sunnysal

jorden, Like you said VERY little info on the web site, the photo of the Dude varies a bit from those posted, hope they are clear about which you are getting (I like the photos you posted better than the ones on the web site). I will be anxious to hear your thoughts upon set up and listening. warm regards, Tony

well built and neutral sounding as everyone else has confirmed. With heritage speakers one MAY find big SS mono-blocks over powered for their needs. Some SS units operate below their output "sweet spot" with heritage speakers. try them before you buy them I always say. warm regards, Tony

very, very nice! we may be the only two horn users in latin america! warm regards, Tony

It sounds awesome as a three way....you active xover guys are the only ones pushing 2 way. He's all set with a klipsch OEM configuration. If I were him, I'd run with what he has they way it is setup. I agree if he has the OEM passive config I think he should run with it as is...

as I mentioned a few years ago. the Marantz labled, VAC reproduced 8Bs had pretty much all the same contruction techniques and componentry as the original. while the VAC labeled 8Bs used newer and somewhat cheaper parts in some areas. is the photo above of the VAC labeled version? if so, the non-potted trannies would seem one way they deviated (and saved money) from the original Marantz units. regards, tony

thanks for this thread, facinating! I cannot wait to hear the resuls of your listening tests. warm regards, tony

thanks for sharing this with us, one of the most interesting and informative threads I have had the pleasure to follow in years! keep it up and I cannot wait to hear more. warm regards, tony

I agree Bruce, why mess with a great thing. I agree with staying away from the signal path but perhaps consider on the 8b and 7C that they could use some help in the PS to give it a little more "umph" ? T

No doubt the 8b was and is one of the great amps EVER. Both it and the 7C are highly regarded, there are some tweaks that even the designer thought could improve them, I will try to find the relevant articles and post them. The 8b was arguably Sid Smith's best design (though many pine for the 9). I still want one and hope to acquire on some day, alas I dont know where in my house I would use it but... regards, Tony

thanks Gil! another useful post for our community. regards, Tony

Marvel pointed out a great project "Digital Needle" but I like this web site better, it has quite listenable downloads: http://www.s3.kth.se/signal/edu/projekt/students/03/lightblue/index.html an MP3 made from a visual scan: http://www.s3.kth.se/signal/edu/projekt/students/03/lightblue/mp3/rock_05.mp3 and laslty for David, this PDF has the algoritims, etc. for deriving and filtering sound from a visual scan. interesting, if complicated, stuff. http://www.s3.kth.se/signal/edu/projekt/students/03/lightblue/pdf/DOC_final_report_v01.pdf Tony

Before investing in serious mods I too think it would be ideal to get yourself "calibrated" as someone said earlier it's not that anyone doubts your ear, but Klipsch is often described as hot on top by people and so it can hard to measure from a written description just how out of whack your k-horns may be. If you can find someone near by who has k-horns set up so that you can listen and compare you will save a lot of time and effort. board members are great folk and I am sure if anyone lives nearby they will offer an invite for a listening session. I had k-horns with AK-3 xovers and never felt they were too hot in the mids or highs. However my taste may be different than others. as others have mentioned, good, air-tight seating into 90 degree corners is important. I also wold note that the phasing of the wiring to the individiaul drivers and between the two speakers is very important in tonal balance and imaging, so do check those connections and take some time experimenting to make sure all wiring is done correctly. If you have done all that then mods can begin with a new crossover, I found my bass response seemed to improve with my ALKs for example. others have mentioned that swapping out compression drivers can make a world of difference, if you have the bucks for that most people tend to be happy with the results, I suspect swapping horns to be less important than drivers on both the mid and tweet. Dont take it badly that some people are suggesting you may not like the Klipsch sound, it is not a knock, it is just our experience that these are love them or hate them speakers, they elicit strong repsonses, in both directions, from listeners. I hope you manage to wring the sound out of your k-horns you are looking for, those of us who have done so are thrilled with the results, others move on to other models/brands. best of luck and keep us informed. warm regards, Tony

I suppose antoher option is a radio shack SPL meter and a test CD or files downloaded form the internet with frequency tracks. you make notes and chart them...I've done that before. tony

Macassar Ebony would look great in your modern interior. it is very popular now for modern applications. http://www.veneersupplies.com/products/Paper-Backed-Ebony-Veneer-Macassar-4-x-8.html btw does anyone know how many sheets of 4x8' veneer one requires to fully veneer khorns? regards, tony

good. one lesson learned about being a tube amp owner is it pays to have stored away some spare tubes. I have back ups for my drivers, rectifiers and output tubes...it means a significant investment (though my back up tubes are all Sovtek or EH to save money) but it is worth it for trouble shooting and keeping the music alive! regards, tony

My father's system sounded great, here are a few reasons; 1. They didn't call it the "Golden Age of Audio" for nothing, when he began to swap his HH Scott equipment for SAE (and later Harmon and Kardon separates) I began to notice some loss of the "magic" 2. He never had a cassette or CD as source, always his trusty Thorens (later replaced by an AR-1) turntable with Stanton cartridges. I still remember the 78s he listened to of Lead Belly, Bessie Smith, etc. His Scott tuner always sounded great and the glowing lights only made the livingroom sound more magical. 3. We listened to music then, not systems. somehow now we spend so much time obsessing over our system that we forget the music. the perfect example is people alaways asking "which recording make my system sound best", We focus on sound now when before we listened to music that we loved, that spoke to us emotionally, regardless of how it was recorded. warm regards, Tony

I agree that the best way to trouble shoot this is to swap the rectifier for a known good tube. tubes sometimes get ruined when handled, it is rare but the filaments are delicate and, who knows, they were hot and you may have bumped or jarred the tube...it is highly unlikely that you did any damahe to the amp, so swap the tube and report back. tony

I'm not tweaking much anyore either. I can't afford it and enjoy the listening far more that when I am thinking of... what can I do next.I may, however, try to build a pair of Jeff's Seth amps... but I'm afraid I would have to sell my car to do it. Bruce The SETH amps are my goal as well. About to start down the DIY road myself so it may be a while before I get to it. There was a tweak to get rid of some noise do you by any chance know what that was? Dave I was in St.Louis briefly this weekend. Y'all have some strange cheese on yer pizza ; ) but Vintage Vinyl on the loop made up for it. no but I can contact jeff and ask him to post something. let me dig up his contact info and get back to you. T

jeff was an amazing designer and builder. he took the best ideas from the golden age amps. people rave about the Seth, you could try to collect components slowly...hard to manage the desire to have the amp quickly but spread over time the costs are more palatable. warm regards, Tony

Cheez Sal, just look at your profile. You've drunk so much cable cool-aid it ain't even funny. Probably went to bed one night in Newark and woke up in Salvador. Not to mention those little underpowered 2A3 amps ( our motto: "we invented this tube for 1920's am radio, so of course it sounds great ") Couldn't you at least try a little bit of zip cord? did the zip cord thing, did each step up the line until I got to these cables. I love my old style tube amps and they sound great. I spend almost no time at all thinking about my system these days just listening to music. It took me a while to get here trying lots of amps, preamps, wires until I got a combo in my room with my musci that I love to listen to. YMMV, IMHO, etc., etc. regards, Tony

can we have the hanger wire is just as good as high-end speaker cable argument now?

hi maron, this cryo treatment mentioned is not intended to lower the operating temperature of the tubes. it is a treatment given the tubes beofre usage which subjects them to very low temperatures for a period of time, it is supposed to do something at the molecular level, etc. As I said I have my doubts and would only believe it if I heard it, the only way being comparing non-cryo'd with cryo'd tubes in my system. I have not even been attracted enough by the concept to do that yet though. from a science standpoint I am not sure it makes much sense. T

in case you also worry about current in rush you might consider a soft start circuit bringing on the voltage at turn on, thermistor based units seems to work well. tony

While I am an icorrigible tube roller I must admit I have never bought into the cryo-tube thing. I hear differences while tube rolling but cannot be certain that cryo treating makes an audible difference. it should be easy to test; buy some 6SN7 or 2A3 sovteks cryo'd and not cryo'd and see if they sound different/better when swapped. maybe I will try that some time. tony

I am sure you will love the 730...but if you decide you hate it, offer it for sale here first! regards, T