensitivities are easier to obtain in a vented cabinet on less power when compared to a sealed. But, as always I could be wrong. Maybe Dennis or Shady can comment here?


Cheers,

Phil

The Kendall model which I was referring to is ported but KLH specs still look optimistic. I don't think it would be possible to get a decent 25 Hz response in a sealed cabinet with two 6½ inch woofers.

 

[shadyJ]

Especially in a sealed cabinet. The speaker sensitivity will be difficult to attain as well. At least, that is how I understand it. Moreover, higher sensitivities are easier to obtain in a vented cabinet on less power when compared to a sealed. But, as always I could be wrong. Maybe Dennis or Shady can comment here?


Cheers,

Phil

Looks like its a true acoustic suspension speaker, so it might have a response closer to a ported design rather than a typical sealed design. I am guessing the sensitivity specs are optimistic, however. I am curious, though, hopefully I will get a chance to test one sometime.

 

[speakerman39]

The Kendall model which I was referring to is ported but KLH specs still look optimistic. I don't think it would be possible to get a decent 25 Hz response in a sealed cabinet with two 6½ inch woofers.

I thought it was sealed. Oh well, my eyes are not what they used to be......LOL!!! But, I agree 25 hz is beyond optimistic inmho.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[speakerman39]

Looks like its a true acoustic suspension speaker, so it might have a response closer to a ported design rather than a typical sealed design. I am guessing the sensitivity specs are optimistic, however. I am curious, though, hopefully I will get a chance to test one sometime.

Hope you do get to check one out soon enough. I know that you have plenty of your plate as it is. Looking forward to your next review. Hurry up will you.........LOL!!!! Just kidding!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[zieglj01]

It looks like the bookshelves are sealed, and the towers are ported

 

[BriReeves629]

Under new ownership from what I read. The new owner came from Klipsch.


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[Dennis Murphy]

Looks like its a true acoustic suspension speaker, so it might have a response closer to a ported design rather than a typical sealed design. I am guessing the sensitivity specs are optimistic, however. I am curious, though, hopefully I will get a chance to test one sometime.

The only difference between a true acoustic suspension design and a plain sealed design is the compliance of the woofer. The AS woofer suspension is very floppy and will rely mostly on the trapped air in the cabinet as a spring to control its motion. I don't see why that would change the roll off rate of 12 dB/octave It's still a sealed box.

 

[BriReeves629]

Great looking speakers. I especially like the color choice on the Kevlar drivers. I can’t wait to hear them.


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[Verdinut]

The only difference between a true acoustic suspension design and a plain sealed design is the compliance of the woofer. The AS woofer suspension is very floppy and will rely mostly on the trapped air in the cabinet as a spring to control its motion. I don't see why that would change the roll off rate of 12 dB/octave It's still a sealed box.

Dennis,

Indeed, with an acoustic suspension woofer, the roll-off rate will be the same below the system resonance as with an ordinary sealed woofer. The acoustic suspension woofer has a very low fs and depends on the air in the enclosure to maintain it in a proper suspension. That design allowed Acoustic Research bookshelf speakers to have responses below that of other sealed or ported cabinets.
In the late 1960's or early 1970's, Altec Lansing released a model using a 411 woofer, a 15" acoustic suspension woofer which had IIRC an fs of 11 hz. It had to be installed in a 5 cf enclosure to perform at its best. One of my friend's had a pair of those. When you placed it on a table with the cone facing the table, the full suspension was so soft that the cone would fall touching the table. That woofer could easily reproduce some frequencies below 20 Hz.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Dennis,

Indeed, with an acoustic suspension woofer, the roll-off rate will be the same below the system resonance as with an ordinary sealed woofer. The acoustic suspension woofer has a very low fs and depends on the air in the enclosure to maintain it in a proper suspension. That design allowed Acoustic Research bookshelf speakers to have responses below that of other sealed or ported cabinets.
In the late 1960's or early 1970's, Altec Lansing released a model using a 411 woofer, a 15" acoustic suspension woofer which had IIRC an fs of 11 hz. It had to be installed in a 5 cf enclosure to perform at its best. One of my friend's had a pair of those. When you placed it on a table with the cone facing the table, the full suspension was so soft that the cone would fall touching the table. That woofer could easily reproduce some frequencies below 20 Hz.

The AS woofer was certainly an important development in its day, although I think some people have an overly rosy view of just how low speakers like the AR3a could go. I've restored a number of the AR3a's (and revised the crossover), and despite the more gentle 12 dB /octave roll off, there wasn't much happening below 40 Hz. The same was true of KLH speakers like the model 5, which I owned for about 20 years. A good ported design can more than match them in a smaller cabinet, and the bass quality can be just as good. Plus, the woofers are a lot easier to manufacture.

 

[speakerman39]

Wow! KLH Audio even has a few subs in their repertoire. Unfortunately, there is a lot of competition out there. I do, however, wish them the very best. Here is a link:

http://www.klhaudio.com/product/stratton-12-subwoofer/


The Stratton certainly looks promising. But, in the $800 price range the competition is extremely fierce. However, it will be interesting to see how the Stratton does though.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Beave]

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that a company started by sales guys from Klipsch has exaggerated the specs for their speakers.

On the other hand, the Energy RC series and the subsequent Energy Veritas series each had flaws (different flaws) that hindered what could have/should have been nice speakers. Maybe this time they got the balance right. Third time's a charm?

But those unprotected tweeters will haunt them for years to come. Didn't they learn anything from B&W's experience with unprotected tweeters on the CM and 600 series speakers? B&W learned that lesson the hard way - unprotected tweeters leads to a massive headache of customer calls, returns, and parts replacement.