Picked up some Chorus IIs
intangible
Posts: 262
Ima blog a bit for my future reference and maybe others' curiosity.
After the parade of Polk speakers I have acquired since discovering this hobby, I wanted to hear something a little different, so I jumped on a pair of cosmetically challenged Chorus IIs that showed up on Craigslist. One nerve-wracking drive with the trunk open in an unexpected light rain and ten excruciating flights of stairs later, they've made it to the living room.
Right away, I noticed how detailed the highs are. In a different league from my TL'd 2Bs, 20 year old caps and all. I hate to sound cliched, but I really did hear reeds whistling and fingers sliding on strings that I'd never heard before in my go to tracks for evaluating highs. I'd read that these were among the least offensively bright Klipsch offering, which appears to be true. They teeter dangerously close to harsh, but seem to stay on the right side of that line 90% of the time.
Unfortunately, the next thing I noticed was how bland and frail the mids are. It's definitely there, there just isn't any presence behind it, kind of like listening through a wall. This is with a rather warm tube amp, too; I haven't had the nerve to try them with SS stuff yet. I knew this would be the case going in, but it was still disappointing to have it confirmed. With some experimentation, however, I found that this sound actually suits some genres of music - Nick Cave and Bjork were both much more natural sounding through the Choruses - despite killing all the joy in most rock albums.
As a direct result of the above characteristics, poorly recorded albums are basically unlistenable. I listen to a fair bit of lo-fi and folk punk, both of which send the highs over the edge into gouge-your-ears-out land and highlight just how little life there is in the mids.
The mid-bass is nice and clean, pretty comparable to the 2Bs. I can't comment on how low they dig, since this amp rolls off at 40Hz, so I have them crossed over above there.
I haven't had a chance to play around with positioning yet, but where they are situated now, the sound stage from the SDAs slaughters what the Choruses can do. They do a respectable 100 degree range with a little depth comparable to my Monitor 7s, and the vocals from the phantom center are nicely focused.
Overall, the Choruses are very different, which is to say exactly what I wanted. The SDAs certainly aren't going anywhere, but these will probably replace the second set in my bedroom where I listen almost exclusively to the types of music they excel at.
After the parade of Polk speakers I have acquired since discovering this hobby, I wanted to hear something a little different, so I jumped on a pair of cosmetically challenged Chorus IIs that showed up on Craigslist. One nerve-wracking drive with the trunk open in an unexpected light rain and ten excruciating flights of stairs later, they've made it to the living room.
Right away, I noticed how detailed the highs are. In a different league from my TL'd 2Bs, 20 year old caps and all. I hate to sound cliched, but I really did hear reeds whistling and fingers sliding on strings that I'd never heard before in my go to tracks for evaluating highs. I'd read that these were among the least offensively bright Klipsch offering, which appears to be true. They teeter dangerously close to harsh, but seem to stay on the right side of that line 90% of the time.
Unfortunately, the next thing I noticed was how bland and frail the mids are. It's definitely there, there just isn't any presence behind it, kind of like listening through a wall. This is with a rather warm tube amp, too; I haven't had the nerve to try them with SS stuff yet. I knew this would be the case going in, but it was still disappointing to have it confirmed. With some experimentation, however, I found that this sound actually suits some genres of music - Nick Cave and Bjork were both much more natural sounding through the Choruses - despite killing all the joy in most rock albums.
As a direct result of the above characteristics, poorly recorded albums are basically unlistenable. I listen to a fair bit of lo-fi and folk punk, both of which send the highs over the edge into gouge-your-ears-out land and highlight just how little life there is in the mids.
The mid-bass is nice and clean, pretty comparable to the 2Bs. I can't comment on how low they dig, since this amp rolls off at 40Hz, so I have them crossed over above there.
I haven't had a chance to play around with positioning yet, but where they are situated now, the sound stage from the SDAs slaughters what the Choruses can do. They do a respectable 100 degree range with a little depth comparable to my Monitor 7s, and the vocals from the phantom center are nicely focused.
Overall, the Choruses are very different, which is to say exactly what I wanted. The SDAs certainly aren't going anywhere, but these will probably replace the second set in my bedroom where I listen almost exclusively to the types of music they excel at.
Post edited by intangible on
Comments
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Your listening experience is typical. They are way more crisp than SDA's but the transition between midrange is not that great. It's a horn product and some models do it better than others....and some manufacturers even moreso.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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As close as they are you may not need to toe them in at all or much less than you have them.
Horns can crosstalk a lot more than normal tweeters and drivers so take it easy on that.
Also, your description of the sound is very much what i have heard about the Chorus II's. Since your amp roll's off at 40hz you missed the part where the bottom end can get real thin and not as well defined. All horns seem critical of music used. Poor recording suck on horns. -
They are toed in way too much but those are some nice speakers.
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I will play around more with positioning tonight. I was worn out from getting them up the stairs last night, so I just left them where they were. The other popular configuration in old Klipsch forum posts is corner loaded with the horns intersecting ~10ft behind you, so I'll try that next.
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Alright, after playing around with different placements and gear for a couple of weeks, my opinion of these speakers has improved.
The mids are still a little low in the mix for my taste, but equalizing them up a couple of decibels combined with extended listening has made it less of an issue. They are still by no means warm sounding, but the clinical nature of the sound is gone.
With more listening, the bass response of the 2Bs is both deeper and better controlled. I have moved them to the dedicated 2 channel rig, as the Chorus benefit from being mated with subs. My low power tube amp is also better able to drive the Chorus, as one would expect, and the additional detail is a boon during home theater applications. The result is improvement in both rigs.
The difference in imaging between the two is interesting. The Chorus produce a much more focused phantom center for vocals, but the edges of the stage stop abruptly at the speakers. Instruments are located either dead center or at one of the speakers. Spreading the speakers out widens the stage at the cost of leaving gaps in it. -
intangible wrote: »the bass response of the 2Bs is both deeper and better controlled.
That is an interesting observation. I too have always been amazed at how well the 2B's handle the bass region. Great speakers!
