Living right.. Marantz 2245 and KLH 5
A pair of KLH 5's had been sitting w/o any takers on CL for awhile so I contacted the owner and asked if he was interested in a gear swap. After several e-mails and a phone call the owner agrees to stop by and see if anything in my garage interests him and BTW he is going to bring by a Marantz 2245 that he has been unable to sell on CL due to several no shows.
Long story short he settles on my TK-250 and Kenwood KT-7500 tuner and we swap straight up for his Marantz 2245 and KLH 5 speakers. He likes the TK amps and he already has several Marantz 22XX series receivers so we both got something we wanted.
I really do think with the addition of the Marantz I have topped out on the vintage gear but I guess you never say never and the next great find is always around the corner......
A brief history of the KLH-5
I thought I'd mention a thing or two about the KLH-5 speaker. It was introduced in 1967 as a KLH alternative to the popular AR-3. The AR-3 customarily sold discounted for $180 each, and the "fair-traded" price of the KLH-5 was the same. The AR-3, despite its critical acclaim, wasn't popular amongst retailers for two reasons: most of us just didn't like the speaker very much, feeling it was much too restrained and lackluster, and secondly, no one could ever make any money selling it. The KLH-5 was an answer to both of those problems.
At the time, KLH's best loudspeaker (with customary drivers, as opposed to the electrostatic elements of the KLH-9) was the KLH-12. The 12 was a decent sounding speaker, but fairly large floorstanding unit. The KLH-5 used the same elements of the 12, but in a smaller "bookshelf" enclosure.
Personally, I found the 5 to have a bit much in the midrange section if the speaker were placed up on a shelf, but found it quite likeable when placed on or near the floor. I actually preferred (and purchased for myself) the less expensive KLH-6 model, at a salesmans' accommodation discounted price off a "fair-traded list of $134 each. That was all way, way back in 1968, and I'd be curious as to what I'd think of either speaker today.