sunnysal

It's what the world needs! Is there a schematic we can review for kicks? I wonder how it compares to the Brooks?

this is a very circuit specific thing BUT I have tried GZ37 (an old mullard) a 5U4G (GEC), a U52 (navy white box) and a variety of GZ34s in my custom made PP 2A3 amp which was designed for GZ34 rectifiers. I have had the U52 installed now since 2004. when I was trying them all our listening tests my two faves were the GEC 5U4G and the government U52, they seemed to add a little weight and flesh to the low end. YMMV, IMHO, yadda, yadaa, I fully admit I might have been imagining a difference but I wanted to share this experience in case it helps open up options for the OP. Warm regards, Tony

I indeed am here on the forum, and I indeed use in my main system an amazing 2A3 PP amp made by our favorite Mining Geologist! (is that the right Profession?). I wish he had kept in touch here more often, many Klipsch forum members have bought or built his designs and we all enjoy the music! warm regards from sunny el salvador, Tony

I would say to go ahead and try it. I did! I had them cross just slightly in front of my sitting position and that resulted in the most holographic presentations. after playing around you can always go back to the original position. Why not???? let us know what you decide and tell us what you discover while exploring. enjoy! warm regards, Tony

I have a 730 and love it! I am sure the 430 is basically the same sound. enjoy! Tony

fresh caps might do something, if you will like the change is hard to say, I found my upgrade crossover seemed to peak the top end and mids more than I liked, i ended up wishing to go back to the smoother (maybe a little softer or fuzzy) sounds of my originals. if they sound good to you now I would hold off "upgrading" crossovers. however if you want to change the sound, swapping out 1977 caps will probably be an audible change. let us know what you decide and the results. regards, Tony

Mark is back! Still making audio equipment? Even as a hobby for yourself? Warm regards, Tony

Just in the spirit of piling on, beating a dead horse and giving my two cents on every subject. If you have a quality AV receiver that plays with ease at the volumes you require and makes music you enjoy there is NO reason to switch to dedicated two channel amplification. Anything else is cork sniffing. The goal of audio components IMHO is to play music you enjoy listening too. If that Denon gets your feet tapping and doesn't do anything untoward to the music you hear leave it alone and enjoy the music! Regards, Tony

I love my RB-5s! have used them in my bedroom system driven by a pair of Dynaco MkIV monoblocks (my wife complained about both the size and loud sound! They now reside in my office system driven by a McIntosh MA6400 integrated amplifier. wow can I rock my office now! These speakers continue to bring me enormous musical enjoyment. I have never heard any bad comments about them from anyone who owns them and has compiled any extended listening experience with them. Warm regard from sunny El Salvador, Tony

I should have some of that stuff. I collected all the parts to make one back then...let me look tonight and, if I find something, post it tomorrow. warm regards, Tony

my Dynaco MkIVs monoblocks are strapped for "triode" operation of the EL34, it sounds great! Only dropped it from my Khorn system because I installed my 2A3 PP amps...regards, tony

Great work Mike! Please keep us updated as to progress. I still am waiting for an excellent el84 amp to pass in front of me so I can buy it. Since I have sworn off DIY (or better said my wife has made me swear it off, at least the high voltage stuff). I may end up buying a new one like; Roger M's RM-10

Congratulations on the khorns. I too have 1993s! let me start by throwing my two cents in about your specific questions and then add a few lines: - Should I try to construct the 'false corners', at which point I can experiment more with toe-in? Toe in is worth a try for the imaging issues and should improve a bit the bass performance, I got some amazing improvements in spatial effects when I toed mine out just a bit, your case may be the same. - Is the Crites crossover kit worthwhile? My thought is that I'd only be benefitting from new caps, since the rest of the components look basically the same. For $400, I could probably source more exotic caps (V-Caps maybe) and replace them myself. Thoughts? I didn’t get much benefit from swapping upgraded crossovers (in my case some ALKs) not that they were bad sounding but, in the end, the original AK3s sounded really good, I would only swap out or "upgrade" if you have evidence that a cap is leaking or out of spec. I even tried an active crossover for a while and in the end...went back to stock. - Is the $1000 Volti XO the way to go, from Greg Roberts? At the Volti website he seems to be backing away from A La Carte and pushing a complete rebuild kit costing $4K. I can't justify that, or anything close to it at this point. My gut feeling is...no. there are some people who have swapped out components; speakers, etc. for a benefit but think about this only if you really are thinking of DIYing a speaker and in that case, why not just design one from the bottom up. I had a tri amped, active crossover, speaker with JBL 2404H tweeters, Altec 311 horns with 290 drivers and the khorn bass bins and went back to nearly stock. - I may be able to move my gear off to the side of the room, but it will require purchase of a 15' pair of RCA's. I reckon on around $750 used price. Is this worth it or not? Not sure I would do it for sound improvement, I understand the idea but don’t think it will get sonically what you are looking for in this case. In the end the khorns have a specific sound, including some limitations in the high end that I am not sure can be resolved easily. Many here have a series of tweaks they have tried, some feel they triumphed, some admit failure. I enjoyed the more than a decade of tweaking I did and, as I said, ended up back to a largely stock system with selected components I liked best (and closets full of speakers. amps, etc.). I am currently enjoying the music more than ever and now accept some of the imperfections in my system's reproduction capabilities. I continue to audition components and systems in retailers and other homes and have yet to find anything that gives me the effortless volume, visceral impact and detail my system does (in my home, with my music, etc.). I continue to read and search for the mix of upgrades that might give me that last 5% on the top end I am looking for and for that reason follow this forum still after so many years.... But my advice is usually the same, if you like the Klipsch house sound, it is worth the time to find optimal ancillary componentry and even to try a few mods (crossover, drivers) but my advice is also to keep everything you begin to swap out and you might just end up as I did going back to stock and enjoying the music with the Klipsch house sound. But think long and hard if this Klipschorn is YOUR house sound, some find panel speakers are more their cup of tea (I was nearly there with my maggies, a subwoofer and some Mcintosh amps!). You can get another 5% (maybe 10%) more out of the khorns but if you don’t "see the finish line" from where you currently are I say change the playing field with some panel speakers, or even some big dynamic multidriver speakers. Please keep us informed as you go through the process of deciding, many of us watch with great interest progress by others as a guide for us. Best of luck and warm regards from sunny El Salvador, Tony

I use a refreshed Marantz 7T, love its flexibility and great sound. depending on your budget, the rest of your system and deasired feature set, you might consider a vintage piece. more info helps people give you better advice. T

I have a PP 2A3 amp which gave me the umph I felt was lacking in the SET amps I tried (both 300b and 2A3). I must admit the SET did have some really amazing "ghost" imaging I don't feel as strongly with my PP amp. why not stay with the 845 SET amps? warm regards, tony