RichardP
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Posts posted by RichardP
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Regarding the receiver with built-in Tivo DVR, is it not the case that you must subscribe to Tivo at $5/month to be able to record anything at all? Although it conveniently has the true DD 5.1 optical out, I am under the impression that you can't use a Tivo recorder like a VCR unless you subscribe to the monthly service.
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I saw recently that Voom was in financial trouble, and then today it was announced that Voom had been sold to Dish Network (EchoStar). Voom only had 26,000 customers (thats 0.02% of all US households; DirecTV and Dish together serve about 20 million US homes), and had an operating loss of $75 million, with only about $5 million of assets. I sure hope satellite technology and economics get better.
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Thanks for the replies, although I am surprised at so few responses after 3 days. Surely a lot of you have universal DVDs and play DVD-As & SACDs (I gather this from the music recommendations thread each week). Could I get any opinion by anyone who has a universal player, regardless of price? I have spent a good deal of time over at the AVS forum; there is an overwhelming amount of info on many models (mostly Denon), and from that info it seems that almost every player between $100-$1000 has some sort of video problem (chroma bug, etc.), or a bass management problem, or other problem (even ones I don't really understand); it is actually hard to get a bottom line (recommend/don't recommend) on any of them.
Because I spend most of my forum time here and not at AVS, I apparently value sound quality over video quality, so maybe the audio attributes are more important to me, if that helps anyone's recommendations.
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For those of you asking about the extra receiver boxes, yes, you have to have a separate box for each TV, and the last time I looked, each one beyond the first one costs you $5.00 extra per month.
A word of advice: When they say they will make you a deal, as in cutting the price on something or giving you 5 free receivers instead of 4, be sure to get that person's employee number or name so you can verify their offer later. I left Dish because a "customer service representative" told me they would sell me a DVR/receiver for $80, rather than the usual $99, because I subscribed to a large movie package, paying $79/month. I called back the next day to set up the purchase and installation, and the new person said "Oh, no one could have told you $80, it's definitely $99" and this was the story up the line to the supervisor level. That's called lowballing (as in a car salesperson having to "check with the manager" on the agreed upon price, then coming back and claiming "he wouldn't go for it"). I was so angry that I cancelled my service and switched back to DirecTV.
But of course, as I posted above, both companies are using less and less bandwidth for regular transmission, which produces noticeable compression artifacts. The fact that compression already seems worse on the Fox channels, and Fox's parent company, NewsCorp, bought DirecTV last year, does not bode well for the future quality of standard signals. Maybe things will improve when most/all channels are eventually transmitted in HD. Of course, cable and satellite broadcasts do not have to follow the FCC timetable for switching over to HD.
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I have been enjoying DVD-A disks for a few months, but playing only the DD 5.1 tracks, as I do not have a multi-channel DVD player. The DD 5.1 sounds great, by the way. I want to get a universal player to play both DVD-A and SACD as they were intended. Until recently I was planning on getting the Yamaha universal changer (DV-C750) at about the $300 price point. Then I learned that Yamaha also has the DV-C6770, which appears to be the same item (similar marketing strategy as their RX-V vs. HTR receiver lines, I guess), at $250 online. However, I can find only three user reviews of either online (one at audioreview.com and two on other AV forums), and two of the three users report defective units which froze up in normal play. So much for that model. I thought I wanted a changer, but I would give up the changer function to have a single drawer player that works reliably. So, my question is which model of universal DVD player would anyone recommend for under $500? I do not want to risk any used items, nor do I want to pay more than $500 (much less if possible), as HD-DVD (or Blu-Ray) format is on the horizon. But, I am not sure I want the ultra-cheap units (e.g., Pioneer 578) either. I have an HD monitor RPTV, so a model with a digital connection (DVI, HDMI, or whatever) may serve me better than one with only component video connections. Someone posted this exact question about 6 months ago, but that is a long time in technology/marketing years, so I figure that some of you may have additional newer info. Thanks in advance.
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Living too far out of town to get cable, I have had DirecTV for nine years (with a one year defection to Dish), and I am disgusted and angered at the decline in signal quality over that time period. I've always been able to get upwards of 90% signal strength, but I now see compression artifacts everywhere ("mosquitoes" and macroblocking), the worst being on the local channels, and on the Fox family of channels (Fox local, FX, etc.). DirecTV has gotten really cheap, and presumably are compressing the standard signals a lot to regain bandwidth for their few HD channels. My local AV dealer said they need 6 times the bandwidth for one HD channel, compared to a regular SD channel. I haven't seen typical standard-def cable for some time, but where I live, satellite is no longer such a great miracle.
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Thanks for all your interest. I will try some of your suggestions this week. That adhesive is a smelly, gooey mess. Once I get it off, and if it appears that the plywood defect/knothole can't be made to look any better, I will just replace the glass. Remember that the glass is opaque smoked/black, so whatever the speaker top looks like, it won't be visible. I just want to mount the new glass securely enough so that it won't fall off if the speaker is tipped on its side.
As far as the type of glass to use, I am not yet certain. I was stunned by the cost of tempered glass in my area. Just a month ago I inquired about a tempered glass sheet to put on top of my RPTV, which is supporting the weight of my Quartet center speaker. I needed one about 50"x14"x 1/4"; the cheapest estimate was $45, another was $65. I ended up using a particle board shelf ($4), and painted it to match the TV cabinet.
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Regarding the cracked black glass tops mounted on my 83 Cornwalls, I tried some of the removal tips you guys gave me a few days ago. Here is what I found:
The glass tops were mounted not with adhesive tape (I wish!), but unfortunately with a lot (and I mean a lot) of some type of tough liquid adhesive. Enough was slathered on to cover about 40% (!)of the entire top surface of the speaker, and appeared to have been applied out of a squeeze tube or even a caulk-type cartridge. Clearly, the glass tops were not meant to come off.
The adhesive is dark green, and as I heated it, it smelled very strong, of something petroleum based (probably not petroleum, but strong chemical smell nonetheless).
To remove the glass, I had to heat a section with an iron, then get a round knife blade under an edge, work it under the glass as far as possible, and then lift enough to break off a piece of glass. There is so much adhesive on the top, that I could not do it any other way. Fortunately, it looks like I did not damage the plywood very much. Small scratches are the least of my worry now. It is also fortunate that the glass was not tempered, or I probably could not have broken off pieces of it.
What is left is a huge amount of adhesive still stuck to the speaker top, now embedded with many tiny glass fragments and shards. I will have to use something like De-solve it, or Goo-B-Gone, or else get a heat gun, and scrape it up with plastic putty knife. The birch plywood speaker top, while previously finished (by a previous owner) in an attractive walnut or dark cherry, seems to have a naturally occuring blemish on the top, kind of like a knothole, that did not take the finish well; one area is too light, and an adjacent area is too dark. The owner must have decided to mount the glass to cover it.
I guess my plan now is to replace the glass, once I scrape off the old adhesive. I cannot imagine doing the other speaker. I could use advice on an adhesive method that would hold the glass on under most conditions, but could be removed more easily than what I encountered today, should I decide to refinish the top someday.
Thanks again for all the help.
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Wow, I never thought I would get this much great advice. Thanks to all!!!
Zapper, I may try this weekend, when there's a lot of time and light. Thebes, you seem to know too much about me...I will be sure to remind myself to take it slow. I wouldn't care if I broke the glass, but I sure don't want to screw up the finish. Various tool ideas are great, too. Thanks again.
Oh..and yes, yes, yes, I will wear eye protection!
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Thanks for the quick replies.
Hallwalker, I will definitely try the hairdryer before a clothes iron.
Michael, I think you are suggesting that the utility knife cuts through the adhesive; unfortunately, the adhesive strips are set back as much as 1" from the edge of the speaker top, thus a regular razor blade knife may not be long enough. I do think that if I can softened up the adhesive, a thin blade of any type might cut through it.
Also, assuming that I get the glass off, how would I remove adhesive residue from the speaker top? From a small gap in the broken glass, it looks like the tops also got the cherry finish before glass was installed, so I hope that all this will not require me to refinish the tops.
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I purchased Cornwall's a little while back, which have black smoked glass tops that were installed by an owner prior to the one I purchased from. One corner of the glass was broken in previous shipping, and I want to either take off both tops, or depending on the difficulty I encounter, replace only the broken one. The tops look OK aesthetically, but the 1"x2" broken area is obvious.
The tops appear to be held on by some type of 2-sided adhesive strips placed around the perimeter of the cabinet top. I don't want to simply start prying them up, as that would likely damage the wood. These cabinets appear to be plywood that someone finished nicely in dark cherry.
I can imagine that gently heating the glass with an iron might soften up the adhesive, but I haven't tried it yet. I wouldn't know what temperature to use, and I don't know how the wood plys would react to heat.
Can anyone help with some suggestions?
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John Coltrane "Giant Steps" CD Rhino/Atlantic Jazz Deluxe 1998 (recorded in 1960). This is among my favorite jazz albums of all time. It's a quartet around Coltrane's sax, and most numbers have an up-tempo intensity. I think it would be a good introduction to classic 1950s-60s jazz quartet for someone not familiar with that genre.
I also have to recommend Dave Brubeck "Time Out" CD Columbia Jazz 1996/1959. It features his famous "Take Five" cut. Another standard that anyone should have who is even remotely interested in jazz.
Both remasters sound very good.
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The cheapest and simplest route is to get a KG 2.2v for the center, leaving the 2.2s as rears. However, if you are set on having a rear center, maybe get another pair of 2.2s for center and rear. I think they go for about $200/pr or less on Ebay auctions. A shielded 2.2v is necessary if going on top of or very near a regular CRT TV, but if you have a rear projection TV, a regular 2.2 can sit on top without distorting the picture.
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I just helped a friend do the same thing. Both Popular Photography and Consumer Reports recommended Nikon, Canon, and Fujifilm models, all between 2 & 3 megapixels, and all around $150 (at Walmart, etc). These are the equivalent of similar priced point&shoot film cameras. All have a 3x zoom lens. All their recommendations are slightly out of date, so the specific model #s won't necessarily be the same, but you should be able to identify those in the price and MP range. One or more may not come with a memory chip, and will need one (128 mB is about $40). All should have software for image editing and management and USB connector for downloading to computer.
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If you have access to a good audio store with a repair facility, see if they will recone the speaker. I think I have also seen ads in the back of audio magazines from companies who do this. I would much rather pay someone to do it well instead of fumbling with it myself. It should not cost that much to recone. If that is not an option, email Klipsch customer service and see if replacement parts or speakers are available. The Quartet uses the K-10-K woofer (go to the product specs from the front page of this site). If you must replace the entire driver, get one and see if you hear a difference between the intact Quartet and the repaired one; if no difference, you don't need to replace the speaker in the intact one.
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----------------On 12/15/2004 2:50:03 PM cablacksmith wrote:The first system I had that cost more than a mere pittance was purchased in 1977 from a high end shop in Fayetteville N.C. Sound Systems Inc. Yamaha had just come out with their first high end equipment. I went in looking just to see what they had. Well I fell in love with a Mac 225 running a pair of Khorns but that was out of reach for a lowly E4 in the army. So I walked out with a Yamaha Ca600 integrated amp, CT400 tuner, B&O 1900 turntable, Tandberg 1900x reel to reel and a pair of Yamaha NS 600 speakers. I still have everything but the speakers as they were stolen when I shipped them home on my exit from the army. The reel to reel needs a new drive belt but other than that it is in great shape. The turntable needs a new lid as the spring that held it up broke the plastic tabs that it attached to and the amp sits on my spare equipment rack but the tuner is still in daily use with my current system.----------------
Coincidentally, I just purchased a refurbished Yamaha CA-600 off Ebay for $50 to use in an office 2-channel setup w/Cornwalls; a pretty amp that matches my old Yamaha CT-410 tuner (which escaped the burglaries).
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I recently went on a trip down memory lane while looking at Ebay audio items, where I saw nearly all the components I had purchased as my first good quality system in about 1975. That first system was a Harman Kardon 330B receiver, Small Advent speakers, and a Pioneer turntable. The next year I added the Advent cassette tape recorder. Those items are long gone, having been burglarized a few years later. In fact, another burglary in 1989 started me on my Klipsch journey: after having read the 1986 Stereo Review article raving about the Forte, I took advantage of a good insurance settlement and came home with a Klipsch+Denon system, and I've never looked back.
How about waxing nostalgic and describe your first good system, i.e., when you decided to step up from the family record player or the ubiquitous all-in-one console stereo center. I know there is a large age range here, and some of your systems (and memories) will be much older than others. In other words, what as your first step in this musical journey? You could even mention your first exposure to Klipsch speakers, if they were not your first.
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----------------On 12/12/2004 9:44:06 PM Rdmarsiii wrote:Well, you're welcome!!!!
----------------Spoken, I presume, as "Nick Burns, your company's computer guy."
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Buying used (Ebay, Audiogon, want ads, pawn shops) is nearly always a less expensive option, and if you like the KG line, stick with it. I used to have a Forte+KG2.2 system. The 2.2V is a good center speaker. 2.2s (or 3.2s, 4.2s, 2.5s, etc.) all around would fill most rooms, and with a subwoofer, would sound great. I only sold mine when I went to Fortes all around. 2.2s go for $100-$150/pr, and the others proportionally more. You could also use a KV-2 or KV-3 as center. I agree that the KG .5 is not an adequate for a full HT system; that little 5" woofer just cannot handle deep or loud bass. I bought a used pair for use as remote speakers on top of my kitchen cabinets, and alas they were too big by 1/8"! I then set them up in my computer room as a small 2-channel system, but it was easy to cause low freq distortion. When I put an inexpensive Velodyne subwoofer with them (which diverted 80 Hz signals and below), they sounded quite good for that application. If you don't have a need for another small system, you can still keep the KG .5s for eventual use as front or rear effects speakers, in a 7.1 channel set up, if your receiver (and room layout, signif other, etc.) offers/allows that. If that is not an option, they will probably sell well on Ebay for $60-$90 or so per pair.
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I have nearly that exact system. I got Fortes for 2 ch in 1989, then eventually moved them to rears, getting two Forte IIs for fronts, and their little-sibling Quartet for a center last year. The Quartet, with riser off, is small enough (40 lbs.) to go on top of most RPTVs. Quartets have same midrange and tweeter as Forte IIs, so essentially an exact timbre match across the front. I use an RW-12 for a sub, and could probably use a larger one, but the RW-12 definitely asserts itself even in my 18x24x9+ room.
Clearly, three Fortes across the front, with Fortes or Quartets in rear, will be nearly unsurpassable.
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My experience after one year with Netflix is certainly different than MarksDad's. It is true that they do not have new releases as soon as big video rental stores; it seems to be about a month afterwards. I don't know what MD means by "their queue was limited." Netflix states they have 15,000 titles on hand. I have never had to wait to get the next movie in my queue. They have multiple distribution sites, so DVDs ship very quickly. Of dozens of DVDs I have received from them, a couple were scratched, but not so badly as to be unplayable. I did get one that was cracked and unplayable (they ship via USPS in a relatively unprotective envelope) but I went online to report it, and they sent me a replacement even before I returned the bad one.
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Don't forget about the Forte's little brother/sister the Quartet. It is only an inch or two smaller in all dimensions, but if you take the riser off, it makes a reasonably-sized center speaker (40 lbs.) with an obviously near-perfect match to the Forte. Quartets actually have the tractix midrange horn (like Forte IIs), while the Forte I has the exponential horn, but that's a pretty small difference. You can buy a pair of Quartets for the price of a single Academy. If you have a 6.1 or 7.1 receiver, the second Quartet can be used for a rear center.
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I had a similar motive a while back, but never actually purchased anything. I did read somewhere, perhaps on AVSForum, that several people liked the Onkyo HT-in-a-box. Also, although name brand does not always guarantee quality, I would possibly go for a Yamaha, as they do make both quality electronics and speakers at higher price points. If you look at any of these HTIB, note that some come with a DVD player and some don't.
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They send them to you in the order you select. You can also rearrange that order to your liking. The ones you have selected are listed/waiting in your "queue." The queue also tells you if there is a wait (almost never, in my experience). Once you send a movie back, you will get the next one in about a week. I try to space out my receipt/sending of each movie so that I have one every 3-4 days; while I have one, another is being sent. I figure that with shipping times figured in, and keeping a movie no more than 1-2 days, you can get about 12 movies per month, which means about $1.50 per movie. I am extremely happy with Netflix, and have not visited a video store in over a year. The 3-movie-out option was $19.99 when I started, then increased to $21.99, and now has dropped due to competition to $17.99. When does that ever happen?
OT: where do you save what?
in General Klipsch Info
Posted
For CDs and DVDs, I use www.half.com (owned by Ebay). The sellers have the same feedback record as on Ebay, only the prices are fixed (not an auction). For most of the 60 or so that I purchased over the past year, the half.com prices were better than auction starting or ending prices. Shipping is cheaper also, as all CDs or DVDs are sent via media mail, usually about $2.75; auctioners usually charge much more for shipping. Half.com also has a special section of 100s of CDs under $2.99, and DVDs under $7.99. I have only had to send 3 or 4 back because they were scratched or otherwise unplayable.