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Some years ago and older gent advertised he had a set of KLH Fives with dead tweeters available if someone wanted them who appreciated old hifi.I responded and he came over and after we talked he decided I was the new guardian. He was the original owner and other than his wife using them for plant stands they looked decent.
They sat for a few years as right after I got sick. Finally someone who was buying some of my system mentioned he had a pair of KLH 23s and loved them and was looking for some Fives. I pulled a sheet and made him a gift.
Recently, after more than a year we communicated and at the end I got the Fives back. He wanted my Thorens TD125 and Empire 598 tables and my 1st gen Fisher ss hybrid tuner and amp. While I am not looking for more, I had recently pulled out my OLAs and hooked them up and rediscovered them when hooked to a Yamaha Ca610II amp. I want to evaluate the OLAS, Wharfedale W70s, Fives and Klipsch Heresy IIs. Should be an interesting time.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Follow Ups:
Got all the sealing done both the surrounds and driver to baffles and let them run for a day to get them to settle.
Am doing some quick listening and at the level,so I play and types of music setting the level for max dynamics, power levels for average listening is around .25-.30 watts. I am finding an amp with 20 watts rms is fine; recommended minimum was 25 watts IHF. With a 40 watt RMS amp am finding going larger for my environment is offering no advantage. This is good as it ties into the power range for my Wharfedale W70s and ADS L300s.
The bass is deep and very well defined with none of the hump evident in more current designs. The midrange is so far better than the Advents; it is almost amazing that for the few dollars saved in buying Advents, they sold so well. High end while not out to light speed of modern domes, has no problems within the human audio range with not hint of hotness, shrillness or harshness.
Still going back and forth between the W70s and Fives and not sure which I like better. The W70s have amazing dynamic range while better when playing at lower levels that the Fives. The Fives need to play louder to open up and because of efficiency seem to be less dynamic even when using a much higher power amp. Those really shows up with records as they have less compression than digital sources. On the plus side, this compression does not require as much volume monitoring when trying to play at a certain level so not to disturb someone.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Finally decided that for now I would keep both the Fives and W70s in the system and use my Sherwood S9500c integrated with them. Got the system all wired in over the past couple of days including a led power meter. At my normal listening levels both sets of speakers are averaging .002 watts with peaks hitting .004 watts. The meter has a 2 watt range on it. So, 20 watts per channel rms that the S9500c puts out is more than sufficient. Have been listening to Classical 96.3 and CBC2 much of the day through the Sherwood S3300 tuner and the setup sounds great. Tomorrow I will play some records, cds and, maybe stream some music from the internet.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
The listening test is on hold until I seal the woofers. May be a few weeks.Friday: Ordered 2 bottles of sealant to seal the woofers and midrange drivers. Then will see if the midrange enclosure is air tight. If not, then will pull the woofers and seal them and the crossover to back panel edges, terminals and switches with caulking. Hoping not to need to go that deep, though.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Edits: 07/18/14
Sealer came in today so, hopefully over the next couple of days I'll get the woofers and midrange sealers and find out if I need to dig deeper with the sealing such as the midrange enclosure and the crossover. If needed, I will have to get something like rope caulk for the sealing and also to recounted the woofers.Thursday, July 24: Cleaned and applied the sealer to the woofers surrounds, dust caps and midrange drivers. Did not seem to need much. Did the push test and the woofers took about 2x the time to rebound and there was no midrange movement so, I think all may be good. I will know more tomorrow when I play them. Easily enough for another coating left in the original jar so the extra jar I bought may just be surplus; maybe an excuse to look for another set of Fives :).
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Edits: 07/24/14 07/24/14 07/24/14
Well, tried the rebound test after letting them sit most of the day and no improvement so suspect I will need to pull them. The person who changed the caps replied this afternoon, the gasketing looked good when he pulled the woofers took make the change so he reused it. Not a good idea so will need to get some caulking to seal the woofers to the cabinet. Might try to get to the crossovers and seal their edging also. Looks more and more like a project.
Tomorrow I will give them a listening test to see if any improvement
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Got a couple of rolls of closed cell foam draft sealer. Size was wide enough to run 2 strips around the woofer frame. The old seal one one was missing about 1/8" and the other was so compressed in places and not others and in one spot hanging, not even on the baffle so these suckers were leaking worse than a sieve.
The mid enclosures were going through in very tiny holes, nothing like what has been described but, I still robbed a bit of putty over each hole. Buttoned it all up and now the woofer take a bit more than a second to rebound and settle so, good enough for government work.
Threw on some pipe organ and when it went low, those woofers had no issues being nice tight and delivering while with the Klipsch Heresy IIs did not know the notes even existed. Admittedly, almost nothing I ever listen to goes that low but, this is a test. With the Wharfedale W70s, they get down there but do not have the impact a set of pipes at that low a range impart. Pretty good for the Wharfedales, though. The Wharfies deliver a more delicate presentation and at lower volume levels do not close up as quickly. I think it is down to the environment the speakers were designed to operate in this might be an issue for me as I am trying to plan for the future.
After only listening for about 6 hours, it looks like the Klipsch HIIs, The Advent Loudspeakers and The Smaller Advent Loudspeakers are all out of the running leaving only the W70s and Five.
So far have had the Philips 797 receiver, the Sony STR6120 receiver ans Sherwood S9500c amp on them. The Sherwood is the smallest with only 20 watts per channel rms while the others have 60 per. The Sony after years of going back and forth against the Philips is the clear winner but only by a small margin. The Sherwood, though is giving the Sony a run for its money. I do not play my music loud enough to give the 3x more power of the Sony that advantage.
Tomorrow, I will throw on the Yamaha CA61II amp and Sherwood SEL200 receiver and maybe the H-K 630 and get a better feeling as to what gets a 2nd chance. Also will give me more time to compare them to the Wharfies.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Been listening to the OLAS and Fives though the Fives are still awaiting sealing. Even without the Fives being up to snuff in the bass, the kids and high end are so much better, the OLAs are finally going on the get rid of list. The Fives can only get better with them getting sealed so it is a no brainer. The OLAs have been with me for some 20 years.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Hi Brian, I just inherited a pair of KLH 23's in great condition. A 10 inch woofer and tweeter,but about twice the size of a Dyna-A-25 and what I think was about 50 to 60 pounds of weight. I have not hooked them up yet. Any memories by anyone on those speakers....thanks Mark Korda...like your posts Bri...MK
Subbed in the most obvious amp for the next test, a KLH Twenty-Seven receiver.The receiver and the Sixteen amp were likely the units used by the engineering department during the development as they are the company's only receiver and amp. The receiver is playing very nicely with them. There is more life than with the Yamaha and the midrange not quite as pronounced. Been enjoying the pairing all day but there is some pumping that starts as volume increases on fm. Suspect the receiver is getting to a point where it needs to go under the knife. Next up is the Sherwood S9500c amp and S3300 tuner. This amp is only rated at 20 watts whereas the recommended min for the speakers is 25 watts. I do not play music loud so more an issue as to dynamics.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Edits: 07/14/14
In their day the Fives were too flat for most folks' taste, hence the high frequency switch. In the high position, called "extended highs" I believe, they were remarkably transparent, especially alongside the more popular Sixes. My favorite KLH in those days was the Twelve, which had the Five's woofer and, in essence, the mid and tweeter of the KLH Eight FM radio -- all in a large semi-floorstanding box. Nice sound if a bit overly self-contained.
I believe you are correct about the source of the two mid-ranges in the KLH 12. But I think the KLH 5 also used the same two mids and the same tweeter. Both speakers also used a 12" acoustic suspension woofer although I wonder if there weren't some differences in their specs because of the larger KLH 12 enclosure.
According to all I have read and the original KLH literature the woofer is from the Twelve while the Six woofer is the same size with a smaller magnet structure. The midrange is the same as the Twelve's and was the full range speaker used in the Eight radio.
The concept of the New England sound was the frequency response should be ruler flat, the same as an amp's. In this way the speaker would simply be a straight wire reproduced and not affect the system sound. While for some years the market bought into the idea with the introduction of the JBL L100, the world changed and seemed to embrace he West Coast sound or at least the majority of the masses.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Yes, they were recapped by the gent I just got them back from. The woofer surrounds still seem good.Only listened for a couple of minutes to make sure all was working. The toggles on the OLAs are at normal and the switches on the Fives are in their middle position.
While the Yamahas not my best I have found it is a good beginning place. The Advents seemed to not be too bad with their midrange dip and the bass is not as heavy with the Yamaha as others. With the KLH, the bass seemed more like my Wharfedales, there but, not prominent. Those twin mids, though bring out the midrange even more so than with my smaller Bozaks. My 1st thought was the Wharfedales had better balance than either the Advents or Fives. Then, I switched on both together and whoo. Side by side the synergy is very interesting. Where each lack, the other supplies.
When going between the Fives and Advents, that midrange problem with the Advents shows itself. With a clarinet solo, the musician should be center stage front but seems to be behind the supporting musicians. Just that recessed. With the Fives, he is exactly where he belongs and maybe just a bit too forward. With both working he is center stage forward but not seemingly as far forward. I have heard Double Advents before and did not hear the claimed degree of improvement warranting the added cost. Never heard a double set of Fives but even back when I sold them wondered if that would work. I am not sure this may not become a shootout between the Fives and OLAs combo vs the Wharfedales. Side by side they are about the same size as the Wharfedales. I have not tried to stack them.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Edits: 07/23/14
I once compared double Advents to IMF Studios. The IMFs were more focused and clearer. Then for fun we disconnected the double Advents and tried them as singles. They were more focused than the doubles. Doubling speakers causes interference affects and is not as clean. But the sound is bigger and a bit more dynamic.
My father in law bought them new mail order shipped to somewhere in Africa, then his kids used them in college. My wife had them when we got married and we used them for years. I gave them to my buddy about ten years ago. They've been repaired a couple of times, but still sound great.
I can't tell from your post. Are yours working?
Have fun - make sure to report!
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