Are the Klipschorns mainly for Classical music ??

Notwithstanding Porziob's standard drop-a-turd-in-the-punchbowl response, you certainly could find an amplifier more suitable to the revealing sound of the Klipschorns. As far as SS is concerned, McIntosh is an excellent option. If you search the Klipsch forums, you'll find other suggestions. The K-horns also sound terrific with many tube amps. What source are you using? With a speaker as tell-all as the Klipschorn, a good CDP is a must for when the music gets busy. Otherwise, the digititis is enough to send you running.

Updating the crossovers will help dramatically. The Crites are a replica of the original (search bcrites on the Klipsch forum), and we used them for a year or more. We then purchased the heritage crossovers from dgwescott here on Audiogon, and this was the biggest upgrade we have yet made in our system. Other mods I would recommend are re-wiring with silver, and dampening the horns. The former will clean up the highs, and give you better definition, and the latter will eliminate the shout effect of the horns.

Also, good speaker cables make a big, big difference. A thin gauge will get you a thin sound with these speakers, and although some owners will suggest the Home Depot-esque cables, I found them to smear the sound quite dramatically. Bottom line is with the Klipschorns, the music will sound only as good as the upstream equipment & cables. And with the wrong ancillary gear, these speakers will sound poor with many types of music.

Best of luck.

I really don't think my amp is a problem. Classical music sounds great as well as some clean rock musicians. I am not an electrical engineer but I know what sounds good to my ears. I appreciate your recommendations. I have already emailed both of the people you talked about but have yet to make any decisions. I use 10 gauge speaker wire. How do I dampen the horns ?? I am sure I am not using the best cd player so I would be pleased with any suggestions you might have. I apprecaite any help you could give me.

You can dampen the horns with Dynamat, rope caulk, or the like. McMaster-Carr also sells a product that adheres well, and I believe a search on www.audioasylum.com in the hi-eff speakers section will get you the part number. Be advised that although the part is only $14 or so, the shipping is actually more, because it comes in a long box, and the sheet is fairly heavy.

If you have a budget on a CD player, I'd recommend posting a separate thread or searching the archives. Personally, I've yet to hear a player under ~$1500 that effectively maintains the separation and tonal texture of the more layered/complex music, and in particular, multi-track electric guitar.

I am willing to invest in a better cd player. Can you give me some good examples of what I should look for ?? Also thank you for the information on dampening. I am feeling much like a novice and the prices on tube preamps and preamps are much more than I expected. I would like some suggestions om preamps and amps.

Boa2, after all those modifications to get a Klipschhorn to sound good, doesn't that say something about Klipschorn? Doesn't sound like you have a Klipshorn anymore. Kind of like an APL Denon 3910 don't you think? There's very little remotely left of the original 3910 sound. I'm sure you love your speakers, but spending (I don't know what they cost new) all that money for mediocre speakers, just to add a bunch of mods to make it sound good?