Deang

Another excellent post.

Excellent post. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more! Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Pretty cool design. After all the painting I've done, I'm wondering if it might not be easier just to vinyl veneer those shelves.

Yep, I'm a wuss. 100db is about as high as I can go and still enjoy it, and even with that -- maybe just a couple of songs. You guys need the wax cleaned out of your ears!!

I sent you some mail Mike. Craig, sent you some mail too. Yeah, I did the zoning in bit -- then I zoned out! I was counting the wires on the 9 pin. I had a vision of using the braid to pull the old solder off -- and then the whole thing coming undone like an old watch -- BOING.

I had the meter sitting on my listening chair. However, I was WAY back at the end of the room! I took the reading as I walked past the chair to turn it down.

...and Craig says, "When you gonna say something about the Scott?" "What is there to say man? It's great." "Have you opened up the bottom of that thing yet." "Nope, I saw what you did on the 299a I had, so I figured you did pretty much the same on the 299b." "Naw man, you gotta go in there and look." "I'll get around to it eventually, right now -- I'm buried in RF-7 and DQ-10 crossover parts." "Well man, you GOTTA go in there and check it out -- I busted my butt on that thing." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I've haven't done ANY critical listening on the downstairs system at all -- until this week. My focus was on the upstairs. I spent the better part of a month dialing it in. Most of that time was spent on speaker placement and room acoustics. No small chore moving 100 pound speakers on spikes, an inch at a time. I finally developed an additional brain cell or two, and ended up removing the spikes so I could move the RF-7's around easier. This system is complete. The Quicksilvers, though not possessing the transparency of the Apollos at the lower listening levels -- are fearsome driving the RF-7's. I love the warmth and huge, expansive soundstage of the EL-34's. At high power, everything stays together without a trace of grain or strain. It is simply the best system I have ever heard for the music I listen to up there. It was finally time to see what was really going on with the Scott and Cornwalls. I had already rewired the Cornwalls, damped the areas I was concerned with, found the right cable, caulked the inside edge of the frame where the back fits in, and screwed the backs on with some nice stainless steel screws and finishing washers. The Scott has been patient, primarily pulling duty for two-channel HT. Some music, sometimes loud just for fun -- but no serious listening or judgment of the sound. Craig had sent me his Telefunkens, and the resistors I needed if I was going to try the triode mod. We had been bantering on the phone about this mod business. I want as much Class A as the Scott can give me, Craig wants me just to try it. Craig wants me to get what brain I have -- out of the way, and just try it. He's actually being the sensible one here. I have no problem tearing my RF-7's down and throwing in some new parts. Speakers are cake -- amps OTOH, scare the hell of me. Last night, I decided I was going to have a serious listen. Which I did for a couple of hours. I then decided I wanted to put the Telefunkens in. I had the Scott pulled out, and KNEW Craig was going to ask me again if I pulled the bottom off while I had her out. I have no idea how this guy gets his iron in some of these places. I'm without a doubt hampered by only having vision out of one eye, but even with two eyes -- I'm not so sure I get into some of those places without burning parts, myself, and Lord knows what else. I was checking the instructions Craig had sent for placement of the resistors. "Nothing to this mod", he tells me on the phone. "Just unhook the orange wire from the 7169, and strap the resistor between the 7 and 9 pin." So, I'm looking in there. Looking in there very hard. I get the flash light. Folks, this just ain't happening. I was laughing out loud while looking at this. I'm going to need a major psyche-up session before I tackle this. I invited Debbie over to take a peek with me. She started laughing too. My nick-name is "Mr. Fix It", and my motto is, "If ain't broke -- it will be." While contemplating my soldering skills, I was staring at the bottom of the amp. "What the hell?" I started seeing quite a few things that were different than the 299a I had. One thing in particular was the simply fantastic job he did adding the additional power supply filtration. "Ah, I think to myself -- this is what that clown wanted me to see." This looked anything but simple, and had to have taken awhile to complete. Craig always takes care of me. Thanks Craig -- awesome. So how does it sound. Excellent, but definitely better with the Telefunkens in it. I like the sound of Craig's Scotts a lot. I like them as well as anything I've had in this house over the last year. For you newbies -- that's an endorsement of the highest order. As far as the system as a whole: I have the same thoughts that I had with the NosValves 299a and the Heresies -- extremely musical. It's a system that makes you forget about the equipment, and just listen to the music. BTW Craig -- When I decide to do the mod, I'm sending it down to you. Uh -- I can't carry your toolbox if you catch my meaning here.

This is one of my other 'systems'. Compact, and can be easily moved into any room of the house. 'It' also does 110 db.

Trust me on this -- I'll never do it again. Yeesh.

If you know a place where I can find Telefunkens at $25, please tell me. I haven't seen a Smoothplate anywhere for less than $50 each.

Of course they're keepers -- they're two-ways.

It would be nice if Klipsch made the impedance curves public. Think I'll try those 4 ohm taps on the Scott and see what the Cornwalls do. Craig -- don't say a word.

I need 4 Telefunken 12ax7 Smoothplates for my Scott 299b. If you're running a Scott, and you're not using these tubes in the preamp section -- start saving your money. Craig sent me a batch of these to try out for a while, and I'm freaking floored by the improvement.

The ears don't lie. 8 ohm taps for those -- definitely. Those must have been made on April 1st.

Pretty sure those are KG 5.5's. Nice. http://www.klipsch.com/products/productspecs.asp?id=115&line=Home

Al's a walking encyclopedia -- what did he have you do?

Yep, solid state amp distortion specs are taken "with both channels driven at rated output". The 'dirty' little secret is that solid state is cleaner when opened up. The distortion is higher at lower power. Tubes, OTOH -- are cleaner down low, and even when overdriven -- clip so gracefully the distortion at the higher levels is quite tolerable.

Great thread. Quite a few things I've never heard before, looks like I'll be buying more CD's. The Man in Black is back. Amazing. I think I'll definitely have to check it out. Seems a lot of you like Tool -- I'm not sure I've even heard them before.

Agreed. You're in an apartment, on a budget, and low power ANYTHING is going to sound better than a higher power receiver. With higher powered solid state, transistors are doubled up resulting in some nasty crossover distortion. A 30 watt integrated is a good choice, and just about right for the RB-5's in the room you'll be in. I think you'll be surprised at how loud it can get when you want it to be -- surely enough to annoy your wonderful neighbors. In the price range your shopping at, just make sure you do your homework. There MAY be a better unit for the same amount of money. Have you considered buying something slightly used off of AudiogoN? Savings are in the extreme. I haven't bought a new piece in over a year.

neato Give me 3 days with that puppy, and when you get it back you won't even recognize it. Hey Mike, you got a time table for me sending that vault to Edmond? No biggie, just curious.

Peter, I heard that if you use too much of the linseed oil at once, it will go and then stay 'tacky'. Ever have that problem with it? The previous owner of my Cornwalls used a product called 'Howards Restore-a-Finish. He finished off with 'Howards Orange Oil'. I was so impressed with look of the Cornwalls when I got them, that I decided to try these products on my Dad's JBL Aquarius IV towers while rebuilding them. I was very pleased with the outcome. I've been using the Orange Oil on my Cornwalls to great effect.

Me being a bit of the religious type, I've become engrossed and fascinated by the lyrics of new genre of alternative. In spite of the dark edge to most of it, it is clear that most of these guys are searching. There is a general lashing out at God for seemingly letting things get out of control, anger at religion for polluting minds with concepts that clash against the pure truth, and words that express the battle that rages in our hearts. I spent a good hour last night trying to decipher the meaning of the lyrics of the new 'Disturbed' CD 'Believe'. Deep and cryptic stuff. At the end of the liner notes is: "I'd like to thank God for the gift of this music." Young, angry people. It's always interested me how differently people approach their search, and how God can move anyone into His circle of influence using any means. Whether it be through anger or compassion -- the search takes one to the same place. I watched this happen in the 80's with Kansas, Foreigner, Yes, and a slew of others.

"The gain controls on that preamp will be controlling the voltage being applied to the grid of the driver tubes" Doesn't this mean that when I turn the knobs down, I'm changing what the driver tubes were originally spec'd to run at? I mean, if a preamp is designed to deliver 20db of gain, I would imagine the amount of gain isn't really controlled the same way my gain controls do (changing the voltage being applied to the driver tubes). Did I miss the import of your explanation?

Thanks.

Just curious.