Travis In Austin

Khorns were on the long wall, need them on the short wall, short wall only has one corner (left), not enought room for false corner for right speaker (would nearly block entrance to room), saw discussion about 60th having sealed backs which allowed toe in or out, assumed corner may not be required, looks like my assumption is incorrect, need corner but they do not need to be "sealed" into corner, sending diagram to His Holyness for confirmation, if not enough "corner" for right, punt on Khorns, get cornwalls, if enough corner, have truck, will travel, need to rent trailer. Travis

William, I hope nothing I said anywhere on here suggested that I was upset with YOU concerning your sale. As I wrote you privately, when I heard you had an offer prior to me contacting you I was happy that you had a quick sale, but bummed because the day or two that I had not really checked the forums I missed your generous offer to sell them here first. You had made a deal with that gentleman prior to me contacting you and there was no way I would expect, let alone ask, that you try and wiggle out of it. I asked you to consider me No. 2 if it did not go as planned, which you did, and you kept in touch to advise me how it was proceeding. I was sick only because they were so close, yet so far away. I started to consider them again, but they are just too far. That seller is jinxed, he has an eternal black cloud over his head. First, he says they will not work for him. Who has a pair of speakers shipped out without knowing whether they are going to work or not? He lists them on Audiogon for what he paid plus the shipping, but was willing to take $2,400. He turned down $2,000 from me. I ask them if a claim is being made and he says yes but he does not expect much as all and it is going to be a long time. I tell him I am willing to make him whole, wait and see what he gets paid for damage, and what I am offering might even put him ahead. The next day, boom, he puts them on ebay awith a $2,000 min, what I offered, and a a 2,600 or 2,700 buy it now, and someone does the buy it now, but they have a negative 2 feedback as a fraudulent buyer. He relists them with a min. bid of $2,600 and a buy it now for the same price of 2,600. So he is not going to get any bids at all, someone is either going to buy them or not. Are you even going to be able to present a claim if he sells them? What if he gets $2,600? I would think the shipping company, on these kinds of claims, has the option of paying you, or the buyer, the full amount of the claimed value, they cut you a check, they pick up the speakers and sell them for "salvage." They could also give you the option of keeping the "salvage" but that is where a bunch of negoiation comes in, they claim they are worth a bunch, and you claim they are nearly worthless, and you try and reach a compromise. Most also have the option of trying to have it repaired, and they would need the speakers for that as well. It sounds like the buyer does not even care about the damage, at least if he can get $2,600. I bet he takes a different positon if he can't sell them. You tried everything you could do to get them to someone on this forum, and for a local pickup. I am just sorry I missed the opportunity, but I am even more sorry about your aggravation in connection with the damage. I hope there is a quick and easy resolution to that. IF ANYONE EVER NEEDS A SHIPPER FOR SPEAKERS let me know. I will get you name of a moving company that I have at the office. There are nationwide, with terminals all over the U.S., and they specialize in moving antique furniture from door to door. They are double to triple the cost of a shipper. My media crendenza cost about $700 to ship from LA to Austin, but they unloaded it, unpacked it, and carried it up to the second floor. They move items costing tens of thousands of dollars, all day, every day, all over the United States. They are approved by piano manufacturers, pool table manufacturers, etc to deliever their custom products to customer's homes. So if you are trying to get something to yourself in good shape they are the way to go, and if the buyer insists on shipment, insist on them as the only people you will use to ship and they cost __________. These people know how to move stuff that is valuable, a pair of our irreplaceable Herritage speakers would be the lowest cost items on the truck, but they all get the same care and precautions. Insurance for a mover is different then a shipping company. A mover takes full responsibility for the item, they are liable for anything that occurs to it whether it is their fault or not, until you sign for it. You don't sign for it until they unwrap it. A shipper's liability is governed by Federal Regulations under the ICC, and there liability is limited. Like I say, it will cost, but it is well worth it. Travis

Watch y'all got in there? What is that fancy stuff behind the rack and those big fancy colums on the left and right? Travis

Shinerman, You are going to be tossing those subs when you get those Khorns into position. Maybe you can use em for planters or something?[] Travis

This thought has been resonating with me for the last couple of days. I just sent Trey an email about it. Thanks a lot for getting me off track[] Travis, those 60th anniversary K's are stunning, and I can't imagine you regretting it except maybe for the outlay.[] As beautiful as the pics of them were from Hope last year, they look even better in person. A fitting successor to your previous models, and hopefully your sills won't need more work. Larry As per usual, I got a speedy reply from Trey. He said my 60th Anniv. Khorns are ready anytime for me, just bring a truck and a trailer . . . the truck to load them in the and trailer to bring the cash in. (JK, he didn't really say that). What he did say is that the 60th Aniv Ed., while sealed, are not "corner free" speakers. He said the sealed back eliminated the last fold of the horn that the corners use to make up, which allows you to toe them in and out a bit, but they still need something (I guess, he was talking in all kind of fancy technical terms) that resembles a corner. True to his technical/eng. nature he requested a "diagram" of the room so that he could make recommendations and suggestions as to the propriety of the intended applicaton. He is asking for a diagram from a lawyer, this is going to be interesting. All kidding and sarcasm aside, I truly appreciate Trey taking the time to see if 60th Khorns might be a possibility for me. Travis

All us locals entertained ourselves just fine without drugs............. plenty to do besides get stones and drunk up in the north country. Besides the problems were on ALL MILITARY BASES large town or big town made little difference. Many small towns have military bases today and these problems are none existent for the most part. The 70's and early 80's were a very dark period for the US military from top to bottom just coming off the VN war and all. Dang right, everyone I have ever met from Michigan could do 3 things really well: Drink, Hunt and Fish. Most could do all three at the same time. Travis

Seadog, If y'all swing by Austin on your way back please let me know, you are welcome to stop by for lunch, snack, cocktail, restroom, or a listen. We are a straight shot off of 35, easy on, easy off. Travis

Max, I wish I could try the Denon, ZXY, and the Transfiguration, but alas, my dealer does not carry them. Travis

I had forgotten that you also had KSP-400's. They actually sound pretty darn good, but they are a bit "bright" for my tastes on 2 channel. They do have a nice center image, good soundstage. I will know more if I don't have replacements for Khorns cause that is all I will have running. Travis

I am not sure, what was in the subject line? My spam program may have eaten it. I will send you one and you can reply, maybe it will get to me that way.

JB, That's it? Bad things happen to good speakers? I am supposed to carry on, live life, and not look back because bad things happen to good speakers. That just isn't good enough, I need to know why, there has to be some reason, some way to fit this in the grand scheme of things. Oh the humanity. Travis

Here is a photo with the Shelter 501 on the Vector 3 tonearm. Well enough of the photos, as to the cartridges, here are my thoughts. The first night was the Shelter 501 ($850), Shelter 901 (1,500) and Benz Ace (550). The prices were really not relevant to me in the sense that I didnt really think I would be able to tell the differences between these cartridges with my hearing issues. I really thought that the Benz would sound as good as the others and this would be simple. Was I ever wrong, however, I decided early on that I was not going to fall into the "more is better" trap. I have only included the prices as a reference. First, this was the first time I really got to see how the Vector tonearm performed, and it was absolutely incredible. (Thanks Gary and Larry). Brian said he has not found a cartridge yet that will not track good on a Vector, and now I can see why. It takes a bit to get it set up, but when he has it dialed in you can just see how well the stylus wants to ride in the grove. I cannot recommend this tonearm highly enough. We started with the 501 and it really knocked my socks off from the get go. Great detail, bass was solid, and it really brought out the midrange, much more then what I was used to. Then we heard the Benz Ace, a great sounding cartridge, one I would probably be very satisfied with if I hadnt heard the others, but isnt that the way it always goes. We did not spend much time with that cartridge since I had already kind of made the 501 the baseline. Then the 901 went on. We spent a great deal of time with this cartridge. It made lps I was very, very familiar with sound new for the first time. It is extremely detailed, more on this in a minute, it had better high end definition then the 501. To my ears the 501 and 901 had about the same bass definition, the 501 possibly a tad more, but the 901 was a tad clearer in the high end. This "clearer" in the high end for my ears was a bit harsh. Symbols were clearer, where the drum stick was striking the cymbal edge was more discernable with the 901. As we listened to more lps I began to notice that I was not really caring from some recordings, you could tell, I am not kidding, how a singer mouth was positioned relative to the microphone. This was true with recordings that you knew were done in one room with a few mikes set up. You could tell when a singer turned to look over at someone else. For my ears it was TMI, too much information. The 901 was so detailed, so accurate, whatever the word is, that on some recordings it was a distraction. Case in point: Supertramp Crime of the Century, MFSL recording. This has always, in my mind, been a great pressing; to me it is better then the original. On the track School, after the first verse, Roger Hodgson strums his guitar slowly twice, then starts to dig into some deeper notes and you can clearly hear the pick or his fingernail, as the case may be, drag across the pickup. This "irregularity" was brought to the forefront by the 901. I have heard that song no less then 100 times and I have never heard it before. It was so abrupt I looked over at the turntable to see if something fell, or if Jack knocked somehow got up there and was up to no good. I asked Brian if he had ever heard that before and he said he hadnt, in all the times he heard the song as well. We played it again and determined it was clearly the pick dragging across the pickups. During the same intro of school there is that solo harmonica that is joined by the others. With the 901 you could really hear the extreme modulation that Rick Davies (?) plays through that harp. I prefer the 901 in the ability to pick up the detail of that modulation, but it picked up so much detail it was distracting to the music. I asked Brian to put the 501 back on which he did. You can hear the pick/pickup collision but it is not at the forefront of the music, you hear it but it is not in your face. Likewise you get a good sense of modulation in the harmonica, but not the depth you get with the 901. Brian explained this was the trade off between those two cartridges. To get things set up and the three cartridges a fair listening chance took about 3 hours. Brian asked me which cartridge he would like me to leave to listen to before Round 2, and I wanted him to leave the 501 on. More on Round 2 later, which were the Koetsu Black, Shelter 90X, and Benz wood-body. Travis

After Brian had the major adjustments done we put the unit back on the wall mount, where he finished making all of his adjustment, turntable level, etc.

Here is Brian from Sound Mind Audion doing the initial set up. We have taken the turntable off of the wall mount so he can get at things better. He got all of the adjustments on the Vector tonearm the way he wanted in and here he has intalled the Shelter 901 and is getting the tracking force close to where he wants it to be on his Wins stylus weight scale.

No the Last Record Preservative goes on after the record is cleaned. Supposed to do a whole bunch of thing, including minmize record wear and stylus wear. Some folks swear by it, others say it alters the playback. Very expensive, I think 40 for on oz (god I sound like my clients), but it only takes a few drops per lp. Travis

Seadog, Happy Birthday!!! Sorry I missed it yesterday, but we can just keep going with it all week. Travis

Ditto for me on that. Traivs

OB, Glad you and that Scott are warming up to each other. I got excited for you just reading your posts, heck you were not even grumppy at all. I hope this does not soften you up too much, we still need our No. 1 butt kicker around here. To those who got this set up, and followed through to compleation [Y][Y][Y] Now that you have discovered the center channel, you will have to hunt yourself down a third H2 to stick in there. I bet Speaker Fritz has 4 or 5 laying around somewhere, or you could get his LS's and use a H2 for a center[] I think your music selection is absolutely the best. You better hope I don't ever end up in your neck of the woods because I will be a poundin' on your door to check out some tunes. I hope you continue to get a great sense of pleasure from your Scott. Travis Travis - The center output on a 299 (a and is unpowered which is why a powered sub like the RSW-12 I sometimes use with my 299b works so well. To add another heresy, you'd need to run another amp to the center out RCA jack. The 299C and D have powered center ouputs which allow a derrived center channel with no additional amp. OB - Glad you're enjoying the Scott. It was my first tube amp also and I still use it with my Cornwalls. The sound is flat out stunning. I never owned a Scott, and that makes sense that it would be unpowered. Now, back then, what would have been the purpose of having an unpowered center channel? I have read posts on here, and elsewhere, there was a move afoot to go from stereo to 3 channel, studios were recording in 3 channel, etc. What was the purpose of this feature? Travis

I think that's BS. Maybe in theory it's true but I have some LPs that have been played 100 times and still sound as good as the day I brought them home..........used in many cases! I suppose if they're played a million times they'll eventually wear out. I'd probably be sick of it by then anyway.[] If an LP is well cared for and your table is properly set up and you clean your stylus on a regular basis, an album should last a VERY long time. It's not like a tootsie pop.[] (As an Old Timer, I assume you remember that commercial?) Gary, Are you using, or have you used, Last Record Preservative? (This is a serious question) Travis

I think that's BS. Maybe in theory it's true but I have some LPs that have been played 100 times and still sound as good as the day I brought them home..........used in many cases! I suppose if they're played a million times they'll eventually wear out. I'd probably be sick of it by then anyway.[] If an LP is well cared for and your table is properly set up and you clean your stylus on a regular basis, an album should last a VERY long time. It's not like a tootsie pop.[] (As an Old Timer, I assume you remember that commercial?)

Pauln, Naw you aint losing it. But I will say this, you would fit in perfect with us R2R guys. Not only can you feel the tension from wondering if the vinyl is all the way up to par, you can also fret about whether you are getting the upmost recording quality. On top of that, you can replay the tape and re-live the experience all over again. I have a real cherry Rt-1011 that I would make you one heck of a deal on.[] Travis

Are these the ones that William just sold that I missed out on by one day? I am going to puke. Travis Or better yet, get those 60th anniversary Khorns that are so pretty, or even better than that get yourself a pair of JUBS. YOU DESERVE IT with all the [bs] you put up with from your clients. This thought has been resonating with me for the last couple of days. I just sent Trey an email about it. Thanks a lot for getting me off track[]

That's funny, I was sitting in a bar the other day and in walked a penguin, a frog and a duck . . . and the penguin said the same thing about her.[] The duck said only SET for him and the frog was SS. We started talking about the atributes of vinyl vs. CD but the penguin got em all thrown out before we got that far. Travis

Can I ask why you did this? Did I miss something? Mike Mike, It has been the topic of discussion in my "WTB Cornwalls" thread located here http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/884101.aspx Mark asked the same question, and I tried to explain with a photo that it is more a function of the room, HT is on short wall, 2 channel is on long wall, this requires the movement of furniture and one KSP-400 HT speaker to go from one to the other. I was just thinking though, the 60th Anniv. Ed Khorns have sealed backs that, essentially, act as a false corner? If they do not require a false corner, and depending on the the size (there is an issue about the size interfering with the entryway) I might be able to go with those. So I am going to continue with the CW possibility but if 60th Khorns will work with their sealed backs I might start trying to beg borrow or STEAL a pair from Klipsch somehow some way. Travis

Wow, here is 1000 posts, and it is to toot my own horn[D][^][<)][<)] GET IT, TOOT, HORN ? ? ? (Who looks at that post count anyway? Obviously I do). So here is a photo of some folks facing the long wall. Towards the the back right, where the two gentlemen are standing, is that alcove area that I mentioned where people enter the room. The right speaker would be going under that sconse light to the left of the picture hanging on the wall. There is no corner there, obviously, and if I did a false wall it would leave too narrow a path (at least per my wife's tastes) for people to enter the room. The exact center of the listening area for the long wall is under the sconse light where the gentlemen in the aqua blue shirt is sitting (with hand up to mouth) Those are electric recline leather theater seats that I have moved up facing the long wall. When it came time to watch a movie, I would have to move those chairs 90 degrees clockwise, centered on the short wall. So that there is the situation, I have heard suggestions from everything from putting the chairs on tracks that they can slide from one position to the other (good god) to getting an L sectional that went bothways. However, about the only suggestion I got from guys who were married and knew the realities of having to get something at least half way acceptable to No. 1 was: get rid of the Khorns and try Cornwalls up front or Reference Series. Travis