edwinr

I forgot about the Cambridge Audio range of CD players. Probably a good choice if dollars are short...

The RB-81's are a pretty big 'bookshelf' speakers. It's definitely better to mount them on stands. Probably the best value standmounts around. Buy the RB-81's and prepare to get your socks blown off.... [Y]

Edwinr, You must still be using a processor as a preamp which uses either the USB, Optical or HDMI outputs correct? I wish they would of incorporated analog outs on the PS3. Hi stormin, The HDMI cable connects my Playstation 3 directly to my projector, I've taken the 2 channel audio output from the Playstation via the analogue leads that came with the unit directly into my Audio Note amplifier. On the Playstation setup menu I have configured the audio output to 2 channel analogue. Even though it's not made clear in the instruction manual, the Playstation allows you to run both HDMI high definition video output in conjunction with 2 channel analogue audio output. It took a little bit of juggling with the menus to get it right, but now it works a treat.

Now you've got me started. When I unpacked my brand new Belle Klipsch speakers, I was stunned to see that they were covered in old fashioned real wood veneer. That's just so old hat it's not even funny. I was expecting some kind of decent, modern, hard wearing finish - I mean the world has moved on since wood veneer was the only choice. To add insult to injury, those cheap-skates at Klipsch couldn't even find different grained veneer to put on each speaker. They both look so alike you can't tell one apart from the other. Sheesh...

Winchester21, if you work out how much you've invested in your present multi channel system - great system that it is - you may find that you can buy into a Klipschorn 2 channel system for about the same. Properly setup, the Klipschorns will sound like a giant pair of headphones in your room. Even a pair of La Scalas will knock your socks off. I don't know how much a pair of La Scalas 2's will go for in the 'States, but you could buy a used pair of La Scala/Belles for very small dollars. In saying that, I see you have Cornwalls. I have never heard these speakers. But some forum members think they are the best thing since Marilyn Monroe... A few years ago, I had more speakers and HT stuff than you could poke a stick at - always upgrading, never happy. Now I don't have to constantly tweak or adjust processor settings. It's great, with much less stress and much more satisfaction for less outlay... P.S. Movie soundtracks sound awesome with tubes.

I commend anyone who makes the step into a dedicated two channel system for music. Now the next step is to make the switch into two channel for movies as well. Really, after excluding the hype and expectations that the industry has (mis)led us into believing multichannel is the only way to go for maximum movie appreciation, a properly set up two channel system will knock your socks off when watching your favorite movie. One thing to consider is that rather than spread our hard earned money out on two or more systems, we should consider spending all out dosh on just one REALLY good two channel system. It's a concept that took me a while to come to terms with - watching movies on plain vanilla two channel. Now I wouldn't have it any other way. I've been a pure two channel convert for nearly two years. My current system features a Sony Playstation 3 hooked up to a high definition Panasonic projector via HDMI with a 92 inch pulldown screen. The audio is handled by a Audio Note Single Ended tube amplifier driving Belle klipsch speakers and twin REL subwoofers. A CEC Belt Drive player looks after my silver discs. Vinyl options are yet to be decided. Food for thought...

Hmmmm. You haven't got me beat yet though. I'm 52 with a 36 year old wife and my youngest daughter is two...

You need a good quality stand alone CD player. The RCD 1072 has an excellent reputation. I say buy it.

Before I settled on my CEC CD player, I tried and tested several so-called 'audiophile' CD players. They were built like tanks, expensive, and featured a sound that sounded a little shrill to me. It crossed my mind that maybe the designers of these CD players deliberately accentuated the treble response of their players so that during a side by side comparison in a retail environment, they appeared more detailed than their competition. Maybe that's being a little harsh. Maybe not... Properly designed audiophile CD players can offer a liquidity and smoothness from the ordinary CD that rivals very good analogue replay equipment. If you don't believe me, jump on a 'plane, or if you feel fit, paddle or swim across the big pond and come listen to my setup[].

Sorry to hear you lost your job. My wife lost her part time job too. But we don't blame it on the economy - I reckon some employers just use the 'poor economy' as an excuse for bad management or an exuse to employ some new faces. Anyhow, the way we think, if you don't have some tough times you don't appreciate the good times when they come...

Here's a pic of my CEC CD player. Beautiful...

Don't listen to Batman's sidekick - he wears tights that are 2 sizes too small which affects his hearing! The Rega Apollo is an outstanding CD player. Much better than any DVD multi player used to play CD's. Personally I own and use a CEC Belt Drive CD Player. It's a honey and makes listening to music a real pleasure. Here's a pic of the Apollo for Batman's sidekick to drool over...

I used to like the sound of Rotels. I still do, but I reckon you would be better off with a Creek amp than a 1080 with RF7's. Also I have several friends who own Rotels, and they have had varying reliability problems, including hum and stuff like that. Rotel is very good with their warranty work, but I don't think these amps should have such problems in the first place. Try something different. What about a nice refurbished tube amplifier for a simlar price to the Rotel? Or even a new one if you can afford it. Just avoid some of the really cheap Chinese tube things sold over ebay.

OMG!!!!

That makes it extra sad having pesonally known him. How must the family feel?. He died a hero. I guess that's something they'll be proud of forever...

Greg, that speaker design really clicks with me. It looks balanced and not being overpowered by the big mid/treble horn on top. That's a design issue I have with the popular version of the Jubilee doing the rounds at the moment...

What Coytee is saying (I think) is that there are no theaters that use solely Jubilees for sound (i.e. they use side surrounds and the like as well). And I am a Best Buy "Clerk"! BTW.... Gotham? Come on man... Am I missing something? Maybe it's because I live in Australia that I don't get the Gotham slur. Is there something wrong with coming from this city? [*-)]

I will go out on a limb here and state that you are Australian. I didn't realize you had New Year's way over there. LOL! Yes, I'm an Australian. One of 22 odd million who inhibit this big red island continent. We celebrate New Years and all the other 'normal' holidays you guys have. Until recently, we didn't celebrate Halloween with the 'trick or treat' theme that you guys have. But in recent years trick or treat has risen in popularity and many parents encourage this phenomena with kids dressing up for the occasion. By the way, I just finished watching the new Batman movie (The Dark Knight) with Christian Bail, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Heath Ledger as The Joker. It's a very good movie. The main stars performed as well as you would expect, but the shock was Ledger's performance. As you all might know, Ledger, an Australian, died last year and I think Batman was his last performance. Let me be frank, I never liked him as an actor. But I concede he saved his last performance for his best. Get the movie out on BluRay if you haven't already seen it.

Happy New Year. I just got back from Sydney riding my motorcycle on the highway at 11.30pm last night, avoiding the Wombats and Kangaroos. It was cold, wet and I haven't played my Belles for three days. Yawn... [|-)]

Congratulations on your new Belles. They are one of the finest speakers money can buy. I've owned a few of the 'other' finest speakers on the market and I've gone back to a new pair of Belles. Regarding amplifiers - try a decent solid state amplifier first. I like the Harmon kardon range. Even their new receivers sound pretty damn good, so you could buy new if you wanted. But initially I would go for a decent used solid state amplifier that you will gladly keep as a spare for later when you buy a decent tube amplifier. I love tubes, but don't get sucked into buying one of those cheap Chinese folded sheet metal things. You might get lucky and get a good one, but chances are you will get ripped off. I know 0 been there and done that. Save a couple of bucks and buy a classic tube ampliifier from days gone buy and get it refurbished. If you have enough money to buy a decent new tube amplifier then go for it. But buy quality. Enjoy your Belles...

Wilson's speakers are made of virtual concrete with bits of wood thrown into the mix. You can't compare that stuff with the standard MDF we're discussing here. And frankly most of Wilson's stuff is pretty ordinary in the sound quality stakes. B&W's 800 series, no matter which way you cut it, no matter what fancy veneers they've glued on to them, are made of bog standard MDF. For the money they're asking for them, you would expect B&W to give the customer a better deal. But then most people don't notice, I guess. If they look pretty on the outside, and make a half decent noise, then it doesn't matter. The 801's were in my top 10 speaker list a while ago. They still sound pretty good - but the rest of their stuff is yuck. I've developed the mentality that B&W are the English equivalent of Bose, selling a lifestyle and look rather than genuine sound quality.

John Albright said: "Seven pages in 8 days?! Outside of 3 posts, who said anything? What's wrong with you bickering old women?" Come on. Give us a kiss then...

Thanks Roy. I put the below P.S. in as an edit on my post then I saw your new post: (P.S. But in saying all of the above, greg928gts and Roy have got me thinking... If the current Jubilee is so customizible (sorry!) then maybe those with say a pair of Belles or Cornwalls could use their mid and treble horns on top of the Jubilee bass horn with a suitable passive crossover as an upgrade option, rather than selling their beloved speakers and losing lots of money. Hmmmm....) You have to excuse my ignorance with my silly questions, but it is very kind of you to respond in such a fashion. Thanks for your offer. I will certainly give it some serious thought. Edwin.

edwinr what is missing in most of everyone's history of the jubilee and why it is handled the way it is, is this: klipsch quit pursuing the jub as an official project with the passing of Paul. it was never to see the light of day since no one in sales ever saw it being sold like our other lines. that was understandable. what is almost always lost in the translation, truth morphed into tales, and just good ole confusion because the preverted myths are almost more interesteing than the boring truth is that some people really wanted a jub. as paul allowed us to market the lf cabinet in cinema, i mistakenly, in retrospect, piped up that if they really wanted a jub, really really wanted a jub than it could be possible. from that perspective, i, along with others, get preturbed when people make comments without knowing the whole story. the jub, as it is, will always be the only way to get it. and people will just have to suck it and accepted it.....or not........and continue the mindless rants..... take care, roy Thanks for posting that, Roy. You've offered some interesting insight into the whole Jubilee thing. I didn't know Klipsch were letting the Jubilee go as a project. Wow! That was brave of you to make that offer... You have to respect though, my desire that the Jubilee should be in the Klipsch product line. You will note that my comments have been supportive of this desire and I was thinking how nice it would be to have more money allocated to this end. But the current economic climate isn't helping. Also I hope I wasn't ranting. Just asking questions and making some suggestions about what I would like to see happen with something I would maybe like to upgrade to in the future... Oh well. Maybe the Palladium is the way to go.Have a really Happy New Year everyone... Kind regards, Edwin. (P.S. But in saying all of the above, greg928gts and Roy have got me thinking... If the curent Jubilee is so customizible (sorry!) then maybe those with say a pair of Belles or Cornwalls could use their mid and treble horns on top of the Jubilee bass horn with a suitable passive crossover as an upgrade option, rather than selling their beloved speakers and losing lots of money. Hmmmm....)

... and thanks to greg928gts for that excellent writeup. Your comments about the merits of including a simple passive cross-over with the Jubilees makes sense: "I think the Jubilee high end would be much better if it had a tweeter and a midrange horn that didn’t require processing beyond a simple crossover network. I think some of you Jubilee owners out there would be surprised at how good the Jubilee bass bin would sound with a wooden tractrix horn with a quality 2” driver, a Beyma CP-25 tweeter and a simple crossover network. Or, the type of two-way setup that Mike Klementovich is using, a Martinelli wood horn with a Beyma CP750ND on the Jub bass bins with a simple passive crossover network. Or HECK, how about a Khorn top end with a Cornwall crossover?" Active electronic processing of any sort is objectionable to me. It could be my imagination but I have always felt there was a subtle underlying electronic 'hash' with any active cross-over I have ever listened to...