A month ago I posted a screamin deal - a stack of mcintosh and a pair of 1973 klipschorns.  Well here’s a half update…

The mc stuff was 7-8 condition - amp and pre worked great, tuner works but drifts after it warms up.  Oscilloscope lights up just haven’t hooked all the wiring needed…

The k-horns looked pretty good other than some veneer spots.  I was pretty sure they’d be fine.

Well I hooked them up finally over the rainy weekend… and… only sound from the mids and tweeters on both sides.  I tested the wiring and no go, only faint sound coming from the bass bins.

Next step was to remove the woofers.  They looked pristine.  The cones were perfect, the surrounds looked shiny black.  There was no rubbing when moving, and they tested right at a nice 8.5+- ohms.

Only problem was they sounded like a bowl of gravel…

I was stumped.  A reconer buddy was also stumped. The next step was to see if anything was loose inside, so the domes were carefully cut off…

Holey chit!  It looked like someone had crumpled up the voice coil and stuffed it inside.  It is hard to understand how the speaker mechanic did such a beautiful job on the outside, without a clue aligning the most specific part.  It was actually hilarious.


The klipsch woofers are kinda cheesy pressed metal frames and tiny diameter voice coils, but they match the sound of the engineered cabinetry.  I considered trying jbl e140’s I’ve got, but research says the bass gets overpowered - the slot needs to be enlarged and crossover modified.  

Even though these have the original square magnets, at $200 a pair, I’ll spring for the parts express k-33 copies just to get them running.  

I did wonder about how the speakers would work with a 200 watt amp, when a 25w tubes, or a 45 watt solid state sound great on our other pair.  Guess this is what happens!

(The big altec horns aren’t hooked up)



Klipschorn/MC score - holey chit update