Allan Songer

I agree completely that is is FAR MORE EXPENSIVE to get a decent sounding CD player than analog rig! My turntable/arm/cartridge cost me about 1/7 what my CD player cost and I use it about 10 times as often. CD Player: BAT VK-D5 ($4500 2 1/2 years ago) Analog rig: Thorens TD-124/SME 3012/Orotfon SPU GT/E (about $700 invested--but would set you back about twice that today). The BAT is a GREAT CD player, the first one I have owned that does hurt my ears.

I've been listening to McIntosh and Klipsch for most of my life. I grew up listening to my Dad's mono system in the late 50's/early 60's, a McIntosh MC60 with a C8 preamp and one Klipschorn. In my college years I started buying,fixing and selling/trading American tube gear and speakers for fun and extra $$. I don't know if it's becasue it was imprinted on me at such a young age, but I too fell into the McIntosh/Klipsch groove and have never really strayed all that much (but I do appreciate and love other speakers and electronics--old Quad and Tannoy and Marantz stuff especially). Right now I've got a pair of MC-30's, a C-22 preamp, a MR-71 tuner and my old '64 "vertical" Cornwalls. It still sounds like magic to me after all these years and all that other stuff I've owned and enjoyed. I especially like the MC-30s and I think they represent a TERRIFIC bargain even today. You can get a decent pair for 6 or 7 hundred bucks and I still think they are the best non-commercial amp McIntosh ever made. Stuff them with NOS GEC KT-66 outputs and U-52 rectifiers and Mullard/Telefunken/RCA 12ax7/12au7/12bh7 and you're ready to roll for the next 20 years (BEWARE! nowadays these tubes will cost you MORE than the amps!) But MACs are easier on tubes than anything. Mac tube preamps are just the opposite of what today's "audiophiles" want or need--they are PACKED with features! Tone controls, mono-switch, filters, a KLLLER phono section, etc. I love the flexibility these units offer--and they sound GREAT too! The bargain of bargains in MAC preamps is the MX-110 preamp/FM tuner. It's like a C-11 pre and a MR-67 tuner all rolled into one. I've owned a few of these and they're terrific. Steve Hoffman of "DCC" fame used one in his main system throughout most of the late 80's and early 90's. You can pick one up for less than $500, which is DIRT CHEAP for what it is! So, a pair of MC-30s and an MX-100 might set you back $1500-$2000, and that includes "fixing them up" and re-tubing with good NOS tubes (but not GEC!). And the nice thing about McIntosh is that this stuff is only going up in value--you'll always be able to trade or sell with ease.

Gunstock oil!

VOT story: I once lived in a loft in San Francisco in the very early 1980's (right next door to the SF Ballet--ended up dating a couple of ballerinas, but that's ANOTHER story!). One of my orignal loftmates had a quadrophonic system with FOUR VOTs all sitting in oppsite corners of a room that was 30 feet square. Ther were the heavy-dury commetcial VOTs from the 50's or 60's--black painted plywood with the Altec VOT emblem painted on in white on the sides. When you stood in the middle of the room and listened at full volume you really fell into a vortex. Amazing.

No doubt about it: Horn loaded Tannoys. I think the Tannoy 12" and 15" dual-concentrics (Silver, Red or Gold) are some of the finest speakers ever produced and every bit as "good" as anything Klipsch has produced. I have a pair of 12" Golds in factory corner cabinets (not horn loaded) than I use in my "2nd" system. They are grat speakers--I actually prefer the way they sound on loud electric blues over the Cornwalls. But they lack a certain "crispness" when compared with the Conrwalls when playing the 50's and 60's jazz I listen to most of the time. I once listened to a pair of 15" Tannoy Reds in horn loaded corner cabinets as big as a Klipschorn and they were some of the best speakers I have ever heard. Breathtaking.

I've had my '64 Cornwalls since the late 1970's. I've owned Belles, La Scalas, Hereseys Always wanted K-Horns but never had any I guess I was about 24 or 25 when I bought the Cornwalls My dad had a K-Horn in a mono system I grew up with, so I guess I was about 4 when I first heard it! I just turned 47 last week I've owned LOTS of speakers over the years and have never heard ANYTHING like the clean, clear, yet in-your-face dynamics of Klipsch Heritage speakers. Still want K-Horns, but they flat-out will not work in my space, where I've lived and listened for the last 15 years. I'd love to see and hear the Jubilees--especially if they have the wooden horn. I would also like to see these offered with Macassar Ebony cabinets--I'll be all over those!! I'm a retro, old-shcool guy and these really appeal to me. And I can afford them if they are really going to be as great as I imagine they might be. Who cares if you call them "Heritage?" We all know what they are! How many pairs of home Jubilees do you think Klipsch can sell at $15K/pair? A few hundred a year maybe? And will ANY dealers carry a pair to demo? Maybe a handful in the entire country? Guess we'll have to travel to hear them!

I think the pics would be great. I did this once "flying blind" about 15 years ago and I sure would have liked to have had pics! It was really easy, but since I had been warned about how tricky it was going to be by the guys who sold me the diaphragms I was really sweating it. Your Cornwalls look "well used." Look like a pair of Belles I bought out of a frat house at USC many years ago!!

I have given up even trying to defend the many virtues of vinyl for the most part. But Sunday I was invited to a party where the host was showing off his new $65,000 home theatre. He put on a 5.1 mix of something (Eagles maybe?) and it sounded so bad it made me sick. I asked him where the turtable was (in a joking manner) and he said "you're not one of those idiots who've deluded himself to think that vinyl is better than digital are you?" After I told him his system sounded like **** the conversation was over.

A 1957 or '58 Seville will get you all of my MAC tube gear (there is A LOT!), some cool Fisher stuff, a set of Tannoy Monitor Gold 12" in factory corner cabinets, but you WILL NOT get my beloved Cornwalls!

Hey, thanks for calling me young. Been a while! Unfortunately I'm closer to 80 than 25 (OUCH!).

What's this "CD" thing you guys are always talking about?

THANKS! I'm a happy guy!

I know something about Unions too! I run a shop with over 40 union employees. While it might be true that the union is there to fight for and "protect" every memebers'job--even if the member is an inept piece of crap employee, I have had NO trouble getting rid of bad employees and have lost only one grievence in the last 12 years. Even though I am "the owner," I actually prefer a union workforce in some ways--these guys show up every day, put in an honest day's work, are glad to have a job that pays a living wage ($15.53 to 21.07 per hour) and are thus able to put some money back into the economy. Just so you don't forget--who do you think went to bat for the KKK's right to march in Skokie a few years back? That's right--the ACLU! Funny that a bunch of "wanntobe Liberal lawyers" were there to defend the rights of a wack-o right-wing bunch of nuts like the KKK to assemble and march? The ACLU is there for ALL of us and will try to protect EVERYONE'S civil rights! I know this might be hard to swallow, but it's true. It's a GREAT American organization that I am PROUD to be a member of!

I think it's terribly naive to blame the lack of quality in today's manufactured goods on 'Liberalism" or unions or the ACLU (I've been a memeber in good standing for 30 years). The ACLU is there to defend EVEYONE's constituanally guarateed civil rights-- NOT just the rights of "Liberals!" One reason why were are having CRAP forced down our throats is becasue of the terrible short-sightedness of American business leaders who have sold "quality" down the river in the hopes of making SHORT-TERM profits to impress Wall Street. And the consumer shares some of this blame as well--most of us are not willing to pay for high-quality goods any more and as retailers and manufacuteres of mass-market goods are forced to compete only on price we all end up with Chinese and Indonesian goods made of inferior raw materials assembled by slave labor. Shame on us.

If I had to pick only five, this is what I would pick today--it would surely be different tomorrow: 1) Art Pepper Meets the Rythym Section-Art Pepper Contemporary Records--1956 (released 1957) 2) 2 Degrees East and 3 Degrees West Bill Perkins / John Lewis Pacific Jazz--1956 3) Teddy's Ready-- Teddy Edwards Contemporary Records--1959 4) The Steamer--Stan Getz Verve (1958) 5) King of the Tenors--Ben Webster Norgran (Verve) (1954) Tomorrow's list would probably have Coltrane, Miles, Harold Land, Curtis Counce and a DIFFERENT Art Pepper LP!! 4)

PWK Lives!

$800? WAY TOO MUCH FOR A 400!!! Pllus, I'm not sure there is ANY advantage to converting to EL-34 from 7868. Y0u can still get NOS GE 7868s for about 20-25 bucks each!!! Electrically its the same as a 7591 which is a nice sounding tube. You could buy a untouched 400 for about $150 bucks, send it off to be "gone trough" by a reliable tech and still not have more than $400 in the deal. Better yet, find a 500C and do the same thing for about the same amount of $$$$.

Uh, actually this speaker was designed to be used horizontally OR vertically. My '64 Cornwalls have a factory sticker on the back with the word "UP" and an arrow pointing in BOTH directions!

Everyone here knows of my passion for old MAC tube gear, which tends to be VERY pricey these days. But there is one piece of classic McIntosh that is WAY undervalued and that's the MX-110 preamp/FM tuner. It's sort of like a C-11 and MR-67 all rolled into one and has a KILLER FM tuner and a GREAT preamp with both line and phono inputs--uses 12AX7 and 6U8 tubes in the preamp secetion. IT also has all the WAY COOL stuff a good vintage preamp should have--tone controls, mono switch, etc. These beauties can still be had for about 4 or 5 hundred bucks if you look around! You'll love this unit! And if you don't, you can spin it for a profit!

I've never been a big Dynaco fan--I know the PAS2 and ST35 and ST70 have LEGIONS of defenders who will go the the mat for them--I've had Dyna fans tell me the ST70 is superior to any MAC or Marantz tube gear!!! Give me a break! Anyway, the stuff I like best from Dyna are the tube tuners--I used a mono Dyna FM tuner for YEARS in my garage and loved it! You got an awesome deal! Allan

Hey jazman! I agree with you about the Silver Audio wires! I've been using the Hyacinth interconnects for about 2 years now and also the Silver Breeze phono cable. I've been VERY happy with these and haven't felt any urge to try anythiing else.

Actually, I built those risers out of walnut, sheet-steel and sand--they weight about 60 lbs each and the Cornwalls rest of them! Best thing you can do for your Cornwalls. And the risers rest on spikes and cones. 90's tech for a 50's design! These speakers are made out of walnut lumber core and have mitered edges. The front edges are veneered in walnut, as is the ares on the "return" right in front of the grill cloth. I'll take a better pic and post it tomorrow.

Here are my Cornwalls. They are early (1964) and have the grill cloth stapled over the front board--no drop in needed! This looks best I think, but it would be a pain to change the grill cloth. Luckily mine are original and pretty much mint.

I've said it before: Gunstock Oil! Nothing better.

I've seen a couple of these over the years--I'm guessing this is an EL84 push-pull integrated amp? If I remember correctly they were made in Chicago and were definately "built to a price" (read: very cheap iron). But you know what, Heaths and Eicos had crappy iron too and they sound good, so I'm sure you'll have a ball with this. A very easy way to get into vintage tube gear. Bring it up on a variac and listen to it!