RossVTaylor

Well, hello old friends (and the new ones, too). I don't want to hijack Ray's thread, but my name did get dropped in here somewhere... A lot has happened in the past several years and I now live (as Doug said) in northern Arizona, in the mountains - Flagstaff, to be specific. I am remarried and loving life up here, but (snif, snif) I don't have any of my old Klipsch stuff any longer. I have fond memories of hooking a Heresy up to the clock radio in a hotel room after our PWK visit, but an angry ex-wife gave them (and other stuff) away. So, I lost the gear but not the memories. I've been busy here and am doing quite a few HT and audio installs, but the most common requests are for in-walls. Oh, to be invited to set up a K Horn or Jubilee setup... :-) I will be at the jazz festival on Catalina Island this weekend, but will try to check in more frequently after I return. I'm surprised my login still worked! Way to go, Klipsch! If any of you are planning to pass through Flag, please let me know. Sincerely, Ross

I hate to jump in with nothing more than a "me too", but.... ME TOO! I saw grown men moved to tears listening to the Jubilees (I'm serious). They sounded incredible and the prototype version, that I heard with Tony and others, was quite nice looking too. It seems that the commercial version could be made to look nice too, with enough work and money. But it would be nice to see a home version. So, me too... :-)

Rudy, I have a pair of LaScalas with full grills, from the factory. To be honest, I'd have removed the grills if they weren't originally built like this. I hate to change the factory looks, but I kind of like the open appearance of a bare-faced LaScala. The full grills are trimmed with a narrow (maybe 1/4-inch thick by 3/4-inch wide?) moulding on the perimeter of the face. Ross

I just saw this Jacuzzi link in an AVS post. Now we can have matching La Scalas! Seriously, though, it seems odd that they'd have trademarked the name La Scala, doesn't it? ------------------ My System's Stuff

Like so many others have said, Paul lives on in his works - I heard him just last night, through my LaScalas, and he'll remain with me in many ways for a long time to come. May God bless PWK and his loving Miss Valerie. Peace be with you both, Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Dave, For movies, use the RS-3s for surrounds and another Heresy for the center. There are other center options, but I haven't heard them with the Heresy so I can't comment on the match. I had three Heresy IIs up front, with the RS-3s as surrounds, and it was a great setup. I've now got the center Heresy with LaScalas, but I've still got the RS-3s. They're great "little" surrounds. For music, I'd have to echo Doug's comment about the full-range Heresy all around. If that's not practical, though, I'm pretty happy with my RS-3s even with multi-channel music. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Mike, The Pronto's something I wouldn't hesitate to purchased refurbished. Their only weakness is that they are somewhat fragile if dropped onto a hard surface or they are squashed. If dropped hard enough, there's a choke inside them that can break and the screen backlight goes out. If squashed, the screen can break. In fact, my oldest son broke the screen on my first Pronto. I assume it's because of these issues that there are refurbs out there. My first Pronto was exchanged by my dealer and I'm sure it was resold with a new screen. I've not heard of Prontos dying without some kind of abuse, so I wouldn't be afraid of buying a rebuilt one. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Oh, BTW. Do a search on the Klipsch forums for some older threads about the Pronto and its capabilities. I was sweating DougDrake pretty hard to get one, and he's become a believer. Also, check out www.remotecentral.com and www.prontoedit.com Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Mike and others, about the older Pronto. I've go the original TS-1000 model and it's got plenty of storage space for all of my equipment. It's got room for both my HT and my family room equipment, with storage to spare. I've even got my CD changer's discs categorized by music type for random play. Mine is set up to switch all my equipment to the proper inputs and it even opens the DVD tray, then pauses on a "insert disc into the tray" screen. My wife loves it (as much as she is capable of appreciating any piece of audio/video equipment that is). The *only* time you'd exceed its memory is if you wanted individually list every CD you've got for direct access to a particular disc. The TS-2000 model does have more storage capacity, but some of that is taken up by its pre-programmed control codes. You really don't need that if you have access to a computer for programming the Pronto. I think the 1000 is plenty! And, at $150 for a refurb with factory warranty it's a great buy. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Wes, Here's an option for $150 on a factory refurb Pronto from J and R. I've had a Pronto for over a year now and I love it. I'm thinking about ordering another one of these refurbished ones for another room. The price is certainly right. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Ears, I also got a loud thump when I started using an X-30 with my sub. I found that the problem was I had the X-30 plugged into the back of my receiver, so it came on when I powered up. I got a thump at turn-on and turn-off. Both of those went away (thank goodness!) when I plugged the X-30 into a regular outlet, so it's on all the time. Happy New Year, Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

BTW - I *wish* I had a single LaScala just laying around... ------------------ My System's Stuff

Boatman, I'm also using a Heresy (II) as a center with my LaScalas and it works great. I'm using RS-3s as movies surrounds. While those may not be the recommended surrounds for Heritage speakers like the LaScalas, the RS-3s work great as movie surrounds. Your LaScalas will make the foundation for an awesome HT system! Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Jim, Erik is correct, but I think we were assuming these were for home theater/movie use. In that case, your listening position is usually seated so the speakers would end up about 5-6 feet high on the wall. For general room music, where you'll be standing, then you're talking about 8-9 feet high. For room music, I don't think you can go too high really. The higher installation does a good job of filling the room with sound. I've got in-walls about 10 feet up in a couple of my taller rooms right now and they're great for music. But, for movies I'd want them much lower. As far as horizontal mounting goes, that's not a problem. I've got my in-walls mounted that way to line up better with my AC grills (for purely asthetic reasons). Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Jake, if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion. Buy the best speakers you can get now - the ones *you* really like. You can always run movies in phantom center mode until you can buy a real center speaker. Good speakers are an investment upon which you can build a great system. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Good morning, Kain. Since you've added the projector to your signature, I'm guessing you like it! They *are* fun. I couldn't see myself going back to rear-projection again. The term screen door effect refers to the square grid pattern of the pixel grid. When looking at the displayed picture, especially on a light colored scene, you may see a series of fine vertical and horizontal black lines creating a very small pattern of squares as if the picture were being shone through a piece of bug screen material. The pattern may be really pronounced and obvious, or you may not see it at all, depending on your viewing distance and the projected size. As Paul correctly mentions black levels in the picture can also be an issue, but that may be improved with a slightly gray screen. DLPs are traditionally better at blacks than are LCDs. Ultimately, the only way to know for sure if you'll like the picture is to try the projector on your screen in your environment. Will the dealer let you try it at home? If not, there are some projector forums with great info. AV Sciences Forum comes to mind. Enjoy the big screen! Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Hi Kain, LCD projectors are easy to set up, very bright and don't suffer from burn issues. On the downside, the "screen door" effect can be bothersome (depending on how far you are from the screen), some show rainbow effects and the bulbs can be expensive (like $400 for 1000 hours). What sources do you plan on watching on the projector? Do you or your kids also plan on playing games on it? Will you use it for a computer? Do you have a light-controlled room? How far from the screen will you be? Do I seem nosey yet? Answers to all these can help in selecting an appropriate projector. Happy holidays, Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Jim, Is that the grouping of speakers that was being sold in Prescott, Arizona a few weeks ago? If so, that was a *great* looking set of vintage Klipsches. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

If anyone needs a personal inspection of these, please let me know where they are and I'll take a look for you (assuming the seller's okay with that, but if not then watch out...) Happy holidays to you all, Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Richard, If you're interested, do a search of other forums in this BB for a recent thread about this very topic. For a source for the Vogel and Omnimount supports that BobG referred to, try here. You might try the Vogel VLB200's that are near the bottom of the page. With those, you wouldn't have to screw into the backs of the speakers. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

I've been real impressed with Onkyo's stuff - really good value for the money. I'm also quite happy with every Denon piece that I own. But, in the $500 range of receivers I think the Outlaw 1050 (that T refers to) is tough to beat. www.outlawaudio.com Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Butch, I asked a similar question about older Klipsch speakers when I was in Hope last February. My question was about the woofer surrounds which, on some other speakers, disintegrate after several years. I learned (I think from Jim Hunter, but maybe Trey?) that the woofer surrounds are formed in a continuous "S" shape, sort of like a sine wave I guess, so that as the cone moves in and out it doesn't flex at (and stress) any one particular point. In other words, they are designed to last a very long time. Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

edit to remove double post - sorry. This message has been edited by RossVTaylor on 12-20-2001 at 04:56 PM

One of the sources for the ceramic stand-offs that Ray linked to (audionut) is here in town. I went in there and the owner was and *extremely* pleasant and knowledgable fellow. All of his system's speaker wires were on these ceramic supports that looked like something off of an old telephone pole. Meanwhile, all of the source components were on little metal cup-and-ball-bearing low-friction glides, and they each had a thick slab of marble butcher block on top. Some also had a bag of lead shot, inside a black dress sock, sitting (well laying actually - I'm not sure a bag of shot can really "sit") on top for extra mass. They recommended that I not run my in-wall wiring by just drilling holes through the studs and running the wire through. They suggested that I drill a larger hole, like maybe and inch and a half, and that I suspend the speaker wire in the middle of the hole by a couple of nylon wire ties with their tails stapled to the stud. Like the ceramic supports, this is supposed to eliminate or reduce the effects nearby surfaces have on the signal in the wire. Now, whether any of this would be at all audible in my system I guess I'll never know, because that's all a bit too far out there for me. Of course, maybe when I'm spending more time at home and have the time to tinker... Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff

Brett, I highly recommend that you run wires to EVERY conceivable future speaker location now, while your walls are open. The center rear (for a single rear), two off-center rears (for double rears), the rear corners (for music DR surrounds), the side walls (for wide-dispersion surrounds), and the fronts. You might even consider some wires up high, in the ceiling maybe, for future "height" effects. Maybe more up there for a projector? If you have the option of doing so, conduit with strategically located pull boxes would future-proof your room. Have fun planning! Ross ------------------ My System's Stuff