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Wasn't sure where to post this. As Tasdom mentioned in his Garage Sale post, I now have the Belles. It started with a 6 hour drive Friday night from the Denver area for which 3 hours I was entertained with quite a lightning show. I arrived at Tasdom's home the next morning and he had the Belles all hooked up for test drive. I learned quite a few things from him and his current setup. Thanks again Tasdom for the beautiful speakers and education on your setup. So I spent the afternoon working on the Belles. One of them had several gouges and chips. I decided to try the dark walnut Howard's Restore Finish product with some steel wool. It actually brought out the gouges even more, but there is a nice even color on the speakers now. I had some leftover stain from my recent refinish of some Heathkit/Altec Valencias so I used a small touchup brush to cover up the chips. Based on Tasdom's setup, I considered trying to have both the Belles and the Forte IIs upfront, to use the Fortes for the home theater daily use and use the Belles as dedicated two channel music. But once the LaScalas were out of the way and the Belles in place, it looked too good to clutter it up with 2 sets of speakers. What I did do is hookup my vintage Altec tube receiver and used an amp/speaker switcher. The home theater is hooked up to a Pioneer receiver. The Altec is hooked up to a Onkyo CD player through an Emotiva Stealth DAC so I can adjust the volume. This worked out well, because the the vintage Altec receiver has a bass and treble control, along with a rumble filter and loudness switch. I'm able to dial up the bass a bit - Tasdom had the Belles going through an equalizer to bump up both the bass and treble. So far everything sounds great and I think it will be movie night tonight. I like the fact that the Belles aren't as deep, as the LaScalas were sticking out much further forward than the media center. I plan on using them stock for a while, and then upgrading to the ALK Universals. I use the living room system (I have a full home theater in the basement) more in the winter, because it's nice to watch football and movies near the wood burning stove. The Academy center is a little off center in the photo, but the tv is on an adjust mount and is off center. I may stain the Academy with some matching walnut. The furniture movers seem to fit underneath the speakers just right, so I'm going to leave them for now.

Evening Gang Just in from a looong day at the farm(s). Drinking coffee all day so no sleep for awile. Looks like we are in for a warm up, fires still going, they get a handle one one and another starts up. Appears Calfire has finely got their chit together and got a few more DC10s, flyin duster(s) all day radio traffic was nonstop. Think ill shop the bay, Mr Crow is coming along, and need to keep the parts coming.

Good evening everyone........... Back from a lovely dinner out at Olive Garden where we were able to take our time with dinner, AND manage our own wine bottle and sit leisurely between courses (unheard of in these corp. restaurant chains)!.... Anyway, it was very much like and upscale restaurant uptown and that made us happy... Then of course, I had a few things to pack and take out to the car. Got all the way home, realized my WALLET was not one of them !!! What a D.A. huh ?? I called when I got home, they had it secured in the manager's office, and Chris will run down to pick it up tomorrow when they open at 11am. ....nice..... Outside of that, TODD, I am sorry to hear about your auto service center not performing to your liking........hope you can get that issue with the Honda resolved soon! With that, I bid you all a good evening........more tomorrow night after rehearsal... .........Gary

Yes good morning! Much(?) less humidity tonight mad it bearable. That is, no immediate fogging of the glasses stepping out of the car this AM. Know it is cool in the cave so, guess I will look into this swampcooler thing a ma bob. Going to have a liedown as reading sleep heals the body. Without enough, we may have to wonder. So, for me that will be noon. Bugs are bad in places mostly, since it has been wet and damp. With as you know, rolling popup, microburst, and other ways to look at the weather. Now I put it together that you would be looking at the weather at times. Bugs are bad this guy told me one time down in Steinhatchee, Florida. Sportsman's Paradise. The crow looks coming along from the photo glimpse. Thanks!

We get the ones that say how much to fix my check engine light? They've already replaced every part under the sun to the tune of several hundred dollars yet only come here as a last resort because we're "too expensive". They'd rather throw parts at something than pay for someone competent to actually diagnose their problem.

Mornin' all. Gotta get caught up on the 'likes'.....been off a day or two. Hope everyone is well. Mostly working outside, swimming with granddaughter, and entertaining. BBQ yesterday with mesquite grilled burgers and lamb kebobs (with pineapple). Turned out pretty good. Will try to stay in better touch this week.

Good morning to you too JL................another Monday for us NON pensioners (as the English would say ) Yeah, the HEAT is moving into the east this week.........we will be approaching 100's for a while and that is with LOTS of humidity !!, so it will be bad, hard on the elderly and of course, kids and pets.... ... Enjoy your day my friends....... ........Gary.........

Good morning forum friends. Hope you have a great day.

Morning forum buds. Good luck with the Honda Todd and with the wallet retrieval Gary. Getting things done around the house as my friend from the Hollywood Hills is arriving today. Cleaned the frig good and stocked with beer. LF made guacamole for us and cookies. Mowed the lawn, washed the car, washed Jake. Just about done For those of you still chasing the cheese.....go out there and make us proud. The rest of you at ease! Cheers Ladies and Gents

MKP, I wish you were closer. I dropped my '98 Accord off at my mechanic last Tuesday with what I think is a rear coolant line leak. It overheated on my wife, but she luckily got home. I filled the radiator with water and looked for leaking water, and it was leaking from the back of the engine dripping near the catalytic converter. I have been a loyal customer for 10 years to this mechanic. They OVER PROMISE & UNDER DELIVER, and I am sick of it. If I had a lift, I would repair it myself. I called to follow-up several times, and Friday I called and left a message with the girl up front to have the mechanic call me. Never got a return call and I tried calling a dozen times Friday. Well, road construction apparently knocked out their phones. So what! In this era with cell phones, they could have at least called and let me know. I'm still left hanging and with one car since Tuesday. Anyway, how difficult is it to replace the rear coolant line without a lift? I am ready to go get the car and do it myself.

Ever stop ? Stop ?? Yep, you never seem to stop. No I never do..... I just got in from the shop.....trying to put that engine my daughters van......so this weekend I put about 25 hours in. It's a pain in the a**.......That's why I don't do a lot of engine work.......it takes so much time.... Oh well I do like working in the shop........and the good tunes really help.... MKP :-)

Morning Gang Made it till 2am last night, trying to switch around working hours, sleep during the heat of the day, cave work @ night. Let's see, what is on the agenda for today, Ahh breakfast, that's it. Prep Mr Crow parts for paint, order a few more goodies on the bay.

Been up and at it since about 6:30 a.m. My brother, who lived in Alaska for the past 20 or so years, decided he and his wife were going to go "off the grid". Seems they had accumulated quite a few firearms and crossing the Canadian and US borders could be a nightmare for them. He shipped four AR 15s to me to avoid hassle and possible confiscation at the border crossings, as well as problems in states that they are illegal, California for starters. Went this morning to retrieve them from the Federal Firearm Licensed dealer. I can't think of anything, at the moment, more stressful than driving with four AR 15s on the backseat of your SUV. I'm sure the state and local law enforcement would have made a big deal about them if I had been stopped for even a minor traffic violation. Needless to say, I stayed well within the posted speed limits for the thirty mile trip back home. Made it home with no incidents! Eagerly awaiting seeing my brother. Haven't seen him in almost forty years. Should be here within the next month. Can not possibly express my emotions about the upcoming reunion with him. Just to clarify, he's travelling the US in his RV with his Jeep in tow!!!!!

Two biggest bargains in Juarez were mescal and Mexican vanilla. Two bucks or less for a fifth of either. Fifth of vanilla lasted and lasted. We gave a lot away to friends rebottled in the old Grolsch beer bottles with the enclosable tops. Other place that comes to mind was the Florida Café over there...awesome. Also the supermercados. Bought a lot of groceries there, as getting in and out was so easy at the time. One of my big regrets is not buying what I now believe to have been an authentic American Roman-type short sword from the 1840s or before. It wasn't much, but I had doubts at the time and really wasn't thinking straight. It was worth what they were asking even if a phony...seems like it was 20 bucks or so. One more thing...can't recall exactly where but there was what may have been the original Pancho's Mexican Buffet down in the city close to the river in a barrio. One dollar, all you can eat. If you've been to the modern equivalent you may go "yuk." But this stuff was incredibly good. Dave

Morning guys.....Just working on 1st cup.....slept in a bit, Getting some rest from that long weekend. Will be rolling out with 2nd cup to go,,,,gotta full of fun waiting for me....I had it out with the used car guys last week. Man those guys are something. I've been in the auto business for almost 30 years...and those SOB's are true a** holes at times...For the most part we do get along....but sometimes I've had it with there crapp....it's a long story....I will say this....I've had my shop for 17 years, I know every other shop in town that they have done business with and they all ask me..."how do you stand those guys"??..It's all about them... Well Todd sorry to hear about your Accord...some of those coolant lines/hose's are tough to get to in the back of that car..But that's still no reason to not call you about the car..At my shop, like I said it's just me and the wife and sometimes I get behind but I will call my customers and tell them whats up. Most all my customer understand cuz I am a "one" man shop. I have customers that will drop off just a oil change with me all day cuz they know how crazy the shop will get. Alot of people really have no clue how hard it is to work on today's cars and run a shop. They want the "fast food way" of auto service and that's not my shop....One of my favorite things is...(this has happend a few times)...someone will say "your oil changes are to much money...($42.41 5qts).... I can go to...where ever...and get it done for...what ever... I say "OK" have a good day....A few months goes by maybe a year. They come back to my shop...they tell me I have a oil leak, can I check it out?? Sure I can...put it up on the lift and what do I find....a stripped oil pan.....I tell them what's up...they ask me how this happens?? I tell them cuz you go to places that does not give a shitt about your car. I tell them I have customers that have been bringing there cars to me for 200K miles and there oil pans are not stripped. They pay me my $42.41 and thank me...Now I tell them I hope they have saved about $475 cuz thats what it going to take to replace that pan.... yea it's crazy.. well gotta roll.... a good day to all.. MKP :-)

Up late last night. Finished the last cup of joe a couple hours ago. Here is another installment of...

Thought I would share this video of my son jumping off of a cliff at Goat Island in Guntersville, Alabama. It scares the mess out of me everytime I do it.....but man what a rush!

Very nice! Football, wood stove, horns.

This picture really made my day! Those poor Belle's have sat unused for over a year in my spare bedroom and I am so happy to see you kicked back and enjoying them the way they were meant to be. As for the floors I don't know but maybe some carpet and pad or a couple of area rugs might work. You should of grabbed more carpet tiles while you were here.

actually, I think that might be you.

Ever stop ? Stop ?? Yep, you never seem to stop.

Now that is something to see. Smiling for sure! Congrats

Very nice congrats they look great!,

drunk racoon in liquor warehouse

Looks great Dwight! I bet the furniture movers are great to move around and set up but you'll probably get better bass response if they are sitting on the floor. Again, looks great and I hope they bring you many years of enjoyment. Was a pleasure meeting you....enjoy!

Nice read & pics. Congratulations!!!

One year, in the Christmas parade, they had a coonhunters float, with the hunters alongside mounted on mules, flashlights on their heads. The float had coondogs with a coon skin nailed to the top of a 10' pole. Those coondogs had barked themselves nearly mute & were still trying to bark...

I live in WV, we have lots of coons so we are fairly familiar with their habits. They are scavengers and like you said, are a nuisance. They are nocturnal and we know the trees they live in, are they are easy to spotlight at night. They also avoid people, so if they see you they go running away. This one didn't react to people at all. I had never seen one in the day like this, and he staggered around like he was drunk. A quick check of Google on raccoons and rabies led me to think this one might have had rabies. The Great Hunt went something like this: I was going to take care of the animal, but my son wanted to shoot him, so I let him, but I gave him limited ammo. Bam. (nothing, raccoon stands there) Bam. (nothing) BamBamBam. (nothing, the raccoon finally starts walking towards the back yard) BamBamBamBamBam! "Dad? Can I get some more bullets? This raccoon won't die." Great. I loaded up a spare clip and gave it to him. After unloading the full contents, the raccoon finally went into the woods where we hope he died. You just can't take a chance with a rabid animal around your family.

Had the pleasure of traveling to Bob Crites shop yesterday to pick up some parts for my cornscalas. Got to listen to some great speakers, mainly the jubilees that he has ,man what a wonderful sound!! Great guy to visit with and learned some klipsch and Crites history. Had been thinking about changing my center channel out, but w as going to do it as a later project. Then Bob had to fire up his new center and I was hooked, very clear and clean plus put out some serious spl. So by the time I left I had cornscala parts plus he is shipping me the parts for the center. Went to the shop today and built the box for the center and got final coat of clear on my top hat for my last jamboree. Going to finish the center and my speaker building is coming to a end till next year!! Staying away form Bob for a while before I go broke. If you ever get the chance, go to Bob's shop it is speaker heaven and he is a great guy to deal with. He will give you good advice and try not to break the bank.

Good afternoon everyone...... Well, thank you for that dTel...... Yes, we are causal here also, but sometimes it is nice to get 'fancy' Ok, yesterday was my automatic, hanging plant watering system installation.... Of course, the supplied 50' hose ran short and I had two more plants to get to on the far side of the deck (stairwell end)... PLUS, I ran out of those little 1/4" half round plastic clamps with the single nail in them. Got on the motorcycle, had a wonderful 85mph. run down the brand new blacktopped highway to Home Depot, Northface back pack on for storing shopping items, arrived in record time, picked up 50' more of hose, 3 bags of those little clamps and 100 UV tywraps for stock... AND, 4 Eveready lithium batteries which was highly recommended by the 'Rain Drip' company... ALSO, a new brushed metal hand sprayer for the kitchen sink which needed replacing! (finished that job this morning, no more leaks under the sink!) Ok, finished the job by sundown, and tested it in manual mode, no leaks, all 7 plants now have water daily and I don't have to run out there with a watering can AGAIN, which was always time consuming before heading out to work each morning... Today, I finished neatening up the water tubes under the deck and set the timer to run 4 times in a 24 hour period at 30 minutes each. The system delivers 1/2 gal. every hour, so, this setting will be similar to my water can, only much more even watering throughout the period. This also negates the asking of neighbors to water while we are away to N.C. on vacation. I am sure they will be happy to be relieved of that task ! Ok, Bill Evans radio on Pandora, cranked at a good clip outdoors............time to work on music.........dinner is OUT this evening, that will be nice for a change Enjoy your day and music my friends.........more later.... ...............Gary

Good morning, all. Relatively cool this morning, before the OVEN goes on later...

Ever stop ? Stop ??

As promised after correcting the loose connection issue and now enjoying the La Scala II’s for a period I thought I would share some of my thoughts in regard to these speakers and my old La Scala speakers circa 1989 or so. They do look nicer and the heavier 1” MDF seems to be taming any cabinet vibrations. One negative with the old speakers when one of the grandkids trucks went flying into the speaker I just considered it part of the aging process – with the La Scala II’s well I might feel differently. As for the sound the biggest difference I noticed right from day one is the imaging, these things can image, precise and un-boxy. The voices and instruments do not appear to cluster around the speaker. The soundstage is spacious with performers and instruments precisely placed. The 89’s did this to a degree, but the II’s do it so much better it really floored me – Klipsch did their homework with these things. As for dynamics the II’s like the 89’s will fill your room, your house, your block, make your ears bleed if you choose to go down that road and do so effortlessly. These dynamics were going through my mind as I assisted with the loading of the 89’s into the truck. The gentleman who purchased my old speakers is renting an apartment in Brooklyn NY and being a Led Zeppelin fan I’m sure his neighbors are going to love him!!!

Chad, you don't get paid enough, my friend. Dave

Yep, we only live once. Of course we do not give that much thought in the teen years, Clif jumping was one of my safer endevors. Growing up i was chewed out by parents, lifeguards, cops, firefighters, dad's friends, mom's friend's, Ice cream man, neighbors, Drill instructors, cheif of the boat, Xo of the midway, flight instructors, doctors, lawyers, FCC, IRS. Good to see someone in this generation put down the phone/video game

I think whatever gets it to Ear Level, or, close as you can...

People are a lot more dangerous. I raised these as a kid and those are the happiest memories I have from my youth. We live in a suburban wooded area, three fawns born in the back yard this year as most. Racoons are gregarious and fun and can be licensed as pets in some states. I always put out sweet corn for them this time of year. They make a big mess of shucking it as well as enjoying it. There are better battles to be fought.

Years ago I had a KLF-C7 on top of my then 32" Sony TV. Even with it angled down, it just never seemed to sound right. Most voices seemed to be coming out of the space above the TV screen and the overall sound didn't mesh well with my then Chrous II's... as side to side pans would cause the sound to jump "up" quite a bit. At the time the KLF-C7 was about 20" or so above the tweeters on the Chorus II's. Since then I've been able to have full size speakers (Quartets then Forte II's) under my TV's. And in my current setup I have my LCD TV on top of my center LaScala. All of those setups, with the speakers under the TV, sounded much better... And the sound sounds like it's coming right from the TV screen itself. The common factor to the better sound, in my opinion, was having the tweeter/midrange right at ear level and as close as possible to the bottom of the TV.

Thanks Tasdom, cool now we all know.

I'm the good looking guy on the right...

Off the Mississippi Coast, one of the Barrier Islands is named CAT Island, bc the French Sailors who discovered it, saw Coons & thought they were cats...

Wow…..were all these shots on target? How about a head shot? You must have encountered the "Rambo" of coons

I had friends in Jersey City who had them as pets chained up in their back yards. Not a great thing, but when seeing something that at the time was not normal, was pretty cool.And to be able to pet it was even cooler. There is a family that lives in and around a pond I sometimes fish, and I've had them come up to me at dusk and while fishing will stand up and lean against my leg sniffing my hands. Thought it was a cat the 1st time it happened then realized it wasn't. Was very calm and just pulled my hand up slowly. This old boy was at a foreclosure property I had to do work at a few months ago. I almost stepped on him and woke him up. He just gingerly walked over to the bed and went under it.

My jump isn't as cool....it's more like...."Oh my gooooooooooosh!!!!". It terrifies me every time I jump but exhilarating nonetheless.

Those are about an hour away, I'm trying to work out a deal Mark

We had a racoon that was wandering around in the day time near our driveway and appeared drunk, two of the signs it might have rabies. My son took our Ruger 10/22 (.22 rifle with 10 round magazine) and emptied the clip into the thing. It just kind of wandered off, so my son emptied the second 10 round clip into it. It went into the woods and we never saw him again. The racoon, not my son. Tough critter!

Morning. 4 cans of Miller High Life. Thinking about going back to bed, coffee would have made way more sense.

El Paso is addictive. Maybe it's the trace lithium in the water. When I got to Ft. Bliss I remember mentioning to someone it was about as barren a place as I'd ever seen. He said if you stayed one full turn of seasons, you never get over it. I thought he was nuts as the very idea of "seasons" just didn't fit in the desert. But he was right. Going four wheeling into the desert day or night. The stars were magnificent. When it rained, we'd all head out as the desert would explode with flowers. The only real white Christmas, that it, snow on Christmas morning, I ever experienced was there. Got about 7 inches and it was magnificently beautiful. I was living on the Rio Grande in an adobe house that had been the main house of a farm in the 30s. The old man that owned it still kept sheep and those who were pregnant all dropped their lambs in the snow. He was waiting as he knew this would happen. What a sight! All these fresh new lambs leaping around in the snow! Here's a picture of the house. 22" thick interior and exterior walls, 10 inch of rammed earth in the ceiling, and evaporative cooler. In the winter, a fire kept going over a weekend would cause the wall to heat the house for another 3 days due to the mass. Dave Cool Dave.....I was there for about two years.....I saw it snow once there....got a few inches, but it was all gone by mid afternoon. I lived on the other side of the El Paso.....over the mountain....Trans Mountain. I moved on base when housing became available for me and the wife. I worked over on the airfield....Biggs Army Airfield. If I remember....it seemed like there were three seasons.....Summer, Winter and the Windy season....I remember the winds were so bad we had to bring the helicopters in the hanger at times. We would go over to Juarez Mexico quite a bit and drink the mezcal....we would buy a bunch of miniatures of the mezcal they would all have the worms in them. I think I must of ate 20+ worms one night......oh yea good ole El Paso.... MKP :-)

Or....contact someone like me who has a pair of double bins that he will let you have for free! (no drivers in them) I also have some K33 woofers that I could sell with them. Bins came to me empty so I've been acquiring the 33's. Need a total of nine of them for my needs and I think I now have five.

OK, so, one more time....whether they are "performing" the same (to you) as when you bought them is not the point. You are basically dealing with something of a relative antique here...Capacitors dry up, and wear out, that's why the issue with the crossovers. And, there are crossover design considerations. Many prefer a different crossover design than what you are selling. Driver diaphragms wear out, and many replace the tweeter diaphragms or the entire tweeter, due to improvements of same. Consecutive serial numbers matter due to the fact that if they are consecutive, then likely closely matched components were used in the pair, built, tested and inspected by the same Klipsch employees, cabinet finishes will be closely matched, etc. It's important to understand the "market" for these types of speakers, and not just Klipsch, but Altec, JBL, AR, etc, etc, etc. Not to mention the fact that your CL ad asks $2100, then your post here originally states $2000, then states $1800. Then you didn't post additional photos when asked. That's a must....Folks who spend this kind of money on vintage audio equipment want to know what they are getting, otherwise, you are wasting your time and theirs.