Leaderboard

Happy Valentine's Day! Ha! The boy's were onto something back in the day and someday the world might "get it!"

Ten plus years ago I rescued a pair of 1983 Lascalas from an old school. I don't recall much of listening to them in "stock" form, as they were in pretty bad shape and my interest was in restoring them. Out came all the electronics and in went all Crites gear. This included the 4500 crossover and the CT125 tweeters. The results were good. On simple music this setup could disappear and give me a wonderful 3D image (imaging is high on my priority list). However, I was a bit limited to what kind of music sounded good. More complex stuff got bright and harsh real quick. But that's the "Klipsch" sound, right? I lived with the system that way for many years. Months ago I decided to try out the Lascalas in the family room. Likely the best audio room in the house and wife loves them in there (read with sarcasm on FULL). The Lascalas sounded the same with a little benefit of a better room. I knew there was more potential in these guys so I decided to see what I could do as far as modifications. For the record, I have an issue with modding things. I tend to make 27 different mods at once and then I try to decide what changed and what was responsible for that change. Me being me, I braced the side, added the CT120 tweeters, added Deans networks, added DaveA's SMAHL's to the CT120's, and finally put the DE10 tweeters into the mix. Oh, and the original K77's played too. I know, right!? While these were not all added at exactly the same time, they were done too close together and made it difficult to evaluate each change. Here's how it began. While waiting for Dean's stuff, the CT120's arrived. Those (added to the 100% system with Crites 4500) were unlistenable. They literally lasted one song. I've experienced plenty of drivers that needed breakin, but WOW! At the time I attributed this to the networks and thought this tweeter just needed Dean's networks to work right. A month later I got Dean's networks and popped them in. This began the confusing part. Switching between the different networks and the two different tweeters, all while the CT120's and Dean's networks were breaking in had me dazed and confused. I think this was around Christmas and my system got kicked out of the family room in place of a tree. What a perfect time to make another modification, yes? This is when the braces went in. These turned out great, btw. January something the tree left and somehow I snuck the system back into the room. If I can keep the speakers in the divorce it will have been worth it (sarcasm thing again). The braces certainly seemed to have cleaned up and added a bit of bass. Trying the CT120's (after lots of time with Dean networks) with the Crites 4500 all of a sudden sounded ok. Here I began to realize how much their sound changed after being broke in. Again, the sound was just ok. The Crites 4500 still sounded best with the CT125's. The Dean networks sounded best with the 120's, but lacked the 3Dness imaging. This is when Dean told me to see what the K77's sounded like. I dug them out of the basement and holy cow, the imaging was back, mostly. Along with a bit of harshness. But the highs sounded better in many ways. Cymbals sounded proper and I now realized the 120's were too laid back. Also note these tweeters where all auditioned in a top hat box. I always thought time alignment was a good idea and aways HATED the old Lascala tweeter location being in a hole. I believe this negates any good that a lens/horn does on a tweeter mounted there. At this time I was pretty frustrated. I felt like I had several different setups for different music and different volumes. I really believed that the key was to find the right tweeter to match Dean's networks, as his networks certainly sounded best everywhere else. Enter the SMAHL. Well this looked interesting. A new lens for the CT120? Why not? One that when mounted in the stock position eliminates the mounting in a hole thing. Not thinking it could make that much of a difference, I ordered a pair. Also ordered a pair of DE10's and the lens/horn they sell with them from parts express. The DE10's came in first and I'm holding off on any review of them until I know they are completely broken in (and maybe with the LMAHL lens). A few days later the SMAHL's arrived. I used to be a machinist and I can tell you these things are a thing of beauty. Because the top box now had three different tweeters in them (k77,125,de10), the 120's with the SMAHL's went into the stock location. It didn't take long to realize I had something here. The lenses brightened up the 120's. Now cymbals sound real but minus the harshness of the K77's. I can't explain how a lens can change the imaging that much, but they sure as shit it did. For the first time in a while I got lost in the music. Closing my eyes and I swear Fiona Apple was in my room. Instruments were placed properly around the soundstage and they had real dimension to them. I had found it! I had found the right combination that made this a critical listening AND a rock out speaker. I went on listening till the early morning hours and had a very difficult time turning it off. All of a sudden my attention was on the music and not the system. And this, my friend's, is the best compliment anyone can pay to a speaker or audio system. Dealing with Dean and Dave was wonderful. Both have silly amounts of knowledge and their willingness to share it is amazing. Their products are top notch and well worth the price. Knowing what these two components did for my system, I'd happily pay double for them. I am so loving these Lascalas! Thank you @Crankysoldermeister and @Dave A!!

A trip to the blueberry farm. c.2015 Panasonic GH2, Nikon Series E 50mm f1.8

Did a little bit of an inventory on Saturday of some of the items that will be at the live auction. k45 woofers from several of our vendors k48 woofers from several of our vendors Two KPT-535/4 system with passive network Two KPT-884-SW A pair of ak5 walnut khorns a pair of Cornwall IV speakers. a pair of AK6 walnut khorns. 5 cs16c II 6 ds180cdt 1 ds180csm 4 ds160c 4 ds160cdt Minimum pricing on some of these and how they will be sold has not been determined yet. I just want to get the list out and give everyone a heads up. There are more items to come and I will list them as soon as I get the info. Thanks and hope to see you in Hope for Mr K’s birthday celebration!

One way to look at it is "A Bengal" got a SB ring one way or another. Andrew Witworth spent his early years in Cincinnati. It was nice seeing him get a ring.

Yep, the Rams got it done. Good for them. They played the better game. On that last play Cinci's #67 did NOT block Donald what so ever!

Carole King turned 80 recently... BBC2 broadcasted some amazing shows last night, related to her success album Tapestry and her best (muscial) friend, James Taylor.

Cornwall II speakers. One 1966 & one 1971 vintage. Both working well. Asking $900.00, OBO-Pick up in Tucson. No shipping. Cash or PayPal FF. I flipped the motherboard on the 1966 version due to the fabric was worn and I wanted mirrored Cornwalls.

As a newbie here I would like to start a new topic on updating the RP8000. I know a few of you here have already been down this track and I am hoping to share in other people experiences as I embark on my own project. I have had my RP8000's for just over a month and even before I unboxed these I was expecting to do an update on them. Now don't get me wrong I think these are very good speakers as is and I would not hesitate in buying them a second time round if I had my time again. The sound, once run and properly positioned in the room, is very good. The sound signature is dynamic and forward without being too bright with very good wide imaging and a full bass thats not too flabby with reasonable speed. Voices sound full and detailed and instruments are well separated across the sound stage. As far as usage goes I find positioning critical and I certainly wouldn't use these in a small room. My room is 12 by 6 metres and I find to get the best sound you need to be 3m or further from the speakers, have the speakers well away from the walls and toed in directly pointing at the listener. That all said I am a DIYER and I like to get the best out of my equipment. I have done a couple of my own speaker builds in the past and I know these speakers can be taken to another level so here's my thoughts:- 1. Theres definitely room for improvements in the cabinet and I can hear some effects on lower range cabinet resonances in certain bass notes and in the lower mid ranges. 2. Doing a quick REW measurement the well documented dip in response at crossover is there. This features as a 5db drop in the 1-2 K range, see the REW graph below. Quick measurements of the woofer and tweeter circuits are shown as wells the speaker as a whole. Measurements are taken at a approximately 1 metre in room at tweeter level. I think this dip is audible and taking it out I think will improve mid range clarity. 3. Looking at the crossover components the Woofer inductor is of average quality (1mm iron core) and could be improved with a good quality air core. The woofer circuit also uses quite a large capacitor to increase the slope to take out ringing in the woofers (looks like in the 4-6K region). This could probably be improved by reducing the slope and using a notch filter to take out the ringing. The capacitors look of reasonable quality, probably cheap polypropylene or maybe only polyester I'm not sure. Of course better quality caps or maybe bypassing with some Miflex copper foils would improve over sound quality across the board but also a complete crossover redesign might be better. I'm not sure at this stage? 4. Better connectors and wiring will probably help (in the margin) I've looked at other online posts on here and other forums. On this site user micromara has documented his cabinet rebuild. The results look very impressive but I'd be really interested on hearing anyones views on adding additional panel support and foam based damping as opposed to using the fibre damping down the middle of the cabinet. How does the former change the sound over the original implementation? As far as the crossover goes I've been looking at an online 2.5 redesign and takes the second woofer out of the mid range using a massive inductor so it only plays below 200Hz. The tweeter circuit is taken down in frequency and goes from a 4th to 1st order solution. On paper this all looks good but I have some concerns about having the tweeter playing on a 6dB octave rolloff. A lot more low end energy going into it and what effect will this have on distortion I don't know (even the tweeter possibly failing under high loads)? So anyone who has done crossover mods, well their feedback will be gratefully appreciated. I plan to start my own research and will start by prototyping some changes to the crossover. I have all the components to measure the changes of using the 2.5 solution. I'll document this as I go along but any feedback on people who have already done these changes. Well that will be very useful Cheers for now

Just tested voltage on a motorcycle battery. 12.45v.

Another tip to help speed the process up is when troubleshooting you don't have to solder R9 in, just clip it in with alligator clips or better use your test leads to clamp it in place.

I’ve ordered a used rectifier A board from EBay…only $30. Can’t hurt. This solder looked cracked? Going to try to add a bit.

Adjusted for inflation the power amps are holding value or have increased a little maybe. That's pretty good I'd say.

Thankfully, no. These are for sure fuse holders. Labeled as such, and on the bottom of the unit.

He doesn't even know what he has... The specs are not for his speakers.

On a side note, some 18 years ago, wanted to explore Class A amps and the Forte Model 4 was just in the perfect price range at the time. Bought one off of Audiogon for $400 bucks. Kept it for about 2 years and resold it on the site for $450. Now, one recently sold on Ebay for $939. I guess I should have kept it a little longer. lol https://www.ebay.com/itm/175074021496?hash=item28c3399078%3Ag%3ABFgAAOSwIVZhwNn3&nma=true&si=fbJGypN1GI7Nac145yDU9CZQcgI%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

KC a couple of years ago, bad O Line = loss. Same for Bengals. Get that shored up, one more weapon on offence and please a top notch CB.

My original review stated exactly what you said. The amp was bright and a bit lean in my system. Easily fixed with a sub or a 3db cut of the highs in my system (speakers rub 3db hot out of the box for behind the screen).

Buyer backed out

The Bengals will be drafting for offensive lineman I think. JJK

If you are an investor... that means you're actually interested in growth. Great, so am I, most assuredly. I feels good to have others who agree with your way of thinking. When you find someone else who has been on your path longer than you, who has travelled farther, with greater success, you hope to achieve what they have. I've always believed some things to be inherently true, but often I lacked the confidence in sharing with many others. Earlier in life, I couldn't express these things properly, or lacked real world knowledge to expand on them, but recently I've learned that I'm not the only one to have this knowledge so I can't be making this stuff up. That feels good too. There is a kind of mindset that flows in a certain direction, and we all have an accumulative effect on that flow. We are living at the very peak of Human existence in the best possible location on the planet for growth to occur. That fact alone leaves us the most blind to just how far down we could actually fall. A fall that can have a far greater effect than any stock market gains or declines could have. All of us here are golden, no matter what happens next. Relish in knowing that, and let those thoughts embellish you. Our legacies are already minted in time. Now lets expand the timeline beyond our futures. In the generations to come, those that have not yet seen the light of day, they will stand in great awe of our amazing success, of our exorbitant greed, and of our total lack of foresight. Their school books will teach them about how our generations were the ones who had the greatest power, the best methods, and had the most access to resources. The history books will also teach them how we were the ones who had the most opportunities to share our successes with the world that came next. Unfortunately for them, we will have proved to them that our own greed was much to great for the world to bear, and their own sufferings are a direct result of the choices we collectively have made during our lives. At this time, if you are at this very moment, forming thoughts in your mind about just how wrong I am, or feel at all defensive in nature, you especially should keep reading. The majority of you will fall into I don't know, or I don't care territory, but you are not excused, keep reading. I'm going to bring this down to a personal level. Just you and me here now. This isn't politics, religion, etc. so don't even go there. It's not that kind of a subject. I don't have any agenda. I'm not talking about numbers. I just want you to understand that there is a world that is still here after you no longer are, and what that actually means when you choose to live the way that you do. There are others who are more intelligent than I am, who are more educated than I ever will be, who can speak more effectively than I can. We all have the right to our own opinion, so consider how true it is that our views almost always revolve around a very short timescale, and serve a very narrow purpose. All I'm asking of you is that you read this in private, but please talk about what you read here with those around you who you love the most, and leave it at that. It's a 9 minute read, but it could change the lives of your families and others around you. https://illuminem.com/energyvoices/23a3d869-7b57-4eab-9179-2cc83466ec9a Now carry on with the thread, and try your best to not lock this one. No further need of comment is required here.

Do they look similar to this one?

Forte was the “step child” of Threshold, featuring NP of course. I owned two, maybe three Class A Model 4’s power amps. SorrySuperb amps for today’s money. Sorry I have no experience with their preamps but should perform very well - . Owned a couple Threshold preamps which were excellent -

Rams mortgaged their future, they had to win.

Sale pending

I think youll like it. If not, I'm sure you'll modify it to your liking.

So what are you saying exactly?

I say good on you. I have seen some of their amps for sale, never a preamp. Had read good things some time ago from memory but have never heard any of their gear.

Roon is up & running. I must admit the Roon player seems to sound better than the BluOS app/player, or J River. With the BluOS app I’m streaming (Ethernet) directly into the BluOS module in the NAD M32. With J River I use my laptop with HDMI connection to the M32. I originally became interested in Roon because I’ve some posts about using Roon for parametric EQ. This interested me because since I built a sound barrier wall to appease my neighbor from excessive bass, the wall is now reflecting that bass energy back into the room. There are some known room mode issues around 50-60Hz and a similar problem because of the distance between my house and my neighbor. I’ve been working on solving this acoustically. It is a work in progress. Software EQ is the easy way out, at least for now. But here’s the strange part. When using Roon I’m not feeling the need to attenuate bass response. I’ll often use the bass tone control to (usually) cut the bass a few dB on many modern recordings. With Roon I’m not feeling the need to do this. I wonder why? Even when I use Roon to stream from Tidal the low end sounds more in balance. So the irony is, when using Roon I don’t feel the need for any EQ, even though that’s why I wanted to try it in the first place. The other thing, I mention in my ma”Roon”ed post is the sound when playing loud. I mentioned Roon seemed to take a slight “edge” off the sound (in a positive way – sort of McIntosh-like) I thought these players are supposed to be “bit perfect”. But there’s obviously something else going on. Has anyone experienced anything similar, or care to speculate/expand on this?

I'm thinking Joe Cool and the Bengals get it done!

If you had put in all of your investable money the day before each of the major stock market crashes in the past forty years And left your money in the entire time he would be a millionaire now. Tell me what warren Buffett is doing and I’ll tell you what you should be doing with your money. The ultra wealthy do things that have no bearing on our financials. Get/be debt free, have a safety net savings account, and invest the rest in long term solid investments. Will the crash hurt, only if I look at my investments the day of the crash. It’s ok chicken little, the sky is not falling unless you weren’t planning ahead…

Well have at it! Open another window and relax! Entire lp right here! You'll find your groove realllll quick! Enjoy

@geezin' the PJ was the same for us just that bottle above and grape Hi-C with the same fruit. Heard tell or tales of folks mixing it in their their bathtub! Never saw that just big plastic containers that did not resemble a punch bowl and held a few gallons. Think all of us that had the summer of `79 as our passage to adulthood instead of `69 were lucky to survive it! @grasshopper I remember jungle-juice being left in that bin on the side porch with the milk and OJ when I was little

jungle juice. Hawaiian Punch covers the taste of everything ----------------- I'm getting spring fever. A few days of nice weather ... Looks like we're in for a bit of a roller coaster for weather. Back to low 60's starting Wed. Average temps are pushing 70... oh... they are talking about loosening the restriction for AirForce training. Like lowering minimum altitude. I don't think they are talking about here. There has been more than one time that I have looked out my rear view mirror to see an A-10 on my bumper. That will give ya a thrill.

Unfortunately, the museum has been closed to non-military for the past 2 years. I like going there also. Blue Angel weekend show in Nov is spectacular.

I love visiting the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola.

Pensacola Beach, FL

I am not sure but I think that Kalifornian refers to the underground Jubilees which were ca. 7.500 USD without the crossover but with standard mid-tweeter drivers.

I had three big subs in my theater and I know what it's like. However, I can run up my current setup louder than I can really stand and the sub stays with it. The La Scala by itself, leaves me wanting the bottom end. I don't feel like I'm missing that anymore. Hell, I can't even crank a movie because everyone in my house tells me to turn it down... Even when they are also watching the same movie with me. And I certainly don't need anything bigger than a La Scala. I like good speakers, but I have other interests that keep me from chasing the "better" setup.

I really don't need 130dB of "effortless subwoofer" in my room.

W H A T.....? nO CD player? I just checked around and there's no new cars with cassette or 8-track tape either 🤣 What's the world coming to?

You are mistaking VTA with SRA = Stylus Rack Angle The Tonearm Height (VTA = Vertical Tracking Angle) and the Stylus Rake Angle (SRA) The "big" control variable and hopefully also -screw on the tonearm is the height adjustment, the adjustment of the so-called "Vertical Tracking Angle . What the height adjustment of the tonearm is actually about, is to trim the angle of the needle's insertion into the record to the angle specified during vinyl cutting. This way you can correct the SRA (the Stylus Rake Angle). The standard for this (exceptions confirm the rule) is around 92 degrees when the needle is dipped with the correct weight. Why not 90 degrees? Because the cutting graver scratches out material when cutting vinyl, and to prevent the material from accumulating in front of the graver, you admit a few degrees, i.e. you cut at a slight angle. 92 degrees. At this point I would like to emphasize once again that the described settings can be made by ear and taste, as always. Those who have practiced ears can and should use them. The bottom line is the same as with frequency response perception: what you really hear can also be measured. What cannot be measured is often only anchored in the human psyche. Further some facts you should think about The issue here is the compliance of the needle carrier. The compliance indicates how hard or soft the suspension of the needle carrier is, which in turn carries the scanning diamond. The unit of measurement of compliance is µm/mN. It is measured at 10 Hz.Some of them measure at 100 Hz. There is also a distinction between dynamic and static compliance. The dynamic one counts; and it is obtained by dividing the static value by two. MM and MI cartridges have a higher needle compliance than MC cartridges, these have a more stiffer needle compliance Low compliance = hard suspended systems = values between 6 and 12 µm/mN Medium compliance = medium hard/medium soft suspended systems = values between 11 and 22 µm/mN High compliance = soft suspended systems = 22 to 30 µm/mN Very high compliance = very soft suspended systems = 30 to > 40 µm/mN Tonearms can be roughly classified according to the following scale Ultra light tonearm: 4 to 5 grams Lightweight tonearm: 6 to 9 grams Medium-weight tonearm: 9 to 15 grams (most of the arms used today) Heavy tonearm: 19 to 24 grams Very heavy tonearm: 25 grams and more For tonearms with exchangeable headshells this must always be included. Tonearm and cartridge as spring-mass system The mentioned values/classifications are important because the combination of tonearm and cartridge represents a spring-mass system. Like all classic spring pendulums, such a combination has a natural frequency that depends on the hardness of the spring and the mass of the whole system. This is the famous "moving mass", and only this is decisive: If the hardness of the spring increases (i.e. with lower compliance), the resonant frequency increases. If, in turn, more mass is added, the resonant frequency decreases. The excitation of the mass-spring-system and the consequences Now what happens if you excite this mass-spring-system with its natural frequency? Logically: it resonates, so that the oscillation becomes extremely upsetting. These oscillations in turn superimpose other frequencies. They lead to disturbances or booming and color the sound image or restrict the exact reproduction of the music. For example, if the resonance frequency was 40 Hz and you were playing a nice bass tune, the needle could perform a dance and jump out of the groove. Tonearm adjustment: many settings - lots of sound When you start with the vinyl hobby, you think in a naive way: screw on the pickups, swing them out, roughly adjust the counterweight, and off you go. Unfortunately a wrong way - at least if you want to listen to music with high standards. Which pickup is already perfectly produced? Which needle is mounted exactly straight? Which needle carrier is at the exact angle in the generator? Azimuth: mandatory setting of a good tonearm The most obvious production errors can usually be detected with a sharp look at the needle carrier and needle. A magnifying glass or USB microscope can help enormously. If the needle or the needle carrier is obviously mounted crooked, you should complain about the pickup at the dealer. Slight misalignments can be compensated by using the mounting bracket in the headshell. How to correct skewed needle carriers and diamonds What can only be compensated for by adjusting the azimuth on the tonearm is a diamond inserted at a slight lateral angle, as unfortunately occurs in 80% of all cases with MC pickups. If you want an exact position of the needle in the groove and thus a perfect result, you have to measure and correct the azimuth. Many do this by ear. Respect, who can do that! The goal of an azimuth measurement is always to create a channel separation that is as equal as possible by using different angular positions of the headshell. With well produced pickups, the corrections are +/- 0.5 degrees or less to achieve the desired position. This sounds like little at first, but at one degree you can see the "skew" more than clearly. Hope you can use these infos.

Love that little stack of gear. First class rack as well. Very sturdy looking.👍

Never did anything yet, the shed just needs the doors closed and it's done. But I will need to take down bird feeders and hummingbird feeders plus the 2 flags and 6 ferns. Then we may stay or leave, if it turns into a 3 we will probably leave.

They do soung good, I was surprised it actually has bass and a nice overall sound, and your right they connect easily. Never knew about the Snap-on model, Anthony got lucky.

How about you Dave, glad you are feeling well...