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pmsummer

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    Thebes Wants You To Win a Klipsch T-Shirt Donated By...

    in General Klipsch Info

    Posted

    Group: Punch Brothers

    Album: Punch

    Genre: New-Blue Grass

    Year: 2010








    The Punch Brothers are nothing less than a youthful band comprising

    the most prodigious and sought-after musicians from the cutting edge of

    bluegrass and folk music. The quintet was brought together by former

    Nickel Creek star Chris Thile, who, the critic Geoffrey Himes of

    Washington Post declared, "may well be the most virtuosic American ever

    to play the mandolin "– adding, not insignificantly, that "he has the

    flirtatious charisma of a major pop star." Joining him are Chris

    Eldridge, who Acoustic Guitar has called "the most-talked-about

    guitarist in the bluegrass world," a member of The Infamous

    Stringdusters and occasional guest star with dad Ben’s legendary combo,

    The Seldom Scene; bassist Greg Garrison, who has recorded with John

    Scofield and Vasser Clements, among many others, and regularly sits in

    with Leftover Salmon; banjo player Noam Pikelny, an alumnus of Leftover

    Salmon and the John Cowan Band who also appears on label-mate K.D.

    Lang’s new disc,
    Watershed
    ; and fiddle player Gabe Witcher, "a

    first-call studio player with a big sound and immaculate intonation,"

    according to String magazine, who has been featured, on the

    Oscar-winning soundtracks of Babel and Brokeback Mountain, among

    countless other films.


    Thebes Wants You To Win a Klipsch T-Shirt Donated By...

    in General Klipsch Info

    Posted

    Group: The Owl Service

    Album: The View From A Hill

    Genre: British Folk-Rock Neo-Revival

    Year: 2010

    The Owl Service
    are a folk super-group with

    credentials so old-school they could have been frozen in the seventies,

    only to be thawed out when the world was in great peril. Their union

    has assembled some of the leading lights in the UK Folk scene as one

    non-moss gathering finely honed stone of trad brilliance.

    The View From A Hill
    forms part of their Pattern Beneath The

    Plough project and sees them taking on traditional folk songs in an

    extremely traditional way. Their style is far more Steeleye Span or

    Fairport Convention than Mumford or Marling, but they take full

    advantage of 21st-century production. Everything here is recorded with

    an almost albini-esque honesty and simplicity. Their raw talent is on

    record as it would be if they were playing in your back garden.

    Across the fifteen songs the seven-piece go a ramblin’ through a

    disparate array of folk footpaths with unabashed confidence. ‘Polly On

    The Shore’ opens the record and draws the curtain up with the rumbling

    of thunder and a cello playing alone. It perfectly sets the scene for

    the haunting stories that lay ahead – of which there are many – but none

    are more brilliant than the twinned tales of ‘I Was A Young Man’ and

    ‘Sorry The Day I Was Married’. Both are impressive but it’s on the

    later half of this symbiotic partnership that the album makes its

    strongest showing. The gifted Nancy Wallace sings unaccompanied and

    delivers a spellbinding vocal performance that guarantees goosebumps.

    This is without question a unique and extraordinary body of songs and

    styles long thought forgotten, yet lovingly brought back to life by a

    talented and passionate collective. When the curtain closes we are left with an album perfectly out of

    place with popular folk thinking. One that that leaves lasting ripples

    in the pond and challenges the mainstream by standing still. The View

    From A Hill? Pretty spectacular actually.

    The Ultimate Record Cleaning Tweak

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    (using a point and shoot camera, with the color correction set to tungsten in a natural light room). I was too lazy to do it again. BONUS: hear what P.M. Summer sounds like!

    I love the video, and of course, being a carpenter, have a good supply of wood glue. Would you be a pal and send me a few of your credit cards?

    Well, maybe my wife's Talbot card...

    The Ultimate Record Cleaning Tweak

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    Say thar PM, are you'all from Texas?Big Smile

    Hell yeah!

    I really enjoyed the video, but I'm going to have to disappoint you and disqualify wood glue as a tweak.

    It's more properly classified as a methodology, or process akin to using a record cleaning machine, etc.

    Besides, it takes forever. It's worst than watching paint dry and I oughta know. At one side a day that's 3 and a half records a week, so less than 200 records a year. I probably acquire more than 200 records a year so I'd never catch up. I suppose one could make it a routine, equivalent to feeding my aquarium fish twice a day. However, I really don't need anymore good habits when there are so many bad habits awaiting my attention.

    Yeah, that's why I bought a VPI. But I still use Titebond II on some LPs the VPI can't quite get to. Plus... woodglue is quiet. :-)

    The Ultimate Record Cleaning Tweak

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    The Ultimate DEEP CLEANING Record Cleaning Trick.

    I've got a smaller bottle of this to try but haven't yet. I've got one of the little steamers and things look clean but it won't remove the gunk like I've read this does. And if PM recommends it and Marvel also endorses I'm not going to argue. I've not seen the warp while steaming. But I have a couple of LPs, one a Simone and Garfunkle that's thin with multiple edge warps that I steamed and the other I forget what it is with a gnarly single edge warp. Did the steaming do it. Not sure. Didn't check them real closely before. I've steamed the 'ell out of a couple and didn't phase them so I'm still not sold and not ready to give up but will pay closer attention as it's possible I've added edge warp to a couple of otherwise fine LPs. At least once cleaned up. But they may have been bad to begin with.

    Time to try the Titebond on a couple that have some noise. One that I've had for a long while took reasonable care of but I think came noisy. Another I steamed the 'ell out of and it's still noisy.

    I sitll need to try the Swiffer.

    PM - don't you use the Swiffer before each playing?

    P.S. Sleeve City at www.sleevetown.com Has pretty affordable record sleeves. And some really nice ones. And they'll send you samples for like a penny each. If I recall I think I liked their heavy rice paper as well or better than the MoFi. The biggest problem with very plain sleeves is finding which side is open. Looks like they've updated their really affordable ones to have a lable on side you use. I think my last order was for a hundred. Probably need closer to 500 or maybe a 1000. When I had a measly 70 LPs all were in Discwaser VRPs. Last time I counted over 500 and something tells me close to 1000 now but need to get organized and cataloged. Went to favorite local black herion store today but too early 9.xx as they open at 10:00 AM too late 2:30 as they close at 2:00 PM so no LPs today. But did find a couple of CDs at the Salvation Army but while I don't look too hard at the Salvation Army I've found very little in their pile of vinyl that interestests me. The Rescue Mission on the other hand I've found a lot I like and they refresh every so often. LPs 25 cents, often 10 for $1 and then clear out just about everything $3 a grocery bag. Went in one time and no LPs or CDs.... bare shelves. I thought maybe they were done with 'em but the lady said, nope, they clear 'em all out usually with the $3 a grocery bag and literally have tons more in the basement or other storage.

    Good thing I don't make it weekly. Or maybe that's a bad thing...

    I use a Swiffer Sheet sometimes, preferring a run with a carbon fiber brush before every play usually.

    (using a point and shoot camera, with the color correction set to tungsten in a natural light room). I was too lazy to do it again. BONUS: hear what P.M. Summer sounds like!

    Sweet Thrift Store Finds

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    Am I the only one that looks for new music (and equipment) on the cheap anymore? Or just the onlly one that will admit it.

    Yep, you're the only one.

    You'll never see me on my hands and knees, digging through cardboard boxes underneath tables at fleamarkets, thrift stores, church bazaars, or even Hardly-Half Price Books.

    You'll never see me doing that... because you don't live in Texas. ;-)

    Sweet Thrift Store Finds

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    Picked up a couple of nice original jazz lps today. Charles Mingus's Pithecanthropus Erectus, and The Charles Lloyd Quartet's Love-in. Both in VG++/NM condition. Unfortunately, no turntable set up at the moment!

    If you ship 'em to me, I'll let you know how they sound.

    ;-)

    Sweet Thrift Store Finds

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    Hit my local small town library thrift store for the first time. Came away with...

    Posted Image

    World Saxophone Quartet Plays Duke Ellington, NM

    In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Iron Butterfly, F (my first copy)

    The Melodic Stan Getz, VG

    Sacred Songs, The Chuck Wagon Gang, G+

    Dire Straights, S/T, NM

    Heaven Help The Fool, Bob Weir, VG+ vinyl, F/P jacket

    Bill Black's Greatest Hits, VG

    Koln Concert, Keith Jarrett, F/G (should have looked closer)

    A Palestrina Mass on Archiv, NM

    Southern Winds, Maria Muldaur, NM

    Waitress In The Donut Shop, Maria Muldaur, NM

    ...all for $5.50. Some are clean back-up copies of discs I already have (Maria), some are for comedy use (Iron Butterfly), and some are fantastic finds (World Sax Quartet, Bill Black, and The Chuck Wagon Gang).

    Bought Klipschorns - sound terrible - sage advice welcome

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    One of the easiest things you can do it to loosen up the connections on the barrier/terminal strip and tighten them back down. Even a connection that looks good can have oxidation and make a poor connection.

    Welcome!

    Bruce

    I want to second this. Moving older K-Horns can loosen the terminal block connectors (and the speakers connectors). Make sure they are all clean and tight! Being out of phase will also kill the bass.

    The crossovers could stand to be refreshed. The kit to do so is less than $160, and is easy. But that's PROBABLY not your immediate problem (unless you have a broken lead). Trace every wire and you'll find the simple problem.

    I had to do that with mine (1978 models), so I feel your pain.

    Klipschorns take a beating and keep on kicking!

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    From someone in the know...

    Sounds like a 4k or so rail-to-rail oscillation. Ouch.

    A classic Quasi-Complimentary output failure mode.

    A frequency that high went thru the mid horn, which is a blessing.

    Hate to have the woofs take that kind of energy.

    Edification moment:

    As a quick guesstimate as to what the Khorns took,

    look at the Citation schemo, see that the rails are ±41.5 VDC,

    so that’s (83 VDC * 0.707)/2 = 29.3VAC possible, call it 28VAC,

    so putting 28V across an 8? load makes (784/8) = 98 Watts,

    it was prolly a bit less than that because it wasn’t sinusoidal,

    call it 95 Wrms, and the Khorns are rated at 100 Watts continuous.

    And all the energy was shunted by the crossover to the midhorns.
    Lucky.

    Klipschorns take a beating and keep on kicking!

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    p3122554.jpg

    I run my Klipschorns with a McIntosh MA 6100. After almost 40 years of faithful service, it needed some attention, so I took it in for a full restoration. When I got it back a last month, the new volume pot from Mac was kinda wonky, so I took it back to be replaced (McIntosh admits that a high percentage of the new not-quite-OEM pots are faulty).

    In the interim, a friend loaned me his McIntosh C26 pre, which I used with my old H/K Citation 12 amp. Neither has been restored, and were used only occasionally over the last few years.

    The time came to make the 500 mile round trip to pick up the 6100. As my tech friend and I were talking, I noticed he was running a Citation 12 amp just like mine. He told me a horror story about how it went into complete fail, dumping enough DC into his speakers to fry the voice coils. I hate those kind of stories.

    Got home in time for dinner. Too tired to hook up the 6100. Dinner was hamburger steak cooked inside.

    We (wife and aged in-laws) were listening
    to the Ks through my friend's C26 and the Citation 12 at low volume as we prepared to sit down for dinner, when what sounded
    like the LOUDEST MILITARY/INDUSTRIAL smoke alarm I've ever heard went off. My wife got her parents outside while I ran around looking for something that might have
    set it off. Screaming so loud I can barely think. I can FEEL the sound
    in my chest as I move upstairs, where the sound lessens. No smoke. No
    smell of smoke. Check the attic. No smoke. Run back downstairs and into
    the garage. No smoke. I start hitting the circuit breaker looking for
    the alarm (thinking the dinner smoke must have set it off). The last breaker kills the smoke alarm. TWO MINUTES? FIVE MINUTES? I don't know how long it went on, but it seemed like an eternity.


    Get everyone back in, check on the condition of the elders, and
    they're OK. Go over to the amp to make sure there's no smoke smell
    there. None. But I turn it off anyway, even though it's killed on the same switched-off circuit that the alarm is on (or so I think). Again I check every room. No
    smoke smells, no fires, no signs of trouble.


    After dinner, I have everyone cover their ears and I turn the alarm breaker back on
    (I think... it's not marked on the panel... the switch that killed the
    "alarm" says kitchen vent). All quiet. I come back in, try to relax. Decide some jazz
    will help.


    I turn on the amp (the Citation is controlled from the C26).

    EAR-SPLITTING, CHEST-PUNCHING NOISE FROM THE K-HORNS!!!! ARKANSAS BANSHEES FROM HELL!!!! Quickly, I turn off the amp. Arrrggghhhhh!

    It never was the smoke alarm. It was the Klipschorns screaming for their lives!

    The dam* Citation had died, just like the one my tech/friend and I had talked about that very day. The Big Ks seemed to have survived (somehow). Un-frigging-believable. That was the loudest thing I have ever heard (sustained). How the K's
    (and Bob Crites' CT-125s with his revised XO) survived that, I can't
    imagine.


    As a test, and for ease and safety, I hooked up my $25 T-amp (5 WPC) through the C26. Everything seems OK. All drivers work and sound good. My ears are still ringing, though (in addition to my normal
    tinnitus).

    The MA 6100 is back in-system today. Sounds great. The Citation will be carted off for new outputs (although my first thought was to throw the dam* thing into the lake).

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