Rarest KLH speaker

[tysontom]

>Tom,

>

>That's a very good point and I'd say that your actually

>correct on that point. There's little forum talk about those

>early models One, Two, Three and the Five high frequency unit.

>My guess is several thousand of each may have been produced

>(I've taken note of not many serial numbers), but precious few

>seem to survive today....now I'm interested in learning more

>!

>

>A great speaker for a KLH collector to own would be a Model

>One with a very low serial number, maybe below 00010 or so,

>and certainly would bew one of the first KLH speakers made.

>For now, my Model Six -# 0684 will have to be the pride of my

>collection.

>

Andy,

You should try to collect as much information you can on those very early KLH speakers. I'll bet that there are probably fewer than 1000 of the Model Ones; that speaker cost nearly $400 each, and not many people could see paying that much for a woofer-only cabinet.

--Tom Tyson

[JKent]

>Hi jkent, Thanks for posting this image of #07828. Tell your

>friend there are two things scarce about this speaker, first

>it's volume control is seen on very few model Eight speakers.

>Second, it's a solid walnut example that should have a single

>driver. Only about 800 single driver in walnut were made

>(units with serial numbers between 07100 and 07900. This

>should make it the rarest KLH speaker out there, set aside a

>prototype speaker which does show up every once in a while.

Hi Andy

I always look forward to your comments, since you are the resident KLH guru/historian. I'm a little confused here--800 solid walnut single driver/vol control units were produced. What about the solid walnut DUAL driver/vol control like my friend has? I have an ulterior motive here--I just bought one myself. Solid walnut, dual driver, volume control. For your log: It's SN 06976. It came with what I assume is an early Eight: SN 00467.

Your thoughts and comments are eagerly anticipated.

cheers

J Kent

[Andy]

Hi J Kent,

It's about 800 walnut with single driver and of these, a small number would have had a volume control...my guess maybe 10% or 80 units at most.

Now, that speaker number 06976 w/dual drivers was at the very end of the two driver examples. So about 7,000 were made in total - of these definately less then 10% would have had a volume control, so one could say 700 are out there. I think thats a high number because in my logging serial numbers and details I entered only three examples with the volume control out of 100 speakers...thats only 3%

Any way you look at it, there are not very many around.

Hope this makes it a little clearer......thanks for posting the two serial numbers. That receiver number 00467 is pretty early. Someday I want to find a Model Eight with matching serial numbers (rec. + speaker) that is super low, maybe 00010 or lower !

Andy

[JKent]

Hi Andy

Thanks again.

Re: Matching SNs. I just sold a radio with matching numbers (2250) but I suspect that these radios were not necessarily sold with matching numbers. I say that because I recently bought one in the original box (!) and the SNs were written on the outside. There was a place for the receiver SN and another for the speaker SN, and in this case the numbers did NOT match.

cheers

J Kent

[Andy]

Re: matching SNs - This is a interesting one, I think an employee at KLH had made an effort to match numbers, I've seen too many rec/spkr pairs with matching numbers. But of course most don't match. I once found a box like the photo you posted with matching numbers. I coudn't imagine having a receiver, then search for a speaker with the same number, that would be a tough one !

In Chris Jones ARC article 'The Lady Eight' - the rec/spkr both have number 1210.

I don't think it makes a difference, it's just kind of cool when the numbers are the same.

One other note; Model Eights were bench tested for two hours to asure against FM drift before being boxed. The assembly area for model Eights must have been fairly small since they only made about 12,000 in a 3 to 4 year period. I'm still hoping to meet someone who assembled model Eights to learn further details.

Andy

[JKent]

Here's something for your log, Andy:

SN 008070. Walnut veneer, one driver, volume control.

And..... I think I may have discovered why some of these had the volume control (or maybe you already know why). They were apparently sold as extension speakers for the Eight. Of course the Eight, unlike later KLH radios, did not have an extension speaker jack, and it used those weird non-standard double banana plugs. So their solution was apparently a "piggyback" plug, with the polarity marked.

The attached photos show the flat connector for the SN 008070 speaker. It has 2 holes and an arrow. Next to it is the "stock" double banana plug, also with arrow. The other photo shows these piggybacked and plugged into the Eight. Neat!

All comments welcome---especially Andy's :-)

Kent

[Andy]

Kent,

Thanks for the SN. Yes this is another example of early KLH's simple solution to add a speaker.

At this point I'm winding down my logging of serial numbers, but am always interested in any number on a Model Eight or Thirteen + speakers that is unusual or a high number which provides evidents of how many were produced. 0011771 is the highest # I have on a Model Eight - 001457 is the highest on a Model Thirteen.

Andy

[JKent]

Thanks for the comments Andy. Always interested in what you have to say about these classics.

FWIW--Eights that I have had in my collection ranged from a low SN of 1713 (sold that one) to a high of 011116 (white knobs). The Thirteens in my collection are 00651 (pretty sad shape--missing a knob and speaker--in repair shop now) and 01327.

Kent

[tysontom]

>Thanks for the comments Andy. Always interested in what you

>have to say about these classics.

>

>FWIW--Eights that I have had in my collection ranged from a

>low SN of 1713 (sold that one) to a high of 011116 (white

>knobs). The Thirteens in my collection are 00651 (pretty sad

>shape--missing a knob and speaker--in repair shop now) and

>01327.

>

Andy,

From what I can tell, the Model Eight radio (including the speaker) was not all that rare, but still very desirable today. All of the first models were apparently made from solid walnut rather than plywood veneer, but that was also not too uncommon for small pieces. The original AR turntable was made the same way, for example. I have a Radio Shack listing for the Radio in which the solid-wood cabinet is listed in the description.

--Tom Tyson

[Andy]

Hi Tom,

Yes, As a radio the Eight is not what can be called rare with about 12,000 produced - 7,000 in walnut, 5,000 in plywood. All the crazy talk on this post is about those production details I've been researching. why I concern myself with this, I'm not sure.

Now the Model Thirteen is scarce, 1,500 believed to be produced.

The word rare is thrown around too much. Many folks say that an item with 100 or less made, that's rare and I would agree.

Now I'm kicking myself for not buying that KLH speaker with the electroatic plus a woofer in one cabinet that was on ebay a few months ago - that was what seemed to be a prototype circa 1962 and what definately can be called Rare.

Andy

[JKent]

Speaking of plywood Eights--was that some sort of special plywood? Looking at the edge of the wood, it looks like just 3 plies, with the outer ply being quite thick. Sort of a walnut sandwich?

[JKent]

Reviving this thread. Did you see the KLH Eight extension speaker that sold on eBay yesterday for $660? I bid on it--$200. Ha! It is a solid walnut, 2-driver model with the original "piggyback" plug, volume control, original cloth and logo. Nice speaker. I have one just like it, so I'm tempted to sell but as a collector I'm MORE inclined to keep it.

Anyway, I think the mystery about the volume control is solved. They were meant as second mono speakers and had a special connector for that purpose. Many were modified by cutting off that adapter plug and attaching bananas (I have a couple like that).

History is like a puzzle. Or a treasure hunt!

Kent

[Johnson]

Yes, I saw that one on ebay too. Couldn't believe it went for over $600. Speaking of the Model Eight's there's what appears to be a near perfect example on ebay right now for a buy it now price of $650. Will be interesting to see if they can get that much for it.

[JKent]

Yes, I saw that one on ebay too. Couldn't believe it went for over $600. Speaking of the Model Eight's there's what appears to be a near perfect example on ebay right now for a buy it now price of $650. Will be interesting to see if they can get that much for it.

Yes--I'm following that one with great interest, especially since I recently sold a nearly perfect, refinished, recapped and professionally aligned one on ebay for $463 (Item number: 160378894366. I'll be selling some more like it within the next few weeks (depends on when I get them back from the technician). If that seller gets $600 for a nice unrestored Eight maybe I should try to get that for my restored ones!

Kent

[JKent]

After much research, I feel the KLH speaker with fewest units made is the Model Eight in solid walnut, single driver with a volume control. I feel that Fewer then 50 units of this type were produced. Next up should be the same model Eight in plywood cabinet, with maybe a few hundred units. Of course model Eights with two drivers in walnut number to about 7,000 units and single driver versions in plywood number to about 4,500. The model Thirteen speaker would be less then 2,000 produced (a volume control version may exist on this model, but I've not seen it).

The model 28 speaker is a rare speaker and I've seen one with a serial number of 876, but total number produced is unknown.

Other scarce models include models 1,2,3, the model 5 high freq. only unit (goes with models 1,2.3). Also the models 7. 9 & 12. All these have production totals in the low thousands with most being under 5,000 units.

These are the ones to look for and are a much, much harder to find when compared to a model 6 or 20 which have production numbers of over 150,000 units each.

I am trying to get a former KLH employee to sell a prototype from the early 60s (has three 4" full range drivers in a cabinet 8" x 18" x 8" made of birch plywood), but no luck yet!

This is an OLD thread. So old some posts are out of order. Andrew Hayden's knowledge of KLH remains a valuable resource.

I recently restored a Model Eight radio for a colleague. He had it sent directly to me. Turns out the seller also had a Model Thirteen stereo adapter for sale but he was asking too much for it. Only AFTER I had started sanding down the cabinets did the buyer notice that we'd been sent the wrong speaker. There was no Model Thirteen speaker (those have an RCA jack on the back). The seller had kept the M-8 speaker with a serial number that matched our radio and had instead sent an 8-AS. It's the one Andy describes above: Solid walnut with a volume control. Unfortunately the original flat connector is long gone--it was designed to fit between the proprietary speaker plug and the jacks (see Post #37 for a photo). I "made" a new plug by cutting down a stackable dual banana jack, so the new owner can use this as the main speaker or can add a second one.

Below are some photos. There's a "before" shot of the backs of the receiver and speaker. They were kind of beat and the speaker wire had been cut . The original wire was 30 feet long, white twisted pair. I was fortunate to find some just like it!

The cabinets were chipped and split but the solid walnut lends itself to repairs.

The buyer wanted the original speaker cloth retained. It's not pristine but it's pretty good for being over a half century old.

On the photo of the back of the receiver you can see that the modified dual banana plug is inserted and it can accept either an original KLH plug or 2 separate banana jacks.

Kent

[JKent]

Update: As it turned out, the person who sold the Eight lowered the price on the Thirteen. So I bought it and sure enough it included the original M-8 speaker with a serial number that matched the receiver (KLH only did that for a couple of years) but the speaker was a disaster. Before and after shots below. I salvaged an original grille from another speaker because that's what my friend wanted. Now he's happy with a nice original radio and I have another Thirteen to restore.

Kent