ruadmaa said:
Klipschorn speakers were invented in 1946 when 25 watts was considered a fantastic amount of power. They were designed to run extremly loud at low amplifier power.
Below is an excerpt from a review by Klipschorn owner, I think it speaks for itself and is quite the opposite of what you have to say:
"Because these speakers are so sensitive (104db/watt/meter), having a clean "first watt" from your amplifier is crucial. Solid state amps with high power and low THD figures may not do well, because these amps THD figures are measured at the RATED OUTPUT. Trust me, you couldn't be in the same neighborhood when these are getting Led Zeppelin at 100W continuous (but clean) power. Normal 90db listen levels are usually accomplished at 0.5 - 0.75W of power.
One fun demonstration of this fact is to go grab one of the inexpensive TriPath digital amps (Sonic Impact, Teac, etc.) that sell on Amazon for $25 to $95) and run a good source into it (a nice CDP will do very well). These digital amps are very clean, distortion-wise, up to about 5W before they start to get noisy. The sound will blow you away and wonder why loons like me have five grand invested in beautiful tube gear. But because the Klipschorn is so sensitive, you really can grind out some serious music with these monsters; few speakers can accomplish this."
rudamaa.
thats a pretty groovy review from a klipschorn/tube gear owner but what i said was not based on a review from an internet source or a google search its from my own experiences with khorns in my own home over many years,i was a klipschorn owner for many years.
when i read statements like his in the review you posted where he states that nobody could stand to be in the same room with led zepplin playing at 100 watts through khorns i automaticly look for the reference to them being driven with a tube amp,its always the same response from tube guys,ive done it many times & its not ungodly loud at all.
there is a mystique that surrounds klipschorns & low power tube gear that i assure you is not reality based,the khorn has a 15 inch woofer with a heavy triple pleated surround & if you want that woofer to move some air it takes power,khorns do not have the best bass response in the first place & unless you get that woofer moving the sound will be weak & thin in the bass,what the reviewer also left out is that if you want to go past "normal" listening levels & into loud levels you need power & current.
the reviewer also references clean power as being a must,isnt that a given with any speaker let alone one so efficient,any super efficient speaker will be unforgiving of a low quality amplifier.
im not sure im seeing whats in the review that contradicts what i wrote,this reviewer made no comparison to any high power solid state amps he ran them with only glowing remarks about how good they sound with low power amps,meaning his tube gear,my original post also states that i ran mine with low power S E T amps & various other amps ranging in different power levels & that i considered the best performance to be with high power solid state amps,i made direct comparisons,he didnt.
its funny the reviewer mentioned the sonic impact t amp as beng able to drive khorns great, i found that amp to be the exact oposite & pretty well worthless as an amplifier,i bought that little amp because of the glowing reviews & planned on running my klipsch cornwalls with it & it fell flat on its face,even though khorns & cornwalls are different speakers all the drivers are the exact same with very little difference in efficency.
everything i wrote in my post was from years of my own direct experience with klipschorns in my home using many different amps of various wattages & not based on a google search,there is alot to be said for trying things first hand.
