1400 Array.....anyone have?

[JWJW]

Curious if anyone has a pair of 1400 Array. I have been considering selling my Khorns due to size. From what I have read, the 1400 appears to be a pretty special horn speaker.
If you have pair...please let me know what you think.
Thx!

[stollen]

I had a pair of them in my house for a couple weeks that I was able to compare with my ProAc's. It has been a while, but I have very fond memories of the 1400. I never have been much of a horn speaker guy, but they gave me a totally new impression. Great fun to listen to, always found myself turning the volume up instead of down. Pretty good imaging, not as good as my ProAc's, but that might have been fixed with some tweaking of their position. Plenty of clean bass as well.

The other thing I remember about them is my wife calling them "ugly", which is not a surprising description of them coming from a woman . That was when I knew we would not be owning a pair.

At the end of the day I do prefer my current speakers, but the 1400's are a fantastic example of what a good (relatively) inexpensive horn speaker should sound like.

[JWJW]

Originally Posted by stollen

I had a pair of them in my house for a couple weeks that I was able to compare with my ProAc's. It has been a while, but I have very fond memories of the 1400. I never have been much of a horn speaker guy, but they gave me a totally new impression. Great fun to listen to, always found myself turning the volume up instead of down. Pretty good imaging, not as good as my ProAc's, but that might have been fixed with some tweaking of their position. Plenty of clean bass as well.

The other thing I remember about them is my wife calling them "ugly", which is not a surprising description of them coming from a woman . That was when I knew we would not be owning a pair.

At the end of the day I do prefer my current speakers, but the 1400's are a fantastic example of what a good (relatively) inexpensive horn speaker should sound like.

Cool! Thx Gary. I'm looking at selling my Khorns and the 1400's are on my radar. I'm partial to "the horn sound." It appears I might be able to pick up some bass with the 1400's.....with no corner placement.

[tom1120s]

I have a pair. I replaced a pair of JBL S/2600 horn loaded speakers for the Array's. I had a MC402 driving the S2600 and the result was a very dynamic sound. The Mac had a 'problem' driving the woofer of the Arrays so I opted for a pair of Marantz monoblocks-much better.

If you have the same experience I had, the Arrays will not sound like horn loaded speakers-at all. Very smooth and very nice. I purchased mine from James Tanner of Bryston-he also liked them quite a bit and wrote a review on them. With his permission, I posted in the LHF if you wish to read.

I happen to like the appearance of these as well....perhaps one of the few who does.

[ehoove]

Not sure I can wrap around the look, but would love to hear a pair!
Regards,
Jim

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by ehoove

Not sure I can wrap around the look, but would love to hear a pair!

Jim.......I heard the JBL 1400 Array speakers in a private home with Levinson amps and preamp. I was quite surprised how well they sounded, but like you I was having a hard time coming to grips with the manner in which the horn was mounted. Many years ago I owned a pair of Altec Lansing A7 Voice of the Theater speakers and was used to the horn being mounted in the more traditional horizontal manner, the same as the JBL K2 9800 in this photo. Although I found the look of the vertically mounted horn on the 1400 Array a bit disconcerting, the performance and sound stage were very good.


JBL 1400 Array and JBL K2 9800

[JWJW]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jim.......I heard the JBL 1400 Array speakers in a private home with Levinson amps and preamp. I was quite surprised how well they sounded, but like you I was having a hard time coming to grips with the manner in which the horn was mounted. Many years ago I owned a pair of Altec Lansing A7 Voice of the Theater speakers and was used to the horn being mounded in the more traditional horizontal manner, the same as the JBL K2 9800 in this photo. Although I found the look of the vertically mounted horn on the 1400 Array a bit disconcerting, the performance and sound stage were very good.


JBL 1400 Array and JBL K2 9800

Dan,
Do you think I would be taking a step back going from Khorns to the 1400's? The 1400's would certainly fit in my room better.

[jdandy]

Jon.......The Khorns are unique speakers in many ways, particularly in their high efficiency (105dB @ 1w/1m). They have a 15-inch woofer in a folded-horn cabinet that delivers strong deep bass to below 20Hz. And yes, they are big and require corners to perform their best.

The JBL 1400 Array speaker is a different speaker all together. The efficiency is substantially lower, although not drastically low by loudspeaker industry standards (89dB @ 1w/1m). That equates to needing 32 watts of amplifier power to achieve the same volume level the Khorns can produce with 1 watt amplifier power. Put another way, it take 32 times the amplifier power to achieve any given volume level of the Khorn. To hit 116dB peaks the JBL 1400 Array will need 512 watts where the Khorn will only need 16 watts. If efficiency is important, the Khorn wins without breaking a sweat. The JBL 1400 Array uses a 14-inch Aquaplas coated woofer which is only rated to 35Hz. Again, the Khorn goes deeper, but this is something a quality subwoofer can easily offset.

Both the Klipsch Khorn and the JBL 1400 Array use compression drivers and horns for the midrange and tweeters. I would suspect the midrange and up will have more similarities than differences. The advantage the JBL 1400 Array offers is a more compact speaker cabinet and greater options for room placement.

Since you are intimately aware of your Khorn's sound I would try to audition the JBL 1400 Array's with music you are familiar with to be sure their sound will meet your requirements. I don't think you can consider the JBL 1400 Array a step back from the Klipsch Khorn. They are two entirely different speaker designs. An audition will answer many of your questions.

[JWJW]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jon.......The Khorns are unique speakers in many ways, particularly in their high efficiency (105dB @ 1w/1m). They have a 15-inch woofer in a folded-horn cabinet that delivers strong deep bass to below 20Hz. And yes, they are big and require corners to perform their best.

The JBL 1400 Array speaker is a different speaker all together. The efficiency is substantially lower, although not drastically low by loudspeaker industry standards (89dB @ 1w/1m). That equates to needing 32 watts of amplifier power to achieve the same volume level the Khorns can produce with 1 watt amplifier power. Put another way, it take 32 times the amplifier power to achieve any given volume level of the Khorn. To hit 116dB peaks the JBL 1400 Array will need 512 watts where the Khorn will only need 16 watts. If efficiency is important, the Khorn wins without breaking a sweat. The JBL 1400 Array uses a 14-inch Aquaplas coated woofer which is only rated to 35Hz. Again, the Khorn goes deeper, but this is something a quality subwoofer can easily offset.

Both the Klipsch Khorn and the JBL 1400 Array use compression drivers and horns for the midrange and tweeters. I would suspect the midrange and up will have more similarities than differences. The advantage the JBL 1400 Array offers is a more compact speaker cabinet and greater options for room placement.

Since you are intimately aware of your Khorn's sound I would try to audition the JBL 1400 Array's with music you are familiar with to be sure their sound will meet your requirements. I don't think you can consider the JBL 1400 Array a step back from the Klipsch Khorn. They are two entirely different speaker designs. An audition will answer many of your questions.

I agree Dan. I'll have to have a listen.
I LOVE the sound from Khorns, but man they are just so B I G and I just don't have the ideal listening space for them. As much as I would like to keep them, I need to move to a smaller set of mains. I'll have to find a pair of 1400's in Chicago to have listen too. Thank you for the efficiency/watt analysis….I learned something new - very cool! When reviewing your calculations/compare to the JBL's, it's pretty incredible how efficient the Khorns are…..WOW.

[Pyro]

Jon,

You seem to be taking a path similar to mine from several years ago asking about a variety of speakers.

Can you consolidate into one thread what speakers you have demo'ed and ones you are considering?

This is from a guy who likes the Klipsch sound including most recently LaScala IIs then 60th Anv Khorns.

Thanks