Lurch

I also saw Neil Young in Saratoga Springs back when he was touring with the Shocking Pinks. The main set was just him, a guitar and a harmonica. It still gives me goose bumps. The Shocking Pinks came out for the encore and we promptly left! What a great concert though! But what was that funny smell in the air?!?!?!?

---------------- On 5/24/2005 2:40:33 PM Frzninvt wrote: Formica, perhaps the "Cubs" are male striptease burlesque show and not a baseball team? ---------------- She's the Cubs fan, not me!!!!! I root for them to maintain domestic bliss. We saw the Cubs at Wrigley on the first honeymoon. HER IDEA!!! I had to convince her to not go to Candlestick to see the Cubs when she was 9 months along with our first. She was upset with me because it went into extra innings and the Cubs won. The contractions started at 2 am! When I was stationed in Albany, NY, we drove up to Montreal to see the Cubs play. We were in the front row, next to the Cubs dugout. We got pictures with some of the players. I think the seats for us and the 2 munchkins cost $62 Canadian. The only drawback this time is that they're playing the Rockies, who we can see any old time. In fact, we'll be going to see the Cubs in Denver in August. On the positive side, they should win and that'll put her in a GOOD MOOD! Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. Know what I mean?!?! Anyone jealous yet????? BTW, she's also a big hockey and football fan. Jeff

Well, this seems to be a continuing issue on ebay. Folks are setting the starting bid at ridiculous prices in hopes that one desparate fool purchases it. You just need one idiot. And if it doesn't sell...who cares? Didn't cost you anything! Jeff

---------------- On 5/22/2005 3:50:33 AM colterphoto1 wrote: I'll be coming to Chicago Wed- do you have a couple of dorm babes for our lunch date? Michael ---------------- I'll be out there on Thursday. Anything happening next weekend worth seeing? The wife and I are having a second honeymoon. We plan on seeing the Cubs, but I was hoping to find some musical happenings as well. Jeff

Does anyone have a direct preference for sound betwixt the two? My B&K 4430 runs quite warm, but is laid back. I haven't heard a Sunfire in a long time, but the one I heard was somewhat forward. It wasn't a long audition.... Any thoughts?

Kriton, The impedance curve of a speaker is a constant thing. So, when we say that the RF-7s drop to 2.8 ohms, the amp has to deal with that all of the time. It is essentially a combination of the load the amp sees because of the crossover and the drivers. The RF-7s have 2 bass drivers operating together which causes the bass to be rather hard to drive. If you have an "8 ohm" driver and you put two of them together to operate over the same frequencies, you will have a "4 ohm" load on your amp. Whenever I have listened to RF-7s in a store, they are invariably hooked up to some receiver. As a result, I've never heard them sound that great. When I compare them to other speakers, they might do well in certain areas, but they end up sounding colored (ie - not as clear, muffled, strained, etc). Dynamics should be a strength, but when I've listened, they end up sounding bland and uninvolving. What I was hearing was the equipment upstream of the speakers. On the other issue of power supply, there are a FEW exceptions to the heft rule. The Sunfires employ an unusual solution to this problem and get around the problem of needing a massive power supply. Although they will drive the RF-7s with ease, you may still not like the way it sounds. Everyone has different listening preferences or everyone would just buy the Sunfire and be done with it. Let me tell you about another danger you are facing: constant upgrades. Once you start listening more critically and to better, more revealing equipment, you will find more and more reasons to buy new amps, speakers, etc. I started out in high school with an Onkyo receiver and Genesis Physics bookshelf speakers. Since then (19 years), I have owned the following stereo speakers: Boston Acoustics 100s Altec Lansing 301s Vandersteen 1Bs Dahlquist DQ-12s Vandersteen 3s Klipsch Heresy IIs Klipsch Forte Is Infinity IL-40s Infinity Kappa 600s I have owned the folowing preamps: NAD 1700 Forte 40 McCormack TLC-1 Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Signature AES (Cary) AE-3 Signature Chinese-made preamp similar to AE-3 HK Citation I HK Citation IV HK Citation 21 Dynaco PAS-3 Outlaw 950 I have owned the following amps: NAD 2400 (then 2 in mono) Forte 6 Mark Levinson 23 Quicksilver 8417s HK Citation II HK Citation 22 Dynaco ST-70 Heathkit WM-4s Anthem MCA-5 McIntosh MC250 (x2) B&K Reference 4430 You get the picture???? I haven't included CD/DVD players, turntables, tubes, power conditioners, interconnects, speaker cables, etc, etc, etc. Also, think about how many different items I've demo'd!!!! You are on the right track here though. Find out what you really need, talk to folks who have been through the same kind of decisions, try to get the piece of equipment into your home for an extended listen and don't convince yourself that something that bothers you about the piece doesn't. If you don't like something about it, don't keep it. Trust me; in the end you won't anyway! You will have to be very disciplined to avoid going thru equipment like yours truly. Make sure you maintain your perspective on this hobby. Jeff

And, a super-duper power supply doesn't guarantee great sound. One of the forum members bought an Adcom GFA-5800 to run his KLF-30s, because he thought it would improve the bass. It did, but he wasn't as happy with sound compared to his old Luxman integrated amp. Look for an amp that sound great and all of the current and wattage issues are going to be secondary. I'd bet this would be a great match for a pair of RF-7s: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1121653909

What we are talking about is the power supply. You'll notice that receivers generally aren't rated to double their power as the impedance halves. This is because their power supply is "current limited". A "perfect" current source will double its power output as the load drops from 8 to 4 ohms (for example). There is no way a receiver can do this and this is why they are almost never rated into 4 ohms. They generally have a puny 10-30,000 uf of capacitance for 7 channels, while a 2-channel amp can have upwards of 100,000 uf. So, as the impedance drops, the amp has to produce more current to generate the same voltage across the speaker. For example, if we have an 8-ohm resistive (ie - no variance in impedance across all frequencies) and it takes 1 amp of current to produce a given voltage, then you will need 2 amps of current to produce the same voltage across a 4 ohm resistive speaker. So, your RF-7s would want more than 2.5A of current at certain frequencies to maintain the desired frequency response. "Well," you begin,"why can't my receiver put out 15 amps? It's plugged into a wall socket that has a 15A breaker down in the basement?" Every amplifier converts AC to DC and then stores DC in its power supply to deal with the demands. This is how the size of your power supply determines how much current your amp can safely deliver. Your receiver just can't produce enough current to keep up with the demand and you end up with a ragged frequency response. Why? Because the amp can't produce enough current. To see a big power supply in action, turn off a good power amp while the music is still playing. You will hear the music for several more seconds as the amp slowly drains its huge power supply. Jeff

---------------- On 5/21/2005 7:41:53 PM raypenn wrote: Does anybody know if an individual's hearing can have peaks and troughs over the frequency spectrum, or does an individual's hearing simply have a fall-off at higher frequencies over time? Is is possible to get a hearing test with frequencies plotted out like the frequency response curve of a speaker? ---------------- Yup. When you get a hearing test, it is usually recorded in your records in a chart with a row for each ear and columns for various frequencies. The number in each box is how many decibels BELOW "perfect" hearing your ears are. Thus, you should see 0s across the board for someone who has "perfect" hearing. The bigger the number, the worse your hearing is. You can develop frequencies where you have major troughs due to exposure to high levels of noise at that specific frequency. Jeff

Gives you a nice sense of security, especially in LA.

---------------- On 5/21/2005 9:12:10 AM lovedrummin wrote: I've never listened to Joe Jackson much, but I'd like to check out some of his music - any suggestions? ---------------- First, Joe's albums are superb recordings for semi-mainstream stuff. Next, he's made some diverse recordings, so it depends on what you like. "Look Sharp!" and "I'm The Man" are good solid retro pop/rock. A little more challenging than "Night & Day", which is his most accessible album. "Jumpin' Jive" is my favorite album of his. Joe was the first on the retro-swing bandwagon (way back in '81). It contains some of the music he grew up with and is a fun set. "Body and Soul" has a nice jazz flavor and is probably the best recording of the bunch. After "Body and Soul", I sorta lost track of him. "Big World" is supposed to be another solid album, but I haven't listened to it. Jeff

The Soundcraftsmen stuff did not meet his reserve.....

Ben, Does your integrated amp have pre-out jacks? The bi-amp concept presupposes that it does. Otherwise, you' won't be able to do this. Jeff

Ben, Here's the problem: manufacturers don't make money by producing preamps which color the sound or coverup things we might not like about some amps. The trend for tube preamps has been towards more transparency and neutrality. That kinda eliminates newer preamps. Especially when you want to have tone controls, you heathen!!! Anyways, you can look at older preamps, like Dynaco PAS, Conrad Johnson PV-5 (no tone controls), HK Citation 1, and others which are known for a warm sound. WARNING: DON'T TRY TO DRIVE LONG INTERCONNECTS TO YOUR AMP WITH THESE PREAMPS! The first thing I would do though is to try to biamp the KLFs with what you have now. Attach the Adcom to the bass terminals on your speakers and the Luxman to the mid-tweeter binding posts and see what it sounds like. This should give you the bass you want with the mids and highs you like. The only problem is that your amps are not gain-matched and the Adcom doesn't have it's own level controls. This means that you will alter the balance between the bass cones and the mids/tweeters, which is generally a bad thing. You will probably have to whip up a set of interconnects with a resistor built-in to match the Adcom's output to that of the Luxman's (assuming the Adcom's gain of 29db is greater than the Luxman's amp). Good Luck and let us know what you do. Jeff

My drooling has happened at the Stereophile shows (which of course is not ideal since it is a public event)... 1. Vandersteen 5s powered by Jadis electronics and Richard V was turning the vinyl himself. WOW!!!! 2. Martin-Logan home theater. Had the $12K models up front and $5K models for rears. All McIntosh electronics. They were demoing Toy Story and it was the most effective surround sound I've heard to date. I also heard some of the 6-figure "super" speakers at these same shows and none of them sounded as musical as #1 or as spooky as #2. Jeff

If you are absolutely set on using 2 8" shielded drivers, you could contact Klipsch about getting a pair of K1011V which they used in the Academy center channel. The Academy's sensitivity was listed as 96db/w/m. Basically the same as Heresy, so (hopefully) you wouldn't have to go crazy with your crossover. Jeff

What I really don't like is that he has a picture of them on the risers and then is selling them in a different auction. It would be interesting to see what the tag on the back of these says... Can Trey look up the serial numbers and give us the scoop on 'em??? Jeff BTW, check this out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50597&item=5775067926&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW Sounds great (per seller) despite lack of 2 tweeters and a midrange...

Well, my advice is to find gear that has readily available tubes (read: currently in production). For instance, the ST-70 used 7199s in the original configuration, but no one is making a true 7199 any more. Check out the price for vintage 7199s! However, there are numerous boards out there to replace the front-end of the ST-70 which use readily available, good sounding tubes. Unfortunately, that is not true of all amps. So, do some research on the tube complement of the gear you are considering and make sure there is a reliable, good-sounding version in production. The ST-70 and PAS-2/3 are definitely good options. Also, since they were so popular, there are lots of available options for refurb. You won't have much difficulty finding everything you need to make 'em sing. Jeff

IIRC, the KLF-20 has a punishing impedance dip below 100hz (per Stereo Review, Apr 97). So, amp choice is probably somewhat important. I'm pretty sure the Cornwall doesn't have any significant dips, but the RF could. Also, I would look at the room very closely. Both the KLF and RF are rear-ported should be a couple of feet into the room. The Cornwall is designed to be against the wall. OTOH, the KLF and RF have "narrow" baffles compared to the Cornwall. My $.02.... Jeff

When I was in college, I bought a Denon integrated amp from an authorized dealer. It lost a channel and I brought it back under warranty. It took only 4 months to get it fixed. My Hitachi 51" RPTV is one-year old, but I've been trying to get fixed for 6 months! Warranties are only worth the paper they are printed on if the company is going to make an effort to fulfill the contract. It seems that warranty work must be relatively nonprofitable for these "service centers". I would seriously investigate the company's service record and then evaluate what might break (powered subs are far more likely to need work than speakers) and weigh that against the price break I can get. Jeff

Check out Timeline. You may have to hit the "I Believe" button a few times, but the sound is very good and the picture is as well. As far as Pearl Harbor goes, I would be far too busy pointing out the gross inaccuracies as well as the problem of having a pilot who joins the RAF, scoots over to the AAC (Army Air Corps) for Pearl Harbor, and then suddenly starts flying bombers to hit Tokyo with Doolittle. I broke my "I Believe" button on this movie. They might as well have had the Titantic berthed in the harbor for this movie! Jeff

I own the MCA-5 and it sounds real good with movies. Dynamics are very good. I am less enamored with the sound with music. It has a dry, neutral sound, which may or may not match your speakers. I am using it right now with the just-discontinued Infinity Kappa series (which tend toward dry/analytical as well). It sounds nicer with my Heresy IIs. Jeff

I've owned the 950 for about a year now and it is very good for the money. I don't own the 7100, so I can only offer what others have said, which is that it has a dry sound. I currently have an Anthem MCA-5 which is a good mate for movies, but does not turn the trick on music. A McIntosh MC250 gives me far more satisfaction for music, though I doubt you would want to get into a finicky beast like that. A B&K 5-channel amp is probably a better bet. This is one of the great advantages of separates is that you can mate a different amp to the processor to match your speakers. There are things I don't like about the 950. First, it could be more musical. I compared it with a Rotel 1066 and the Rotel was obviously superior with music, though it had a dark, closed-in treble, while the Outlaw's treble was more extended and detailed. The newer Rotel 1068 is supposed to be better in this respect. The 1068 also boasts on-screen menus over the component output, which isn't available in the Outlaw (I would almost upgrade to the Rotel for this feature alone). It can also convert composite and S-video to component (it doesn't improve the image, but you only need to run one kinda cable to the TV). But, the 1068 will run you about $700 more than the 950. I'd also consider the B&K Reference 30. It doesn't convert video types, but it has a parametric equalizer and notch filter to help even out the bass response. You can pick one up used for a little more than the 950. But, a few quibbles aside, the 950 is a great choice. Jeff

The SE-40s suffered maintenance issues due to some parts that were run at the edge of their envelopes. However, the sound was quite good (esp for the money) though the bass is generally a little wooly. Most folks recommend using the stock Sovteks (also Svet 6L6GCs or Chinese KT-66s) because the amp runs the output tubes pretty hard. There is a site which sells upgrade kits (to address the previously mentioned parts issues): http://www.soniccraft.com/upgrades/se40.htm Enjoy! Jeff

---------------- On 6/25/2004 9:10:30 AM Colin wrote: I am shocked at the light weight chintzy construction of modern $500 receivers compared to vintage $50 solid-state receiver amplifiers - ---------------- Why is this surprising???? It's simple economics. If you want to continue to hit a price point, you have to change something. Every year, workers want more pay, parts cost more, etc. And, all of these companies still make $300 receivers, which was also the entry-level price point for the last few decades. How do they do that, while adding 4-5 more channels of amplification, Dolby/DTS, more inputs/outputs, etc? Well, the cost to produce them has to be pretty much the same as it was (to meet the price point at retail), they have to have a lot more capability and everything costs more. Something's gotta give. Jeff