cjgeraci

You appear to have your mind made up on Fortes. While I love Fortes and they do classic rock pretty well, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't listen to and consider RF-7s, KLF-20s, or KLF-30s. I also agree with Colter's comments about CFs, but they are hard to find..... Carl.

Oh my #$%&!!!! I've worked at big law and just spit my coffee on my monitor. Very funny and very true. My favorite is the billing of 140+ hours straight for trial prep before being found in the fetal position. The stress and heart attack references are also dead on. WELL DONE, Chris. Carl. P.S. Send compliments to your wife's page. [Almost] as brilliant as yours. And just as true (in some cases anyway..........................)

Awwww...............peace and harmony again. Agree to respectfully disagree. That's the spirit.......[Y] Carl. P.S. Scotty - you need more disclaimers

About time. It has been getting rather stale in here lately........... Carry on. Carl.

He meant the Toshiba upscaler - not the Magnavox Blu-ray. Carl.

I guess that I would have to respectfully disagree with you on this one, Glenn. If and I emphasize IF, this Toshiba unit upscales dramatically better than the existing upscaling units (I own one of the Albatross HD-DVD units and it upscales pretty damned nicely), then there may be a market for this player yet. Sure, Blu-ray players will continue to come down in price even with the absence of competition, but the bottom line is that the average Joe has yet to purchase Blu-ray in large quantities, e.g. discs may be too expensive, players still are too expensive or the rental options are still somewhat limited? If there is a DVD player that can get even closer to HD with standard DVDs, that might be good enough for now for the average Joe watching movies on a high-def LCD or plasma (instead of repurchasing their stock of movies). And leave true HD viewing to dish or cable feeds. I bet if they lowered the price - just a tad lower - say to $100 or $120, they would sell a number of these units. Heck, they might even sell a number of them at $150. What some major mag or review site needs to do is a comparison in upscaling regular DVDs between the HD players and this unit. Carl.

There are Level One owners in here that would disagree with your assessment, but YMMV. Do tell, beyond it being a "good idea," what improvements are claimed for a chip update and the "96/124?" Carl. P.S. Hope that you find whatever you are looking for........

Underwood HiFi who has Parts ConneXion do the mods. http://www.underwoodhifi.com/mods.html Carl.

"Not all SET or PP are created equal...." Agreed, that's why I would recommend one of Craig's fine PP amps for this fine gentleman based on his limited comments thus far..... http://www.nosvalves.com/vrd.htm My pair get loving adoration every time that I am in the "cave." Carl.

Also, remind us about your listening habits, including typical volume and music choice. That would facilitate informed recommendations because there are different types of tube amps, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, just as there are different brands of tube gear. I'm smelling a good PP v. SET discussion from miles away.......... BTW, I also echo the praise for JuicyMusic tube prepros. Carl.

Having owned both, I would not call the RF-7s more mellow and laid than the Corns. Are you sure the horns are functioning on the RF-7s? Carl.

They are shutting down 2nd shift at the plant I work at so Friday Aug 22 I am officialy unemployed. I am taking my last week of vacation next week so my last day at work is this Friday. So just about any weekend is good for me, send me a email. The T20 looks interesting how much did you pay for it? Yes, and where did you order it from? Carl.

Hmmmm........Indeed, tell us more since there are a few of us that have played around with amps similar to the King Rex (but on a lower scale) and were waiting for someone to try it. Yes, did you get the PSU? Have you tried it with and without the PSU - and what sonic differences have you heard? Are you running it straight from a source without a pre? What other amps/integrated could you compare it to in addition to the Rogue Tempest? Carl.

Thanks, Arky. Well, when my son was two, he kept putting hot wheels down the tuning ports in one of my former subs in the family room (A HSU), which necessitated me taking the sub apart. On a lark, I moved one of my subs (cylinder SVS) from downstairs up to the family room under the premise that he could no longer put toys in it. She looked at, cocked her head, and never said a thing. It should also be noted that subsequently, I brought the VERY BIG SVS box sub upstairs and put a lamp on it. She arrived home, took one look and said "nope - back downstairs." Carl.

Hmmm.......interesting responses thus far. For me personally, even though I have my "dream" system downstairs, if it ever came down to my wife vs. my speakers, the speakers would be long gone. But, hey - that's just me. To answer your question, I would opt for the RB 81s. Both the RB 81 and RB 61 share the same upper horn, and having owned variants of both speakers, I have found the eight inch woofer to offer a larger sound that its six inch brethren. As far as the whole entertainment center thing goes, your biggest constraint is that with the chosen entertainment center, you are really hampering your center choice. The adage is that for HT, the center speaker is the most important because it carries most of the dialogue, etc. - the heavy lifting - so the bigger the better. I may have walked in your shoes a little bit. When we redesigned our main living room, my wife wanted to go with a lower entertainment center so that she could hide the front speakers behind the cabinets when not in use. I decided that it was a battle not worth fighting. Of course, in full disclosure, it should be noted that I have full reign of my basement for any size (and number of speakers). In any event, I convinced my wife to let me have a say in the choice of the entertainment center, and I purposely looked for one with a center cavity large enough to accommodate my "large" center of choice upstairs: my RC-7. It took some searching, but we finally ordered a nice entertainment center from Ballard Designs in which my RC-7 and a pair of Reference bookshelves sit. If you can still steer her to another entertainment center choice (one that would accommodate a larger center), do it. If the furniture choice is already a done deal, it is what it is - and I agree with your choice of a RB 61 as a center - given the constraints. If I were you, since you are heading towards bookshelf speakers, I would also opt for a larger sub than the RW10d. My entertainment center system upstairs (99% movies only) is anchored by a nice large SVS cylinder sub. Again, the bigger the better sub-wise. Basically, get the largest and/or most capable sub that you can get. As far as the Fortes go, having lovingly owned a pair, I would not give them to your son just yet. Just because the Fortes are banished from the living room does not necessarily mean that you can't put them somewhere else in the house. What about downstairs?? Heck, I would even put them as the garage system if you have to. All you need for a portable, cheap two-channel system is a CD player and a digital chip amp (if in a crunch). Holding onto speakers even when you don't know where to put them at the given moment can pay off down the road. I kept a pair of JBL cabaret 4612 speakers tucked away even when I was tempted to get rid of them (and had nowhere to really put them). Then, after many months.........they eventually became the portable patio speakers.......then the garage speakers.......and wouldn't you know.........after having the compromised "entertainment center" system upstairs for two years, they have made an appearance in the family room. And they are still in there. [:^)] If the JBLs get kicked out of the "family room," I'll find another place for them (again). Even if you end up getting RB 81s with a nice sub, you will still miss your Fortes for two-channel. Just find another place in the house for them. Bottom line: good luck and let us know how it goes. Carl.

Sure, try and downplay the beloved "TrackTrix." JBL lover [:$] Are you sure that you can discern an improvement, even if if was there was one????[] You still haven't heard mine yet............. Carl. P.S. Lest it be misconstrued, the above post was made in jest and was not intended to offend anyone................. P.S.II I would consider Al's "Trachorn" - the"TrackTrix" type horn - more of a considerable upgrade than was previously suggested. To my ears, it was a better upgrade than different crossovers. Of course, YMMV. The difference with the Trachorns becomes even greater once you swap out the K55s. P.S. III Having owned both, I would consider the move from RF-7s to Cornwalls a lateral move at best - and more likely, a step backwards. I would consider the move from RF-7s to Khorns an upgrade - even with exponential in place (and with the caveat of freshened caps). Of course, YMMV.

I've had my Peach for many years, and I still prefer the sound of the Lo Z mode, even without subwoofers. I use Lo Z 98% vs. Hi Z 2 %. There is little clarity lost in the Lo Z mode, and my RF-7s performed better than in that mode. Of course, others have preferred the sound of the Hi Z mode, and YMMV. Carl. Yes. Some people hear a bit more "speed" and HF extension in LoZ, and prefer that sound. Also, I should point out that when I say "slightly less clarity" I am talking about extremely SUBTLE differences, not some sort of big difference. All these differences are in the last 1% or 2%. I compensate a little bit by running two of the classic NOS in that slot: original low-noise Siemens CCAs. Somewhat costly, but I always figured that with a lifespan of 15,000+ hours, it all averaged out in the long run (at least to me). As always, love your Peach and all of your products, and it is unlikely that I will ever change my preamp. Carl.

I've had my Peach for many years, and I still prefer the sound of the Lo Z mode, even without subwoofers. I use Lo Z 98% vs. Hi Z 2 %. There is little clarity lost in the Lo Z mode, and my RF-7s performed better than in that mode. Of course, others have preferred the sound of the Hi Z mode, and YMMV. Carl.

Booootiful!!!!! Congrats. The fine craftsmenship is evident from the photos. Well done, Klipsch. Another vote for 2-channel. Those RF-7s would make nice surrounds. Carl.

Bucking the consensus, as far as best bang for the buck, I'd take Fortes over Cornwalls. Corns are "larger sounding" than Fortes, but I prefer both the Forte I and Forte IIs' midrange to the Corns' mids, and to my ears the Fortes provide a more balanced sound than Corns. And yes, I've owned both. Of course, YMMV and I can see the opposite point of view........... Carl.

The above poster claims to have previously owned Reference and Polk speakers yet he just registered in the Klipsch forum today for the first time. And his first three posts laud B & W speakers while bashing others' choices. Hmmmm.....I smell a troll. Amy better keep an eye on this one..... Carl. BTW, incredible set up Roger. I look forward to hearing/seeing it someday........

Laidlaw v. Organ, 15 U.S. 178 (1817).

Geez, my comment was made in jest - and not intended to offend. I guess I should have PM'd you instead and kept it an inside remark. You know that if I didn't already have Trachorns, I would have pulled the trigger on that combo by now ......... No more ribbin' from this corner.......[:^)] In any event, I agree with your general proposition above. C.

Does the same logic apply to the K402/69 combo? [*-)][] Carl.

Agree. While the K 79 is a better overall tweeter than the K 77 (don't get me started), when I used all of my Fortes, I ended replacing the K 79s in my Fortes with tweeters that have less grain. I'm sure that Bob's titanium dia replacements are probably the best upgrade way to go. There is another direction I went however. I really like the Eminence drivers that Bob uses for his CT 125s and have even preferred the sound of that tweeter over Beymas and JBLs. Plus, I like the sound of phenolics over titanium (just my personal preference). The Eminence driver that Bob uses is available with other horn lenses. The APT 80 supertweeter (same driver, different horn) fits right into the Forte tweeter slot without modification. The caveat is that it since it is square there is space left over to fill. I simply cut a custom square piece of thin plywood and filled in the remaining space. Again, Bob's titanium dias are probably the way to go, but the APT 80s are pretty cheap at $60 a pair (still available over at usspeaker.com). The APT 80 is slightly more efficient than the K 79 it replaces, and therefore, you will get a slight volume bump. Whether that matters to you or not, your ear would have to decide. Worse case scenario, just use a couple of cheap L-pads to attenuate. Just a though of another route. Carl.