Coytee

Craig, Im aware you are not a 2A3 fan. Craig/Dean, I AM planning on two amps and a switchbox so the VRDs are NOT out of the question. Indeed, I started an email to Craig earlier today but then discovered VRDs are not 2A3s. So I earmarked their idea for my second set. As I currently DO have a Jolida integrated, Im shooting first for the 2A3s and then will get the higher horsepower secondary. Kev313 who is Brian at Venus Hi Fi? Never heard of them Dbflash, Im in Knoxville Ive never heard of the Alamarros, so I too appreciate the link. In the end I DO plan on having both sets of power (no pun intended) Just as an aside, on buying some of these amps, Id much rather buy one made domestically over a foreign one. Yes, even if it costs me more to do so. After all, if brand abc sounds the same as Craigs or Wrights, but is X $$ less, would not they be appreciative that someone else out there cares more about supporting fellow Americans than the absolute bottom line? Tis in part why I bought the Peach completely sight/sound unseen. The reviews here and my preference to support Mark verses someone in China. (so dont ask how I ended up with the Jolida please, Ill be selling it when I get this all organized)

For those of you who have Khorns AND a Peach (perhaps Blueberry if their linestages are considered similar) AND have listened to the aforementioned with a variety of tube amps, Looking for 2A3/300B ideas 1. Which tube was your favorite? (cost no concern) 2. Which do you OWN? 3. If I were going to buy you one, which would you prefer I buy you? I've read on some of the various brands and another thread is right now extolling the virtues of VRD's with the Blueberry. I don't want to start any wars so please feel free to pm me with any thoughts that might otherwise bring wrath. I want to get a 2A3 and I'm simply frozen in place with ignorance & indecision. (I wonder if Fini has a good pic/caption for ignorance & indecision?)

That lower picture is them. The ones I saw specifically, have a slightly different tread as I recall but that's 99% them. If memory serves me, they had several BOXES of these on/near the counter. I special ordered a faucet (kind of cool sidebar, I ordered a frost proof outside faucet that has a mixer valve so I'll have cold AND HOT water at same location for when I wash dogs outside ) Back to the point, I will be MORE than happy to go get some or even a box or two or three... Hmm... should I get a box and sell them for $9.99 apeice on ebay (after you guys get your fill) Seriously though, I'd be very happy to oblige anyone. Better yet, it's Modern Supply , their website is: http://www.modernsupplyco.com/info_lovell.htm Their phone number is (865)-675-9572

Went to my local plumbing wholealer yesterday and stumbled onto some antivibration pads. Seems there are two different sized they had on the counter. 4x4 and 2x2. They are a piece of cork, sandwhiched between two pieces of rubber. The rubber has tread to give it some traction. He said they use them under air conditioners (compressors), anything that might have some movement. I admit when I saw them I thought of the TT guys, or perhaps placing your amps on top of them. They're just small enough that you could probably do it without TOO much eyesore. The 4x4's cost $1.87 and the 2x2's cost .48 each. I'd imagine if they put those into a hi-fi magazine, they'd go for 299.99 for the 2x2 and $499.99 for the 4x4 (for a pair of course )

How close can/must your pre be to your power amp? Is it preferable to put your power amps (presuming they'll fit and in my case they will) on top of your Khorns with "X" feet of lead between amps/pre? Or, is it better to have the amp/pre close to each other and a longer speaker wire? I'm looking at prewiring my room and if I seperate the amp/pre and put the amps on the speakers, I'd envision about a 35' run of wire from the pre to the power amp on the other side of the long room. Is this a case where the high (or low ?) "z" of the peach would come to save me? I'd like to have ALL electronics on a single wall and to do that either need a long speaker wire, or a long interconnect. What's the pro's / con's of doing each?

My wife tells me I'm an old fart so I thought they'd be perfect for me

I asked someone about the difference between the 2A3 & 300B. The short reality is, presuming I asked the question properly, it wasn't answered. Instead, the guy asked me a question which I found interesting. He asked why not bi-amp using 2A3 and a 300 for the bottom end. Got me !!! So I put it here, could I get Al's appropriate network, an external xover at 400 and do that? I realize I can physically do that, but the real question is would you have the "magic" of the 2A3 sound since it's driving the mid/top end along with a bit more bite on the bottom end from the 300? Being one that loves to have his cake & eat it too, I'm more interested in thoughts on the idea rather than commentary that it would be expensive (as I presume it would be) Further, with the goal of capturing "the magic" along with some "slam", is there any merit in a 2A3 top end mated with a (insert your suggestion) bottm end amp? Is it even POSSIBLE to have that magic if you blend 2A3 with another type? (this is an honest quest for information & not an attempt to end up discussing pizza...because we ALL know that the WORLDS BEST pizza is located in my hometown of Hamilton Ohio and is called CHESTERS Pizza!!!! )

---------------- On 5/1/2005 3:33:14 PM Daddy Dee wrote: Coytee, I haven't heard both of these amps, but did have Paramours before the Wrights. The Paramours delivered about 90% or more of what the Wrights delivered. The Paramours are respectable sounding 2A3 SET amps and are perhaps the bang for the buck champ in that category. Would the Paraglows sound better, sure. It's just a matter of how much it's worth to you to squeeze out the last bit of SET sound. I know Colin Flood loves his Paramours and from reading his posts, don't think he has any intention of spending more on SET. It seems another example of the old issue of diminishing returns. A 5% or 10% improvement will double the price (or more). But back to your original question... I'd also like to hear someone compare and contrast the Paramour and Paraglow amps. ---------------- AND we'd like to hear how the paramours compare to WRIGHTS Wrights are another brand I was looking at and if you've had both, I'd be highly interested in hearing your thoughts. (even if in pm in case you think others might get defensive)

Let me modify my question a bit then... If I WANT to try to get that "magic 2A3 sound" out of my Khorns when I use 2ch, but I want "fully competent" sound from my HT, does a tube amp exist that I could use 5 ways around? I'm VERY willing to have dual amps on the khorns, I'm just trying to see if it was doable with the flea bitten stuff. A third question (I'm not counting), in a room say 15/25 with 8 1/2' ceilings, what would you feel the MINIUM tube setup for fully competent HT sound (using all Heritage)? perhaps I should start with that angle?

---------------- On 5/1/2005 12:12:30 AM psg wrote: If you have LaScala mains/center and Khorn rears (as it seems it's going to be for me) You'd put khorns in the rear!? I'd put them in front, with LS center and rears. ---------------- I WANT them in the front. The room dictates they go in only one location (which could be the front). the WIFE is dictating that "that end" of the room be the rear, hence, they might be default become my rear channels.

The Paraglow 2A3 is "direct coupled" so? What is the technical difference? is one CLEARLY better than the other? if so/not why/why not? Does one sound better than the other? if so/not why so/not? These technical differences are what confuse me. Since I have no way to audition them side by side, I'm reduced to asking more & more questions.

Most/all of us have had an experience with our Khorns (new thread on LaScallas) or others that just disappear and the performers are in the room with us. Myself have only experienced a tease of this and that's why I started the "listing 2A3 amp thread"... Ok, here's the tough question We're all so amazed how the (enter Klipsch model) vanishes and the performers appear before us. Are there OTHER brands of speakers that will do this same thing, to the same degree...indeed, perhaps even better? My point, We're all Klipschaholics and obviously are bias to that which we own. Are we willing to accept that different brands might do the SAME? If so, what might those be?

Can we somehow creat a single list/thread and quantify the brands of amps (2A3, 300B) that people use so that others like me have an inkling of the brands that are availalbe? It'd make it so much easier than otherwise having to accidently read a name and then do an internet search. I HOPE we don't start a pi$$ing war that "mine is better than yours". I'd rather have a single depository where someone can get a list of names they can look into, perhaps some perceived pros/cons from the owners or others that chose against (as to why you chose against brand "X") perhaps with a listing of a 2A3 for example when you say "with heater" or what ever that nomenclature is, maybe you will explain exactly what that heater is in lay terms, also why that might (or might NOT) be better than the non/heater version (so to say) Are there differences in transformers that should be considered... I've read many threads that infer brand x is better than brand y but I don't ever recall hearing why that's the case (or felt to be the case) Soooooooo, from all you that love to talk about your fleas (not sure that part sounded right ) start your fingers tapping. Evidently, there is a SET amp that is like $10,000. I forget the name and have no idea how it might sound, but even references to those would be apprecieated AND if possible, thoughts on how something like THAT (I think it's like 20 watts of SET??) might compare to a 2A3 SET. Would that be the holy grail of SET sound WITH slam? Would you clearly lose the SET "sound" by virtue of the more watts available? I realize that tube choice might also make a difference, but is it not fair for me to presume with tubes aside, you can still get the base physical housing that is "better" than another no matter WHAT your criteria is? (better transformers, better caps, better whatever)

Room will be approximately 14 1/2' x 23' (8 1/2 foot ceilings) when finished. khorns will be on the short wall on the "left" side lets say, and the LaScalas will be buried inside the right side wall which is really the closet under the stairwell so I can work them in. Ok, with that room size, here's my dilema so to say. I WANT to have a 2A3 type amp hooked to the Khorns (rears probably) and also have a Peach so I can use the HT feature. I admit I love to crank it up also. My hope is to somehow get around double amps on the khorns. If someone wanted to put tubes all the way around in that size room what size tubes might you consider appropriate? I'm certainly NOT against doubling the amps on the Khorns so I have both worlds availble to me, I just prefer not to if I can somehow have my cake & eat it too with the appropriate amps.

If you have LaScala mains/center and Khorn rears (as it seems it's going to be for me) Do you REALLY need 45/75/100 wpc HT amps? What would it be like if you got a processer only (Lexicon for example) and plumbed it into five 2A3 mono amps? (would it be better to plumb into two stereo amps and a single mono?) Would that not suffice for 90% of HT needs? 100%?? Curious minds wanna know. As I already have a pair of Khorns and a pair of LaScalas, I'm but a single center speaker away from having the Heritage done so this isn't an idle question.

---------------- On 4/28/2005 6:43:23 PM Thumpelstiltskin wrote: ---------------- On 4/28/2005 6:30:55 PM Coytee wrote: with all that said, I've got my three Academy's to put onto the table. ---------------- Do any of them have oak cabinets? ---------------- All three black

I'd love to end up with two 2A3 amps (mono's) that I can marry to my Peach. I've yet to figure out my preference on any brand. Heard good things about VRD's, Wrights & probably couple others that I forgot about. I've also read with great interest the high regards to the Mcintosh 30's confusion reigns inside my head. I got a Peach sitting in a box and nothing to marry her to. with all that said, I've got my three Academy's to put onto the table.

Been busy & just returned. Well I must say, either I asked such a sophisitcated question (highly doubtful) or I don't understand it all enough to ask a question clearly, because I'm totally lost by the responses (that's not a complaint, just a statement) I hope I didn't cause you (Terry) to get on a soapbox in a negative way, I didn't infer any angst there but I usually associate soapboxes in a more negative light than positive. I apoligize if I misquoted or otherwise messed up my representation of our conversation. If I misunerstood your soapbox, then I apologize for apologizing... (gads, I feel like I'm chasing my tail ) Here I thought I was on to something lol, I was thinking that if an autotransformer would in fact make the sound out of our beloved Khorns more balanced than otherwise (powered with ss), then a wider palett of amplifiers would be open to us than otherwise might be considered available. I'm going to yank my Yamaha out of the system soon as the tuner section no longer works very well... seems SOMEONE chewed the antenna to smithereens last night. I'm sure my two loving dogs that look up to me with their big brown eyes had NOTHING to do with the bits & pieces laying all over the floor. My wife..?? I just KNOW she's going to use the fact that she's in California visiting her sister as an alabi... pfft, she's got some explaining to do, huh?

Preface I: Im sure Im going to butcher the specifics of my generalities so try to bear with that and read between my ignorance to see if I have a basic theme understood. (as a rhetorical question, is it even possible to butcher the specifics of generalities? ) Setup I: I recently pulled my Jolida OUT of my system and plugged my ss Yamaha CR 2040 back in for kicks. I was treated with some harshness in the highs that had been smoothed out a bit with the tube amp. Setup II : A while back, I was visiting with Terry Dewick and he tried to explain why horn tweeters can get so shrill on ss equipment. As I understood what he said (IF I understood what he said lol) the high circuit has lower impedence than the other circuits. So if for the sake of math we use 2 ohms, and the rest of the speaker shows 6 ohms, then the SS unit will try to push three times MORE the power to the tweeter than it should to bring it to 6 ohms (if my logic here is wrong it might not matter for the question I ask below so trudge on). That extra load of energy to the high circuit is in part whats responsible for the sibilance of the tweeter (that might not otherwise be present in the material). If however an auto transformer is there, then it will show (again, for example) 8 ohms ACROSS THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM such that it be a much more balanced delivery of power to each circuit. Ok, if I regurgitated that close enough to set the stage, heres my question. If I get Als extreme sloped network, my understanding is it has a built in auto transformer. I presume that means it will show a balanced load across the circuit. If in fact that is accurate, is it fair for me to conclude that I might be able to use a ss component and that shrillness might be gone? (since the auto transformer will not allow extra juice to be pumped to the high circuit) If in fact that is reasonable, isnt it then fair to say/conclude that if you had an auto transformer then a whole additional realm of SS input power is available to you that otherwise might not sound good?

Back when "America" first came out, he'd begin his show with it and at end of song, a huge flag draped across back of stage, 'cannons' going off...words don't do it justice. he also did his finale with same song. Today's show he does it in the middle of set. My dad sent me a review of it back then and the guy's comment was (paraphrasing of course) "Neils OPENING song (America) was better than most peoples ENCORE song" The fact that he played it twice during show only made it better. Really got your goose bumps going.

I presume some here know this but Neil Diamond is planning on a US tour again this summer. For those of you who have never seen him, he is FABULOUS in person. A very good stage performer with very good songs. He doesn't put out the oomph like he did 20 years ago but he still "has it". I've seen him probably 20 times over the years and always enjoy the show (except for You dont bring me flowers and Sweet Caroline) None the less I've posted the current listing from his website (http://neildiamond.com/) They are: Monday, July 25 8PM Omaha, NE Qwest Center Thursday, July 28 8PM Madison, WI Alliant Energy Center Friday, July 29 8PM Moline, IL Mark of the Quad Cities Monday, August 1 8PM Chicago, IL United Center Thursday, August 4 8PM Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills Sunday, August 7 8PM Cleveland, OH Gund Arena Wednesday, August 10 8PM Washington, DC MCI Center Friday, August 12 8PM Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center Monday, August 15 8PM Boston, MA FleetCenter Thursday, August 18 8PM New York, NY Madison Square Garden Monday, August 22 8PM Albany, NY Pepsi Center Wednesday, August 24 8PM Buffalo, NY HSBC Center Friday, August 26 8PM Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena Saturday, August 27 8PM Columbus, OH Scottenstein Center Monday, August 29 8PM Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center Wednesday, August 31 8PM Minneapolis, MN Target Center Thursday, September 15 8PM Spokane, WA Spokane Arena Saturday, September 17 8PM Portland, OR Rose Garden Tuesday, September 20 8PM Seattle, WA KeyArena Saturday, September 24 8PM San Jose, CA HP Pavillion at San Jose Sunday, September 25 8PM Fresno, CA SaveMart Center Tuesday, September 27 8PM Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena Friday, September 30 8PM Los Angeles, CA Staples Center Thursday, October 6 8PM Phoenix, AZ Glendale Arena Sunday, October 9 8PM San Antonio, TX SBC Center Tuesday, October 11 8PM Houston, TX Toyota Center Friday, October 14 8PM Dallas, TX American Airlines Arena Monday, October 17 8PM New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena Tuesday, October 18 8PM Biloxi, MS Mississippi Coast Coliseum Thursday, October 20 8PM Tampa, FL St. Petersburgs Times Forum Friday, October 21 8PM Ft. Lauderdale, FL Office Depot Center Sunday. October 23 8PM Orlando, FL TD Waterhouse Centre Monday, October 24 8PM Jacksonville, FL Veterans Memorial Arena Wednesday, October 26 8PM Atlanta, GA Phillips Arena This is one of those shows I've taken people to telling them if they didn't like it, I'd refund their ticket (or I bought it anyway). I've never refunded a ticket. I'm sure more than one here knows what I mean. I'll be at the Atlanta show most likely

---------------- On 4/22/2005 8:16:48 AM Al Klappenberger wrote: Coytee, NO! You can't connect more than one network to a speaker at one time. You must choose. I beleive the extreme-slope concept is best under all conditions. The first order netwroks allow the driver frequency ranges to overlap by a wide margin. At lower levels I think this would be less detremental than at higher levels where the intereaction might be more noticable. This is just my theory though. AL K. ---------------- Let me rephrase my question... Could you put two networks on one speaker IF you had a switchbox connected to them such that it would remove the other network out of the loop? ( guess you would need 3 of them per speaker to switch out all 3 drivers??) I know it'd be a pain in the hiney, so that element isn't part of my question. The quesiton is, is it doable under ANY conditions and if so, what? Now that I think of the 3 switchboxes for each speaker I don't really see the interest of doing it (for myself) but i'm curious from a technical perspective... why? lol, my wife would tell you because I'm anal.

---------------- On 4/22/2005 6:08:08 AM Al Klappenberger wrote: Greg, I It is a first order constant impedance design but is only a good choice if you listen at a very low level. It allows major interferance between drivers as all first order networks will do. Al k. ---------------- May I interject a (potentially) dumb question here... I infer from what you just said that this network might work better at low levels of listening whereas a different xover might work better at higher RPM's so to say. Reasonable? Would it not be fair to then conclude that each of those networks might NOT shine as good as the other when operating within the realm of the OTHER network? Now, what if you want best of both worlds? If you don't care about the $$, could you have (as I intend to) TWO amps, one low power for that touchy feeling image, and another one for the shake & bake. Put the output of each amp to one of EACH of the respective xovers such that the lower powered amp has the "sweet" network and the high powered amp has the other. In other words, each speaker has BOTH networks attached to them, each network connected to the amp style that maximizes the networks strengths, as the network will maximize the amps strengths. Is this a situation where you could have your cake and eat it too or is this idea just dumb or bad for reasons I dont understand?

I got a Peach back in roughly November (?). I've yet to hear it and yet to set it up. Other than having it out twice to look at (and install the tubes), It's never been out of the box yet In fact, wife still doesn't know I have it I'm waiting til we finish the basement AND until Mr. Budget says I can buy two more amps to hook it up to (rather than plumb it into a 1980's Yamaha) Patience ....

I don't have, have never had. My first purchase was Electro Voice, my second, third & fourth purchases were Klipsch. No Bose in my car, no Bose in my radio, no Bose in my closet.