CaptnBob

I'm testing some 12AU7 tubes on the faithful Hickox 533. Most are checking about where they should, but the two Chinese tubes I got today are testing way strong - one pegs the meter on both tests, the other comes close. Is this a case of "They do that," or am I risking smoked McIntosh by using them?

Legacy Focus, JBL Paragon, EV-Sentry III and IV, and Patrician IV, Bozak Symphony, Dahlquist DQ-10 with twin DQ1W subs. I had a friend who liked theatre organ music. His system was 2 AR-3s in the front and 2 AR-3as balanced on chairs in the back, all driven by a McIntosh 2105. On most things, the system was soggy and indistinct. But, when he brought out the George Wright, you were in the center of the balcony at the Fox Theater. It's the only system I've ever heard that had the same way of filling the room with sound as a big pipe organ. If you moved the speakers even a little bit - like you wanted to sit down - the illusion was gone.

Best amp I've ever heard? Audio Research D-160 - at least when it wasn't filling my home with acrid smoke. Three dimentional, incredible punch, headroom for days. I'm not sure if the 160 referred to the power or the weight.

"Bloody and woozy" eh? Yer on! (As long as we're not racing for pinks...) To get back to the subject - You almost never see them, but I'm partial to a Hadley 601 amp. The VRD's are excellent as well. Also, the early Audio Research stuff - D-75, D-75a, D-76, D-76a and D-79 can sound incredible with Klipsch speakers. Note - the ARCs can have some nasty reliability issues of the high-rise flame variety and they can be hard to hook up.

Who could ever forget "Post-Toastie?" One of the greatest "play too loud - check the P.A. system" songs ever.

In real world terms, the difference between 150 watts and 250 isn't all that much - less than 3 dB. I've used mine through KP-301s in a pa application and they managed to overload a room about 35 feet by 75 feet filled with people. I did have trouble with the smaller amps - the Urei equivilent of a Crown D-75 - popping tweeter fuses in the HSMs and HIPs. The JBLs are kind of old school - no flashing lights and a big transformer. I put two into a road case and then tried to move it. I thought I had accidentally screwed it to the floor. I'd also recommend a Yamaha 2002, an extremely well thought out, beefed up Hi-Fi amp, with the following caveat: When I called Yamaha to get replacement cord brackets/feet, the first thing the woman on the other end of the line said "It still works?" Not real reassuring.

Have you considered a used JBL-Urei 6260? They're locomotives, have 150 honest watts per side, and don't use fans at all. They were designed to minimize Otala or "t.i.m." distortion, which Mr. Klipsch felt was important consideration. They are also roaringly underpriced right now, with several on ebay under $200. About the only flaw is there is no overload protection circuit - when the little red clip lights come on, you might as well start dialing your tweeter repair source.

Is it possible you're used to something that just has a hotter top end? That said, I remember when we were both a lot newer, Scotts struck me as sounding a bit "dark" or "mellow," especially when going up against a Marantz 8b or something. Just a thought.

Forgive yourself - you weren't being malicious. About a month a go I came up to a good friend after church and cheerfully announced my niece and her husband were going to have a baby. How was I to know her infant granddaughter had passed on the night before? I couldn't have, and neither could you. Give yourself a hug, say "You sweet old thing," and move forward. You're a better person for it, and clearly a good person already.

Erik Satie's "Trois Gymnopedies." Maurice Ravel's "Pavane for a Dead Princess." Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune." Beethoven's "Wellington's Victory" (Just seeing if you were still paying attention.)

I know this, but for some reason, I'm drawing a blank. What was the order in the Thorens line in the post TD-124 years? I know the 125 was at the top, and the 150 at the bottom, but I'm not sure where the 160, 165, 145, and 147 fit in. Thanks.

Anybody know what cartridge is supposed to be in this thing? It has a Sonus glued in it now, in an installation that screams "aftermarket." I should have waited for an SLT-12U, which was a lot more flexible.

Fulton J Mods (for Modular) Don't hear much about them now, but in the mid seventies, they were the cat's meow. Bozak Symphonys Smaller than the Concert Grands, better sounding - at least to me. Less thumpy, work in smaller rooms. Like big power. Tannoys - can be expensive. Older ones may need new surrounds. Altec Bolero - get the first generation, with the multi-cell tweeter. KLH 9s - Different sound than Klipschs, better in multiples. Attract dust. Stacked large Advents - Go ahead and laugh - turn top ones upside down to put the tweeters together, and you've got D'Appolito arrays. Dahlquist DQ-10 with DQ-1W subwoofers. DQ-10 will need refoaming. Placement fussy. Bi-amped with crossover at abou 60 hz. Forget that malarkey about putting woofers anywhere. Put woofers on floor, set DQ-10s on top. Looks funny, but can sound wonderful. Altec 604 - first ones date back to late forties. High end got smoother in each reincarnation (604-b, 604-c etc.) Altec 605 - same as above, but smaller magnets. Some claim it sounds better than a 604. Electro Voice Sentries 1 & 2 Figure a Heresy with no midrange horn, in a bigger ported cabinet. Better bass extention - almost into Cornwall territory. Very low power handling. EV Sentries III and IV - Big. The III was EVs go at the JBL L-200. Big and heavy, tremendous output. Natural sounding, but not as detailed as a Cornwall. Will need new surrounds. The IV was EVs assault on the Voice of the Theater. Three way folded horn, two 12" woofers which, again will need to be re-surrounded. Able to compete on even, or better than even terms with LaScalas and VOTs. Develops volume levels usually associated with geologic events. EV Six - these used to be really cheap, but people are catching on. 18" woofer, 8" midbass, horn mid and hf. Comparable to Cornwall with deeper bass. Won't handle much power - thirty watts or so.

No. I asked him once and he said: "no." He felt it was a better solution to experiment with room treatments, and his experiments showed while broadband equalizers ("graphic" equalizers) might improve the frequency response in one area in the room, they tended to make it wildly worse in another. That said, I've had success with a three-band parametric backing off the middle a bit and pushing the extremes a little. Of course, in a P. A. situation, an eq is a must. A lot of graphic equalizers do bad things to your sound, even when set flat. Those of us who qualify as "codgers" remember the Advent Frequency Balance Box...

From the March 1960 High Fidelity: "Rodgers' score was a major disappointment. A curious mixture of semireligiosity, saccharine sweetness, and bland good nature, it almost wholly lacks the invention and individuality of the composer's earlier scores ... unusually banal ... a stodgy religious chant ... sung ... with an intensity it neither deserves nor benefits from ... distinctly uninspired lyrics ... badly miscast ... verges on the unbearable ... dirge in folk music form. No, I fear "The Sound of Music" is hardly destined for immortality." Just in case the critics were getting you down.

One of the best unwitting complements I ever got - a woman asked me why the PA wasn't on. I asked her if she could hear everything ok in the 1200 seat auditorium. She said yes. I said "thank you." Unfortunately, I found some people will think the PA isn't loud enough unless the sound is seriously colored.

I once inadvertently dumped the full output - pegged meters and all - of a McIntosh 2300 into my Cornwalls during the start of "Honky Tonk Women." No damage, except to my self esteem.

I wonder if that's where the graphic novel artist came up with the idea for "Maus."

Flying in the face of common sense and good judgement, I recently purchased a set High Fidelity magazines from 1951 to 1975. So far, I've only really looked at the early seventies. What a hoot! I had forgotten how seriously everyone seemed to be taking cassettes as a hi fidelity medium. Plus the efforts to get 4 channel off the ground and the "all in one units," like the Fisher receiver complete with turntable, 4 speakers, cassette recorder and cartridge player, ready for stereo or quadraphonic tapes. Whew! The record reviews were more forthright too. I especially admire the account of the Carpenters first album, ending with the recommendation that whoever took the cover photo "should be shot." Then there's the RCA quadradisc that had a lot of clicks and pops because the excessive humidity was leading to static electricity (?) and the Hugo Montenegro album ending with a carousel ride, and all the instruments swirling around the listener. And of course the ads. Who could forget the weedy Marantz guy sitting in the closet wearing the Viking helmet? Or the naked girl in four poses around the Empire Grenadier? The good old days, formerly known as "These trying times."

This does refect sadly on my dogs' abilities as mousers...

At least, nothing got chewed through! I don;t know how they sound at the moment - I've pulled the squawker horns to remove my social security number (hey, the police told me to do it) and repaint them. I may recone the woofers too, but I haven't decided. They still work, but have faded in color to almost a purple-grey.

Well, I just opened my 1974 Cornwalls for the first time in twenty years, and discovered some small, evidently furry creatures with limited hygene have scrambled in through the bass ports and made themselves at home. They especially seem to have enjoyed the paper batting on the inside. So do I A: Remove only the chewed up portions, and Lysol and Febreeze the rest. (It doesn't smell, but on principle ...) B: Remove everything, in which case, what should I replace it with? It figures they'd invade the only classic period Klipsch with cabinet stuffing. This is less of a problem than the pair of Electro Voices I worked on once. The mice had dragged in a bunch of catsup packages from McDonald's, shredded them, and left the insides a study in scarlet and tinfoil. Bob A.

Then you've got the saturation of Joni Mitchell's voice on the "Court and Spark" album, and the textbook inner groove distortion on "Hurry Sundown" from the Peter, Paul and Mary "Album." (Not "Album 1700") The latter is not present on the CD version, but the former is.

Thank you kindly, sir. Bob A.

Unless they are really old. The first generation LaScalas had the port on the top - you had to unscrew about 18 screws to take the top off, then take out the squawker horn, not forgetting the support in the back, and then remove the hatch. If your LaScalas look like they're sitting on a square piece of plywood, then you go in through the bottom. If there's a raised panel under the midrange horn and the top is held on by screws, that's your point of entry.