Tell me about KLH speakers

[efhjr]

I have a pair of KLH Model Six speakers, and I don't know much about them. Who made them, when they were made, what their efficiency is, and so on.

I don't recall reading KLH speakers discussed much; are they well regarded by the vintage and high-efficiency audiophile camps?

I haven't used them yet, either. I think I'll connect them to my McIntosh MC-30s and give them a listen.

[Casino]

Some other members may have particulars about the Model Six, but I remember KLH's as having a warm, pleasant sound back in the 1970's. Models I recall were bass-reflex, which had a nice, solid lower register, but bass-reflex (sealed enclosure) designs were not particularly efficient.

Henry Kloss is the the "K" in KLH and as you may know, went on to further fame with AR and Cambridge Audio. Brilliant guy.

[Metralla]

Originally posted by Casino
but bass-reflex (sealed enclosure) designs were not particularly efficient.
Bass reflex are not sealed enclosures.

The bass reflex design is more efficient. It uses a port to take the backwave and invert the phase so it reinforces the sound from the front of the woofer.

Sealed enclosures - acoustic suspension - throw the backwave energy away by turning the sound energy into heat inside the stuffing.

Regards,
Geoff

[Clay]

I found a link at vintage asylum.
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/vintage/messages/40688.html
I have requested a scan copy of the KLH model 6 brocure for you.
If I get it I will post or send you a email with it.

Here is a link to a detailed review of the speaker.
just download or click on the magnifying glass to enlarge so you can read it.
crossover at 1,500 sounds great etc...
http://www.fisherdoctor.com/pictures/other/Speakers/model6.jpg

Sounds like a nice speaker

Clay

[Clay]

Hello Gene,

Check your email for the KLH brocure.
Great Z car - so clean. I had to sell mine to buy my latest house along with a 68' rs/ss fully loaded camaro and a 73' 510 that I had sold to my son for $1k (loaned)(he was the only kid in his 3rd grade class with his own car). He is 20 now and has 4.

PS: I used dogpile.com as the search engine to find the great KLH links...

[Metralla]

Originally posted by Clay
a 73' 510 that I had sold to my son for $1k
What's a 510 mate?

Regards,
Geoff

[Clay]

sorry about that.
a 510 is a vintage Datsun sedan 1968-1973, 1600cc that won all the races in its class and was the poor mans BMW of it's time. We lowered them added sway bars, konis, corvair rims or mags, bought used 1800 and 2000 engines from Japan and dropped them in. Just about all my friends had one.
Here is a sample.
When we went to the local SCCA event there were a bunch and one guy had $25k invested in his. It was a sleeper with a race engine...
http://fiveoneoh.com/gallery/yarnell2000/yarn04.jpg

[Casino]

Originally posted by Metralla

Bass reflex are not sealed enclosures.

Regards,
Geoff

Got my terms backwards: my bass-reflex (JBL's) mixed up with my old acoustic-suspension KLH's and AR's. KLH, as I mentioned along with the AR designs were not of high efficency, trading efficiency for low bass with relatively small size.

[Metralla]

Originally posted by Clay
sorry about that.
a 510 is a vintage Datsun sedan 1968-1973, 1600cc
Not a problem - know the car well. I come from Australia and it was just known as a Datsun 1600. I good friend in Engineering at Uni had one - nice vehicle.

Hey, how come you called it a Datsun? Aren't they known as Nissan here?

Regards,
Geoff

[Tony Plachy]

Originally posted by Casino
Some other members may have particulars about the Model Six, but I remember KLH's as having a warm, pleasant sound back in the 1970's. Models I recall were bass-reflex, which had a nice, solid lower register, but bass-reflex (sealed enclosure) designs were not particularly efficient.

Henry Kloss is the the "K" in KLH and as you may know, went on to further fame with AR and Cambridge Audio. Brilliant guy.

Folks, The K does stand for the legendary Henry Kloss, but he left Acoustic Research to create KLH not the other way around. The speakers are the acoustic suspension type (sealed chamber), very inefficient but could produce reasonable bass from a small enclosure (unlike Klipsch folded horns) if driven with enough power. Enough power was made possible by solid state amps. Did not sound very musical (lots of odd order harmonics) but bass from a small enclosure.

[Casino]

Originally posted by ALP


Did not sound very musical (lots of odd order harmonics) but bass from a small enclosure.

I heard lots of speakers in those days, and to each his own, but KLH's were not bad for their time. I didn't find them "non-musical." I'd describe the sound as warm and "punchy." Could have used a bit more "air" on the top end.

As to Kloss' association with AR, should have worded that differently. I just meant that AR and Cambridge Sound were also part of his legacy. All three companies furthered his reputation for good speakers at modest prices.

[Tony Plachy]

Casino, It is not the KLH's that were non-musical, it was the early solid state power amps, very harsh

[Casino]

Gotcha. Agree 100% with that, ALP.

Things have improved overall, but still a problem with some of 'em, ain't it?

[Dave]

Originally posted by Metralla

Not a problem - know the car well. I come from Australia and it was just known as a Datsun 1600. I good friend in Engineering at Uni had one - nice vehicle.

Hey, how come you called it a Datsun? Aren't they known as Nissan here?

Regards,
Geoff
Geoff,

Back in the 60's/70's Nissan used the Datsun name exclusively for their autos until the early 80's in N. America. I used to own the 510 myself. The 1600 was a SE here.:)

[Jack Keck]

Also, somewhere between KLH and Cambridge, Henry Kloss founded Advent. IIRC, the main objective for Advent was projection TVs. The speakers were popular for a long time.

[bldg blok]

Originally posted by Jack Keck
Also, somewhere between KLH and Cambridge, Henry Kloss founded Advent. IIRC, the main objective for Advent was projection TVs. The speakers were popular for a long time.
I THOUGHT there was a connection w/ Advent. Thanks Jack for confirming. I have two Advent for my front speakers and KLH for center & rear surround.

[indy mike]

KLH was an "East Coast Sound" speaker - rolled off at the extreme high end and with a relatively flat lower end as opposed to the "West Coast Sound" speakers ala JBL which went for the bright highs and mebbe a bump in the lows to get a little thump action. Gotta have a lotta juice to get those acoustic suspension speakers kickin' - vented/ported/bass reflex almost always took less power to get to party levels....

[efhjr]

Wow, this thread has gone over the place. Ya gotta love this forum :thumbsup:.

I took peek at the back of these KLH Model Sixes, and much to my suprise, there were three speaker posts. It looks like two power posts and one negative.

I'm stumped.

[Richard Feirstein]

I installed many a KLH 6 and AR 3a speaker system back in the 60's. The AR 3a's (not the AR 3's) had a better high end and a flater frequency response. The AR3's also produced lower bass with lower distortion. Both, "by design", rolled off the high end to "emulate" the frequency response of a music hall -assuming that the mics were close in on the insturments. The major problem with the AR's was that their fine quality 3/4 inch dome tweeter tended to burn out if any high level output was deliverd to them. This could be a problem with those early solid state amps. The AR amps and the Dynaco amps sounded great with both of these speakers; by the way. 60 watts was what was needed to drive those to decent levels.

Richard.