jdm56

I tend to agree to an extent about driver differences being less of an issue with horns than with direct radiators. But still, I be illin', not chillin'...just call me a worrier. I've got '98 k-horns in oak oil, and I'm totally pleased with the finish quality. I don't know about the "exotic" finishes, whether they're still available. I don't believe they mention it in current literature. ------------------ JDMcCall

wired1 and all, "Prices going up..." AARRRRGH! My worst nightmare! A large part of the reason I was so jazzed to get my belle ordered now, before a price increase. Knowing that the current prices have been in effect a while, I could just smell it coming. But hopefully that won't be the case. My timing on this whole deal has just been lousy. I think I'm gonna be sick now... wired 1, at least you have that price lock goin' for you. You may have a long wait, but I've got zilch. Just a new credit card I don't need and a big empty spot in between my cornerhorns. Come on klipsch! Don't let me down. ------------------ JDMcCall

Thanks so much to all who have posted on this topic. It has really helped ease my "purchase interuptus" anxiety. To think that I was was within 4-6 weeks of a beautiful new belle to go with my beloved klipschorns, and then suddenly it's all on indefinite hold is, well, frustrating to say the least. But the information from Bob G, Tony, John A and others has given me ample reason to hope that the situation will soon be sorted out, and that klipschorns, belle klipsches and la scalas will soon be shipping to fortunate music lovers all over the world again. Maybe they'll even be better! At the least, I hope they will still mate well with older heritage speakers of recent vintage. But just the same, I still think I'll be cruising ebay in the meantime, in hopes of a good deal on a nice oak belle. Oh, John, I may have been ASSuming too much on that squawker horn being front mounted on the baffle of current k-h, belle and l-s speakers. Perhaps someone can shed some more light on that. I just ASSumed that when they front mounted the tweeter, they would do the same with the mid. Seems like a no-brainer to me. ------------------ JDMcCall

I must agree with your basic point - the audio performance of high dollar audiophile jewelry is generally not that much if any, better than good "mid-fi" stuff. (I hate that term.) I think most of the price disparity can be attributed to inefficient manufacture and distibution, overbuilding, and the old adage about the birth rate of "suckers".

Nothing personal y'all, but I thought the question was about amps, not distortion generators. OK, OK now, everybody just settle down. To each his own, and whatever floats yer particular boat, and all that other live and let live baloney. But you simply can not deny the fact that most of the devices mentioned are not high fidelity by any stretch of the imagination. If you don't believe me, go read the December Stereophile review of the $40,000 per pairs> Cary CAD-1610-SE monoblocks. -Disco Betty

John, Thanks a bunch for the info. That's more than any of the dozen or so dealers I have spoken with seem to know. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed that something works out. Preferably another company making the exact same drivers to klipsch spec and thereby matching older heritage speakers. I would be a little uncomfortable trying to mate it with my '98 k-horns if the drivers were completely different, regardless of quality. So I think I'll be cruising ebay for a nice oak belle. The only problem with that is that I'd really like to have a newer spec belle, with the mid and tweeter horns mounted on the outside of the baffle. That may be hard to come by on ebay. So come on klipsch, I'm waiting! ------------------ JDMcCall

Beautiful cornwalls! Really nice looking system...the biggest, baddest dang pair of headphones I've EVER seen! You Go!!! -disco betty

So, two and a half years after I got my k-horns, I'm finally ready to get a belle for center channel duty. I've brow-beaten the wife into submission and I've called dealers near and far, trying to find a good price. I've got a shiny new credit card in my sweaty little hands-you know, one of those "no interest for six months" intro offers-and I am so READY! So, I call the dealer I'd settled on to verify that the price he'd quoted a couple of months ago was still good. This was on Friday, April 6th. I'm told he'll have to call Klipsch for a price check, as the Heritage speakers were not listed on his latest price sheet. OK. No problem. I've waited this long; I can wait a few more days. So come Monday, during lunch the phone rings. Yes, it's the dealer. But guess what; The company that makes the tweeters for the heritage speakers has gone out of business. And Klipsch apparently doesn't know where to go from here. All the dealer can tell me is to "check back at the end of this summer". Now let me get this straight, and please, someone correct me if I'm wrong: The maker of heritage tweeters has gone belly up, so that means they will not build any heritage speakers for six months or so... Now is that any way to run a company? I mean really, what is wrong with this picture?s> I hope someone, somewhere can shed some light on this, uh, situation. 'Till then, ebay, here I come! ------------------ JDMcCall

Dampening does seem logical. But the plain truth is, I just don't hear any problems in the mids now. In fact, I love the mids on my '98 k-horns. I'd even go so far as to say that k-horns' mid-range performance is the speakers' single strongest selling point. I know that's not the conventional wisdom concerning klipschorns, but it's just my opinion. Can low frequency resonances that are transfered to the mid-horn audibly affect midrange performance? Or are the resonance problems people report originating in the mids' passband? Simple minds want to know! ------------------ JDMcCall

Can you say "road trip"? Seriously; Load up the truck and like John Hiatt says, "Drive South"! - Disco Ruby

Oh, I see! Another child/pet/spouse related audio tragedy. I just thought maybe you cleaned it with something that damaged it.

yeah, i tried to dampen my speakers. seemed to me water would be the best thing to dampen'em with. musta overdamped'em though cuz they hardly'll make a peep now. anybody know how to undampen'em? I. R. Dumm

As I am about four months behind in my audiofool reading, I have not yet seen what Neil had to say concerning DVD-A, SACD, etc. But from what I have read, it doesn't look good at all that taste and common sense will prevail in these early days of multi-channel recording. I have read of a few pop recordings where they just slung everything all around the room like that was supposed to be really cool. (wow dude, a geetar over my left shoulder, man!) And those tone deaf videots over at S&V liked it. Of course, they also were quite satisfied with the sound of one of those hard drive music shrinkers that encodes everything at about the same bit rate as an on-line record store music sample. Face it music loving audiophiles; We are a minority within a minority. In other words, video walks all over audio, and mainstream audio kicks sand in the face of audiophiles. But hope springs eternal in the minds of fools and audiodweebs. And I hold out hope that when the "gee-whiz" newness of multi-channel music wears off, record makers - and the vast majority of record buyers - will come to their senses and realize that recorded music should be presented in the home the same way live music is presented. Now excuse me while I go towel off. -Disco Ruby

WSN, Just curious - how'd the touch screen get ruined? Maybe the info will save others the same fate. ------------------ JDMcCall

The limitation implied by having to spread a finite audio budget over multiple channels instead of just two could be lessened if we could safely assume the SOP for multi-channel recording would be to keep everything except ambience cues in the front three channels, which would be the "high fidelity " way of doing things, anyway. This way the bulk of the speaker/amp budget could be lavished on those front three channels. Since the surround channels would normally contain just reverb, echo, crowd noise and the like, the performance there could safely be more limited, because the signal is more limited. Somebody say amen. ------------------ JDMcCall

I've been looking forward to some form of multi-channel music for a long time. I really hate to see two competing formats, though. Why can't the industry get on the same page, as with the CD? And this "no digital output" business is also ridiculous. It's just corporate greed and paranoia. I really don't have a preference as to DVD-A or SACD, as I think both will sound fantastic. I do think that SACD is a somewhat more elegant system. Or maybe that's just my Sony bias coming out. But what I really want is players with digital outputs that will handle either format. And while I'm asking, I also want preamps/integrated amps/receivers with good flexible surround for mono and two channel music. Surround that doesn't degrade the original signal. And lastly, I want DVD-A and/or SACD recorders. Is that asking too much? ------------------ JDMcCall

I think the KLF-C7s would make a great lcr trio, and in fact, agree that they would be a great way to go all the way around. At least with the addition of a good Klipsch sub or two. I seriously considered going this route myself with my he-man audio rig, thinking multi-channel music is definitely going to be the future of home audio, but ultimately I could not shake my k-horn jones - still working on the belle for the center. No real hurry though, as SACD and DVD audio seem to be taking off about like the spruce goose. ------------------ JDMcCall

Hi cleger, Sorry to hear you're not happy with your new KLF-30s. Personally, I don't buy into the "fast bass" deal. A pair of twelve inch drivers is not going to have to work as hard as a pair of tens to produce the same spl, all else being equal, due to their greater radiating area. Which in no way means the KLF-20s should not sound subjectively better to you or anyone else. Just that there must be another reason besides the fast bass/slow bass argument, IMHO. Perhaps it's just different frequency response of the woofer/cabinet designs of the two speakers. Maybe the driver cones would benefit with some additional damping? You might try doublestick taping some felt to the cones Dunlavy-style. Just make sure the tape's release is light enough so as not to mar the cone! I don't know, just a thought. I've read of people actually adding weight to the cones to damp them, too. That would be easy to overdo, I think, But some symetrically placed felt like the little circular pieces made to put under tablelamps might be worth a try. Another easier option would be to experiment with restricting the vent tube. Try different materials with the goal of varying the degree of restriction. This could tame an underdamped bass. And just in case you haven't tried it already, moving the speakers just a few inches out from room boundaries can have a profound effect. Maybe the '30s are just giving you too much of a good thing. Good luck! ------------------ JDMcCall

And Klipsch KLF-30's are very definitely good things! If money grew on trees, and my wife wasn't so low-down ornery and mean , I'd put together a KLF set-up in my A/V rig.

I think that when a lot of us were "coming of age", during the late sixties - early seventies, was really a golden age for audio. It was a BIG DEAL! High quality Japanese gear abounded at affordable prices. Even small cities like Springfield MO, where I used to roam occasionally had five or six audio emporiums. Some sold music, too. A few were "full-line" electroncs chains, but most were regionally owned, ENTHUSIAST stores. But like the flood, or meteor, or whatever killed the dinosaurs; PC's, video games, auto sound and home video soon emerged to compete with home audio for the almighty buck. And since most of us have a limited amount of those bucks anyway, of course something had to give. And apparently our beloved audio industry has been doing lots of giving. I'm not really worried that we'll disappear like the dinos, but I do believe our habitat is going to be more limited and our food supply is going to continue to shrink. The "mass market" votes with their wallets, and home audio just doesn't seem to be the priority it once was. Geez, just turn on the radio! What is there to hook a person on music or audio? Most of the music sucks, and except for Public Radio, so does the sound quality. The general public doesn't even seem to "get" stereo, let alone high fidelity, whether with one channel or a whole gaggle of 'em. Otherwise, how do you exlpain the popularity of "whole house" audio, boom boxes and Bose? Then again, maybe I'm just a decrepit relic of a bygone era. "Take me home, country roads, to a place I belong..." ------------------ JDMcCall

To learn more about audio, get yerself a subscription to Sound & Vision, and when it seems they start to repeat themselves, also get one to Stereophile. And if that doesn't put you to sleep, go buy F. Alton Everests' book on acoustics. And listen, listen, listen. -Disco Ruby

As a former Lux-man myself, no. Not if you're satisfied with it feature-wise in todays constantly evolving home theatre marketplace. (What are we up to now - Dolby 13.1?) Disco Ruby

For what it's worth, (keeping in mind you get what you pay for), I'd go with the heresys. For no reason other than I'm a klipsch heritage FOOL, fool! Also, in 20 years, heresys you buy today will still be an object of desire as an audio classic. The KLF's probably won't, regardless of how good they are. If you want more boom, get you a good sub! -- Disco Ruby

Uh, WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?s> Who?s> Who?s> Who?s>... ...Gee, can't we all just try to get along?s> --disco ruby

For what it's worth, my earlier post in this thread about turning my k-horns on there side was a JOKE! Or at least it was supposed to be. ------------------ JDMcCall