JBryan

So, are you running the top horns w/the 45 amps wide open or are they patched through the Hypex's xovers? I tried quite a few amps on the bass bins, including plate amps w/xovers but couldn't find ones that sounded 'right' with the 45's running through them and found that my setup sounded cleaner, flatter and more solid if the top horn and bass bins both utilized a cutoff point. I ended up with a separate xover and Gainclone amps on the bass bins but I keep thinking I could use more power down there.

Yeah... you'd definitely need the foam strips and a couple of bodybuilders to move the granite around - can you imagine how much a couple of 4' x 4' squares would weigh?! Besides, granite is quite brittle so you'd have to take care how you put them together and very cautious when moving them - placement options being a nice benefit of using false corners. Also, its quite reflective and not as good a material sound-wise for backing Khorns as well-damped plywood or even MDF. Of course, I've never used granite in this application so if you do go ahead with the project, please let us know how it works out.

My CD transport skipped about 5 years ago. I opened the drawer, sprayed some compressed air at the lens assembly, closed the drawer and it hasn't skipped since. If that doesn't do it, call the folks who repaired it... matter of fact, I'd call them first.

You can only worry about the Future and all regrets are from your Past Its only in this moment that Joy is upon you ...hold it, make it last Party, Marty!

I'm not sure how things have changed in your neck of the woods but I've been quite surprised with what passes for 'proper attire' at symphonies and operas these days. I guess if you can wear a hawaiian shirt to church, you can expect to get away with anything - even blue jeans and casual shirts. I still feel the need to respect the event and venue but must say that I haven't worn a tie to a concert in at least 10 years. I remember having to do it up with my sunday best but now a sport coat may be too much and a nice leather jacket doesn't turn a single head - I even wore white socks to my last opera... the horror!. Premiers and opening nights still seem to bring out the tuxes and formal dress but afterward, the drop off is pretty severe.

Thanks Dave... I did read through the thread and only chimed in because I knew you may actually be able to pass along some relevant info and advise. I came upon the Marantz quad receiver in a package deal and just wanted a few tips so I could give it a listen but I guess I can handle the setup with the manual. My brother had a quad system back in the early '70's but I don't recall ever hearing it in quad mode - just stereo through 4 speaks. I never though much about it and remember an advertisement in a magazine way back when showing a cartoon of a fella with 4 ears... after seeing that, it didn't seem like a viable setup. All these years later, I finally get a quad receiver and my interest is piqued but I doubt it'll go beyond that. Anyhoo... thanks for the reply - carry on.

Hey guys, I'm late to the party as usual and this doesn't actually fit into the conversation but I figured Dave and this crew would have some useful insight. I picked up a Marantz 4400 a few weeks ago and am trying to find a use for it. Its a quadradial receiver (4 channels) and seems to work well but I don't have much in the way of music to play on it (mostly quad LP's) nor do I have the means. I do have a Akai GX 400SS R2R deck on the shelf that should play quad tapes but I have some reservations and would like your advise. First, I would obviously have to set up 4 speakers and I don't have 4 of the same. I do have a pr of Epic CF-4 and a pr of CF-3 which should work but is there any trick to setting 'em up for the best sound other than pointing them all at the listening position? Also, can anyone recommend a good quad cartridge at a decent price? Finally, I'll check to see if I have any quad R2R tapes but if I were looking to buy one to show off what a quad system can do - what would be a good choice? Thanks!

I much prefer the live event to listening to my system... I went to see Ethel Ennis and Cyrus Chestnut (jazz) last weekend at An Die Musik. The week before I caught Might Could & Prester John (progressive jazz) at Orion Studios and the Paul Wingo Trio (jazz) at Bertha's. The week before that, my wife an I went to the Flaming Lips and Tame Impala concert at Merriweather and I saw John Wetton do some old King Crimson tunes with friends at Jammin' Java. I've probably heard as much live music as recorded over the past few months but the good shows and tours are starting to slow down so I'll get back to spinning LP's soon enough. BTW, most of these shows were for the most part, very reasonably priced, ranging from $50 to see Ethel Ennis (a jazz legend here in Baltimore) to well, free (Paul Wingo) with the average price being about $20. That's a bargain in my book as no recording I own will come close to the real experience. We also got a discount for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's winter series (5 performances for $70) through Living Social Deals so if cost is an issue, there are opportunities to see some great shows on the cheap.

I don't think the wax will do anything nor work well with the BLO - its best just to let it dry and the smell will go away. They do make low-odor BLO, you can get that at Home Depot, etc. Also, you don't need to leave it 'wet' on the wood - let it sit for a few minutes and wipe it off with a clean cloth and repeat if necessary or desired. When it dries, wipe it down again with the grain to give it a nice polished finish.

Not familiar with your receiver but back in the days before polarity plugs (and ground pins), if you heard a hum you could simply flip the plug and sometimes, it actually worked. Also, most tube amps had hum pots - some easier to access than others. Finally, dust and corrosion could be the culprit so a thorough cleaning with DeOxit may be in order...couldn't hurt.

Yeah... its most likely a bad design or implementation but be sure to check your connections before anything else. It could be something as simple as a bad solder joint or wires crossing over parts that will cause noise (hiss and/or hum). If the amp's power supply is lacking (either the transformer or capacitance), you may want to try a decent power conditioner but that may compromise the sound as well as get quite pricey. Improper grounding will usually induce a hum and tubes going bad will reveal themselves through diminished gain, distortion, a rushing sound or a sudden flash (usually upon powering up). Often a unit that specs well and otherwise looks good on paper doesn't 'fit' in your system and the first thing you may notice is noise. I'm amazed at the level of noise I'll hear when some folks demo their system for me and they seem oblivious or just assume its something that must be tolerated. SS or tubes (in any configuration) as well as digital amps (though they seem to hum more than hiss), all can make noise but its usually reduced or even alleviated by good component matching, better connections and/or wire management. You don't have to settle for noise and it wont necessarily cost you anything more than your time and effort. If you're hearing any noise - hiss, hum, even those little fans in some amps, you're not hearing everything your speakers (certainly most Klipsch) are offering - its not a compromise you should have to live with and you wont fully appreciate it until you hear the absence of noise through your speakers and those previously unheard micro details and textural nuances become evident. Have fun

What tube fanatic said...It probably makes little or no audible difference but if you like the convenience of lugs or banana plugs..go for it. Otherwise, as long as you have a nice, tight connection, you can rest assured that bare wire works as well or better than anything you can crimp or solder to it - simplicity rules!

You haven't listed your gear so I'm not sure if its even a good match but the 103R cart is very nice and a noticeable step up from the 103 with most TT/arm setups. As far as matching up with Heresy's, I'm not sure that's where you should start. First, the MC cart will have to work with your TT/arm and phono pre/stage and that'll have the most impact on the sound followed by how well the pre/stage works with your preamp, then amp. If you can get all that in line then the cart should sound like its suppose to and the amp will have more bearing on the sound coming through your Heresy's or any other speaks for that matter. Similarly, if you were to switch out your CDP, the sound would certainly be altered but again, the pre and amp would have more bearing than the speaks. Mac-wise, I've always preferred the MC-30's and 225 with (stock) Klipsch heritage though IMO, there are plenty of amps that sound better and many that cost less since you're not competing with collectors for a piece of vintage McIntosh. If you do get a nice Mac for the right price, its a great investment though...no regrets there. So, definitely look to the rest of your system - especially the TT to determine the viability of the 103R. To be precise, I've never actually used a stock 103 - just the modified versions (both 103 & 103R) from Zu Audio but they do sound very nice with the 103R having a more hefty and less fatiguing presentation on my SME arm and VPI TT. Also, it should be noted that the Denon's stylii don't last as long as others and tend to start showing their wear @600-800 hours.

Over the years, I've bought more stuff off C'list than I care to admit (even to myself!) and its a wonderful place to find good stuff at good to great prices but there is a learning curve and trust isn't something to be assumed. I usually only look at local ads but occasionally, I'll do a search and find something w/in 100 miles but it'd have to be extremely interesting and a great deal for me even to consider it. Usually, if I think its such a good deal, its long gone by the time I contact the seller to arrange a time to get together. I just wouldn't take the risk of driving all that way to find out someone local had beat me to it...and that has happened - even with local deals. I'd also only consider putting in that kind of effort if I've actually spoken with the seller and feel somewhat comfortable. If the item(s) is on the expensive side (like a pr of speaks) and the seller only communicates through emails, I become leery and the flags go up. As my investment of time and money goes up, so do my expectations and requirements. I'd suggest patience as what you're looking for will eventually show up locally and in the meantime, you may find something much more interesting or a better opportunity. Klipschwise, I've bought 3 prs of Khorns, a couple prs of Cornwalls and Heresy's but have missed out on at least twice as many Klipsch deals and that's not taking into account the ads that were placed and pulled without my notice. What I've bought represents about half of the ads I responded to - either the speaks had already been sold or didn't meet my expectations and the deal fell through. Consider those ratios as you ponder the effort. One last caveat - One of the better deals I got through C'list is quite indicative of how things have changed. C'list used to be similar to ads in the local classifieds - a pretty straight-forward deal. A year or so ago, I saw an ad for a '69 Gibson Les Paul Custom. Luckily for me, the ad had just popped up and I responded w/in a minute that I was interested and the seller called me up - all w/in 3 minutes of the listing. He suggested a getting together the next day and I had to persuade as nicely as I could to let me come over right then as I knew from experience that such opportunities require immediate action or they're lost. He agreed and within 20 min I was at his door with cash in hand. In that short period, he said he'd received upwards of 30 emails and when he responded that someone was coming over to take a look, he got a handful of replies warning him that I would rip him off or that they'd pay him more and one reply suggested that the guitar may be worth tens of thousands of dollars and the fella would be happy to assess the value for the seller. Luckily (again), the seller was an honorable man and not only let me in the door, but stuck by his price (it was very low - about the price of a single pickup on eBay). On several occasions, I have knocked on a door only to be told that someone had offered more for the item and the fact that I was there with cash and we had already agreed to terms was completely irrelevant. Now, I call on my cell to confirm when I'm on the way and tell the seller to contact me if there's a problem - for whatever reason, that seems to commit most sellers to the terms of the deal. I guess their too embarrassed to call once I'm heading their way. Anyway, I gave the guitar a quick check to make sure it was authentic and original, handed him the money and THEN, told him that the LP was an early '70's model as the only ones made in the '60's (with that body style) were black and his was not. I assured him that the guitar was still a great deal for me and suggested he take the ad down right away to avoid the onslaught of emails. We ended up talking about guitars and music for a few hours and every so often, he would check his emails and by the end of the evening, he had over 150 replies to the ad that was no longer listed. Eventually his wife had to wake up and tell him it was way past his bedtime so we said our goodbyes and I was so jacked by the deal, I drove home and stayed up until the wee hours enjoying my new toy. Some deals go really smoothly - especially when each party holds up their end and this was one of the most enjoyable as the seller was a good guy. He even called the next day or so to tell me he had found the original pickguard that he'd misplaced. He also let me know that he was still getting emails from folks he had responded to and said they were beginning to get pretty belligerent - so much so that he was thinking of canceling his account. Some folks that have found C'list can be downright nasty and viscous - both buyers and sellers so be aware that not everyone is going to be honorable, fair or even legitimate, much less nice. Also, after reading through this I've concluded that I really shouldn't reply to posts after slugging down 4 espressos!

The Khorn bass bin begins distorting above 200Hz and beyond 400Hz, it sounds pretty bad so you'll have to come up with another bass bin or horn if you want to go 2-way.

..and lets not forget how folks perceive the bottom end and many actually prefer an EQ'd boost. I have on several occasions, offered or otherwise was roped into helping a friend set up a system. I either used an SPL meter or software and microphone to try and set the speakers flat. In almost every case, the friend would adjust for more gain in the bottom end - sometimes to ridiculous levels. The odd thing is that I have only 1 older friend who prefers a 'tipped up' bottom end but almost every younger audio bud I've come across has in some way boosted the bass up quite a bit... maybe its something physiological or possibly the way music has been mastered in the last 20 years. I do remember using the 'Loudness' button more often when I was young - now, I don't even have the option available. Maybe its just me but lately, when someone asks for my opinion of their sound, I often find myself suggesting the bottom end might be 'toned down' a bit...or a lot.

Such a quandary... open them and enjoy or hold 'em and wait for the market to value them more than you do. I go through this more often than I should and unfortunately, I have no good advise to pass along. First, I'm a sucker for sealed records - I'll buy anything that's still sealed except for Andy, Perry, Barbara and their ilk. I've come across a lot of sealed records in the used bins in the last 30 years and have boxes upon boxes full with no intention of ever crackin' 'em open. I also buy several new LPs each month and my ratio of playing used records to new ones is about 15:1 so I may open 4 or 5 new albums a month if I'm spinning a lot of vinyl. The result is that I have a pretty large backlog of sealed records that eventually end up in the stacks... forgotten. Those are the ones that bring me the most trouble as I may come across them years later, when the record is OOP (out of print) and the market price may be double, triple or more of what I originally paid. Now comes the dilemma and if I really want to give it a listen, of course I'll open it but more often than not, I just put it back and forget about it. If I'm not married to the mastering or have another decent copy, it'll probably never see the light of day given my propensities (read: laziness). If I haven't opened the album within a year or so, I tend to factor in such things as market value and the possibility that there may be a flaw in the record and I'm long past returning it for a replacement or refund and that really makes it difficult decision. I have at least a hundred MOFI, Nautilus, Classic Records and other audiophile titles and hundreds of vintage LPs that are sealed and will most likely remain so until I pass and my wife packs them off to Goodwill or worse, the dump. Even knowing their fate and how foolish I'm being, I just can not bring myself to cutting each and every one open...yet it'd be so cathartic and I'd be FREE!. Sorry Marty, wish I could've offered you some thoughts to make your decision easier but I'm afraid I made things worse..Oh well.

Odd that someone with buckets of pulled tubes doesn't have a tube tester close by. As most testers are in cases, you may have walked right past it and didn't notice. If you hit enough yard sales, I'm sure you'll come across one eventually - just be sure to look inside those cases.

You'll definitely need a tester as those are most likely 'pulls' and you don't want to plug any shorted tubes into your gear and weak tubes won't do you much good either. Off the top of my head the most common driver tubes in audio are 6DJ8, 12AU7, 12AX7, 6SN7. Power tubes to look for - 6L6, 6V6, EL84, EL34, 6550, 7189, 45, 2A3, 300b. Common Rectifiers - 5U4, 5R4, 5AR4. There are substitutes and military (JAN) tubes for most of these so you may want to look them up at sites like TubeWorld.com. Hope you find something you can use... Good luck!

Plumbers putty may work OK but most folks prefer either Mostite (a coil of putty that's used around doors and windows - found at Home Depot and such) or Dynamat (not Dynaflex...oops!). I found an equivalent through Parts Express (I think - its been a while but its used on car door panels and such and can be found at auto parts sites) Its a adhesive damping sheet that can be cut and pressed onto the midhorn pretty easily and 2 sheets cost @$35 - more than enough. Some folks damped the tweeter but I saw no need and thought it may actually dull the high frequencies but its easy to try and remove. If you can incorporate the xover , you'll really get a handle on how far you can take this tweaking - it'll definitely make you Khorns sound different and the flexibility should help improve your set up. Have fun!

Congrats! So many possibilities... I'd suggest you take some time and really listen to your new Khorns. In a few months, you'll have an idea of what your speaks are capable of and what you may want to improve upon. In the meantime, just do a search for Khorn mods and you'll find a lot of good info and advise. If you need a start, I'd suggest replacing the wires as Klipsch used Monster wire back then and I found the ones in my '87 Khorns to be somewhat corroded and greening towards the ends. Aside from proper placement, that's about the cheapest tweak. Next, you can wrap the metal midhorn with dynaflex or some other damping material that will calm the ringing. If you don't have good corners or if putting your speaks there screws up the image and soundstage, then by all means, invest in some plywood and MDF and build false corners (do a search - its easy and fairly cheap). As far as positioning, that's by far the best bang for the buck and good bracing will tighten up the bass nicely. If you're still looking for improvement, then its time to consider a crossover (again, the search function is your friend). There's so many choices at different price levels - from DIY to Bob Crites' to ALK's...plenty to choose from. If you still aren't satisfied and are willing to experiment and don't mind spending some money, then the door swings wide open for major mods. Active xovers, upgraded drivers, new horns...lots of possibilities but be aware that your speaks probably won't look like Khorns when you're done. Welcome to the forum..there's plenty to keep you occupied here and a lot of good folk who can help. Just take your time and appreciate the journey. Have fun!

While I really don't have the opportunity (or gear) to properly play 78's, I will pick up interesting ones on occasion. I do have an old Victrola in storage but I'd have to really draw down the mass of audio gear I have before my wife would allow such a thing in the house. I have about 150 disks that came with the Vic - mostly classical. I will flip through 78's and pull nice, clean examples of jazz vocalists, jazz, bluegrass, rockabilly and blues records but they have to be clean(able). A few months back, I happened upon a few boxes of 78's and actually found a handful of blues records. Some were in pretty good shape but it broke my heart to find that a few great records - T Bone Walker and Leadbelly immediately come to mind, were cracked or otherwise played to hell. I almost bought them anyway (what's a $1 after all) but I've heavily curtailed my collecting by forcing myself to only those records that I can take home and play (although I do take a cleaning into account with ancient 78's). I don't bring boxes of records home anymore but I've left behind some great albums that still haunt me....Oh well. Thanks and please list your records as a few of us may have an interest. Also, do not clean 78's with alcohol based fluids (like many cleaners for vinyl). The newer cleaners will damage shellac and quite possibly ruin the record.

Being a long time SET enthusiast, I'd never steer anyone away from the experience but I've gotten a lot of pleasure listening to EL-84 SE amps through smaller-sized efficient speaks, including Heresy's and single driver designs. At 10-12 w/ch, the EL84 SE amps (I've had 2) convey much of the detail and 'air' of triode amps but also offer a bit more control and power to the woofers. The EL-84 tube seems to have a very nice balance that works particularly well in these applications. Of the 3 amps mentioned, the 2A3 would be my choice although it may come across a little bright on the Heresy's and you'd be limited to sub-90dB levels in an average room before compression and distortion would become noticeable. The 300b is a good match if you prefer a thicker, more syrupy presentation compared to the 2A3 and an 845 amp would be an outstanding choice but I've had 2 and listened to several others and have yet to come across one that didn't have a slight hiss or hum in the background - regardless of price. The quietest ones cost $10K+ but still weren't as quiet as 2A3 and 45 amps I've heard that cost 10x less. Of course, it's all about synergy and half the battle is to match gear that doesn't create or enhance noise.

My take is that while most humans can't hear frequencies above 20-22kHz and many can't hear above 16-18kHz, we can hear the interaction of the higher frequencies through harmonics with the lower range. Tweeters and super tweeters that can go past 40-50 kHz put out frequencies that can sympathetically enhance and energize the lower frequencies thus adding the detail and 'air' we can actually hear.

If I read the OP's query right, he's asking if the latest version of the Khorn sounds better than an older version and if folks having modified their older units has any bearing on Klipsch's design/engineering shop. The answer is a qualified,,,No. While the fellas at Klipsch are always tinkering and making improvements to the Khorn, it has remained basically the same design and thus sounds very similar to older models. I doubt the folks at Klipsch are much influenced by all the tweaking and mods going on through the years - especially those mods that dramatically alter the design and/or are too costly. IMO, what keeps the Khorn going and viable in the fickle audio market is PWK's original bass bin design (and quite possibly his greatest contribution to the SOTA of audio). 60+ years ago, Paul set about designing a speaker that would reproduce the full spectrum of sound of an orchestra in anyone's living room. The bugaboo was reproducing the lower register in the most realistic and economical way and Paul figured out how to fold a horn into a compact box that would utilize the listeners' walls to complete the design and provide deep, solid bass down to the mid 30Hz range in a practical package. After creating the bass bin, PWK's task was to add the top end and to accomplish that, he had to make some necessary compromises to keep the final product viable and affordable. In keeping with his practical approach, he used common, economical parts throughout, most of which have held up quite well over the decades but over that period, better components have been found to improve the Khorn's sound. That's where the tweakers come in.... I equate it (the klipschead phenomena) to something like a late 60's Nova. The Nova was offered as a practical and economical car and while Chevy did make some changes over the years, they were nothing like what a motivated gear head would consider. Upgraded parts and wholesale modifications turned the practical Nova into a high performance machine that often barely resembled what originally came out of the factory. The Khorn is a very practical application of PWK's design that allows for a lot of fairly easy modifications that can greatly improve its performance. Over the years, many mods have been tried out on the Khorn, mainly because its such an easy speaker to play with and most mods are reversible. While false corners, more bracing and better woofers will improve the bass bin to some extent, the crossover and especially the 'top hat' seem to be the areas that provide the most 'bang-for-the-buck' improvements. I tried 5 xovers with Khorns (3 passive, 2 active). One passive, I built myself and 2 were ALK's design and build and all sounded better than the AK-2 xover that originally came with the Khorns. The active xovers allowed me to truly customize the signal going to each driver and that was the best approach for my purposes. I also went through the modification chain with the top hat including dynamatting the midhorn and rewiring but eventually I decided that the best improvement was to replace the top hat altogether. By changing out the horn and driver, I was able to go with a 2-way design and cut off the bass bins below 200Hz thus lowering some of the inherent distortions of the horn. I went even further and tried several bass options against the Khorn's bass bin (Onken, BDdesign, JBL and various subs) but found the Khorn to be the most satisfying in my set up. The benefits of the horn (efficiency, fast transients, low distortion) outweighed its inherent colorations and size constraints and gave me what I consider to be more realistic representation in the bottom end. It seems as though PWK and the fellas at Klipsch have applied much of the same approach I was aiming for in their Jubilee design so perhaps they do occasionally have a response to the legions of tweakers out here.