George Roland

Hi Guys, I am finally getting around to trying my nice green Altec 511B horns with my Klipschorns, but I have a run into situation about which I need advice from some of you more experienced, knowledgeable tweakers. My plan was to cut some rectangular frames from 3/4 inch plywood into which the horns would fit. These frames would go over the driver end and be set behind the flange on the horn. When I cut the frames out just now, I discovered that the mounting flange does not fit flush to the plywood, and that there are gaps of 1/16 to 1/8 inch between the flange and the plywood. I don't know what to do about this. I planned to use 1/4"' machine bolts ca. 1 1/4" in length, with a washer on each side to bolt the flanges to the plywood. I am afraid if I crank down on them too hard, trying to get a tight fit, I will break something. I don't think the horns were dropped or abused in any way. It just seems that they were not perfectly flat when created. Is that normal with these horns? Is there some sort of gasket, foam or putty that is typically used to fill in such gaps? Should I "shim out" between the plywood and the flange with washers or wood shims? Should I just put the bolt in and crank 'em down? In Altec Model 19's or VOTT speakers does the flange go on the front or back of the baffle? Any sage advice is much appreciated. Best, George

Hi Guys, I may shortly be the proud owner of a nice pair of oak Cornwall II s currently on auction on e-Bay. How does one remove the back of these without damaging them to check over the crossovers, etc? Thanks, George

I would like to know what is the difference between Cornwalls I and II, both in terms of the parts used and any sonic differences. Also, what are the sonic differences between Cornwall II's and Klipschorns both in terms of frequency range covered and sonic character. I'm not so much interested in the specifications as in the listening impressions of forum members who have been able to AB these speakers. Thanks, George

Yo! It's cooling off for fall up here in NW PA. I have had a Bottlehead Foreplay III on order for a few weeks now. We should get together and listen to it once I get it put together. Meantime, I"ve been trrying out new tubes in the line stage of my Dynaco PAS 2 with Curcio Mods and that's keeping things fun for the moment. George

This is a good point, Tom. The "bang for the buck" factor in audio gear can be overlooked sometimes. I am amazed that people spend thousands of dollars on speaker cables. Makes me wonder how many audio stores might actually A/B cables to allow a buyer to hear any differences or lend several sets to try at home before buying. Maybe some do this. I recently bought a few different brands of tubes for the line stage in my PAS-2 Dynaco preamp and, through the k-horns, every one of those tubes sound different. Of five tubes, there was one that made a big difference in the overall soud of my system--far less noise and no glare. The tube only cost $8.00 and the difference was not subtle! George

Thanks for your reply. I have some spade lugs and understand what you're saying about polarity. I have never purchased any of the expensive "exotic" speaker cables or interconnects. I have always used stranded copper lamp cord or R.S. "monster cable hookup wire in heavy gauges for all my speaker connections. What's your take on all this? Do people here on the Klipsch Forum generally go for these expensive cables? I'm skeptical, I must say, that cables make much difference, but I have no real experience on which to base my doubts. Best, George

My Altec 511B (green) horns arrived awhile ago, so now I have the horns, the adapter and I'm hoping soon to get to try them out. I still need to take care of mounting the horns upright and securely--planning a temp try out just setting them atop the K-horns for now. I need longer hook up wire than I have and was thinking of using stranded copper "lamp" cord14-16 gauge with a spade lug for the network end and tinned bare wire for the K55 end (I have the push-button wire connectors). My original Klipsch wire is solid copper but I don't know what gauge it is or where to find similar or whether any of this matters, really. Any thoughts on hook up wire in this situation would be appreciated. George

I have a pair of PSB Stratus Golds. They're newer that the speakers you mentioned and sound very good. George

DRBILL, Thanks for the reply. I can build a kit because I have steady hands and can solder and follow directions, but I have no electronics background, so I couldn't build anything like what you're describing. I'm dependent on what I can buy from others. In the meantime, I have ordered 4-5 new tubes based on suggestions here and from tube sellers who have provided advice. It should be fun to hear them in a week or so. I am still exploring this whole horn audio business, and I'm intrigued by how sensitive and revealing the Klipschorns are to these kinds of component changes. George

Well, yes, I did think about that, but since I'm generally satisfied with the PAS-2, and makings tube changes does make audible differences in the sound, it seemed the economical thing to do to try some different tubes. My experience with tube amps is limited, but I'd be interested in your take on the Curcio modded equipment and what you're using for a preamp. So maybe not enough said? George

Sorry I didn't make that clear. The Electro-Harmonics 12AX7-EH was the tube supplied by CAE with the upgrade board. Since that was what was supplied, I just thought to replace it when it went south with the same type of tube. George

I have a Dynaco PAS 2 with full Curcio Audio Engineering mods. It has a single 12AX7 tube on the line stage board. I just got 5 Electro-Harmonics 12AX7-EH tubes because mine died. I have been trying them out the last day or two. Every one of the tubes so far tested sounds different on my Klipschorns. Most are noisy enough to produce some hiss, hum, wind or gurgling that is audible from my listening position 12-14 feet from the speakers. I gather there are some of you who have a Dynaco PAS-2 or 3 you are using, and I'm wondering if you have any 12AX7 tubes you would recommednd I try for lower levels of noise? Thanks, George

William, Welcome to this forum, and congratulations on your Cornwalls! I am new to this forum too. In addition to my recently-purchased Klipschorns, I also have a pair of PSB Stratus Golds and a pair of Magnepan MG1.6/QR's sitting in my listening room right now. It's fascinating to listen to the differences. What Maggies do you have? I'd be very interested, as would others here, to see pictures and hear your take on the speakers. George

What are the pros and cons of these two drivers--K55-V and Altec 902 8B's in the setup I"ve proposed to try? Can the 902-8B's work without crossover modifications? I've kinda been looking for a pair on e-Bay, but they seem rare as hens' teeth. George

Hi all. I scored a nice pair of Altec 511B horns on e-Bay to try out with my K-horns. I have a set of the adapters to put on the end of the Altec horns to screw in my K-55V drivers, but what else do I need to make this "tweak" work? Are there some kind of gaskets, o-rings, washers, etc I need to get? Can these thing be homemade or, if they need to be purchased, sources would be appreciated. Right now, I was planning to just set the The 511B's on top of my k-horns and use my current crossover and tweeter in the k-horn's top section. Any suggestions/experiences for making the most of this combo would be much appreciated. I am anxious to hear the results. Horns should be here in about ten days. Thanks, guys, George

I ask that someone with experience with this verify that what I describe below is correct and that I'm not going to ruin sometihing this way. I am trying to run down a hum/hiss problem, and I have read that the way to begin is to disconnect my preamp from my power amp, insert shorting plugs into the power amp's inputs and turn the power amp on with only the speakers connected. During this procedure, I should only be hearing any noise the power amp makes? Is that correct? The amp is an ARC VT-100 Mk I. This amp has 3-pin connectors and RCA connectors. If I just put RCA shorting plugs in the RCA inputs on the amp and place nothing in the 3-pin connectors, is this a correct test for power amp noise? To make shorting plugs, I bought a set of Radio Shack RCA plugs--these are all metal cylinders, silver in color. To make them into shorting plugs, I solder one end of a wire to the center pin connector and the other end to the shield connector so that the center pin and shield are connected. Is that correct? Sorry for so many questions, but I don't want to damage anything, and I'd like the test to be correctly done so I can trust the results. Thanks, George

I got a HUGE improvement just with a simple wall-mounted shelf. My listening room has a wooden floor on good joists over a crawl space. When anyone stepped more than very softly on the floor, I would hear it in the bass when the turntable was running. Heavy footfalls (stomping) would cause the needle to skip. I went to Home Depot and bought two sturdy shelf brackets and a 2 foot square sheet of 3/4 inch birch plywood. I located studs in the wall drilled pilot holes and used lag screws to bolt them to the wall. I screwed the plywood to the standards from underneath. I leveled my table--Thorens TD-125-- and the results of this admittedly low-tech solution were clearly audible. I could stand by my table and jump up and down hard on the floor--and I weigh 230--with NO sound but music coming from the system. Good luck, George

I am considering getting a pair of SET amps for K-horns, probably Bottlehead or Welborne. I am REALLY sick and tired of hiss, hum, etc. coming through my speakers from every amp I try on my system. Could any of you with experience with the currently available forms of either of these mfg's amps comment on how QUIET they are--both mechanical and audio hum? Thanks, George

Congratulations on your Cornwalls! I bought a truly beat-up pair of 1977 used K-horns from Pat last month. Beautiful country indeed, and I found Pat to be very friendly, a good guy to deal with and a Klipsch lover for sure. Best, George

So do I understand correctly that the H would be the only one of these with the Alnico magnet and Tangerine phase plug? George

Can anyone tell me what are the differences between the letter designations on Altec drivers? Specifically 288-16 G, H, K and L? Thanks, George

It reads "K BB". I assumed the "BB" was for "black birch". Thanks, George

My '77 k-horns were, unfortunately, not all that well cared for. To be specific, somewhere along the line, the plywood on top of the bass bins was replaced by two layers of 5/8 inch particle board. I can't tell if they are on top of the bass bins or if there is another layer of original plywood under that, so I guess my first question is, in a normal k-horn, is the layer of wood under the removable top section (where the two upper-frequency horns are) the actual top of the bass horn, or is there another layer of plywood under that? Thanks, George

I am very interested in what you are planning because I will probably be doing something very similar myself at some point in the future. My listening room is narrow and rotation of the upper section of my K-horns into the center of the listening area improves coverage a lot. I hope you will post lots of photos of what you build and what your finished work looks like. George

You know, I would find it very interesting if some of the members here who are engineers and have an informed understanding of the technical aspects of Klipsch's work would write a paragraph or two explaining his contributions to the state of the art in layman's terms for those of us who, like me, are not electronics or acoustical engineers. Back in the early '70s, I bought a pair of Cornwalls. At that time, Klipsch and Associates sold a notebook of PWK's Audio Papers. I bought that book and read it, and I do remember some of what he worked on, but I have little sense of the place of his contributions vis-a-vis the field as a whole. His ingenious folded bass horns, for which he is mostly known, are not all there is of course. After selling my Cornwalls and trying out some other speakers--KEFs, PSBs and Magneplanars--I have returned to Klipsch and am enjoying my "new" 1977 k-horns a lot. So what's your take on some of Klipsch's most significant work? George