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Power amp for Klipschorn

WonkyDonkey

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I'm using a Topping PA5 with Klipsch Forte IIIs and can comfortably achieve 100dB peaks at the listening position 3-4m away. Rough calculations suggest I'm doing that off 20W and you have a probable 6dB of sensitivity in hand.

With a pair of Klipshorns you would not only have more than enough power to render hearing damage, you would also benefit from the vanishingly low noise floor that high efficiency speakers really magnify.

I appreciate it's gain structure and modest power (85W @ 4 Ohm with tight distortion limits) may not suit many people/systems.

We are not those people.

Russ
 

mhardy6647

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Most normal folks with normal sized rooms and normal taste in music will (should!) be listening to K-horns at SPLs that require milliwatt (OK maybe hundreds of mW) output levels from the amplifier. In other words, make darned sure the amp is capable of superb performance at 1 watt and less.
Srsly.
 
OP
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I know that klipschorn needs of few watts. I don’t have a great knowledge of the new power amp, I have seen the t.amp line and other cheap amps but I don’t know them.
 

mhardy6647

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Look for a good quality Class D or "Class T" (Tripath chipset) stereo power amplifier. Does not have to be rated for high output power.
Get a good preamp to drive it and you'll be ready to rock & roll (or ready to jazz, or classical, or what have you).
 

tvrgeek

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As Paul spent decades proclaiming " What the world needs is a good 10 W amp" might I suggest the Topping PS5 as reviewed here to have specs that are actually hard to believe they pulled off let alone for the price they did it for. It will expose the speakers for what they are, glob or gore is a personal choice.
 

mhardy6647

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tvrgeek

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Maybe he changed :) It was ten when I met him. Then David Manley made him a very good 10W tube amp, and sure enough, they still sounded like the $3 piezo tweeter they had in those days.

Anyway, the little PS5 looks like it was made for them. After all, his big AES paper was that distortion and efficiency were inversely proportional, so to get the best from his very efficient design, might as well use a very low distortion amp! Kind of ironic, massive foulded horns and the amp the size of a paperback.
 

MakeMineVinyl

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In the first issue of High Fidelity Magazine (1951), "How To Get Best Results With A Klipschorn", Paul Klipsch says his favorite amplifier for the K-Horn was the Brook. This amp could use either 2A3s or 300Bs in push-pull.
 

Jim Matthews

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Where are you on the planet, Giuseppe?
 

LTig

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Anyway, the little PS5 looks like it was made for them. After all, his big AES paper was that distortion and efficiency were inversely proportional, so to get the best from his very efficient design, might as well use a very low distortion amp! Kind of ironic, massive foulded horns and the amp the size of a paperback.
Look here (Silbatone): massive theater horns with 120 dB sensitivity and a 6W tube amp, good enough for a 1000 seat cinema (well, in the 1930's).
 
OP
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Where are you on the planet, Giuseppe?
I live in Italy, province of Vicenza, Veneto close to venezia. In my country to find some american power amp is a problem. There is a site, Thomann, where I can find cheap professional power amp, the line T.amp 75/100/150 II oe E400/800, but I don’t know these amps. I’d like a balanced power amp balacend because a friend sents me a Mark Levinson 38 for the moment. In the tread I have readed a very interestin ling of Klipsch, where there is a description of the power requests for Klipshorn, La Scala and Belle. Thanks Giuseppe
 

Jim Matthews

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I live in Italy, province of Vicenza, Veneto close to venezia. In my country to find some american power amp is a problem. . Thanks Giuseppe
The Klipsch design requires little power but is very sensitive to noise. I have fond memories of the Unison line, which was solid and quiet.


If available second hand, the excellent VTA update of the Dynaco ST70 is an affordable choice employing vacuum tubes, but with higher distortion and noise floor (a romantic choice).

My recommendation would be the overlooked Quad 606 amp. They were made in China to very high standards and are stable performers for little money.
 
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The Klipsch design requires little power but is very sensitive to noise. I have fond memories of the Unison line, which was solid and quiet.


If available second hand, the excellent VTA update of the Dynaco ST70 is an affordable choice employing vacuum tubes, but with higher distortion and noise floor (a romantic choice).

My recommendation would be the overlooked Quad 606 amp. They were made in China to very high standards and are stable performers for little money.
Thanks for your aid. I did a research of Quad 606 clone but I finded only clone of Quad 405, is it good too?
Giuseppe
 

tvrgeek

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The 405 is a dated design. I would not recommend the original, let alone a copy.
But it was a very nice amplifier. Just because old does not mean bad. Has it been surpassed? Yes. Quad does still make an amp.

To say a K-horn is "sensitive to noise" is an observation miss-interpreted. Because it is very efficient, then a few mV of baseline noise is of course louder in a high efficiency speaker than a lower one. Not something special in the design. Simple level of input. So look for an amp with a low VOLTAGE of noise, not a ratio. in other words 10mV of noise will gave a different SNR for a 10W amp as a 100W amp.
 
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