George Roland

I have posted and read posts about Altec mid-range drivers and horns and I have a few questions. Regarding the 290 series, which seem highly respected, the spec sheet speaks about a 15045A (or other similar number on other models) "matching transformer for 70.7V line usage". Could someone explain to me what this means? Is this transformer needed to operate these drivers in a stereo music system? Secondly, I read in Altec's own literature that these drivers seem to be intended primarily for outdoor voice reinforcement rather than for high-fidelity music reproduction. That being the case, what strengths do they have for quality music reproduction? Thanks, George Roland

You can read the details of my current setup below. I can offer the following experiences. My silver faced ARC VT100 Mk I power amp is a nice quiet amp. I sent it back to the factory recently and, for about $400.00, it was completely retubed and gone over. It has a tendancy to emphasize slightly sibilants and other "hot" high frequency information when compared to my "new" used pair of Welborne 300B SETs. I prefer the sound of the SET amps. At ca. 7 watts/channel, sibilants' emphasis is lessened and I hear more detail, inner voice articulation etc. Nonetheless the ARC is a really nice sounding amp. With my source material, room and listening habits, I do not detect that the Welbornes are underpowered, but I know many on this forum consider much more power to be essential. I also have a beautiful black faced ARC SP-8 Mk II preamp. I sent this to ARC for an update as well. They replaced the caps and did new tubes. I purchased this preamp partly because it is supposed to have a legendary, high-quality phono section, and it IS nice, but this is a "high gain" preamp. I am not a technical type, but, as I understand it, due to this "high gain" it generates some noise that my K-horns reveal. This same preamp on my PSB Stratus Golds, a far less efficient speaker, is very quiet. It is just unacceptably noisy with my K-horns. My Juicy Music Blueberry Xtreme has a nice sounding phono section and produces far less noise than the SP-8. Since I got the Blueberry, the SP-8 has been sitting in storage. I must say, I have had good expereinces with ARC as a company. I bought both of my components used, and they treated me well, answered all my questions and provided good service. If you decide to buy some ARC equipment, I hope you will post your thoughts back here. Best, George Roland

Hi, I have a question about the various ALK crossovers and SET amps. I asked Al about this and found out he favors higher power amps than my Welborne 300Bs, but I like their sound. In any case, I heard a rumor that the extreme slope crossovers do not work as well as the gentle slope crossovers with low power amps. I would be interested to hear about others' experiences with ALK's networks and SET amps--mine is ca. 7 w/ch. George

Welcome to the forum. Preamps, eh? Well, I have quite a few. I have several solid state preamps--a GAS Thalia and a Hafler 110. In tube preamps I have a Dynaco PAS 2 with full Curcio mods an Audio Research SP-8 Mk II, and my Blueberry Xtreme. I bought the Blueberry Xtreme because I'm an old dude and I have a lot of vinyl and the Blueberry has a nice phono stage built in. I guess Mark has a lot of vinyl too. Juicy Music has other preamps without phono. If you don't do vinyl, no need for the phono stage. I was encouraged to try a Blueberry because of its fine reputation among many Forum members here. I was not disappointed. The Blueberry is the smoothest most detailed sounding preamp I have owned and listened to with my K-horns. It sounded a little unspectacular to me at first--very smooth but almost too smooth compared to the ARC SP-8. The ARC has way too much gain for the K-Horns though so the sound wasn't as smooth. Once I got used to the BB, I began to notice it had more detail. I could listen deeper into the mix, pick out clearly more voices, timbres, etc. in the music. I am sure there are probably others here who will have other first choices in preamps, but I think, for the money, the BB is a very good value. Mark Deneen hangs around on this forum a lot, and I must say, he is a pleasure to deal with. He answers questions in a straightforward manner, and is attentive to questions from his customers. BTW, another HUGH improvement for me was getting a pair of Welborne SET 300B amps. If you have a chance to try a pair of SET amps, I recommend you give them a listen too. Best, George Roland

Bob, Thanks. Is Firefox a PC only browser do you know? I'm trying pics with Opera. Let's see if this works. George

Thanks for this posting. I just tried your instructions twice, and I cannot get pictures to upload. Here's what happens: Click the "Options" button...okay. In "File Attachment" window with "Add/update" button...click "Add/update" button...okay. In "Select the file you want to upload" window, there's a button labeled "Choose File" I click that...okay. Click the file to upload, click the "Open" button...okay. Back in the "File attachment" window, the name of my file to upload appears just below the "Add/update" and "Remove" buttons...okay. Click "Save" button...okay. Click "Post" button...after a moment, my message or reply flashes momentarily at the bottom of my browser window, then nothing. The message or reply is never posted, the picture isn't there...nothing. I wonder if this is a browser or platform problem. I'm using a Macintosh running OSX 10.3.9 and Safari browser. I believe I also tried this with my copy of Exploreerr for Mac, but it didn't work then either. I have posted message to the Forum about this, but no one ever replaied and it never seems to be fixed, though others seem to have no problem. It's pretty frustrating. George Roland

I understand the Altec 803B multicellular horn can go down to 300HZ, which might make it suitable for use as a K-horn squawker. Has anyone had any experience with this horn in this application? If so, what would be the best drivers for this use? Thanks, George Roland

I have had quite a number of speakers as I suspect many on this forum have had: Sears and Roebuck "stereo", EPI 100s, B&O S-60s, Bose 901 IV, Cornwalls, KEF 104aBs, PSB Stratus Golds, Magnepan MG 1.6QR, my present K-horns, etc. I think the 901s can be very pleasant and seductive sounding with certain kinds of music because of their rediation pattern. By spreading sound out, bouncing it off the rear wall, they create a very open, spacious, unboxy sound. With musical ensembles, bands, orchestras, this can be enjoyable. I truly came to grief with them, however, playing music by soloists, especially a single singer. I will never forget the first time I listened to a Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau LP of Schubert Lieder over them. Fischer-Dieskau's voice sounded as huge as the rear wall of my listening room--vast, bloated, impossible. I simply couldn't stand this kind of reproduction. Of course, for someone who never listens to this kind of music, this will seem a silly reaction, but after I heard that, I moved along in my search for what was, to me, a more realistic reproducer. I was happy to be rid of them, but I am certain someone was just as happy to get my mint pair, used, at a good price. To each his or her own! George

Anyone heard both of these amps and able to offer an opinion as to their differences, strengths, weaknesses, etc? Thanks, George

Paul, I chose to build my own top end for the Trachorn and Crites tweeter. I am using the K-55V driver on my Trachorn and Bob Crites' network. My listening room is configured such that I have to have my K-horns along the narrow end of the room; the corners are ca. 14 feet apart. I wanted to be able to rotate the top end to send the sound more down the room than the regular K-horn top end would permit. I am going to include some pictures of the structure I used. I borrowed the design of ALK's top end, but mine is modified to be considerabley shorter in width to allow for rotaion as you see in the photos. It is also shorter as I mounted the tweeter to the side as ALK would do with the Beyma tweeter. Right now, I'm listening to it and will at some point in the future decide whether to use it with the tweeters inboard or outboard. I will eventually refinish the K-horns and will finish this top end too. I made the holder of poplar and 3/4 birch plywood (tweeter holder). I like the proportions of this unit and it allows me great flexibility of placement. Cheers, George

Paul, The Trachorns improved my K-horns greatly. As an intermediary step, I used Altec 511Bs, but the trachorns are even better. They are smooth, detailed and removed a lot of the honkiness I sometimes experienced. The sound is clearer, less colored, more detailed--clean. I just got a pair of Welborne 300B SET amps and they, along with the Trachorns, have really made these K-horns sing beautifully. The detail the SETs provide is simply breathtaking...7 gorgeous watts!! George

Ed, Welcome to the forum! I have had my Trachorns for about three months now and I think they are a serious improvement over the K 400 horns. I am using the stock K 55V drivers with them. ALK will allow you a trial period and refund your money if you don't want to keep the Trachorns. I don't see that you have anything to lose. I'd say go for it.. George Roland

I have been tinkering with my 1977 K-horns for nearly a year now. I bought a pair of Altec 511B horns and they were a great improvement over the K 400. Then I bought Al's Trachorns, and I consider them to be considerably better still, used the K 55 V drivers right along. ALK will let you try the Trachorns for awhile and refund your money if you don't like them. What's to lose? Good luck and enjoy your system! George Roland

Get ahold of Bob Crites here on the Klipsch Forum. I am sure he can fix your broken tweeter. His prices are reasonable and his work is well regarded. Good luck with your Klipsches! George

Hi Dave, I have Deneen's Blueberry Xtreme preamp, and I like it a lot. I'm certainly interested in his pCAT amps too. What speakers are you using? Please let me know after you get the pCats what you think of them. George

I am interested in auditioning a pair of Welborne SET amps with my K-horns. If anyone in NW PA/Pittsburgh, Cleveland, OH area or Buffalo, NY area is willing to bring them by and let me audition them, I'd be most grateful. Beer's on me! George Roland

Congratulations to Mark Deneen on the Blueberry! I have been enjoying mine greatly, so smooth and detailed, a really nice design. George Roland

I agree completely with Greg and others re the differences between Cornwalls and K-horns. I have owned both, and several other speakers besides, and much prefer the sound of the K-horns. If you turn Cornwalls at a 45 degree angle in the corners, the volume of space they take up in terms of footprint is close to that of the K-horns. Of course the K-horns are huge, but they do kind of nestle into the corners nicely. If you have good corners to put them in and can tolerate their size, the sound they make is wonderful. George

Welcome to the forum Dave. Nice to have you in the Klipsch fold. Enjoy you Cornwalls! George

Thanks, Maron for clarifying that! George

I'm hoping to build a temporary box to house the Trachorns so I can place a tweeter either centered on top of, or oriented any way I want to the side of, the Trachorn. Thanks for the tip about the trachorns. BTW do you have your Trachorns angled down into the room or are you using them as they would "normally" be used in K-horns, firing straight ahead? George

Hi guys, Well, I'm still tinkering with my K-horns. I got my Trachorns from Al a week or so ago and swapped them out for the Altec 511Bs I was listenting to before. Still using the K-55 V on the mid horns. I like this combination better than the 511Bs. Now I have Bob's CT 125s and a nice pair of JBL 2404s to compare. I have to build a little box for the CT 125s so I can listen to them in vertical or horizontal orientation, centered over the Trachorns or alongside. Can't do any real comparisons until that's done. I'd be interested in opinions about the CT 125 vs, the JBL 2404 as a top end. I have what are probably a bunch of dumb questions. Here goes.... First is tweeter orientation. The diagrams on the JBL 2404 make it look as though the radiation patterns are very similar whether or not the screw flanges are vertical or horizontal. Is that right? Which way were these intended to be mounted? Second, the CT 125s are usually shown mounted horizontally, but Al said they sound "fine" oriented vertically, but that isn't quite the same as "identical", so I'm wondering what the trade offs are in vertically mounting the CT 125? BTW, I liked the CT 125s a LOT more than the Klipsch tweeters mounted in the Klipsch top section. Third, what difference will it make if the tweeters are centered over the Trachorns or alongside? Fourth, I am going to need to rotate my top section outwards to fire down my narrow room (K-horns have to go on the short wall in a room ca. 14 x 22 feet.) If I end up placing the tweeters alongside the Trachorns would it be best to place the tweeters towards the side walls or inboard with the Trachorns on the outside? Thanks, George

I agree with those who stated that preamps may add more noise than amps. That has been my experience. Using shorting plugs at the amp's inputs, my ARC VT100 is almost dead silent. My current favorite, best sounding preamp. the tube Juicy Music Blueberry Xtreme, produces a little noise, but I have found that the amount of this noise varies a lot depending on the placement of components, orientation of cables, etc. In some positions, I can nearly eliminate all hiss audible over a couple feet from the K-horns. I would strongly recommend, if you haven't done so already, carefully, systematically move your components, reorient cables, etc. You may find you can reduce noise to an acceptable level without spending a lot on electronics. George

You got the deal of the year Dude. Those are drop dead gorgeous. Congratulations! George

Randy, That is great news. I'll be looking for your review too. Are you going to use the K-55V's with the Trachorns? I'm using my K55-Vs on Altec 511Bs now and can't wait to hear the Trachorns. Some people say they are somewhat better that tyhe 511Bs, some say the Trachorns are a great improvement. Time will tell for me. I just spoke to Al on the phone today, and he tells me my Trachorns will be shipped out soon. I have the Crties tweeters too, so our systems are similar. Best luck, George