MEASUREMENTS

I used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the KLH Model Five’s frequency response in the farfield. The manual doesn’t specify a vertical listening axis, but with the loudspeaker sitting on its Slant Riser Base, it appears that the tweeter axis will be typical for a seated listener. My reference axis for the measurements was therefore in line with the tweeter. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses and Dayton Audio’s DATS V2 system to measure the impedance.

KLH specifies the Model Five’s freefield sensitivity drops below 2 ohms between 64Hz and 93Hz with a minimum value of 1.82 ohms at 74Hz. The Model Five must be used with amplifiers that don’t have problems driving 4 ohms. Repeating the impedance measurement with the Acoustic Balance switch set to MID increased the impedance above 1kHz by 1 ohm; with it set to “LO,” the impedance rose by another ohm in the treble.