Klipsch KG-4, I really am sick.

I know I'm not a fan of Klipsch. I know I have too much stuff. I know I am reasonably happy with what I have. I know... I should know better.

Early last week I made a routine stop at one of the pawn shops in Duluth and sitting in their PA/Pro audio section were a pair of stout-looking Klipsch speakers, roughly the same size as the Heresy. Pulled off the magnetic grille and where I thought there should be a 3-way driver complement, there were two woofers and a horn. Twirled it around and saw the 12-inch ABR on the back. "Interesting" I thought to myself. I asked the price and the salesman told me $129, considering their rough shape (pretty scratched up, but no major gouges or smashed corners; they'd been round the block).

I passed, having other important things to buy (the complete collection of Fullmetal Alchemist on 13 DVD's).

But they kept nagging me. Sure as the voices now tell me what to type, those speakers pleaded with me (over 60 miles away- excellent telepathy) to take them home and treat them right. They said they were a good bargain, even in their condition, and that if I was not happy with them, I could easily break even in selling them. But I stuck with my resolve and watched my FMA DVD's. Still they called to me, and I bought two Al Franken-books (Frankenbooks- made from the dead parts of other books).

This morning I woke up in an almost cold sweat. Well, actually it was cold. I had been foolish enough to leave my window open a crack in Minnesota during the GD winter! Point is, I had no more DVD's to watch. I had guffaw’d my last guffaw from the Frankenbooks. There is now no power in the 'Verse that could block the siren-call of those speakers.

"They're already sold..."

"No way. They're in the wrong section."

"So!? That just means some high-school VanHalen wannabe is going to blow them up with that '1000-watt' Pyramid power amp sitting next to them."

"Nope. They're still there and they are weeping that you don't have them."

By now, my resolve is breaking down. "How do you know... Anyways I don't really care for Klipsch. Remember the Heresy's?"

"You fool! These are different. You liked the CS-3 center, didn't you!?"

I did. I did like that center. Excellent voice quality. Having broken my will and lost the argument, I googled up the phone number. "It's Sunday, they won't be open."

"Pawn America Duluth, how can I help you?"

(me, almost breathless) "Um, yes, I was in there earlier this week. You had a set of Klipsch KG-4 speakers there. Are these still available?"

"Let me go check"

... ... ...

"Yes, they're still here."

"Oh! Okay. I live up on the Iron Range. Could you possibly hold them for me till this afternoon?"

... ... "Yeah, I think we can do that. We don't open for another hour(1)."

"That's okay, I won't be there till 1 or 2 o'clock this afternoon"

"Yeah, I can set them aside. " At this point, I think he knew who I was...

My final, desprite attempt to find a reason not to buy them. "And they're still $129?"

... ... "Yep. Anything else I can help you with?"

"No. Thank you."

--

(1) I called at about 10 a.m.. They open at 11 a.m. on Sunday, and I am about an hour away.
--

So in another hour or two, I will be $140 poorer (factoring in 7.5% sales tax) and one set of speakers heavier.

I should also mention that I will be checking into the Nelson Pass Clinic for Electronic Addiction.

Nice story and a great find.
Have fun.

I had that same disease in August. I found the pair on a Monday, made the call, put it on the back burner, and Saturday was contemplating the deal. Just as I was reaching for the phone, it rang. It was the owner, wanting to make them go away due to WAF (I think I was the only caller at $150). After a quick negotiation over the phone and a 17 mile drive, I got a $100 injection of KG4 and have felt great ever since. I do, however, think I am now experiencing early symptoms of Cornwallitis.

Great story Mike, and very well told, as usual.


Larry, I´m glad to see you´re no better than the rest of us. You are not imune to the bug.

Jorge

There and back, as they say. Got down there and saw they were gone. I almost breathed a sigh of relief. I was all about to turn right-round and storm off to Best Buy when I hear a shout.

"They're over here!"

The store was crowded, mostly with depressed looking teenagers comparing notes over Evanescence CD's (oh! to be 15 again). That exclamation could have been for anyone. But "ask not for whom the bell tolls..." It tolled for me.

I walked up to the counter. The portly salesman scurried behind the door and reappeared moments later with a hand-truck and what were (fated) to be my speakers.

"You want to test them first? You're the one from the 'Range, right?"

"Sure."

He connected them up to some sort of distribution amp. As he was fiddling, he mentioned that they had another set of these in the back that were just about to come off pawn, and that they were in much better shape.

I just nodded and smiled. While waiting, I removed the grilles, gently pushing each woofer in to find anything obvious, like VC scraping.

Lo! And behold! Voice coil scraping on the first one. I pointed it out to the salesman. He said he could knock $40 off of them. He did not even ask if I still wanted them (I did). He fed it a signal and it actually played fine. The scraping was only noticeable in passages containing significant infrasonic signal and no highs or mids to cover up for it. The other speaker, incidently, checked out just fine (damn it!).

After parting with my money (he charged only $90 including tax, but I had to sign a piece of paper saying I knew of the defect and would not return them) it was a brisk 1 hour drive home.

I set them in my makeshift listening room and let them warm up. I then hit ebay and some other sights to see if, all else being equal, I was actually getting my money's worth. Indeed, examples in near the same condition seemed to fetch 2 to 3 times what I paid. I was a little smug about it.

After a little time to acclimate, I pulled the grille off of the speaker with the bad woofer. I checked it again, and almost thought I had the wrong speaker. The rubbing, which was very apparent in the shop was hardly noticeable now. Still I removed it and tested it out of the cabinet. Indeed, it seemed to work honky-dory. I did put in an inquiry to Klipsch on the availability and cost of a replacement driver just the same, though.

After moving the SMGa's off to the sides, I hooked up the KG4's. Now came the truth of it all. Were Klipsch and I to make up? I suppose you could say "Yes", but with some qualifications.

The highs are still kind of glaring and in need of taming. Compared to the SMGa's there was a slight midrange suckout coupled with a vocal range hollowness. Bass is authoritative and strong, with plenty of punch and good balance- almost as good as I have heard. -6dB here and +2dB there and I dialed them in to a listenable tone.

They seem friendly with rock and techno/house/hip-hop, but less so with jazz, choir, and strings. Kind of a 180 from the SMGa's, though the Maggies have stronger weaknesses- that is to say that their weak points are not as weak as the weaknesses of the KG4's.

In the end, I am happy I bought them. I will find a use for them, I'm sure. It is nice just to have something different to listen to, but I don't think they will be staying in the main system rotation. Still, if rock, blues, and hard country are your speed, they will do you well. I will be trying them with a variety of amps and perhaps will find one that suites them well.

Great story, guess you didn't have a choice afterall. Who cares about the cosmetics if they work alright anyways?

As to that woofer that was scraping, do you think that effect may be due to some suspension sag? An 8" cone is kind of small for that to happen, but if they were stored someplace that enjoyed some temperature extremes, I'd think it could be a possibility.

- JP

Being kind of new to the speaker swapoozle, after listening to my HPM100 for years, the Klipsch KG4's were definately a different sound. I can say that my best experience so far with the two is when I run them together. Luckily for me, space is not a factor. I'll add to it................

cant have too many good speakers around, good read also.

i always thought that Klipsch's were designed to be EQ'ed?

Even though my KG4s currently reside in a closet I won't be getting rid of them. I like them quiet alot. They sound great with tubes.

cubdog

I've tried a few different units with them. They're pretty sweet with the CA-1010 in class A mode and are downright pleasent with an old h/k 720. The 720, along with a later model, the 820 are the closest I will get to tubes right now...

Mike I always love to read the tales you spin. You made my day today.

Now that you have some tube friendly speakers, I think its time for those Mac pieces to find a place in your system.

Thanks again for the great read!

Have a happy holiday season if we don't talk.

Gary

Ah, a love story for the ages . I went through the same decision process with my Klipsch Fortes except it was only for a couple hours. At the original price they were a steal at the price I offered they were a no brainer. I have them with a Pioneer SX-1250 and really like the sound. Enjoy your KG-4s.

I took your advice and fired up the working 240. Now mind you, I am using a SS preamp.

It was a little mushy at first, but the 240 hadn't been used in about 2 years. After a half an hour or so it started to come into focus. I was listening to some Seatbelts and it all sounded great. Fast, lively, and loud as hell for 40 watts per channel.

Then it happened: I heard a crackle. The amp was sitting on the speaker with the "blown" woofer and at first I paid it no heed. Then another crackle, followed by a *snap* and a persistent hum. The speaker certainly wouldn't make that sound from a rubbing VC.

Now that it had my attention I saw, to my horror, the plates on two of the tubes glowing first blood red, then near orange in beat with the upright bass.

EEEEEEEK!

I flew across the room and pulled the plug. Apparently just in time too, as one of the glowing tubes decided to crack almost the moment I removed power.

After letting it cool for a bit, I gently pulled the tubes, placing them back into the boxes and set the Mac back in its dust outlined position on top of a KA-9100.

Fortunately the speakers seem no worse for the experience, and happily hummed along when I reconnected the 720.

That is my tube adventure for the year. At least the fire department did not have to turn this one off for me.

I know I did not bring it up with a variac. I know I did not test bias (I could never figure out how on this one). I know that it needs new caps. But it really did work when I put it away last time.

I am now more mortally afraid of pugging in my 275 than ever before. With near double the power I could have near double the close call. You tube guys must have nerves of steel.

But my tubephobia may come to an end... As I mentioned to ejfud before, I am considering my first "not-someone-eles'-problem" tube amp. A brand new Prima Luna (either a 4 or a 5). We'll see what sort of Christmas Bonus the boss leaves in my stocking... But one thing is for sure: Santa needs to bring me a fire-extinguisher for Christmas.

Mike, i am sorry to hear about your misfortune and sorry too that i laughed so hard. i hope you have a much better experience with the new tube amp, whatever turns out to be.

Mike again great story. I wish I had you're way with words.

Sorry to hear about the Mac debacle. Have those things gone over, or do it yourself, you won't be sorry. They are very nice amps.

Speaking of new amps that don't have others problems, I did what your are talking about last week.

My Dynaco St-70 was recapped to some extent when I bought it, but the Pas was stock and getting tired. One day the power caps went south and all I could hear from the Tannoys was a very load buzz. Bought one of the SDS Labs boards to replace the existing ones and thought I'd do it myself. Upon arrival I realized I did not have the knowledge to pull it off.

I dropped it off at my techs. To my surprise and shock he seemed confused how it work, but I left it anyway. Once done and paying way more than I think it should have, I brought it home. Once hooked up, it had a new buzz.

While it was gone the ST-70 started to act up. One tube glowed red. Checked bias and everything was fine. Turned it off and left the room. I didn't go back for a week I was so mad at my system.

Took the Pas back to the tech and he wanted to move the transformer to the back. Another nice bill would have been in store for me. I said no an took it home.

I had tried the ST-70 again and it was working fine with no problems. Don't really know what happened, but the timing was not good. This combined with the Pas problem and expense had soured me on this as my system. It had to go!

Back to the Pas. I decided to build a shield around the power supply section of the Pas and to my surprise it was now dead silent.

They were both sold a few weeks ago.

That brings me to my point. I wanted something new that i'm hoping will be a more stable and reliable. The search was on. Stumbled on a half priced Almarro A318B. After talking with several people including doucanoe, I ended up buying the Almarro A318B. It should arrive next week. 18 watts of singhle-ended triode power. I can't wait!

Next time you're down stop by for a listen.

Gary

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