Tarheel

Very nice Oscar....now I really feel bad. I can see why you enjoy working in the yard.....its a show place. Intricate roof line to frame. Is that centipede? Thanks for the pictures.

Great Stringmun....so there are at least 3 of us on the forum with FF preamps. WPM who doesn't post often has Horn Monos as well. Have you tried different tubes in the horns or preamp?

Hey dtel....I was hoping you are the wife would respond. Yes....chinch bugs start off as a brown circle that keeps getting larger unless treated. Chinch bugs suck the chlorophyll out of the grass blades and insert a fluid that is toxic to the grass. I have just never had it spread so quickly. It was pointed out that they like to work in the sun and that is why the shady parts of my yard are not as infected. Never once did the service blame it on the drought. He took a couple of core samples and said my soil was actually a little damp. He mentioned underground water as I am downhill from my neighbors who have sprinkler systems. I never considered that. The owner promised to come back in 2 week to check the progress. Circulation as I mentioned may be a problem. I know a golf course where the greens in wooded areas were not doing well so the trees were thinned out and the greens improved. There is not much I can do with the 13 acres of woods next to me. Michael....you are so right about Diazonon.....I use to use that regularly and it really controlled the chinch bugs. It has been banned here and I do not think the alternative works as well. Kind of like when they banned chlordane for termite treatments. Second edit.....dtel...some of the roots are dead and you can pull the grass up without effort. Some that is still standing can be saved once treated according to the yard guy. Thanks to you all for your help.

Thanks Michael.....all good advice. I like to do yard work and did it all myself the first 15 years after I built the house. Kind of went down hill when I limited my involvement. I guess I will have to brush up on diseases and take over. The good news is the AG extension office is a mile away.

Amy in a big birthday cake?

Oscar.....if you are a lawn snob I would be very embarassed for you to see my lawn now[:$] Maybe by the end of september or early october but not now. Thing is....I love a pretty lawn and if I had spent as much time and money on it as I do music/equipment I would have a much nicer yard. Part of the problem I suspect is the lack of air circulation since I am tucked into the woods. I am not that good at diagnosing diseases and sometimes what I treat as a pest problem is actually a fungus. Now all I can do is sit and wait. Treated the yard today and will water the treatment in tomorrow. Some sod cannot be saved and it will have to be replaced.

"The owner comes out when I raise a fuss". Sounds familiar. He did do the free work himself this morning. Said he has 2000 customers and can't be doing checks in between service. Guess I will be ordering a pallet of sod soon.

Welcome to the forum Oldwiz. Keep that collection going and you can catch up with Colter. Do you use all 24 speakers?

Thats a shame[:'(] and he use to be such a nice fella.

Called the lawn service folks that have been "taking care" of my yard for 3 years and got an answering service. My message was as follows: "please have the owner come to my house and convince me why I should continue to use his services.....my lawn looks terrible". Owner calls back within the hour and makes an appointment for this morning. I expected excuses such as drought and heat and was prepared to respond. My luxurious stand of St. Augustine has been reduced to a less than attractive stand of weeds and bare spots and I am not happy. The diagnosis is piricularia grisea or grey leaf spot in the front and side yard and chinch bugs in the sunny part of the back yard. Some damage is reversible....some is not. He treated with fungicide and insecticide and sprayed for weeds at no charge....accepting the blame for the chinch bug damage only since he should have pretreated earlier. My complaint was that the problems happend on his watch but the only time I see anyone is when they have something in their tank to sell. No check up calls in between. I asked the farmers supply folks who was the best service locally and they pointed to me. She explained that no one knows your yard and observes it on a daily basis like I do. So the question now is do I dump the service and take the responsibilty myself or give the service another try and hope for improvement? Any lawn care pros out there? Advice dtel or dtel's wife. Any gurus on St. Augustine?

I see them from time to time on audiogon and actually bought mine there 2 years ago. The idea that Mike developed the horn monos for himself and to use with horns got my interest. What he did with the gain issue to keep the first watt clean indicates to me that he gave these amps some thought. These amps are dead quiet between cuts. What can you expect to pay? I got mine for $900 and I think that was a steal. Expect to pay $900-1200 depending on the age and condition. They are self biasing and a tube rollers dream.

This mob thing is taking off. Remind me....... why are we banning him?

Its going to be tough now Phil.....he is dug in, hunkering down, got indoor plumbing, music and food. He can hold out for a while.

Funny.....when you order tubes from QS they only list 6 tubes as a replacement kit. Your pre and mine....both early production units have 7. I have 2 mullards coming to replace the 6x4s. The previous owner of my pre had already replaced all the soviet and chinese tubes and then I replaced all of his. Got extras.... if you ever need some let me know.

Didn't consult Mike.....you know what he thinks about tube rolling. On the other hand he made the Horn Monos with the ability to do just that. Got the idea from a guy selling a FF preamp on audiogon a while back. He did all nos tubes and upgraded the coupling capacitors to TRT Dynamicaps; the RIAA phono EQ caps to Hovland Musicaps; Cathode caps on the front end of the phonostage to Rubycon Black Gates. Like Jessica Simpson said "I don't know what all that means but I want it". btw the seller of the 8 year old preamp got $1450 for it....don't know what all the parts cost? Duke ment to ask you if your pre uses a 5AR4 retifier tube or 2 6x4s? I never pulled the case off my preamp until my new tubes got here. What a surprise....no 5AR4 tube as the QS literature and website states. My pre was an early one and Mike must have changed from the 2 6x4s to a 5AR4 at some point.

I have used tubedepot, dougstubes.com, thetubestore.com and recently ebay. A guy who goes by the name kkoran made a mistake on a 1953 rca tube I bought and sent it to the wrong buyer. To make amends he sent 5 nos tubes that I needed to retube my preamp at no additional cost. He has 100% feedback and I would trade with him anytime. Doug at dougstubes is a friendly guy with some good advice. He suggested I switch out my el-34s to kt-77s in the horn monos and he was right with that swap. Lucky I guess but I have liked all the above.

Sorry guys.....you will have to speak up.....little hard of hearing. I think we agree on the mini mites that they will be ample enough. 101 db at one meter/one watt.....heck you could use a flea powered SET amp. HP if you don't like the minis...sell them...but I think at $710 you will be happy. I went from 185 watts per channel to 25 and never missed the other 160 watts. Duke.....probably never had it over 2-3 watts. Went nos in the preamp....like the change.

Good one dtel....didn't get it on first read. Like a nick name for cat[]

HP......Looks like you will have to get on a list for those amps (sale pending). There are some mini mite QS amps for $710 on Audiogon which are a decent deal. I believe they are 25 wpc. What is the efficiency rating for Cornwalls? My amps at 25 wpc push my hybrid LS very well...way more than I need. Other wise sit tight and wait for some QS mids on Audiogon. BTW......I also use a QS Full Function preamp that is almost ten years old......happy with all my QS gear. Recently did some tube rolling on the preamp and picked up some very nice nos tubes. I got two tubes from 1953 and one from 1959. Seven in all including mullards, raytheon, matsushita, rca, and ge. Go to the QS web site at quicksilveraudio.com. Go to the link for the mini and mid and it will take you to Stereophile magazine reviews. Good reading. Happy hunting.

Welcome to the forum HPower. The mid monos should make the new speakers sing. I have the QS horn monos pushing LS bass bins (1" mdf) and Altec horns and drivers. You would have twice the wattage as I do. QS is known for reliability and good service. Heck...most of the time when you call QS you actually will get the owner, Mike Sanders, answering the phone.

What? Coytee is getting indoor plumbing?

Very good news Cal. Rest up and get well[Y][]

Top Notch[]

I understand V. Give us a price range and some particulars such as room size and maybe others will offer suggestions. There may be members on the forum with an amp or receiver for sale. I am using a tubed HK receiver from the early 60s that I bought on Audiogon for $380 in my second system and it sounds wonderful. Have you listened to your friends Onkyo? If you like it see if you can take it home to audition with your speakers and then decide.

Welcome to th forum V. Why not go tubes first and save a lot of time and money. If you stay here long you most likely will end up there. If you are comfortable with tube equipment and up keep try a vintage piece like Scott, Eico, Harmon Kardon, Fisher. Just my opinion but I have had ss and tubes and I prefer tubes.