Travis In Austin

Hey Travis,Seen any new Jubs lately? Chris Why Chris, Yes I have as a matter of fact. I know it is about 10 month later, but I have in fact been advised that the Elves in Hope have been mightely busy his past month. Exotic plywood Jubes turned out to be a major undertaking for Roy. He came up with a slightly new design which adds cross bracing (seen in the attached photos) which resulted in a new cut list. I believe approximately 3 or 4 prototypes had to be made and tested. These are not prototypes in the sense that something had to be made from scratch, tested, tossed out, redesigned, etc. It was more a case of tweeking the assembly order and instructions. As a result Roy was able to shave several hours off of the build time, yet has a more rigid bass bin. The bad news about this is that it was such a major headache that, per Roy, this will be the only set they will make in exotic plywood. However, the GOOD news is that folks who want an exotic wood center panel can now get that as an option from the factory. Kudret's were the first pair with this option and served as the final "test pair" before mine were built. The pictures attached show the bass bins that are in raw African Mahogony (Sapele). At this point they were getting ready to be send for finish sanding and then final assembly. I will receive them in raw form I will finish them with the help of Luther (wardsweb). Roy sent me several scrap pieces of the wood so what we can do some testing with various oils and finishes to see what my wife Kelly likes the best. (Did you know there is an official word for scrap wood not used from the 4 x 8 sheets? I sure as heck didn't know there was). I will keep you up to date on the progress, when they arrive, and photos of the finishing. More to follow later, in the meantime, here are a few photos of DCR-KHJ-LF-AMR 001 and 002 at the factory in Hope. Travis

I just had both of my KSP 400 Amps serviced by Klipsch and they did a fantastic job. Both Amps were dead, did a whole bunch of trouble shooting myself to not avail, sent to Klipsch and both are perfect now. I have now explanation for the speakers not having any output after the cross-over being bypassed. What kind of music/signal is going to the amp. I am sure you are sending something that is low enough in frequency, but had to ask. I don't recall right off hand what the specs of those side firing woofers are and so can't picture what should be coming through with an full range signal. But can you help me with something? With the lower plate (speaker terminal connections) removed, the one that gives you access to the woofer, can you tell me what color wire was attached that was closest to you and what color wire was furtherest away from you? Are they the same for both speakrs? Are your connection terminals that are on the woofer itself in the 12 o'clock position? Thanks in advance, Travis

I can easily bring a deck if your's is not ready to go by then. We can coordinate more as the time approaches. Travis

$350.00, if it is in good cosmetic and working condition is an excellent deal. Travis

Where and when was the "Listen Up" photo taken? Travis

Dave, I will try and be there if the offer is still open. As per usual, in my line of work the more notice the better. I look forward to hearing that Organ R2R tape on that set up and to talking to you more about LP to HD transfer associated with your development of a music server. Travis

Van Damm Dammed nice my friend. I'm going to have to check those out when I am up there with Luther at the next AudioKarma Fest. Travis

I have an X-1000R, you will be very happy with it. The X-2000 does indeed have different heads, but it also came in differenct variations, high speed, etc. What is the cost of reprair to X-2000 you have? What is the problem(s) with. About what can you get the X-1000 for? What part fo the country are you located in? Travis

Why am I not surprised to see this quote in Mark's post on his website. With just about everyone else I would be freaking out if I saw "(insert the name of your favorite high-end audio equipment you recently purchased) going out of business." But with Mark I just knew he would stand behind his stuff. I have to figure out a way to get him to work with me on some AMP's. I am just really glad I got to business with a class guy with a class product. Grasshopper if you get tired of the auto industry maybe I can work on the funding of a buyout of JM and you can take over the business. Yo Craig, you better higher a helper dude. It is funny, I watched the Majestic this weekend and if of course reminded me of Mark. I hope I can get back out that way soon one of these days. Travis

I have heard Khorns, Jubes, Avant Garde Duo's and Magico Ultimates. I would say the Ultimates are by far and away the best horn speakers I have ever heard, the best speakers I have ever heard period. However, they are not very practical and unrealistically expensive. Next woud be the Jubes, and then the Avantgarde's, followed by the K-horns. Travis

I have sat in that chair, and it is incredible. I don't remember the risers though, maybe that will avoid the necessity of having to sit lightly forward in the chair because of my height. Gary did you add the risers on the second day? I sure could never tell. That chair ties the whole room together. Travis

I love 'em, they are the best Scottish rock band of all time and have the greatest rock song with bag pipes in my opinion. I'm 48, and it has been hard to bet folks to go with me to shows on their latest tour here in the US. I'm even planing on catching them in their native Scotland for their Glasgow show. Travis

Pet Sounds Exile on Main Street

I have sat in that chair and can attest that it truly is a great sweetspot. The perfect place to enjoy a cup of Salada. Travis

I have owned several, including a DP 935 I sold after I got married. Talk about scary fast. Travis

Now that was funny. The second guy for sure never listens to his records. After he finishes with that 12 step process, he puts his lp's in his $2,000 lp demagnatizer (http://www.musicdirect.com/product/73520) only to discover they are dusty requiring a repeat in the steam bath. Travis

They are $20 for $50, or $15 for 50 if you buy 500 (10 packs of 50) from Music Direct (they own MFSL). I called them direct the last time I ordered and asked for a quote for 1000 and they came in one large box in bulk for an even better price. Travis

I'm glad you posted on this because I have been meaning to mention an alternative place to get sleeves then the typical outlets. You can give www.squaredealonline.com a try for record supplies. The other two main ones I think have been mentioned, sleevetown and bags unlimited I have found squaredeal has the best prices on outer sleeves if they have what you are looking for. They carry the rice paper inner sleeves, but I don't believe they carry the MFSL brand. I agree that the MFSL is the best quality and is what I use. If you have a number of records you can get the price down if you buy them in bulk. The last time I got them I got a case of 1000 and it cut the cost by more then half. Travis

I think the Disc Doctor brush is by far the best think out in the market. It has a two level nap, one gets well into the grooves, and the other gets the surface. I also like his cleaning fluid, I use the original that requires a clean water rinse. I am really interested in the steam system and the results people achieve. I have the 16.5 VPI and get great results with the disc Doctor system, but it does require two vaccum wands and a 2nd rinse cycle. If the steam avoids the necessity of a vaccum cleaner then it will be a good option budge wise. But for someone who has a vaccum system, the big question is going to be whether it provides a deeper/better cleaning, or can achieve the same cleaning wth less steps. There is no question, after watching the first video, that it is the best way to go for a manual system. (He is using nothing but steam). If he can get everything out then it is very inexpensive and fairly quick. However, I could clean about 3 records to his every one with a VPI 16.5 so it will be interesting to see what results folks get with steam in vac system. If they get the same cleaning without having to use brushes, and or cleaners then it would be worth a try. It would be hard to believe that steam is going to get something that DD brushes and solution would miss by themselves, so I want to see if it lets you skip something and be just as clean. On the alcohol issue, if you use too strong a solution of alcohol it can for sure strip the sheen right off an lp. This has always made me wonder what alcohol is doing to the vinyl even if it is diluted. The DD claims that alcohol leaches the plasticisers out of record vinyl, whatever that is, but who knows. Like I said, I actually removed the sheen off of a record using 100 alcohol. For a normal lp cleaning, one that has not come from a garage sale, etc, I use a non-alcohol based cleaner such as the DD solution. There are, however, some things that are going to require alcohol in order to be really clean. If a record comes from a smoking household, for example, you are going to have to hit it with an alcohol based product first. I reccomend following that up with your normal non-alcohol based solution, followed by a water rinse. Whatever brush you use with the alcohol based solution you are not going to want to use with the other solution. With regad to "rubbing alcohol," I would avoid using it. A pint of 99.9% pure isoporponol costs about $10. It is available at a lot of places, Techspray offers it along with a bunch of other places. I know that is more then a pint of rubbing alcohol, but it can't be that much and you don't know what you are gettngwith the rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol can either be ethyl or isopropyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is the kind we drink and so federal regs require ethyl rubbing alcohol to be denatured so you can't drink it, The denaturing agents are something you would never want on your records. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol, as previously mentioned, can have lanolin in it, which may or may not be on the label. More importantly, it usually contains perfume oils, and you don't want that stuff on your records. For the slight difference in cost I just don't risk what may, or may not be in the rubbing alcohol. With the 99.9 I know there is nothing it. Like I said, I am looking forward to hearing more about the steam system in conjunction with the VPI machine. Travis

Mark, I am very interested in this 6H30 option. While I have had 6DJ8's turn microphonic, if you have a good one (no 1/f noise) they seem to have much less tube noise and distortion than tubes such as a 12AX7. It does take a little bit more effort to find quiet ones, but once you do you can forget about it. The 6DJ8 has a great deal more bandwidth than a 12AX7, thus they are much more prone to RFI and other outside sources of noise and so I have found using a metal shield/heat sink eliminates this type of thing. I think part of the problem is more that the 6DJ8 was a more recently developed tube (1950's) and was not used hi end audio until the late '70's. A lot of these tubes, as you mentioned, went into test equipment or were part of tv tuners. A whole lot of them were made in the 1980's, but they were made in Eastern Europe with poor quality control. These were than labeled in a lot of different ways including "Made in W. Germany." A 6DJ8 has about 7X the gm rating of a 12AX7 and consequentlly, the noise voltage on the 6DJ8 is superior to the 12AX7. How does it compare with the 6H30? Travis

I don't seem to have that problem with mine.

Roger, I'm sorry I did not update this, I have been so busy with work that it took a back burner for awhile. I did in fact buy them, they are in pristine condition, we don't believe they were ever hooked up. They do not have the original boxes but they are on the original pallet, and had been re-wraped. I could not find a scratch or nick anywhere. You could also tell the doors on the bass bins had never been unscrewed, so I did not even mess with opening them. I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet, I am waiting for my Jubs to be finished and that may still take some time so I may put them in the house while I am waiting for those to get finished. I plan to play with them for at least a little while. I have to go back up and get them when I have a chance, but that doesn look like that will happen until the middle of November. Sounds like quite a project with all TSCMs. Is that going to be 4 or 6? Travis

Can't really add to anything that has already been said, but man that is a pretty dog you have there. Travis

Thank you all very much, Michael thanks for the PDF which I am taking with us. I'm going to fly us up there in a hurry tomorrow and see what we can find. I am going to try and give Kevin a call as well before we get up there. Travis

Thanks Doc. Where is the access panel on the bass bins on these and what tools do I need other than a screw driver. Are the K-33, 55's and 77's? Travis