All NEW Klipsch Jubilee Horn Speakers !... Game Changer ?...


highend666

Spoke with John at Audio Video Therapy in Nashua, NH.  They're going to have the Jubilees in the store for the next couple of weeks!  So if you're in the northeast and want to give them a listen, would head that way.

Great people over at Audio Visual Therapy.   Definitely my first choice when looking for a new toy.  . I got the invite too, wish I could have attended but had a family thing.   

They not only do a great job representing Klipsch, but they step up and take care of things in the rare event something should fail.   

Worth the trip if you are in a neighboring state, no sales tax in NH

Very impressive even though it wasn't an ideal room. The reason the speakers were in that room was the larger rooms are on the third floor. Couldn't imagine hauling them up three flights of narrow stairs. Excellent dynamics and the bass didn't overload the room. The top end horn section was powered by a 18 wpc Luxman LX-380 tube integrated. The bass section by the Luxman MQ-88C 25 wpc tube amp. More than enought power for the 108db Jubilee's. If you've got the room and an understanding wife truly exceptional speakers.

I was there as well. I visited many of the listening rooms but kept coming back to the Jubilees. I was very impressed with their performance in a very small room and their ability to sound great in different listening positions. I felt very engaged.

I was at AVT and yes, the Jubilee are massive and extremely dynamic, but I never felt really engaged... fun fur a short time but nothing I could live with

I'll be at Audio Video Therapy in Nashua NH today at 5. Roy Delgado will be there to demo the Jubilee speakers. Should be interesting.

Have to say.....Worst new product launch in the history of audio. Announced in Jan 2021, now November...and ZERO information on. Unless you want to dig around for hours in the Klipsch forum. Klipsch needs a new marketing firm. It’s almost like they purposely don’t want to sell them... weird. Cool video though.

They have since added what has been called a "beauty panel" to the front of the speaker.  I happen to like that look but, it wasn't available when I bought mine....  like Henry Ford said, you can have any color you want, as long as it's black.
What is a "proper" tweeter?

I use a TAD 4002 for my tweeter driver, is that a decent tweeter?

To Russ:  What happened "back when" is Roy auditioned the Jubilee's at the Klipsch Pilgrimage in (I think) 2006.  He played the intro of the Eagles Hotel California.

Before that first "BOOM" in the very beginning, I knew I loved what I heard and turned to the guy standing next to me and said "THAT is what I've been looking for"

I bought a pair a week or so later.

So the pair that I bought were the "commercial" version (industrial black) bass bin.  What they then did was took the "midrange HORN" and removed the midrange DRIVER.  They also removed the tweeter HORN (K510) and MOVED the tweeter DRIVER down to the midrange HORN.

So you could have instead, simply bought the "stock 3-way cinema Jubilee speaker" and had all the parts I had.....listened to it in both 3-way format and 2-way format and picked your flavor.

A couple years later, Roy came out with some curves about changing to the TAD driver.

So the units I have could have easily instead gone to a cinema except for the upper horn changes.  By the way, the only reason you really want the 3-way is for raw output.  For HOME use, I'm here to tell you that the 2-way is still fully capable of tucking your tail between your legs and push you out of the room should you get stupid with the volume.

AND, it will still sound fantastic while doing so.

I've since added a Danley DTS-10 and (though rarely used) have LaScalas as my rear speakers.

Huge scale of sound as quiet as you want or as violent as you dare.
"....So that would be (as best I know) the second version and the third would be the one pending with the vented horn..."

Does that include the commercial version Jubilees? 
I use axi I greatly prefer using with a proper tweeter over DSP EQ to get high frequency. A cd horn is also not the best for home use it requires EQ to function and the treble it does generate is based on hom generation.
No expert at all, but I do keep my ears open!!  :)  
Thanks though for the kind words.  It does help that I've been around them now for (yikes) about 15 years or so.

If we only count production models, I think there are three.  The 'original' that has small supports inside the bass bin to hold the sides still (there is a story there too).  Roy redesigned it to create the updated version that had "shelves" going all the way around the bass bin.  By using the 'shelf' it was easier, faster to produce and made a stronger cabinet.

I'm guessing in the engineering world, that might be a win/win/win??!!

The "story" on the supports....

Years ago, it seems Roy/Klipsch got some complaints about the Jubilee bass bin resonating.  Not all of them, just one here and one there.  It was an inconsistent issue.

He finally figured it out.  It turned out the manufacturing company that provided them the plywood for the cabinets was the culprit.  I don't know the specifications, so let's just say that Klipsch spec'ed the plywood for the Jubilee to be .75 inches, plus/minus .03 inches.

He found out that the company producing the plywood was able to be pretty consistent with the plywood thickness. and it generally came in say, .74 to .73 (but ironically, hardly ever OVER .75!

None the less he discovered that when the production was (for example) .73 and THAT thickness was used for the rear panel, they had a terrible resonate problem.....  if it was thicker, then the resonate issue wasn't there (or was greatly reduced ??).  So he put those supports in much like some folks put a support in the mouth of a LaScala to keep the side walls from resonating.....essentially the same issue.

So he put those support wings/tabs in there and that cleared it up but I don't think he liked the in-elegance of that.....so went back several years later and redesigned it with (what I call) the 'shelf's' in there which also guaranteed the problem was fixed, made a stronger cabinet, easier to build and in my mind, looks nicer.

So that would be (as best I know) the second version and the third would be the one pending with the vented horn where he's taken one of the drivers (Jubilee uses two 12" drivers) OUT of the bass bin and he's ported that space or something to somewhere of the horn.  I'm not sure what he's done other than the video that Klipsch has posted about it.


FYI:  Coytee is THE expert and historian on the Jubilee loudspeaker other than a few Klipsch employees...maybe. I'm not sure how many designs there are of the Jubilee but if you count the different horns, drivers, and bass sections, I think there are 4 iterations. Coytee will set me straight on that....
I was doing a search about any news on the (new) Jubilee and stumbled onto this thread.

A couple comments if I may in case a casual reader finds this later on...

1.  PWK originally wanted to take the Khorn back to a 2-way design as he originated it decades before.  To that end, He & Roy came up with this Jubilee design FOR RESIDENTIAL USE (period).  The reality is, the company didn't want to market it so it was shelved and not forgotten about by Roy.  As I recall being told (by Roy) later on, the company let him know they needed a design for a smaller design (than for example their MWM series).  Roy already had this design completed so he pulled it out and the Jubilee bass bin which again, was designed for HOME use, was good enough to be placed into the commercial lineup.  Frankly, I think that's a big testimony to the design.

So, I wanted to clear up that the speaker was a HOME speaker which was good enough to be used in a commercial setting.....  and is now working its way (finally) back to a speaker that is more refined in its look for residential use.

2.  It's correct that this (both the original AND this new vented version) are both designs of Roy.  He evidently designed several ideas....  and came up with this.  As I recall Roy telling the story, he made this, PWK asked him something about how the curves look (or some engineer speak).  What I understand again from Roy is when PWK finally heard it, he simply sat there, leaned back smiling and said "we did it".  (been over 10 years since Roy told me the story so it may not be exact)

PWK heard the original Jubilee bass bin with the "midsized" K403 horn on top (the one you may have seen him sitting next to)  There were only 2-3 sets of the K403 horn made.  I think they had some quality control issues with production since it was going to be in wood.

So Roy pulled out the K402 horn.  I don't know if PWK ever heard the Jubilee bass bin with the K402 horn on top.  I have no recollections of Roy talking about that (while I was around).

So, if it's reasonable to say that PWK never heard the original Jubilee bass bin WITH the K402, then it's fair to say he's never heard nor had any part of the design of the new version of the Jubilee bass bin with the vented/ported horn.  

Aside from any/all of that, if you've ever heard Roy talk about PWK there is a VERY strong bond of love and respect that Roy has for PWK.  I've wondered about this from time to time .....is the Jubilee bass bin 100% Roy's doing and his profound admiration of PWK and his own humility allow him ascribe all the credit to PWK instead of him getting any?

The world may never know the absolute truth.

If you've never heard the original version of the Jubilee, you'd do yourself a favor to do so.  It really is a fine sounding speaker.
This loudspeaker is Roy Delgato's design. Paul Klipsch never heard that bass section or the upper horn section from what I know. It is only similar to one of his last design which was an effort to make a two way system where the two ways could blend better than had done before.
What's really noteworthy about the upcoming domestic Jubilee's is their size, not to speak with diminishment of the MF/HF compression driver used (a seemingly modified version of the Celestion Axi2050) and its accompanying tractrix horn that controls directivity to about 500Hz; nor the alternative, even peculiar implementation of the horn-loaded bass section that extends deep.

Getting down to brass tacks though well-implemented and big horn-loaded speakers have been around for many decades, but we rarely see them domesticized (when so they usually cost a fortune in the shape of (the likes of) Cessaro, Avantgarde, or certainly Living Voice with crazy expensive finishes). If one really wanted to make an entrance into this realm of large horn-loaded speakers, without paying atrocious amounts of money, one could do so via the pro arena (what these are really derived from) - with great results. It's just about making the decision and go for it, while shedding any preconceived notions and prejudiced ideas about speakers from this segment, and their supposed shortcomings and speculated misfit in the home environment. 

With the upcoming Jubilee's audiophiles will have an opportunity to acquire a very decent, civil looking speaker package that accommodates physics, and at a likely price (my guess) that may handily challenge other, physically smaller competitors. Which is to say: it's not my intention to "belittle" the upcoming Jubilee's, only to rub off the notion about their "game changing" status. Their soon-to-be availability in audiophilia as something this large may be that, also if we suppose they're priced rather favorably, but what they do sonically I can't see not being achievable elsewhere - for less money even. 
How is it a game changer? Large two way with active crossovers. I think JBL did that 4 years ago.