The owner tells me they had Klipsch paper tags stapled to the back. He said he has pictures of them and is going through his old photos to see if he can find them. He told me they were Klipsch before we opened them up so it makes me wonder.
Did someone build these and pass them off as Klipsch? Did Klipsch ever build any prototype speakers for trade shows? Did any people that worked for Klipsch start their own speaker company?
They may have had paper tags but stapled to the back of what? A metal frame of the driver? Or to the cabinets?
At one time Klipsch did sell their raw drivers marked up from the original manufacturer. They were clearly marked with the Klipsch brand and logo. They stopped selling raw drivers sometime in the '70's if I remember right though the same drivers were still available from the original manufacturers. Klipsch changed drivers and driver manufaturers (and crossovers) several times over the course of more than 60 years of continuous production for the original Klipschorn. It's still in the line along with several other original PWK designs if you go the their web site. You would have to contact Klipsch directly to get serial numbers and dates for when these various changes occurred. Or, get on the Klipsch forums.
"He told me they were Klipsch before we opened them up so it makes me wonder."
Did he also tell you he could fly?
"Did someone build these and pass them off as Klipsch?"
It would appear someone is trying to pass them off as Klipsch right now. But, yes, those are, from their looks, DIY speakers and they are unlike any Klipsch (as designed by PWK his ownself) I have ever seen. The cabinets are unlike any Klipsch I've ever seen as are the crossovers and there was not a stitch of internal stuffing in any of the original Klipsch line and not much bracing either. I cannot recollect any original Klipsch product using a front loaded horn of that type for the bass section. The two horns (the horns themself, I can't speak to the drivers) up top are similar to what Klipsch used but that doesn't mean much.
"Did Klipsch ever build any prototype speakers for trade shows?"
I've never heard of PWK building protoypes for shows. If he had and these were them, they would be rather valuable, don't you think?
Kind of unikely PWK would place tags and serial numbers on prototypes though.
As is, without any proof of origin, they look like cheap copies with someone else's twists placed on the construction. PWK built some elaborate (for their time) cabinets and the magazines were always coming up with halfassed Klipsch clones. The generic plans for many of the Klipsch products were available from Klipsch at one time.
PWK built the original corner horn in the 1940's and the rest of what is now the "Classic" line came around in the late '50's to early '60's. And they stayed in the line for decades, so it is unlikely PWK built anything that did not make it into the consumer line. There did exist a pro sound line but it was, to my knowledge, nothing more than the consumer line in less attractive cabinets with edge guards.
"Did any people that worked for Klipsch start their own speaker company?"
Not that I'm aware of and, if they did, this still wouldn't be a Klipsch speaker then, would it?
PWK was quite loved and honored by his staff and I can't see any of them trying to weasel in on his business.
What is this speaker supposed to be? Every Klipsch product had a particular name and if the seller can't tell you this is a "So & So", then they are either deluded or flat out not telling the truth about these speakers. When PWK sold the company in the '80's the line consisted of the Klipschorn, the LaScala, Belle Klipsch, Cornwall and the Heresy and that had been the line since the early 1960's. The speaker in the picture bears no relationship to any of those products. Go to their web page and take a look for yourself.
