gullahisland

---------------- On 8/12/2005 4:00:32 PM Allan Songer wrote: An employee of mine is retiring and selling off his entire system which he purchased new back in 1991. I already offered the Well Tempered vinyl rig with a Lyra Clavis MC cartridge to a fellow Kipsch Forum member, but I have listed the Audio Research stuff on Audiogon for him. The gear consists of a D-125 Power Amp (a real beast, 85 lbs, and EIGHT 6550 tubes, recently replaced), an SP-14 preamp, a hybrid tube/solid state design (tube is a nice old Mullard 6DJ8), and finally a D/A converter model DAC-1. New in 1991 the amp was $3295, the preamp $2495 and the DAC was $3400. Here are the Audiogon listings: http://ads.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1129063273&item http://ads.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?preatube&1129063680&item http://ads.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?dgtlconv&1129063959&item ---------------- Nice gear. I used to own a D-125. It's a terrific amp with plenty of drive. Not "tubey" like a lot of tube gear, but not hard and cold like most solid state. 110 watts of glorious tube power! My only gripe with this particular design is that the tubes sit horizontally which can lead to accelerated wear. There is a fan to help alleviate this, however. It's also dead quiet, so you don't have to worry about increasing your noise floor. I also owned the predecessor, D-115 MKII which was a better amp overall, but not as powerful and a little more temperamental considering that it was an ALL tube design. The D-125 is solid state on the input side and "only" requires eight 6550 output tubes. Just an FYI...The amp actually listed for $4,500 although your friend/employee may have gotten a better deal.

With that Deluxe Line Drive, you'll need to be careful about mating it with an amp that has sufficient output voltage. It's a TRUE passive preamp. Be careful and good luck.

---------------- On 8/10/2005 7:33:10 PM crazytubepower wrote: For about $400-500 you can get an aragon 2004 100wpc pure class A, designed by krell! Great value ---------------- I'm pretty certain that this is NOT pure class A. It might be AB, heavily biased toward A. The 4004 is the 200wpc version and it is DEFINITELY NOT class A.

At the upper end of the price range is the venerable Classe DR-3 and DR-3-VHC (for very high current). At the lower end of the price range is, as you have suggested, the Forte Model 4 or 4A (the "A" has balanced outputs). Either way, you'll have one of the very finest solid state amps around...regardless of price. They're both masterpieces.

---------------- On 8/8/2005 2:51:31 PM Parrot wrote: Let's see, I'm trying to remember how many SET amps McIntosh made. Any McIntosh experts out there who could help? I'm thinking it was somewhere between none and zero. ---------------- After the jazz comment...This may qualify as the SECOND stupidest comment made on this forum. Since when is McIntosh the benchmark for amplifier design and Parrot the arbiter of amplifier suitability?

Office Space Hollywood Shuffle Tommy Boy History of the World Part I

Congrats, Patrick! If you're planning a trip north (I can think of two reasons that you might!), and are leary of shipping these guys again, I cannot think of a better technician than Nick Gowan at True Sound in San Jose. He's a Brit...a tube-lover...esoteric...a gentleman...and an INCREDIBLE technician. I had an Audio Research D-115 MKII that was damaged during shipment from a seller who was, shall we say, optimistic with his description. It needed a lot of help. Nick allowed me to bring it in on a Saturday morning and repaired it while I waited so that I didn't have to make another trip (2 hours each way) to pick it up. If you've seen Toy Story 2, think of the scene where Woody gets his arm sewn back on, his eyeballs polished with a little cotton swab, an airbrush sprayed on his cheeks to make them "rosy" again, and a fresh brush of brown paint to conceal "AnDY" written on the bottom of his shoe. Nick is much younger, but that's the level care and pride that goes into his work. Anyhoo...If you'd like his number, I'd be happy to get you in contact with him. Check around in the Forums on AudiogoN for the many RAVE reviews by others who wouldn't take their cherished gear anyplace else. My email address has changed, so shoot me a PM if you're interested.

---------------- On 7/27/2005 9:34:09 AM silversport wrote: When I picked up mine and transported them home (15 minute trip) via my Avalanche I had them standing up... Remember that these are heavy and if you can get a friend (I did it by myself but my excitement boosted my strength it will be easier to move them. ---------------- Agreed. Transporting them in a pickup truck, it'll be easiest to leave them standing upright. The problem with laying them down is that the brackets which hold the side skirts on will gouge the crap out of your bed (and risk being bent). Without the tops, they have a very low center of gravity. I would place them face-to-face (with a heavy moving pad between them, of course) and tie them together. Then just run a rope to hold them up near the cab and you're set. They won't budge a bit. I also agree that, while it's always easier to have some help in moving them...It can DEFINITELY be done solo. Khorns are actually easier for one person to move than Belles or LaScalas due to their unique shape and smaller footprint. Have fun.

---------------- On 7/26/2005 12:38:59 AM Malcolm wrote: .............., but in California, the Board of Equalization (great name for a tax agency) ....................... ---------------- It's quite appropriate, actually. They take from the rich and give to the poor, disenfranchised illegal aliens. Ain't diversity grand?

---------------- On 7/25/2005 9:21:41 PM 3dzapper wrote: .... but do they really give you the Hersheys? Rick ---------------- LMAO! Rick - You almost made me blast my monitor with the margarita that I was sipping.

---------------- On 7/22/2005 12:36:03 PM PrestonTom wrote: K-Horns 18 ft apart chair is 9-10 back Thus forming and isosceles triangle (and about 2-3 ft in front of the back wall to minimize the "slap-back") ---------------- This is the FIRST K-horn user reporting a proper setup. I know not ALL of you have your K-horns improperly setup, but it seems that the majority do. For example, I know from his pictures that Parrot has his setup correctly and I'm sure there are many others. But I'm surprised by how many of you aren't even CLOSE to getting a proper stereo image. And what's with Colterphoto laying on the ground? Are you people insane? With respect to K-horns, think about it. The speakers sit in the corners, pointing at a 45 degree angle into the room. If the speakers are 14 feet apart, guess where the sweet spot is?...7 feet. (Actually, it's a little closer when you consider that the front of the drivers are actually about a foot from the side walls, so your speakers wouldn't really be 14 feet apart, but rather 12 feet.) So you would, effectivly, be sitting 7 feet from the front wall, but about 5 feet from the front of the speakers. Of course, at this distance, the squawker and tweeters are firing over your head (unless you're sitting on a bar stool) and you're not getting a very nicely blended stereo image anyway. I contend that K-horns absolutely REQUIRE false corners in any room narrower than 18-20 feet. You absolutely MUST sit 9-10 feet away from them in order to get a cohesively blended sound from the drivers. If your room is narrower than 18 feet, you'll be sitting too close to the speakers unless you can "toe them out" and aim the drivers at or slightly behind your listening position. End rant.

---------------- On 7/20/2005 9:36:02 PM theryugobuddy wrote: Dead Alive is so disgusting, blood and vomit drenched, but its non stop action with primitive effects that are absolutely engrossing to watch... ---------------- Very similar to "Dead Alive" is "Evil Dead". Not the silly sequels, but the original. All through Junior High and High School, two of my best friends and I would have an annual "Evil Dead" sleep-over. Deliciously cheesey.

---------------- So if the music sounds better on a cornwall, then the cornwall is the better speaker and it really doesn't matter what the specs say. Afterall, the purpose behind specs is to attach numbers to aspects of the sounds we hear (so it's all about what we hear). ---------------- ...ummm... ...yeah... ...I'm gonna' have to go ahead and disagree with you there... (anybody seen Office Space? that's my best Lumburg impression.)

Hogwash! (to a certain extent) Live music...REAL MUSIC...is very dynamic, regardless of genre. Simply put, the speakers that best recreate the live event are "the best", irrespective of personal taste. K-horn, LaScala and Belle do this more effectively than any other speaker I've heard at their respective price points. Buy whichever one "fits". (Financially and aesthetically speaking.) To my ears, any other Heritage Klipsch are a compromise (albeit a very GOOD compromise) due to their lack of a horn-loaded woofer. There are those, however, who like their music a little more "colored" and, to them, the bass reflex woofer on the Cornwall is preferrable. There's no question, however, that the lower frequency response is at the sacrifice of ultimate articulation and speed. This is where only the mighty Klipschorn achieves ultimate response in the lowest octave(s) while maintaining the speed and clarity of a horn-loaded woofer. Wasn't PWK clever about choosing the best mix of compromises for each respective speaker? Therein lies much of the genius.

I've had 'em all and it's pretty much a toss-up between DirecTV and Dish Network. Both are a better choice than cable with respect to pricing in almost ALL markets and the picture quality is better than cable in MOST markets. I just recently switched back to Dish from DTV and canceled my Tivo service in favor of the new Dish 625 DVR receiver. It's a dual tuner receiver that allows you to record two shows simultaneously on a single device. I couldn't do that with my Tivo. The second television just uses a UHF remote and controls the second tuner of the DVR. Basically you can watch any show that you've recorded on EITHER television. Imagine...It's late at night and you're watching a movie that you recorded on the DVR. Half-way through the movie, you decide that you'd like to finish watching it in the bedroom. No problem. Very cool. The only downside that I've found is that Tivo's user-interface is VASTLY superior to the DVR. But...my guess is that Dish will make improvements and update the software remotely. The BIGGEST advantage that I've found with Dish, however, is that they offer Sirius Satellite Radio. The Pure Jazz station, alone, gives the nod to Dish Network if you're trying to make a decision between Dish and DirecTV. Finally...There's no law that says you HAVE to use Dish Network's DVR feature. If I get too frustrated, I can easily reconnect the Tivo and have the best of both worlds...except for being able to record two shows at once. Oh well.