3dzapper

I was reading today at: http://www.avahifi.com/root/audio_basics/ab_pdf/ab1982.pdf The authur Frank Van Alstine, is a noted audio designer. He is talking about tone arm/cartridge/base resonance in a turntable. He advocates a "longhorn" added to the cartridge.( His longhorn is a weighted length of small brass tube glued to the front of the cartridge.) Now, I didn't want to make my tone arm look like a "hooey stick" but, some of his other thoughts made a lot of sense. Like the fit of the stylus assembly where it mates to the cartridge. It's loose! A loose connection must loose response he says and I agreed. So I took his advice and removed the dust brush from my Shure V15IV. Then took some rope-a-dope caulking and caulked the stylus to the cartridge being very careful to keep it away from the cantlever. Then I put a little in the headshell where it can't be seen. Holy attack rate Batman! Can you say dramatic? I played the same recording before and after the damping, a direct-disc and wow. Then I put on Cat Stevens "Teaser and The Firecat" The improvement was well worth the little effort. Rick

"Good one all the brothers the deck of cards lacked to portray,good names." ears, who is portray? The photographer brother? Rick

There are always some Eico or Heathkits on ebay for about$30. Not the fancy super matching mho testing monsters, just tells you if the tube is shorted, open or has low emmission. Those fancy Sencore types sell for over $1000 on ebay. If you find one in a yard sale grab it! I have an old Heathkit that suites me just fine. Rick

Kelly I think Craig was thinking of the mental immage of two lit up horn heads having a good time. Rick

I'm probably the only person in the world that's safe from the RIAA. But, I just made a cd copy of my Salvation Army pristine lp's of Glenn Miller and Al Hirt for my father in law. Am I going to go to jail? Rick

santon, No, I don't think that I would put them under my horns. The horns must couple with the floor and the corner to work properly. Those tennis balls are what got me to thinking about this. They don't meet the WAF. I stuck them under my 299 as an experiment. I like the advice on the dvd/cd player and am moving them now. Another bit of knowledge I picked up here lately. I went to Wally World and bought two of those " CD stands". They are great for twice the $79 that they cost. They meet WAF. Although she wanted wood in the family, now 2 channel, room. Rick

gisteph, Like John said make sure your speakers are coupled to the corner. An uncoupled corner is like air in your brake line. The pedal is spongy and doesn't do much. Search this site for several ideas on coupling. Another thing to try is reversing the wires on one horn. If they were out of phase the bass should improve. Rick

Ear, Welcome into the light! Rick

Don't forget "Fire Wire". Rick

My Klipschorns are always at 45 degrees. Rick

Craig, I have my HT broken down right now to move into another room. I am replacing the horns with KG-4.5 until I can afford some RF-7s. After I veneered my Khorns I decided to set them up on the long wall in a 2 channel array. Taking your (and others) advice I bought a 299C off ebay and am wearing out my vinyl agian. I want to recap the 299 but need to practice my rusty soldering skills first so I picked up an LK-30 to play with. Both your and Ryan's posts have helped a lot of us here rediscover our tube roots. Back when I went to Electronics school it was all tubes.(1973-75) Thank you both. Rick

Craig, I just noticed the new first line of your sig! LMAO Rick

It's just plain old styro from Home Depot. When I got my horns back "in the day" the manual said to use carpet runner for coupling. That was fine for a while but over time got brittle and warped and sagged. This is the best stuff I have found for irregular corners. When you push the speaker home the foam cracks a little and moulds to the wall contour very well. "I am still trying to figure out the sound comes out of the bass bin hits the back panel and then uses the room walls to disperse into the room." The folded horn within the enclosure continues to unfold using the walls and floor of the listening room as it's terminus. A folded horn or line source type horn is constantly expanding from the lens to the output. If the corner is not properly coupled there is a buldge in the exponential horn. This will rob some of the energy from the output. I'm not an accustical engineer so I can't get any more technical than that. I can however, hear the stronger, tighter bass when the horns are properly coupled. I always know when my wife moves them to chase dust bunnies. Rick

For under two grand you can get a nice pair of Cornwalls, a nice Scott, Eico or Dynaco integrated tube amp, a turntable with cartridge and about 2 or 300 albums from the Salvation Army, Goodwill Industries or other thrift stores. Then carefully place your speakers along the long wall of your room as close to the corners as possible(in the corners is best). Toe the speakers in at a 30-45 degree angle Put your favorite chair mid way between the speakers where the sound fields intersect. Put on a vintage copy of your favorite symphony and ENJOY! From there on in each little mod will sound better and better but when you sit in your chair and close your eyes you will be in heaven. You always remember your first time. Rick

There are T35 tweeters in there too. Wolverines? Rick

Hey! Have you guys been peeking at my "favorites" list? I have every one of those amps bookmarked already.lol Did you see the LK-48 that sold for $455 completly stock? It was a beauty but that's still a stretch. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3043117540&category=14973 Rick

Here is some info from Sims: http://www.simsvibrationlab.com/limbsaver/archery/stealthls.aspx Rick

I was sitting here listening to Steely Dan on my Technics SL1200 (first edition) thinking about those fabulous viscous dampening feet(Small things for small minds I guess)and how great the would be on amps etc. to combat vibration and microphonics. Then WHAMMO!! Limb Savers! I am an archer, thats where my handle comes from. I compete in 3d tournaments weekly. On our bows, to remove hand shock we use products from Sims Laboratories made of viscous rubber called Limbsavers. I had two of them in my truck and stole two from my hunting bow, when placed under my "new" 299c it feels just like the turntable. Like controlled balloons. If you would like to try some they are about $15 a pair at Archery stores or Lancaster Archery.com. Rick

We all envy mOOn's beautiful new HT and to keep up with the Joneses here is all you need: http://cgi.aol.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3043837373&category=3284 Rick

Here is one inexpensive way to couple your horns to uneven corners. It is 3/4" foam insulation left over from a project,cut to about 18", placed in the corner and locked in by pushing the speaker home. Not pretty but it works. Rick

This guy isn't from Georgia is he? Sounds like a guy who ripped a bunch of people at archerytalk.com. I guess they are everywhere. Always check feedback first before bidding. Anyone can get one negative but a trend is an alarm. I once got a heads up from a fellow in Ohio about a seller of a bow I had just won the bid on on ebay. I told the seller I wanted to use escrow. That was the last I heard from him. The next communication I recieved on the matter was from the postal inspector! I had no evidence on him but, I hope the USPS put him on ice for a while. Rick

Steve Ekblad has great stuff on this site. Many audio related calculating and design programs in freeware. Links to just about every audio site in the world and more. One could get lost in there! http://www.audiogrid.com/ Rick

I scored today!From the Salvation Army, pristeen copies of a Glenn Miller double set, Chiago, Boots Randolf, a boxed Beethoven 7 disc set of the NHK S O(Japan),Jesse Crawford,a Glenn M. tribute by Bobby Crane,Al Hurt, a Vanguard Stereolab of Brams #4,Leonard Bernstein, Billy Vaughan and a two disc set of country standards all for $14. They all came from the same collection and are amazingly clean. None of them were there last Saturday. Rick

As of today: 1.00 BRITISH POUND (GBP) = 1.5749 US DOLLAR (USD) per Bloomberg. Those are still nice kits for the money. I wonder what Mama would say? Rick

AMEN! Rick