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KLH model 6 vs 1st large advent.


ironlake

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't know about comparing but there are some interesting Sixes on ebay now: Item number:120866015052. Interesting because they are just the front baffles and components, and you can see that there are different caps in the 2 speakers. This is consistent with stories I've heard that HK used to scout out electronic surplus for deals on parts (Canal St in NYC used to have all kinds of stuff). One speaker has the double-value paper wrapped electrolytic found in other KLH speakers such as the Five and Twelve. The other has what appears to be a very heavy-duty mil spec cap like the ones I found in my AR2a's.

Kent

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I have two types of the model sixes. The earlier version having the woofer and tweeter permanently mounted to the board. The cloth is wrapped around the board and nailed as one unit to the cabinet. The caps are indeed the huge paper wrapped type. The later version(mid-seventies?) has the woofer and tweeter mounted by 4 screws each with a removable particle board and cloth grill. The crossover uses the smaller metal caps. As for comparison to the Advent; while the model six has been my favorite KLH product, the Advents edge them out in every situation-of course this is subjective and I don't hesitate to pick up a pair of sixes when the oppurtunity arrises.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't think Henry Kloss felt Model 6 was the best KLH speaker he made but I think he claimed it was the best value. Model 17 was a close second and with a subwoofer would make an excellent system. Model 5 was a disappointment, I expected much better of it. Of all the dynamic speakers he made KLH Model 12 was his best effort. The best KLH speaker made was by many people's reckoning the Model 9 electrostatic.

I have two pairs of Model 6s. One pair was acquired used in 1964 and is one of the original versions. It had to go back to the factory several times for repair which means replacement of crossover network capacitors. In one instance it appears the front baffleboard had to be removed. You can still see the scar left by inserting the pry bar used to remove it. I'm not sure about the other repairs but I think they removed the woofer cone and worked through the basket.

Based on evidence I've seen OLA had a better woofer, similar in performance to AR3/3a. This is based on Zilch's measurements that were published in the now closed Kitchen. So did AR2a. In fact the effective cone diameter of AR2a is exactly the same as KLH Model 6, 7 inches even though it is called a 10 inch speaker and KLH Model 6 is called a 12" speaker. IMO woofers should be rated by their effective (edge to edge) cone diameter, not the frame size. By this measure AR's 12" woofer is actually 8 inches.

IMO based on relatively limited experience with OLA, for accuracy KLH Model 6 was overall a much better speaker than OLA. This is not surprising due to the difficulty of creating a 2 way or even a 3 way speaker that covers the entire audible range. There's always a price to be paid by extending the frequency extremes unless you add more drivers or go to heroic lengths to compensate for the region where driver response overlaps. AR had the same problem with AR3 and its descendants until it solved it with AR9 adding an 8" LMR. That made all the difference (a second 12" woofer didn't hurt either.)

Many speakers do not show the best of what they have to offer by playing them flat. In the era these speakers were manufactured and marketed consumer accessible graphic equalizers were not available, their cost so prohibitive only recording studios could afford them. For this reason, having restored a pair of AR2axs and experimented with them I've reversed my original opinion and would now say that when operating their optimum (driver levels carefully adjusted and system carefully equalized) AR2ax is a better speaker than KLH Model 6 and much better than OLA.

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I don't think Henry Kloss felt Model 6 was the best KLH speaker he made but I think he claimed it was the best value. Model 17 was a close second and with a subwoofer would make an excellent system. Model 5 was a disappointment, I expected much better of it. Of all the dynamic speakers he made KLH Model 12 was his best effort. The best KLH speaker made was by many people's reckoning the Model 9 electrostatic.

....AR2ax is a better speaker than KLH Model 6 and much better than OLA.

YMMV but I beg to differ. I had a pair of Fives that I recapped and had high hopes for but they were, as you said, disappointing. So I sold them. But before I sent them out I checked the cloth-surround woofers and found that they returned too quickly when pushed in. So I applied a thin coating of Roy's surround sealant, per the KLH Service Bulletin. Wow! The Fives with their woofers properly sealed are FAR from disappointing, and a worthy rival for the AR3a. I still have a pair of Twelves and they may be my favorite speakers although I don't have room for them. They are identical to the Fives but in much bigger cabinets, so the bass is even MORE authoritative.

I would not call the Nines "KLH's best effort" since they were not really KLH designs. They were the brainchild of the legendary Arthur A Janszen. He went on to form his own company (also Neshaminy) but AFAIK his own acoustic suspension systems with the electrostatic tweeters did not measure up to an AR-1 wth the add-on JansZen electrostatic.

I know the OLA is highly regarded and has many followers here, but IMHO they do not hold a candle to the KLH Five or the AR2ax (and certainly don't come close to the KLH Twelve or AR3a or the AR91 that I also compared them to). So, I never had the pleasure of hearing the KLH Six, but I agree the AR2ax is a much better speaker than the OLA, and although I did not do a side-by-side of the OLA and AR2a, I think the 2a is also superior to the Advent.

I should also note that my 3a's and 2a's have the cloth-surround woofer. Don't know what the measurements show, but subjectively I think the cloth surrounds are superior. I did own both foam and cloth surround 2ax's at one time (since sold both) and I preferred the cloth.

As I said, YMMV.

Kent

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  • 3 weeks later...

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