Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/18/22 in all areas

  1. So, the short story is that I bought my Klipsch Cornwall IVs almost a year ago. I had been happy with my active Genelec 8050s for 7 years, with subwoofers they were very nice. During the pandemic I decided to try something new, always wanted to hear what a larger, classic loudspeaker could do. So, I bought the JBL L100. Did not like them, tried something completely different, Dynaudio Confidence standmounts. Easier to live with but boring. In the mean time I read and heard about Klipsch loudspeakers' heritage series. Not a big brand in my country, Sweden. Unfortunately labelled as crap usually, or by the more positive, they are fun but ... Anyway, after searching for info here and otherwise I decided to order a pair when my local dealer eventually found out that the new heritage line was actually quite good. The Cornwalls are huge, no question about that, I had my hesitations. Maybe there Heresys? Most people at the time seems to favor the Cornwalls so I decided on those. When unboxing these I thought they were huge, quite ugly. An hour later I thought they looked quite cool, like a bookshelf on growth hormones. Playing some music over my Mark Levinson 3236S/432 combo was a game changer, this was something out of the ordinary. Bass with control, open and deep soundstage. Classic rock, jazz and classical music were extremely engaging. As were most other genres. These were keepers. So I decided to look for alternatives to my amplification, who needs 2X400W to power a Klipsch? I tried a First Watt F7, I tried an INT-25 from Pass labs, neither did sound better than my current combination. In there mean time my hearing was deteriorating, possibly as a result of visiting too many hockey games live. Turned out that wax also was an important factor. Nevertheless, before I knew what was causing my problems I decided to try a speaker I'd been wanting to try for many years, the active Genelec 8361 with built in DSP. DSP should be able to correct whatever frequencies causing my problems, or so I thought? My pair of 8361 arrived early June, hooked them up and was impressed by their midrange, possibly an improvement over the Cornwalls there. After a calibration and with the DSP I found them to be great with movies but completely boring with music, regardless of style. I had experienced fewer problems with my hearing while waiting for the speakers to arrive (approx 4 months) but suddenly I felt that I was experiencing the same problems again. Went on vacation for two weeks, really missed listening to music, came back home and found that I did not at all enjoy what the Genelecs provided. Decided to sell them, got them sold and had a lot of money in my pocket. Not only that, I hauled my Cornwalls back into the system and immediately found that listening to music is fun, oh, what these speakers do really put a smile on my face! I had long been wanting to buy a new vinyl player so decided to go visit my dealer. Came back with an excellent Technics but I also got to listen to a combination of Accuphase E-650 and Klipsch Heresy. That combination was excellent so decided to buy the amp for my setup. How did it sound in my system? Difficult to say, the best I've heard in my home is probably the best way to describe what I hear. I regret having tried other speakers, these Cornwalls are mazing, even more so with the Accuphase E-650. Never thought an amp would do that much of a difference (although Just wanted to share my very positive experience with the Cornwall IVs (and the Heresy IVs did sound very good when I heard them). I'm so happy that I did not sell them when I got my Genelecs, these are probably the best speakers in the world (for me) :-).
    8 points
  2. Yea, It’s amazing how we all perceive sound differently ,and how our preferences to sound quality can evolve over time. For example when I was younger, I kinda liked an exaggerated top end, it seemed to add detail to the music, now I prefer a more balanced sound. Another example would be what happened the other day when I ran into the ex old lady,(just couldn’t shake her) I immediately noticed that her once angelic voice,now projects a shouty , strident ,just plain annoying quality, funny how I didn’t notice this years ago.🤷I’m sure others would disagree with my assessment , and many would even love the sound of her voice😳 ,but I’ve moved on , just not my style anymore 🤓
    5 points
  3. That’s why I keep recommending to the good folks of this forum, to open a Discogs account and you have a free online catalog of your Record and CD collection After entering your collection you can have a spreadsheet list emailed to you and print a hard copy if you prefer And of course everything is also online
    5 points
  4. To illustrate the ground scheme, I marked up this pic of a 300B amp I was making. This particular ground scheme is a bus bar type, but a "hybrid" of a star type and straight bus bar type. It worked out well and there is zero noise in the amp.
    4 points
  5. There are places where nylon bolts really make a difference.
    4 points
  6. I agree with you on all points. But I still enjoy my Stirling Broadcast LS 3/6 and LS 3/5 V2 for other reasons besides my old LaScala and the Underground Jubilees. I find that the richness of tone and naturalness of timbre for acoustic instruments like a classical guitar or string quartet is very good with these British BBC designs. Even a piano sounds very natural and with attack. But it is and remains (only) a psychoacoustic imagination. They are not more than imagined attacks, perhaps because the stop of the tones also works quite well. That's all I demand from these speakers. Never would they match the dynamics and stage size of the real sound event, as horns achieve this much better. But they have a meaning for me. It is just something different. I would also never think that the very large and very expensive cone and dome designs which use many drivers, such as those from Wilson, KEF, B&W or others (did someone say "Aspen"?🙃) can ever even come close to matching the "natural dynamics and power" of good horns. No, my personal experience is that big loud cone designs always tend to sound too much "electrical" and not natural. Cone designs like this BBC style speakers are no more to me than a good old tube kitchen radio used to be. A cozy fatigue-free nice sound that reminds me of the original only at moderate volume levels.
    4 points
  7. at 4;50, "I'm telling you there is a breakin period" "for you people who want to argue about it go to a different channel, I don't want to talk to you" I love this guy.
    4 points
  8. Oh yea, think it was in a pile I'd unzipped and had to put some away so I could stack more up. Yea, that's it. Has to be! hahaha
    4 points
  9. Why the heck not? Festival starts tomorrow so I'm prepping the hood this evening. Saw where @Full Range remarked how good it was a couple weeks ago so picked one up. First time thru is killin me and it ain't softly. Hackett is pullin me apart! Wow! ****** it if you can! If you don't like it blame @Full Range 😂 Wait, I just looked and already had it. Unzipped both too... Grrrrr Know I never heard it though yet it was filed away? Hmmmm.. Might need a new quality control manager! 😂
    4 points
  10. Yea these guys right here! I should dig around in crates more often! Not a mark anywhere. Just lil pieces of white sleeve paper. What a fantastic album from 1973. Keep an eye open!!! We're talkin a ride from start to finish! Captain Beyond is an American rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1971.[3][4] Consisting of former Deep Purple singer Rod Evans, former Johnny Winter drummer Bobby Caldwell, former Iron Butterfly guitarist Larry Reinhardt and former Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman, the band had an eclectic style bridging elements of hard rock, progressive rock and jazz fusion with space rock.[1] They released three albums between 1972 and 1977. Remember "Don't eat the brown acid from the Woodstock lp? Put this one on and totally chill with your Heniken @MicroMara
    4 points
  11. I just saw this and you may have discussed it already, so forgive me if you have and you already know this... If you mount your toroidal transformer down with a bolt, like I suspect you do, make certain there is adequate clearance from the bolt to the lid. The reason is that the bolt and case will form a single winding on the transformer all by themselves, and you'll pull your hair out trying to find out why the fuse keeps popping when you have the lid on but runs fine with the lid off. Ask me how I know this.
    3 points
  12. A pair just popped up here in Yelm WA I know its a ways away but $1000 seems reasonable could make a weekend trip out of it: https://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/ele/d/rainier-klipsch-lascala/7522586492.html
    3 points
  13. Beautiful polyphonic vocal structures , is full of surprises from folk to prog . I like very much . No I can not drink alcohol at the moment for health reasons, I drink anyway very rarely, if then times a good red wine. Captain Beyound I also like in the clear condition
    3 points
  14. Sitting in my backyard yesterday I got to thinking about that ol' boy Deckert of Decware. He has took a little amplifier such as this one and made a good business from selling it. Selling those little things as fast as he can make them. I see he also sells some Cadillacs too but he is selling a lot more Chevrolets. He is doing this with an old surplus Russian made for something else tube. The thing about the Russian 6P15 tube is if you tie 2 of those pins together you make a Russian 14 tube which is a substitute for the EL84. That 6P14 tube is now as expensive as a new production EL84 but you can still buy the 15 tube cheap. He now has a good source for the output tubes. He is also using a Russian 6P1 tube for the pre tube. Probably because of the price and hey it works alright. Someone has already posted in this thread he thinks it is possible to get 2 watts from this 6Y6 tube. Not that I think you need it with our speakers but saying 2 watts instead of 1 would make it sell better. Russian surplus tube or good ol' USA made for audio tube. Decide for yourself. Do not get me wrong. I have two amplifiers I have built with the 6P15 tube. One a clone of the Zen and the other a PP one. Both sound really good but to me the 6Y6 tube sounds better. The active device is what sound is all about whether tube or transistor. All those other parts of the amplifier are there to just make that active device work and sound best. Not to flavor the sound of the active device. In theory they sound be neutral as far as contributing to the sound and not add anything. My personal Sweetie uses Nos RCA 6Y6's along with NOS Jan 6SJ7's. This one I am building for a build guide for a Area51 is going to have NOS Westinghouse 6Y6's along with some NOS 6SJ7's made in England tubes. I bet money they are NOS Mullard made. Those NOS Mullard tubes are like gold. I bought them for this build and this build they will go but I would sure like to have a pair of them for my personal Sweetie. And yes Area51 has already spoken for this amp. Even offered to send me the money already. I am going to wait to see if I can still build a good sounding tube amplifier before taking any money. Hey it has been 2 or 3 years since I have built one. We talked about a wood case and he agreed to pay an extra $100 for it. I see a guy on Ebay building wood cases for those old 70 receivers charging $300 and getting buyers. I think $100 is a fair price along with $100 for putting the parts together for the amplifier. If someone thinks I am making money they are in worse shape than me and I can feel sorry for them. I am just doing this for something constructive to do in my retirement years to have fun. That is the reason I am just taking my time building it. As much for fun for me as the guy who is getting it. At least I hope he likes it after he gets. I will not sell it if I do not like the sound it makes but I still think I am able to build it. At least today I do. That ol' Deckert is sure doing good for himself building a cheap no frills little amplifier. Some enterprising young man could do the same thing. Seems to be a market for such a little amp. Deckert got some colorful youtube guy to praise his amplifier and his sales have taken off. Wonder if he had to wine and dine him. Smart guy who has a made a good little business for himself. Lot easier turning out simple amplifiers for a profit, and a lot of them, than complicated builds with fewer sales. If the market is out there for them they will sale. I am too old to start doing such a thing. I like my simple life now at 73. But something for a young man to think about though. Good way to earn a few extra bucks every month. Maynard and I talked about doing something like this thread years ago. I have not built a tube amplifier in 2 or 3 years. The last year or so I have been buying some old not working receivers on Ebay and fixing and restoring them with new capacitors. So I am rusty along with getting older and more forgetful. Some of you guys with good eyes following this thread should have said something about that earth ground. Like hey Henry do not forget to run a wire from the center pin of the IEC to the chassis. I might need some more help on this build guide along the way. Keep your eyes open for me and when I post a picture but please do it in a constructive way and not try and hurt my feelings. Remember I am just an old man. Treat me like your Grandfather. Be easy on me. Captain is the only one who has spoken of a different way of wiring the transformer. Smart guys find better ways of doing things and Captain seems to be a smart guy. But I am going to keep this build simple using the KISS system. I am teaching my grandson to build his first amplifier (not actually) and I think it easier to tell him to tie the two white wires of the PS transformer together and do the same with the two yellow wires and then attach them to the center pins of the bridge rectifier. After all we just want to turn AC to DC using the bridge rectifier. After filtering the DC through our CRCL, the output transformer is our L, network for the 6Y6 and through a CRCRC network for the 6SJ7 I think it the DC will be plenty good enough. At least it is with my personal Sweetie. The bridge rectifier has four pins one marked + then two pins marked with little ss' for the AC lines of the transformer to attach to, then a - pin.
    3 points
  15. Would like to plant his head in front of a 402 for a dose of that classic “cupped hand” sound -
    3 points
  16. Henry, it is unfortunate that we live so far apart. We could sit on the porch of the general store reminiscing about the good ol’ days. I am also a bald old timer, but 50# underweight. A local farmer offered me a job as a human scarecrow. If I had time, I would take him up on it! Maynard
    3 points
  17. OMG, Paul is still at it. Suggest watching muted, 2X speed, with closed captions, you've been warned. Um, the comments for the video have far more wisdom on this topic than Paul, no surprise.
    2 points
  18. Big Red is very red. Nice build. I see he likes carbon film resistors. I use them is various places, but metal film/carbon film today are about the same price, so metal film is the way to go. My favorite low wattage metal film is a Dale/Vishay CMF. They are a little more expensive than pedestrian metal film resistors, but they are totally transparent in the circuit. "Real resistors have numbers printed on them" - Curious George Dale-Vishay CMF_Mil Resistors.pdf
    2 points
  19. Here is another example of a ground bus, but it is imposiible to see because it is under the wiring. Almost identical to the 300B though (if you could see it). This amp uses AC filaments so it has a cleaner layout. Sounds great with very little hum, but not dead quiet.
    2 points
  20. Henry, the T0-3 devices are LT-1085 voltage regulators. The 300B filaments in that build are DC regulated (5VDC@1.25 amps). You could also use an LM317 but the LT1085 is a low drop-out regulator which I needed in this particular circuit. I've built directly heated triode amps with AC filaments (for simplicity and bare bones circuitry) and they sound good, but DC is really the only option.
    2 points
  21. Here's some vinyl news.. https://edm.com/.amp/gear-tech/on-demand-vinyl-elasticstage https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2022/08/15/elasticstage-seed-round/
    2 points
  22. Electronics is like learning a new language as I previously stated. This is a test for newbies. Before I attach a wire at a spot on the build I always tin that wire and also it helps to tin the iron for better heat transfer. If you do not know what tinning a wire or iron means use the net and learn something new. Ya'll experienced guys let the newbies find out for themselves. The net can be a wonderful learning tool. Did not have it when I was trying to learn electronics in my teens and early twenties. You youngsters are very lucky.
    2 points
  23. Just thought I would add. I am not the neatest amplifier builder. This one is probably the only one I am trying real hard to be neat but my builds will never match Maynard's or some others on this forum. Many of my personal amp builds look like a rats nest underneath but hey they work and are quite. Works for me. Mine are like one of Nelson's new projects he brought to the BAF festival and said the lid is going to stay on. He said he had it very neat to begin with to show inside but then he had to get the dang thing to work so the lid stays on.
    2 points
  24. His hand gestures remind me of Joe Cocker and John Belushi imitating him.
    2 points
  25. I learn everyday too. I love reading and learning and listening to people and learning.
    2 points
  26. It may not compare to the posh amps I see here, but I am using a TEAC A-H500i with my Klipsch Heresy IIIs currently, and I am extremely satisfied with the combination. The TEAC is a serious amp, dual-mono circuit, toroidal transformer and solid build. It's pleasant to use, sounds fine and hasn't made me regret the Pass INT-25 I used to own. It costed €220 and caused my lost of interest in expensive audio.
    2 points
  27. lol it made me laugh. Though I specialize in bare-metal coding, I do have 30 years of combined hardware and firmware design and build. I still make mistakes and at this stage in my life, I learn every single day and realize now that there is far more that I don't know than what I do.
    2 points
  28. Racer you could do it. I love the visual presentation. We as humans are visual (and auditory) by nature. So much is tied to vision with regards to learning rather than listening and learning.
    2 points
  29. Since Henry mentioned Deckert’s Zen Triode, prospective builders of their first tube amp may enjoy watching Deckert actually build one. Be sure to watch all 12 videos. Seeing a point to point build in real time gives a somewhat different perspective from seeing still photos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1ENOdYN6iA Henry, if you think this will dilute the thread, I will delete it. Let me know. Maynard
    2 points
  30. Oh, and I still have my first turntable, a Technics SL-B1. Of course the rubber belt has evaporated....
    2 points
  31. Finished the X-wing fighter First hour was fun, then it became a pain in the a$$ as there are 4 wings that are almost identical - but the instructions do just one by one by one by one. Too much repetition for me (at least I did the last 2 wings simultaneously). Haha; could never do the Titanic with TWENTY TIMES the pieces Actually, think Lego's were more fun 50 years ago when one had to use their imagination to come up with designs
    2 points
  32. Especially the little versions like LS 3/5a and their derivates like your KEF really need a smaller room to shine. If these small sealed boxes are then placed on the long side of the room at some distance from the wall, with a little trial and error you can excite the 40 Hz mode that most rooms have. This makes them sound "felt" a whole octave lower. You are doing exactly what you would normally want to avoid with other speakers.
    2 points
  33. 2 points
  34. A sensible post. I feel the same. There are a lot of different ways to enjoy recordings.
    2 points
  35. My recipe is a ground bus too. It's something I've done for 20 years and always yields excellent results. I use the solid copper ground conductor (or strip the black/white conductor) from a length of 14/2 household wiring for my ground bus and route this through the amp. One end terminates at the power supply capacitors, the other end at the RCA inputs. I always ensure my RCA's are isolated/insulated and do not ground to the chassis when mounted. The RCA's are connected to the ground bus at one end. I also connect the chassis (earth) ground to the RCA end of the ground bus through the below circuit to keep the signal ground and earth ground paths separate. The essentially turns your metal chassis into a big shield to keep EMI/RFI out of your circuit, which is why I like a full metal chassis. The ground bus is connected to the amp circuitry as the Captain said; power supply caps at one end (since this end of the bus has the most ripple) then subsequently less "ripple sections" attached to the bus toward the RCA end of the bus. An X or Y safety cap can be used or a mylar one as well. I came across a bunch of X caps for free and I use them.
    2 points
  36. I glanced over the article this morning and I like it. Looks like an excellent little simple circuit and easy to build with a good write up on how to. Great find Hanks. I like to find articles like this one. New one for me and I am looking forward to reading the article more closely later. I like these kind of things. 🙂
    2 points
  37. Well let's see. The super rare DBX BXI of which I was running two of at one point. The Nakamichi PA-7II, Yahama MX-1000U, Onkyo M508 Grand Integra also come to mind.
    2 points
  38. When I was about eleven, I used money from my allowance and lawn-mowing jobs to save up and purchase a record player. I subsequently used all of my funds to start a record collection. I had a sizable collection and encyclopaedic knowledge of all the various musical genres by the time I was 18 years old. That led to me getting a part-time job at a radio station while I was a student, which led to getting a job in the music section of a library, which led to getting a job as an IT specialist in the library, which led to my current profession in IT. Aside from that, my adult personality was shaped by all of that musical exposure. That ancient turntable owes a lot of what I am now.
    2 points
  39. He always speaks slowly saying basically little, wonders off topic, and laughing. I can’t listen to him. He only says good of what he sells. I only watched this video because it was posted here, but struggled to watch it to its end and it’s the same as the rest of his videos that I never finished or started many of.
    2 points
  40. I would love to see his “cupped mouth” face after listening to the new Heritage Jubilee Horn System compared to his new aspen FR30 ($28,499)…. 😃 miketn
    2 points
  41. My first favorite band was Aerosmith simply because I heard Rocks nextdoor. They changed and this was one of theirs from later on. Done by a group of Georgians trying to bring Southern Rock back out front. & they're serious about it. BlackBerry Smoke:
    2 points
  42. Picked this up at auction this spring, gone over and another check off on my bucket list. Back in the day I wanted one of these soooo bad but $3k was crazy. Made from 1978-85 I think but it pairs so well w/my old Thorens TD-165 and my 1981 Heresy. Has that sweet McIntosh voice and sounds fantastic. Nice to just push that button and go back to a SS system in the morning over coffee. Things get serious, I just step on the gas and the LS if I want to spin. Just something off my bucket list I felt like doing. Simple.
    2 points
  43. This pic used to get a lot of mileage on the Forum back in the day. The ultimate LS experience.
    2 points
  44. To my ears they are much more enjoyable at low volumes than my Forte 1s are. I enjoy them very much.
    2 points
  45. Plus one on the DE-120. The Crites version is definitely a step up from the K77 and going one step further with Daves SMAHL is even better. Best upgrade I think I have ever done (at least in the top 2 or 3)
    2 points
  46. Yes, the Forte IV is a great speaker at lower volumes . I think I had one of the first pairs along with Fido and after a year and a half I am still loving them. They sound great with any good amp and phenomenal if the components paired with them are of high quality. Could this be my last speaker? Possibly, they are that good. I just retired my Quicksilver Mid Monos and am driving them with a Toolshed 300b and is sounds amazing. Not that it didn’t before, but with WE 300b there are layers of detail that were masked before. These speakers are awesome with the right amp.
    1 point
  47. Same with my Cornwall IVs. Very good at lower volumes as well as loud.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...