Klipsch, high end?

Ez I was waiting to see if you have anything more to add before I jump back in :-)
Dynamat on SIDEwalls is something I'm going to ask you about; that sounds interesting (most people just put it on the horns). However even the good old Klipsch can be harsh-sounding if you don't have them set up well, which can be difficult. You simply must have good cabling & equipment matches for the application in order to achieve good sonic results, while realizing the efficiency & dynamics of horns. It is no easy feat to pull off the right balance, so if one is not willing to work at it then you will be probably dissapointed as-above.

I've heard both extremes: seems that people either really like Klipsch, or they *really* don't! I've always been a fan of Khorns, & ever since I was privileged to spend some time with Mr. P.W.K. himself, I simply HAD to get a pair for my own. Don't have much corner-space (or any open space) in my large-ish living room, but when I happened into a good deal on Belles, I jumped & have never regretted it. Belles are made to work close to back walls, so that's a good fit for my situation. Yes the horns do have some tonal colorations, but they are super efficient & quite revealing, not to mention the speed & slam-factors. You can also tweak those resonances with Dynamat & lamb's wool, etc. there are a lot of tricks that you can play around with. I prefer the solid-state sound, & I've always found that big S.S. amps worked much better on my Klipsch than tubes do. MANY dealers have tried to sell me on tubes for my Belles, in fact Klipsch was designed with & FOR tube amps, back in the days before SS was even available. A trusted high end dealer once talked me into keeping my Belles at a time when I was considering alternatives, & that dlr. certainly had a vested interest in selling me some other speakers instead. I have used McCormack DNA-1 & DNA-1 Deluxe amps; the Ayre V-3 is even better. Cost a side-issue, the Belles can really pump-it-out too. We once measured 125dB SPL on the coffee table, with a lab-grade meter (*don't* try this at home - hee hee). I can't speak for any of the newer model speakers referred to above, but these old classic Belles are presently doing nicely in my $40K 2channel rig; hardly low powered / mass market.

Viking there is absolutely NO metal at our house, nor any rap-crap for that matter either. And don't even SAY that B-word! These classics are so revealing that you won't like 'em unless the setup is just right (which is not easily done) so your experiences don't surprise. That's MY story and I'm stickin' to it!