CaptnBob

I should add, this sounds like something, if you decide to follow through on, you should bring a couple of friends - big friends, friends with baseball bats. Be careful.

I'm reminded of my theatre tech days. We had a performer come in with a quartet of Bose 800s (the PA version of the 901, with 8 speakers per cabinet facing the audience.) We had a house system which consisted (I think) of stacked LaScalas. He wanted to use his own system, which I felt would be a bit outsized by our 1,200 seat hall. I offered the Klipsches driven off his own Crown DC-300. He said he was certain the 800s would sound better, but just to humor me, he'd give them a try. We switched back and forth between the two systems for a few times, until one of my students came back to me and said, "You're really rubbing his face in it, aren't you?" He came back to play at the college several times, but he never again even bothered to unload his Bose 800s. As long as I've got the Wayback warmed up ... back in the early 1970s, the Boston area Klipsch dealer, the Music Box, had a set of 901s in their showroom which Mr. Bell would "A-B" with the Heresies, Cornwalls and K-horns. Bose, which after all was a local company, got wind of it and sued him. They not only made him cut out the comparisons, but he had to keep a notebook prominently displayed in the music room explaining the lawsuit, why he lost, and why Bose products weren't as bad as they seemed. This was when Bose advertising leaned heavily on "testimonials" from people who had traded in their Patricians, VOTTs and Hartsfields for 901s.

Fun stuff to read. I notice, though, in the pictures - They're all guys, and no one looks happy.

What we used to do in my younger (sound reinforcement) days is take four LaScalas and stack them with the top pair upside down so the tweeters were together. The improvement was not subtle.

I especially like the "Electrolux" speaker. Must be designed for "vacuum" tubes. The Klipschorn does work best when fit snugly into a corner. Some have gone as far as using caulk to complete the seal. The Marantz 1 and 2 date from around 1955 to 1960 or so. They command princely sums today - upwards of $5,000 each for the power amp. A Scott 99 would work quite nicely and not cost all that much. Mr. Klipsch liked the sound of a Brook amp, but you don't see those too often. Your main problem will come in source components. Tonearms, turntables and in particular, cartridges made massive strides in the late fifties. Also, bear in mind that, although a stereo cartridge will play a mono record, it does not always end well for the vinyl if you try to play a stereo record with a mono cartridge.

The old ones show up more often than you'd think - as well as the occasional Concert Grand, Patrician, Imperial, Hartsfield or built in 604. Just keep looking. As far as amplification, you couldn't go wrong with a Marantz 1 and 2 combo - make sure you get the power supply for the 1 - or a McIntosh Mc-30 or 60. The early Mac preamps don't seem to gun anyone's engine, for some reason, and they ususally turn up looking dowdy and old. A bit more accessible are the H H Scott integrateds and pre and power combinations. Half the fun's going to be in the hunt. Enjoy it!

My sister in law just inheirited a massive wind up Victrola. It still works nicely, but only has a handful of platters to play on it. From the "HI, my name is Babbit" styling, I'm guessing World War One era. In the basement here, I have about four cubic feet of 78s, mostly dating from the 1940s (Doris Day, lots of "So and So and his Orchestra," some Stokowski, John McCormack (sp?) and of course, the Okeh "Laughing Record." (I'm keeping that.) Will these records work on the Victrola without getting destroyed? The tracking force seems to be in pounds. How can I tell which records are suitable? Where can I get replacement needles for the Vic? How often do they need to be replaced? I seem to recall it's after every play for the cactus, and almost that frequently for the steel. Any help would be appreciated.

The Belles will work better in most domestic situations. I tried LaScalas, but the midrange was really "beamy." The Belles didn't have the hot spots. Odds are, you won't miss the bottom octave on 95% of the music.

McIntosh MC-275s at Best Bye? The Mayans were RIGHT!

The first place is to look is ebay - you'd be surprised what turns up there. The second thing is do a web search for AR parts or Acoustic Research parts. Every once in a while you'll run across some guy who has a garage full of old parts. Also, check with Audio Classics in Binghamton. In fact, check with them first. They sometimes will have parts like that. Good luck

My boss's father had a pair of Electro Voice Sixes which were his pride and joy, and which were handed down to my boss. When he split from his wife, she held on to the speakers and would periodically taunt him about them. Finally, one afternoon around four, she called him and said she had put the speakers out with the trash, and he could have them if he could beat the collection. He came into my office, said he couldn't get free (the speakers were an hour away) and said I could have them if I wanted them. Well! I'm told you could barely see the blur as I ran down the steps and into the parking lot. I had to stop and call back to get directions. When I got to the address, no one was home except an unpleasant yappy dog who got very excited and began knocking things over in the house. (my boss liked hearing that part.) I walked around the house until I found the speakers tucked behind the porch along with the garbage cans and a sack of leaves. I spent the next twenty minutes trying to get both speakers into the noble Pontiac. I soon got the feeling my efforts were being studied. Sure enough, I spotted some old guy in a green pickup watching me in his rear veiw mirror. As I finally got the geometry right and closed the hatch with both speakers safely inside, he got a disgusted look on his face, started his truck, and drove away. This isn't really a regret story, except maybe for the guy in the truck, but it seems to fit.

Selling my first serious amplifiers - 2 pairs of Marantz 2s, along with 2 Marantz 1s with power supplies and Model 6 sidecar. I needed money and everyone was telling me the amps were eventually going to need parts no one could find. The preamps looked and acted new. I nearly tripled my money (I paid $60 for each amp, and $120 for the preamps) and my other amp, an Audio Research D-75, did seem to sound better. Still, it's like your first car or your first sweetheart ...

Yes, I did get the license - first picture. The buyer's paid me, so I'm in the clear. Still ... If you want to get an idea of Uship, watch a few episodes of "Shipping Wars" on cable. I wouldn't trust them with a cannonball. I guess I'll wait for Alecto to take her hand...

After much soul searching, I decided to part with my much loved Belles. I put them on ebay, was contacted by several nice people, none of whom bid like like they said they would (gripe) and finally sold them. I offered to help the buyer find a shipper to get them to him, the ususal suspects, UPS, Navis, C & F, but he decided to go with Uship. Well! Some guy shows up in my driveway with a panel truck and without a phone call and wants to pick up the speakers. After checking his "bonafides" I rolled the Belles out. Meanwhile he was staring at his van. It was half full of scrap lumber from a construction job he had been on earlier in the day. He asked me if I wanted the lumber, but I respectfully declined. He crawled into the van and started tossing wood around until there was enough room for the Belles. We loaded them in, and I suggested surrounding them with cardboard. We did, he threw the shovel he'd been using to prop one of the doors open on top, and then said, "Well, time to talk about money." I replied "Say what!?!" He told me I owed him over $500 for shipping. I suggested he check with the guy who bought them, as he was planning on paying on delivery. After more hemming and hawing, I told him one of two things would happen - either he would take his chances with the buyer, or we would unload the Belles and roll them into the garage. He finally drove off with them, after he signed a receipt saying he'd received the speakers, and I took pictures of the Belles both on and off the van. The next day he called me, saying he told the buyer he wanted the money up front delivered by that favorite of con men everywhere, Western Union. The buyer said he'd pay on delivery. The last I heard, the driver isn't answering the phone, although he has tried to call me, the buyer wants to claim the Belles as stolen, and no one seems to know where the big horns are. Klipsch speakers deserve a better fate than this. The irony is I got quotes from both UPS and Navis. Both were cheaper than the guy on Uship. I know, it's not my problem any more, but it still bothers me...

To check the power of product placement, I looked up "Live at the Sands" on Amazon. They were pretty much sold out, with used record dealers asking up to $999 for a copy. Good gravy!

There I was, watching CSI, when how an LP was cleaned became a clue. They put hide glue on the record's surface, mashed it in, waited for it to dry, and then chipped it off with a box cutter (!) Has anyone heard of this method? It doesn't seem to be anything I'd be eager to try with my Fritz Reiner Scheherazade...

During a rehearsal of an opera conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, a horse on stage forgot his manners and left an odiferous deposit. Sir Adrian looked down at it, then said, "A disgusting spectacle, but, Gad - what a critic!"

You really don't need that much power for LaScalas, especially if you listen inside a building. I used to fill a 1,200 theater with two LaScalas and a 40 wpc tube amp. Great deal! You might want to check the tweeters, even though you think you can't hear them. The K-77s are the most vulnerable speaker in the LaScalas, and, coming from a school setting, odds are good they have been overdriven.

I have a pair of Shorthorns which, despite having consecutive serial numbers, had one ceramic 15WK and one alnico (I belive.) One had the huge plush pink magnet and one had the smaller one with the chrome "bow-tie" on the bell cover. The one with the smaller magnet sounded noticeably better, both in the speakers and out of the cabinet, side by side on the bench. The one with the bigger magnet just sounded "chestier" and a bit muddier. Any one else have a similar experience? No less an authority than PWK told me there shouldn't be "A dime's worth of difference," but there sure was to me. No, this doesn't discount the possibility of old fashioned unit to unit difference.

From talking to people and real unscientific research, For those who like the sound of the wood midrange horn, Mid 1958 (start of the EV K-77) to middle 1960 (end of the 15WK) For those who like the more modern sound, 1978 - 1985 or so.

Both sets of speakers appear to be the same pair, same picture even - they just got moved from Chattanooga to Cincinnati. Odd choice of tweeters - the ones I've seen had a single Jensen RP-302, but these may have been built when the company was running low on funds. I've also seen a pair of LEEs on ebay that used Bozak woofers in an infinite baffle with some kind of Jensen midrange (I think.) It seems the big mistake they made was ignoring PWK's dictum "The music lives in the midrange." The Catenoids I've seen all had a real downscale Jensen cone midrange - except for that one mentioned above with a JBL in it. L. E. E. lasted a long time - most of the fifties.

The book on the Trinity Sessions was it was recorded in real time around a stereo array of microphones, with no overdubs and what have you. Then it came out the engineer couldn't get Ms. Timmons' voice loud enough, so they gave her a Shure SM-58 and ran it through a small guitar amp. You can get great sound in all sorts of unexpected ways.

I don't know - I feel pretty wrinkled now as it is!

Just wanted to say thanks to Dave for "sponsoring" the gathering. He's always a great host - even if I couldn't drum up any interest in my STR Piezoelectric supertweeter boxes.

The N2500 is the crossover. These kinda look home made. Take a look at the Lansing Heritage website - they've got about everything there.