KLH Model Two

[tysontom]

KLH Model Two

Acoustic Research cofounder Henry Kloss unceremoniously left AR in February 1957 just prior to the completion of the AR-2; however, by May of that year, KLH Research and Development Corporation was established to build acoustic-suspension loudspeaker under license by AR. The use of the word "Corporation" in KLH's title was adopted from Arthur Janszen's Neshaminy Electronics "Corporation" name -- making the tiny start-up speaker manufacturer seem larger and more established. Nevertheless, KLH quickly introduced a number of fine loudspeakers. The first was the expensive, dual-32-ohm (wired in parallel), eleven-inch woofers, 16-ohm Model One ("Model 1" as it was originally known) designed to be used with the JansZen Model 130 Electrostatic. Not very many of these powerful speakers made it to market because of the very high cost ($390.00 each in Walnut, or approximately $3,000 each in 2010 dollars), not including the cost of the electrostatic tweeter. Not surprisingly, relatively few of these big speakers were ever manufactured, and many of those that were sold were lashed-up to the high-powered Marantz Model 9, Fisher or McIntosh MC60-75 power amplifiers. Late in 1957 or early 1958, KLH introduced the Model Five multiple-tweeter system ($100) that could be used in the top compartment of the Model One or Two in lieu of the JansZen electrostatic tweeter.

The KLH Model Two was Henry Kloss' second effort immediately after the Model One of 1957, and it used the same low-resonance eleven-inch (flat-sided like the AR-1) woofer as the Model One, but it was built with a single 16-ohm voice-coil woofer -- mounted flush from the outside with screws (the new, patented "Epoxied-In-Place" technology developed by Kloss was not introduced until early 1958) much like the AR-1 woofer. In Walnut, the Model Two cost $206, and an open compartment was also provided above for the Neshaminy Electronics Corporation JansZen Model 130 electrostatic tweeter or the KLH Model Five tweeter array. The Model Three was a bookshelf version of the Model Two without the table legs and the open compartment above. Finally, the 1958 Model Four encompassed the same parameters as the Model Two and Three single-woofer system with the GE tweeters used in the Model Five tweeter system, and the One, Two and Three eventually were retired.

Someone has a pair of these fine Model Twos on eBay:

Item No. 220590794677

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-KLH-MODEL-2-SPEAK...=item335c3c67b5

--Tom Tyson

[JKent]

Thanks for the history Tom. I have been watching those Twos with dreams of snagging them but that probably ain't happenin. Still... nice to watch and learn

Kent

[npt3]

Thanks for the history Tom. I have been watching those Twos with dreams of snagging them but that probably ain't happenin. Still... nice to watch and learn

Kent

Wow, cool stuff! Having never heard a pair, wondering how they compare to, say, a 3a, LST or Allison:One.

[speaker dave]

I had a pair of those woofers once. I picked them up surplus and always wondered what they came out of. They were a sandcast chassis that fully encompased the Alnico magnet structure.

The Janzen panels are going to bounce around a lot being buried back in that cabinet. I think I'd rather have an AR1 with the ESR on top.

It'll be interesting to see what they go for. Expect some heavy last minute sniping.

David

[tysontom]

Wow, cool stuff! Having never heard a pair, wondering how they compare to, say, a 3a, LST or Allison:One.

Well, I have a pair of KLH Model Fours in great working condition, and I have compared them many times to AR-3s, AR-3a and AR-LSTs. The Fours are wonderful speakers, if a bit bright at times. The Model Four has a system bass resonance of about 46 Hz, slightly higher than the AR-3, but it is an excellent design that has excellent bass extension and very low distortion. The bass response from the Model Two (and Model Three) was basically identical to the Model Four, so the performance would therefore be quite similar in the lower frequencies to the 12-inch AR models (such as the AR-1/AR-3/AR-3a and AR-LST). The Allison: One also has the approximate same resonance and low-frequency performance as the AR speakers, and it is a low-distortion design with its dual 10-inch acoustic-suspension woofers. So... in the deep-bass department, all of those speakers were, I believe. very similar. Consumer Reports found that the AR 12-inch woofer had a slight edge over the KLH Four, mainly in lower distortion, but their report did not detail their findings.

As for the treble response of the Model Two with its JansZen electrostatic tweeter, I have to agree with Speaker Dave about the questionable placement of the tweeter inside that shelf. There would be some very destructive interference effects with the four-paneled electrostatic tweeter mounted in that shelf (thus the reason that KLH later went to their Model Five tweeter version for that shelf). However, if the JansZen 130 electrostatic (assuming that these electrostatic tweeters were in proper operating condition) were taken out of the shelf and placed on top of the speaker cabinet, the differences would be significant, and I suspect that this speaker would hold its own pretty well against some of the best out there of that era, at least up to 14-15kHz.

--Tom Tyson

[tysontom]

I had a pair of those woofers once. I picked them up surplus and always wondered what they came out of. They were a sandcast chassis that fully encompased the Alnico magnet structure.

The Janzen panels are going to bounce around a lot being buried back in that cabinet. I think I'd rather have an AR1 with the ESR on top.

It'll be interesting to see what they go for. Expect some heavy last minute sniping.

David

David,

The earliest AR woofers were also sand-cast aluminum, and this frame assembly was a Henry Kloss design. Villchur originally wanted to out source the woofer assembly to his specs, but it was too expensive at the time, so they decided to build the drivers completely in-house. This influence obviously carried over to the earliest KLH speakers; later, Kloss designed the epoxied-in-place tube frame which assured consistency from unit-to-unit, but became a nightmare for service-repair. The earliest KLH versions with this design, the Model Four and Model Six, had oil-filled, war-surplus capacitors that would probably last 100 years, and these gave no particular trouble. Subsequently, KLH went to a more garden-variety crossover capacitor, and these rountinely failed -- probably costing KLH a lot of money in warranty repair or bad feelings from customers required to return the entire loudspeaker to the factory for repair.

--Tom Tyson

[Andy]

Thanks for the information and link to the auction. Certainly scarce with few produced. The cabinet construction is interesting - looks like a standard 3 or 4 ply plywood. I always thought the models one, two & three had the same 12-ply plywood like my model six has which are from early 1958. I believe the change to mdf came in 1959.

I'm sure there were production changes in the first year or two at KLH with cost saving measures taking hold more and more as the years went on and the company grew. This can be seen with the model eight radio in 1963....changing from solid walnut cabinets, to veneered plywood and it's speaker being reduced from twin drivers to a single driver. In 1964 kLH went corporate when purchased by Singer. Still a quality audio maker, but now a mainstream operation.

Andy