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I’ve been researching mono for months. Not mono the disease but mono as in hi-fi. One speaker – reproducing music. Before there was stereo, or surround sound there was mono.

Over the years, I had noticed that many serious audiophiles with expensive and elaborate music systems also had a monophonic system tucked away in a corner.

I wanted to hear a mono system in my home too. I gathered a classic Fisher mono receiver (amplifier and tuner in one box), a Denon 102 monophonic phono cartridge and a brand new, 2009 vintage Klipschorn.

Actually, I asked Klipsch for one of their smaller “Heritage” speakers. But they said that I should hear what a classic K-horn could do. I figured that if they want to make me one of their 175-pound, $4,000, floorstanding flagship speakers to test I wasn’t going to turn them down. I’m glad I accepted their offer.

In the late 1940’s, engineer Paul Klipsch created a speaker that could create the full range of sounds , and volumes, coming from a symphony orchestra. His loudspeaker had a horn tweeter (efficiently handling the treble) and a big woofer for bass. The large enclosure was designed to fit into the corner of a room to enhance the deep bass.

The rest is history. The speaker was so popular that it’s still in production more than 60 years later.

Back then, people happily used one speaker to reproduce music. By the late 1950’s mono was pushed out of the way for a newer “special effects” technology – stereophonic sound. Audio component manufacturers loved stereo because they got to sell two of everything.

But, mono never really died (think clock radios, small iPod docks, TVs, etc.) And, I’ve found that a mono hi-fi is a lot of fun to listen to. I do most of my listening when I’m working from home. I’m on one end of the room and the music comes from the other. At most times the stereo effect is lost on me. I just listen to enjoy the music.

And boy does the Klipschorn make music. With a minimum of amplifier wattage a Klipschorn can provide enough sound to fill any room in your house. Or your neighbor’s house. You get the idea.

The best thing about K-horns is that they not only go loud but they make music along with deep, deep bass and smooth highs. This big box sounded amazingly good powered by everything from the classic Fisher tube receiver to a Dynaco ST-35 (also tubes), a Bedini 25/25 – a NuForce Icon and a wonderful Altmann BYOB. It doesn’t sound “dated” or old-fashioned. Just musical.

But, it’s now time to say goodbye to the Klipschorn. We’re firming-up plans for its repacking and shipping back to the factory. I’ll miss it a lot (my neighbors probably won’t).

But what the experience proved to me was you don’t need a gazillion dollars of modern equipment or place a multitudes speakers around your room to recreate the sound – and especially the dynamics – of an orchestra in your home. One of everything is extremely satisfying. If you do your research mono could turn out to be cheaper too.

I guess they really knew what they were doing back then.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 10:11 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.