KLH 23

[lazermydog]

Hi, I am a newbe to this forum. I am an audiophile on a budget.

On a lark I picked up a pair of near mint KLH 23s and hooked them up to my soundcraftsmen power amp. I figured for the $40 bucks I got them for I could always sell them on E-bay. Well I got to tell you they were better than my HECO loudspeakers which are late 90's 3 way speakers. In fact the soundstage and bass were much better.

I am so impressed by the 23's that I am going to modernize the speaker terminals and rebuild the crossovers. I will be looking for a couple of 23 tweeters to have as spares. I would like to know if anyone else found these almost 40 year old speakers to be this good?

Marc

[Guest Kenny Brant]

Marc, I also have a pair of KLH 23's. The cabinets are pretty scratched up, but the drivers are in really good shape, so is the grill cloth and terminals etc. I have not done anything to mine and I have had them for a couple of years, think I paid $34.95 for them. I didn't know anything about them when I got them and only know a little more about them now. I also have a pair of vinyl Large Advents which I put new surrounds on, they have the masonite around the woofers. Anyway, I listened to both of these pairs and as much as I would like to like the advents better, the KLH 23's just sound to me a lot better, lows, mids and highs. And with my Scott 345 tube receiver those KLH 23's are sooo nice to listen to. Maybe not the most transparent or dynamic, but just very nice to set back and listen to. Some have said to put in new caps and that the new caps will make the mids and highs a lot more open, it is something you can do and if you don't like it you can change it back. You may also have to treat the cloth surrounds if they leak. Try different sources of amplification. I tried many solid state receivers and amps with mine, but to me they really sounded the best with tube equipment as the bass was either muddy or not much bass with solid state, but with tubes the bass got a lot better, just sounded more natural. I also have mine about 18 inches off of the floor. Good luck, and as always you have to find the right component match.

Kenny

[Guest tafpyper]

I have 2 pair of the 23's and plan on using them for surround at some point. I agree they are a highly listenable and very musical speaker. I think it's the sleeper in the vintage KLH arsenal. It's really an improvement on the model 6 It uses a cabinet slightly larger than a 6 or, the same size as the model 5. It shares the same woofer as the 5. The basket, cone & VC I believe are the same as the 6. However the magnet is much heavier than a 6 for 2 reasons: the larger cabinet and cones which are selected to be heavy. If you look at a model 5 or 23 cone you will see the weight in grams written on the cone usually around 23-25 grams. Model 6 cones weigh in around 18-20grams. The larger cabinet and heavier cone = lower resonant point than the 6. The larger magnet is needed to maintains efficiency & transient response. The woofer from a 6 weighs about 5-1/2 lbs and those from a 5 or 23 about 8 lbs.

The tweeter and crossover are the same as the model 6. So, if you need a tweeter the 5, 6, 17, 23 & 33 all share the same tweeter. Crossover is 1500 cps except in the 3 way model 5 which is at 2500 cps.

I have replaced the caps with Solens ,which I personally like, but you will probably get comparable results with Bennics or Daytons and others. Hope this is helpful, Dave

[lazermydog]

Dave,

Thanks for the information.

I have been into audio for a long time and the 23s are very good.

Went to a local Hi end stereo store and speakers with the same qualities of sound reproduction sell for at least $500 each.

I will be trying the 23s with my tube intergrated amp and will compare it to my Hafler preamp and Soundcraftsmen power amp.

I hope to get a hold of a tube Mcintosh amp for them.

Henry Kloss, may he rest in peace, new what he was doing!

Marc

[lazermydog]

Hi Kenny,

From what I have seen on the web, the Advents had better specs., but the KLH had a more realistic sound. Specs. are O.K. but I always vote with my ears. I will be using mine on speaker stands that are about 18" high. I found that the midrange and highs were more balanced. The cabinets are a good quality walnut veneer. Try

Howard's furniture restorer (walnut) with a 0000 steel wool pad.

After using the Howard's apply a good furniture grade wax, one with out silicone. A wax with bee wax in it is good.

Marc

[Steve F]

My recollection of the 23 is a humorous one:

At an early 1970's meeting of the Boston Audio Society, Victor Campos of KLH was a guest. He was recalling how the 23 came to be. Seems KLH wanted to fill a price point between the 5 and the 6. Campos went to Henry Kloss and said, "So Henry, what do you want me to do, f*** up the 5?"

"Yeah Victor, f*** up the 5."

Sometimes, new product planning is not as super-sophisticated as we'd all like to think!

Steve F.

[lazermydog]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the story.

Do you remember or know what the range is for amp power for the 23's?

Would a 30 watt tube amp be adequate for them? Were they orginally meant for the solid state amps coming out on the market at that time?

Thanks,

Marc

[Steve F]

I don't have an original spec sheet on the 23, but all the good sealed NE speakers of that time were perfectly suited to be used with decent-quality amps from 25-100+ watts/per channel.

The major determinants of whether 30 watts is enough will be your room size, listening habits, and musical tastes.

My gut level reaction is that it will work fine.

Steve F.

[Guest dbradley]

I own a pair of KLH 23's as well. Bought them in the early 1970's used. They essentially are the KLH 17's with a bigger cabinet and a larger woofer - very unusual size that will be hard to recone or replace if it breaks. My teenage son used them for a while and blew out one of the woofers and I got lucky and found a replacement through this forum, in fact. I have done some comparisons to other speakers and find them to be a very creamy sound, less bright in the treble and maybe a little less crisp in bass impact, which can be a preference for some and not for others. You can probably more easily find original equipment replacement tweeters since I think they are the same in several of the 1960's-70's KLH models. However, you might want to experiment with some of the new Asian tweeters of the same size, impedances, range, if it were your preference to get a brighter sound.

If I am sounding uncomplimentary, I do not feel that way. I think that vintage of KLH are the just about the best money can buy and they are nice looking pieces of furniture as well. You got a terrific deal and I hope you enjoy them.