JBryan

Dr Bill, I've had 3 prs. ('67, '72, '78) and they all had padding - and lots of it. Kinda looks like upholstery padding - probably is. When did Klipsch stop padding their CWs? -Bryan

... with Magnequest iron. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39783&item=3085628542 The seller also has a pr of Lowther Medallions in another auction. Have fun - Bryan

"Jbryan: Don't feel bad, John Kerry made the same mistake and was lambasted by the national media! TV, newspapers,internet!" Bkrop, Comparing me to a polititian... that's cold man! What'd I ever do to you?!

"I have a CD of Led Zeppelin-Physical Graffiti which I purchased around 17 years ago. It sounds terrible. Just plain lousy. Maybe I should buy a new digital remaster to see if it sounds any better" Piranha, Don't bother. I was going to mention that very recording as one of the worst but then I started lamenting that every Zeppelin recording sucks - good thing they were going for all that distortion. In fact, I'm trying to think of ANY decent rock recordings that came out of the early-mid 70's! Its a shame since most of my favorite bands recorded during those years. Aside from Gentle Giant which somehow produced some halfway decent-sounding records, most of my favorite prog-rock bands' (King Crimson, Yes, Genesis - especially Genesis!) LPs sound compressed, veiled and dull. Good thing I was in high school and had more pressing worries than the fidelity of my stereo. I still spin 'em and enjoy the music - and the memories.... good times, good times...

The 1st time I was in Philly, I went looking for a good Cheese Steak. I found a popular stand in a market and when it was my turn, I ordered a CS and asked if they could make it with Swiss cheese. This was an innocent request and one I had made without hesitation when ordering CSs anywhere else but from the way the cashier looked at me, you'd of thought I had just slapped the woman's grandmother! Everybody around me sorta took a step back and I suddenly felt like a stink bug in a perfume factory. "We don't have Swiss!" was the lady's reply. I mumbled something like "regular's fine...", got my CS and scurried away. Once I had found a spot where I could sit in relative anonymity the shame began to ebb away and as I began to eat my Philly CS (which I sure someone had spit on), I thought to myself... "I've had better".

Nice amps Wes! I just picked up a pr of DRD45s but I only have about 25hrs on them so they haven't opened up yet - especially noticable with the oil caps. Right out of the box, the amps sound very nice and didn't need any adjustment (I played anyway). I want to put 200+ hrs on them before I do any comparisons with other 45 amps but I can say that they are very quiet. I can hear only a faint hiss with my ear against the Khorn. The Korneff 45SE is quieter but I attribute that to the amp's lower-gain drive stage. Also the DRDs' may very well calm down with a few more hours on them. So far, I've tried the pr of Sylvania STs that came with the amps and then switched over to a pr of EML VV45s. The STs sound a little tame compared to the EMLs but they're NOS so they need some break-in as well. The EMLs offer more power- most evident in the more pronounced bass with maybe a slight loss in detail - there's always a trade-off. I've also read that the DRDs have not been kind to the EMLs so I will most likely put the STs back soon. Once the amps settle in, I want to roll a few globes and STs as well as replace the stock 5AR4s with Mullards. The amps sound great and I can only imagine nice how they'll sound in a few weeks. Congrats on your new toys and let us know your impressions down the road as well as any tips you discover. Have fun -Bryan

I'm definitely on the vinyl side of most discussions. I think that the best recordings on vinyl will more often than not sound better than the same recording on CD. If I want to hear my system at its best, I play a record. At the same time, digital media is so much more convenient. I don't particularly like the "ritual" of cleaning and flipping. As Jon pointed out, another side benefit of vinyl is the record sleeves and jackets. I enjoy reading the info, lyrics and cover art and at my age, a CD-sized jacket just doesn't do it for me - too much eye-strain. Even after 30+ years, I can remember facts, recite lyrics and most important, I can even tell which song is which on the records I listened to way back when. I hardly ever pick up a CD box long enough to read through the titles so when someone mentions a particular song from a CD, I have to ask for the track# as that's the only way I can recognize the song. Still, I listen to CDs more than records simply because of the hassle-factor. If I have non-audio friends over or I only have a couple of hours to listen to music, then I usually just drop in a CD. My wife has an iPOD and while its compression is leaps and bounds more than CDs, I can click a button and listen to days and days (literally) of jazz, rock or anything she's recorded from my collection. Its just too easy.... and like CDs did to vinyl 25 years ago, the hard drive will eventually replace the CD. At least that's what the digital boys want you to believe. Have fun -Bryan

Gary, Absolutely - its still on! I apologize for not keeping up with you guys but its been busy around here preparing my clients' books for the accountants. What happened to February?! Anyway, I'll be done with all the taxes this weekend and will contact the fellas about a weekend in April. It will work out for the better as I've picked up a few more "toys" for us to play with. Have fun and I'll be contacting folks in a week or so -Bryan

Saw these on A'gon and thought someone might be interested. http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1084163326 Have fun, Bryan

Good report Eric- Thanks! I've been curious about these amps since Bruce announced them a few months back. The only experience I've had with OTLs is a Transcendent T8 Stereo I tried in my system a few years back. The amp was FAST, detailed and dynamic but sounded a bit too sterile for my taste. There was also a little too much noise and no matter what I tried - it wouldn't go away. Also, I'd have to say that compared to the SET amps I had at the time, the T8's bass was a little "boomy", the mids slurred and the image was not as coherent or convincing. I decided that the T8 was a very nice amp and did some things really well but was too analytical in my system and would sound better in another set up. The SE/OTL amp is very intriguing and I may have to go down the OTL path again. You explained the benefits very well and I could almost infer the differences b/t this amp and the T8. I think an OTL amp's detail and speed combined with the dynamics and presence of a SE circuit would make for a very interesting, if not ideal design. Of course, hearing is believing and I don't aspire to be the "first on my block" to have one of these amps so I'll have to wait until an opportunity presents itself or enough reviews like yours show up on the web to convince me. Thanks again for the information and impressions - Bryan

They probably can be found on several models as Klipsch (and other manufacturers) tries to utilize enonomies of scale to keep costs down. I have these on a pr of Epic C3 speakers and I imagine they are/were also used on the Reference series, etc. although I can't be sure. Have fun - Bryan

Sorry to hear Tom but it looks like there's a few others here that may have an interest. I know Gary suggested a gear meet a few months ago but scheduling never panned out and he ended up inviting us over one at a time. It was a lot of fun and I think it'd be great to put some faces to the avatars. For the others, I propose a weekend as the most convenient time. Anyone interested please send me a note with the best weekend coming up and I'll coordinate an afternoon/evening that best suits everyone. Let's do this sooner than later as I'm moving out a good portion of this stuff in the next few months. Thanks for the interest and I hope to hear from everyone soon. Have fun -Bryan

Tom, Where is Ocean Pines, MD? If its anywhere near Baltimore (Towson) and you want to hear a few amps on Khorns, you're certainly invited to stop by some time and we can play. I have several PP amps including Dynaco, Rogue & McIntosh and a few SET amps (845, 6C33, 300b, EL84, 2A3, 45 and a 10Y is on the way). We can listen to them through different preamps so you can get an idea of the characteristics of various tubes (6SN7, 12AX,U&T7, 6922, 6P5, 27, 76, etc.). I can even put a few pieces of SS gear in the mix as a reference. If they're interested, maybe we can get a few of the other Klipschters like in the area like GaryMD and Klipschfoot to join us and bring some of their gear - sort of like a meeting of the MD chapter of Klipschfolk. Drop me a note if this sounds feasible and I'll start to make arrangements. Have fun -Bryan

Dave, Welcome to vinyl. You can get a replacement stylus at http://music1online.com/shurvnrepsty.htm for $150. Its easy to snap it in place. Have fun -Bryan

Jordan, I left out a lot of bands... ELP was a favorite of mine but to tell you the truth, I haven't listened to any of their albums in years. I even bought the Manticore "Bootlegs" CD a few months ago and still haven't found the opportunity to play it. Go figure. Of all the prog bands I followed back in the day, I still listen to King Crimson and Gentle Giant the most with Genesis coming in a very distant 3rd. I spin the other bands on very rare occasions when the mood strikes or when one of my high school buds show up and we try to re-live the past. BTW, for all you prog fans, Happy the Man is working on a new album and they say it should be available in time for NEARfest (June-July). I saw them a few years ago when they resurfaced and the new material is just as good as the old stuff. The Genesis fans in the forum should check out the band, Musical Box if they get a chance. They do really spot-on cover of the Peter Gabriel-era Genesis and will be touring the east coast this summer including a performance at the pre-NEARfest show. Also, King Crim fans should look for the 21st Century Schizoid Band who are touring later this spring. The band is made up of ex-Crim members Peter Giles, Mel Collins, Ian Wallace, Ian McDonald, etc. from the early years. They'll be in DC in late April and I've heard they put on a great show - even without Fripp. Have fun -Bryan

Piranah, I have a Rogue 88 amp and in the triode mode, its sounds quite nice on Khorns. Very full sound, tight bass and good detail. The soundstage is wide and deep and best of all, the amp is very quiet. I prefer the SE amps' sound and think that the Rogue's 30w (triode) or 60w (ultralinear) is a bit overkill on 104dB speakers but if you like to ROCK OUT! at earbleeding levels then the Rogue is a great amp and one of the best values out there. Have fun -Bryan

Well, I have just the opposite opinion about the Floyd's recordings. I've found them to be some of the worst recordings I've come across (the late 90's over-compressed crap comes close). In fact, I'll go so far as to say that most of the rock recordings that came out of the and 70's were pretty darn lousy. Its sad really since most of my favorite progressive bands (Gentle Giant, Genesis, King Crimson, Yes, etc) put out some outstanding albums during that time. I think that because these bands worked and re-worked the somewhat complex tracks, they did a lot of re-recording and overdubbing on the same master. The result was a lot of noise which some engineers would try to filter out by lopping off the higher frequencies. The result was bland and somewhat lifeless tracks. I have several copies of Pink Floyd DSOTM including (the original Harvest, MFSL, and new 30th ann. issue), WYWH (CBS half-speed) and Genesis LLDOB (Atco/Chrys, Japanese, Classic reissue, etc) and others but I've been dissppointed each time when compared to those crystal clear recordings that came out of the 50's and early 60's. Of course, it doesn't stop me from spinning these records as they are some of my favorites but as far as recording quality, I'd have to rank them pretty low and I will often just pop in the CD and just enjoy the music for what it is. JMHO. Have fun -Bryan

Max, I've never owned one and I think that the vintage Michell TTs are cool - especially the "2001 - A Space Odyssey" Transcriptors and Prismas but from what I gather, they are difficult to set up and maintain, very finicky and they run a bit "loose" compared to more modern designs. As a result, the sound you get is somewhat compromised and the TTs are IMO, best suited as museum pieces. But they do look cool! Have fun -Bryan

I agree with Wolfram. Herbie's HALO dampers really work in my set up. I have a preamp based around the 27 tube and they tend to be quite microphonic. After several unsuccessful attempts to damp vibrations, I bought some of Herbie's rings. The difference was startling - tubes that "sang" along with the music became very quiet and the background was silent. I also put a damper on the rectifier and while subtle, there was an improvement. I now have a supply of Herbie's dampers and try them on every tube I can. Of course, you can always overdo a good thing and using too many of these Teflon rings can deaden the sound much like wrapping too much putty around a horn. It can take some of the "liveliness" away. I'd suggest buying a few of each size you need, try them out in different combinations and send back the ones that don't make a noticable improvement. He offers a 30-day trial so you really don't lose much if the dampers don't work out. No affiliation here - just my impressions. I've also used Pearl dampers and they work well but tend to be best suited for applications where quiet operation is paramount - like in a phono section. They also need to be used sparingly as they will take the "air" out of the sound if over implemented. Have fun -Bryan

I don't know if anyone's interested or if they're still available but here's an ad for a pr of Altec Valencia 846As in CA for $850 - pick up only. I haven't tried to contact the seller but they may trip someone's fancy around here... http://java.audioasylum.com/ca/ad.jtp?ad=2998 Have Fun -Bryan

Here's an ad for a single Khorn in MA. I emailed the gent but haven't heard back so I don't know the status. Just thought someone here may want to get a nice CC for their HT. http://java.audioasylum.com/ca/ad.jtp?ad=3009

This may help.... http://www.gumlog.com/tweeters/k77ceramic.html. Its from Bob Crite's page. Have Fun -Bryan

I had the same problem just the other day. I brought a new (to me) pr of speakers into the house and couldn't wai to hook them up. When I did, I noticed a "crackling" sound coming from one and began to touch connections and pull on wires but the noise wouldn't go away. After an hour of this foolishness, I got frustrated and finally decided step back and assume nothing. I started the troubleshooting process by switching the wires from the amps and low and behold, the noise switched to the other speaker. I quickly traced the problem to a driver tube in one of the amps that had been jarred loose. I reseated the tube and I was back in business. I had jumped the gun and concluded too soon that it must be the new speakers since everything else worked fine the last time I had listened. The morale? Assume nothing! or A quick fix can often take much longer if you don't know what you're fixing. Have Fun -Bryan

BB, I completely agree with Max on mono records. I either avoided or ignored them until I picked up a few without realizing and gave them a spin. At first, I noted the image only as non-stereo, then the players became distinct and a soundstage "popped" into focus. Kinda like those "Magic Eye" posters - it seems odd until you adjust and then its, well... magical. I still have no idea how a soundstage is produced through a mono signal and it may all be in my head but its facsinating none the less and now I'm captivated by the image. Besides, if the recording was originally done in mono, the mono version sounds much better to me. I now look for mono recordings and while most of the LPs I find are jazz, I've also come across a few artists like the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix whose mono recordings are outstanding (IMO). Have Fun -Bryan

I've heard the AG Unos, Duos and Trios at various times and prefer the Khorn. Aside from the fact that the AGs aren't true horns, there are several things I found lacking- most notable is the lack of coherence between drivers. The sub used sounded as though it was an afterthought and was too obvious even after several of the updates. The AGs had their good points though, they are less noisy, fill the room better and go higher and lower than the Khorn. Other than that - no contest.. I've always fantasized about using the Khorn's bass bin with Lambda woofers and a 350hz Edgarhorn with a TAD driver sitting on top with a supertweeter like the Ionovac or Tannoy. Of course, it'd probably sound like crap in the real world but it sounds sweet in my dreams. Have Fun -Bryan