D-MAN

I think that you would be fine if you stop at the end of the horn mouth (i.e. the end of the cabinet), like the JBL Hartsfield which has a fully enclosed horn also, you will not hurt anything and you will have a nicer looking package... It is an interesting note that of all of the famous corner horns of the past, Klipsch is the only one that did not fully enclose the horn all the way. DM

As I found out on another thread after I pooh-pooed the CAT-5 idea (and was gently corrected) that the recommended approach to using CAT5 for speaker cables uses 3 or 4 sets (for a tot of 25) together to make up one speaker cable. If you did that, then the damping factor and resistance problems associated with small wires is greatly reduced... DM

Well, I can see both sides... It is far easier (and possibly more rewarding in the short term) to spend a few dollars on "little" tweaks than to seriously address an acoustics problem (typically BIG $$ unless you can do it yourself). How many of us are actually PERMANENTLY located? I am not going to purposely give my house a "white-elephant" room with uneven walls and ceilings, and sound-absorbing underlayments, etc. Most potential home buyers don't care if it's acoustically perfect. They just want a place to watch TV, do their sewing, etc. and they may want to use it for (gasp!) other-than-audio-purposes. Since I don't add anything to the overall sellable price of the house by accoustic modifications to a particular space, it really is not a good investment dollar-wise. The tweaks like cables and interconnects can go with me; the acoustically perfect room cannot. So I completely understand both points of view, but I have to go with the "transportable" tweaks for now. DM

Oh, yeah, one more: try "Accoustic Alchemy" ; Mostly guitar-work with electronics; later cds also has a "Gypsy Kings" stylishness to the guitar work. Give this a try; I think that it will fit your bill... DM

Here you go: 1) Rippingtons (any) ; later stuff has that "Gypsie Kings style guitar work... varied styles, tends to be at an album level 2) SpiroGyra (any); varied styles within each album but easily recognisable 3) Flim & the BB's (any) ; totally awesome on Khorns, known for better recordings DM

This is far easier to actually do than it is to explain sensibly... It is true that respective pairs of speakers should use the same length of wire. Consider the front pair as a single set of matched length wires and the rear pair as another set of wires which should be equal length but not necessarily the same length as the front pair. As each pair of speakers is handled by the multi-channel amp as a formal pair (i.e., front volume, rear volume, etc.) you should pair up the cable lengths accordingly. The front pair and rear pair do not need to be the same length; only the wires to the respective pairs should be the same length. Does that make sense? This is so that the overall resistance/inductance of the speaker wires in question is the same for the pair of speakers allowing for better and easier balancing between the respective pair of speakers. DM

If you are not going to totally crank it up all the way, then don't worry about it. If you think that you MIGHT overdrive the speakers such as with HT stuff, then get the less powerful amp just to be safe. DM

Ain't it the truth?! great music=MUST BE BAD recording! It goes the other way too, great recording;bad music. Do you guys remember "RETURN TO FOREVER" LP titled "Romantic Warrior"? that was the cat's meow for stereo demos back in the late 70's... who cared about the music - it was a show off platter! DM

Somebody here posted the same question about some '60-ish Khorns that DID INDEED have the same throat inclusions as you described. He included a drawing in his thread. The forum member concensus has it that they were included as some sort of a test at the time for a new woofer or something. No definitive answers from KlipschCO on it. DM

Sounds suspiciously like a bad capacitor in the power supply. If it is, it will only get worse until it fails completely. It may actually blow up (been there, done that), who knows... It could take out a bunch of stuff when it does, including your speakers. There is little that a fuse can do to save your speakers as they rarely blow fast enough for catastophic equipment failures, in my opinion. DM

There is no definitive answer, but I have come to believe that there IS a break-in period required to smooth things out. It seems to vary but after 72 hours total playing time, you should start to hear a difference. This subject is basically opinions only... I have never heard of any empirical testing on the matter... DM

I think that Al K. either under-rated the fuses in the ALK's or that the quality control on the fuses that he used are questionable. I have ALK's in my Khorns and I have also blown the fuse in one of them. So I removed both fuses as being essentially pointless. I was nowhere near 80 watts avg. either, which is well below what the speakers themselves can handle safely... Don't panic yet... DM

One more thing, seriously: Get a house where you each have your "own" room. She can have her fooferah and you can have your LS's. It is healthy and productive. Keep you stuff out of "her" living room, and all will be well. Otherwise, my advise is: BAIL NOW. Not having La Scalas is going to be the least of your worries! DM

A buddy of mine sells that stuff and he reports that the number 1 reason for subwoofer failure and subsequent warranty return is: BLOWN AMP. Not the speaker - the built-in POS amp. So there you go, you're right in with the crowd... DM

You should have specific goals in mind first. Some issues are best resolved outside of the speaker in the room, rather than inside it. But since you have them open already, here are some GENERALITIES concerning some speaker tweaks... a) tighten the bass - add acoustic dampening material. in the case of a bare back wall, it will effect the reflections coming through the woofer(s). Reducing this will certainly impact the midrange response, but may tighten up the bass a little. The physics behind this is that reflections are reduced and the internal volume "seen" by the speaker is enlarged, usually but not always resulting in cleaner low frequencies when applicable. Note that Dynamat is not as efficient or as effective as 2 or 3 inches of fiberglass, but is thinner and less messy and can be used in strips for fine tuning, etc. Beware when using fiberglass, etc., that you can OVERSTUFF a cabinet, and your freq response will suffer accordingly...it will sound unpleasantly "muffled". I don't understand the foam blocks thing ; if they are loose, you can reglue them in place. There should be nothing loose inside of the cabinet. If you want to remove them, I would stuff the cab with some fiberglass, etc. If they actually are there to perform some internal baffle operation(?), then they should be reinstalled in the proper alignments. The foam is used to reduce internal reflections so pay attention to how it is used if replacing with something else. c) Caulking ; I don't know about using it for gasketing, although it would certainly work. One speaker company that I know of actually uses silicone sealant to mount and seal their woofers to the cabinet, so they don't have to use screws. I prefer the screws as otherwise you have to use a knife to remove drivers. Another use of caulking: I am not a big fan of caulking the back of the woofer driver frame to reduce vibration unless it is plastic or the like. Some prefer to caulk the outsides of the horns to also reduce vibrations. This is entirely up to you; it will not cause problems and might be a noticable improvement. d) WIRING: while you are at it consider changing out the internal wiring to a better grade of wire. Now would be the time. Use a larger diameter wire in such a case. DM

If it enriches your life, then it is money well-spent. If it takes over your life, it is an addiction. If it ruins your life, it is a woman. DM

That is an excellent point. Considering human nature, even if we had the extraodinary already in our homes, we would soon (or eventually) regard it as ordinary or even less... I'm going to really go out on a limb and PSYCHO-BLATHER further: there is a hidden value/meaning in a Klipschorn, beyond simply its cost that others may not appreciate. The personality type attracted to Klipschorns seem to be different than the typical big-buck-spending owners of other high-dollar speakers IMO. The Klipsch owners tend to appreciate the technical and historical achievement involved in the Khorn. They are more interested at a technical level and are "involved" in the ownership of the speaker (I don't know exactly what that means but it's true!). They talk about their respective speakers and tweak and share info about them with others. The other-speaker owners just own expensive speakers like they own expensive cars. Comparitively, I would say that the megabuck speaker owners make no real connection with their respective choices. It's the value that one places on the thing, not simply what it cost. It's how one RELATES to the object, not the object itself... Klipschorn owners seem to relate to their speakers differently than others. I beleive that as a whole "WE" get a sense of satisfaction from Khorns because of who we are and what it represents and seems to embody. And that's a good thing. Am I full of it or WHAT?!! DM

Tom, roger that. DM

Maron, I am interested in what you think about the JBL tweeters. I have been researching the JBL vs. the Beyma tweeters in the "constant directivity" horn. Considering my idea about restraining upper-frequency dispersion, what is your take on this? I thought a "diffraction" horn uses a driver backwards in the throat phase plug; exactly like a "bull" horn. The EV T-35 is nothing like that. So what gives? DM

Tom, sorry, I thought that was you with the JBLs. At any rate, very interesting thought. Do you think that tighter dispersion results in more harshness or edginess? DM

In the vertical position the horizontal dispersion should be about 50 degrees or less. In the horizontal about 100 degrees or so (I guess). If you have low ceilings, of course, the vertical position will cause more reflections from the ceiling. Horizontal position results in more wall reflections, etc. However, the bandwidth reproduced by the tweeter is the same in either mounting all other things being equal. Only the dispersion characteristics would change, along with the room reflections and resultant modes. This part remains a matter of opinion, but I cannot hear any difference concerning "time-delay" whether parallel with the midrange mouth or even diaphram to diaphram alignment. But we all know that it is technically there. I just can't hear any appreciable difference with my particular situation. I am running my tweets in the vertical position. DM

I think that you are after the active tube-driven "X-thing"... I forget what it is actually called. Maybe somebody on the forum does... costs around $100. This is exactly what you want, not a transformer. It has one tube in it, does something with the impedance. Goes between source components... I had one once years ago. DM

Nice setup, dude. I have always put my tube gear on the top shelf for the best air circulation. Doesn't having the shelving above them make it extra hot? Maybe I am just a worry-wart. Is this an unfounded question? DM

Hasn't anybody mentioned this: DUMP HER What's the problem? I ought to have been a marraige counselor... I could have gotten paid for this... DM

Tom, Hey - aren't you the guy with the pair of JBL tweeters on a Khorn bin? Aren't they 120 degrees dispersion both directions? Hmmmmmm. Yeah, I have arrived at the thought of gaining more directional control and less reflectivity problems if I go with less horizontal coverage on the upper horns. In my room which is 13 ft. wide and 7 ft ceiling, I am considering that I could use a 60 degree for more control and less reflections vs. the 90 which I have. For the tweeter, I am running vertical for a 50 degree spread which seems to be fine. The tweeter isn't a major problem. This is an experimental approach to handling a marginal space for Khorns. I ain't sayin that its the only way to go... DM