Islander

No, it wouldn't be safe to push 200 watts to 125-watt rated speakers. However, as you turn up the volume, it's likely you'd never get near 200 watts before the sound would be deafening. If you've ever seen an amp with power meters, you'll know that typical listening volume only uses a few watts, or even fractions of watts, most of the time, especially with Klipsch speakers. The extra power is for the transient sounds, like drumbeats and handclaps, that momentarily call for much more power, even at a continuous setting of a watt or so. In my setup, I have 2 500Wpc amps, one driving a pair of 100-watt rated La Scalas and the other driving a pair of 100-watt rated Heresy IIs. Typical listening levels probably don't use more than 1 watt. 2 or 3 watts is really loud. That extra headroom means the amp will likely never ever get into clipping, it's running in its very-low-distortion range and the musical transients sound more realistic than they would with a less powerful amp. To be honest, though, a 200 or 300Wpc amp might sound almost exactly the same. I just happen to really like the sound of the Yamaha MX-D1s.

I ran into a similar buzzing when I got my Yamaha power amp. I tried the various cables I had on hand, but none seemed to make any difference. I even took the amp in to the local Yamaha dealer, A&B Sound, who were good enough to hook it up to a receiver very similar to mine and a set of Totem Wind speakers. There was no buzz in that setup, but the lower sensitivity of those speakers was enough to make a difference. At home, when I connected a Paradigm speaker, the buzz was also greatly reduced, but through the La Scalas I could hear the buzz from several feet away. Eventually, I had a 20-foot length of Wireworld interconnect cable that I no longer needed cut up into three shorter lengths and decided to try the 1-metre length on the amp. Eureka! The buzzing was reduced to a very faint hiss that couldn't be heard a foot from the tweeters. These Heritage speakers do reveal all. When I first connected the La Scalas, I was surprised to notice that I could hear a faint click from the speakers when switching inputs on the receiver. That was completely inaudible with the previous speakers. So was some of the music, of course...

Oh, those tubes... I thought you meant The Tubes!

Jubilees are about $7000, delivered to your door, but they come without crossovers, meaning you need to buy a processor (like an Electro-Voice Dx 38) and a second amp, or a pair of Crown Xti amps with built-in processors. This way, the speakers are bi-amped with delay correction. It's a little complicated, but usable by ordinary, non-engineer types, and reputedly sounds really, really, good. There are also some Jubilee owners using passive crossovers.

I've had good results with this cable. The SS refers to the colour of the sheath, smoke and silver. It comes in sizes from 16 to 8 gauge. http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?category=Karma%20SS%20Speaker%20Kable

On my Technics turntable, the static buildup varies from none at all with certain records, to a little bit with most, to an extreme amount with a few records that almost glue themselves to the mat. Variations in ferrous material content? I have no idea. The mat is a Plattermatter, one of those thick Sorbothane-type ones. I always use a carbon fiber brush to clean the disc before playing it and those brushes are said to remove static along with any dust.

With some Technics turntables, there's a muting feature that only turns the sound on a second or so after the needle is lowered into the groove, so you don't hear the needle drop. If the cueing arm is set to the wrong height, it's posssible to get no sound at all. Could it be that your turntable has a feature like that and that it's misadjusted? Did you call the shop that did the work?

With RF-7s, you may be putting a fair bit of power into them, so at least 12 gauge would be my suggestion.

The Zerostat gun is what you need. When you zap a record with the gun after playing it, you can put the record away knowing it's not a dust magnet, so that's a benefit, too.

Welcome aboard, thereminjames! Congrats on your Fortes, they are well-thought-of speakers. Happy listening!

Two La Scalas, a Paradigm sub and a Heresy II on its side under the TV, plus two more Heresy II for surround.

Sometimes even free is no bargain...

Just this morning, I spotted this device, a USB phono preamp that lets you connect your turntable to your computer. It's only $69.95 and claims to have an 89dB s/n ratio. http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-Phono-Turntable-Preamplifier-Pre-Amp-Amplifier-NEW_W0QQitemZ150207600917QQihZ005QQcategoryZ48648QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

I'm using a Heresy II for a center and Heresy IIs for surround in my system. They're a good match for the La Scala mains. I use a sub as well. For a lower cost, an all-Heresy plus sub system would be good. If you do use your Heresies in your HT, the other speakers should also be Heritage Series to give you good timbre matching. It does matter.

That's weird, I'm Sergei, too! Looks like the test is anti-Stravinsky...

Of course, you can always just give the cop a high-five: Nor can you always believe those radar readings:

Y-connectors are usually cheap items from Radio Shack, but Knukonceptz has shielded y-connectors that actually look to be decent quality and they're only $3.99. They come in two varieties, 1 male-2 female or 1 female-2 male. http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KARSS1F2M http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KARSS1M2F They even have upgraded ones for $5.99: http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KRY-1F2M http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KRY-1M2F

Shot in the end? Sounds painful! [8o|]

Although it's marked "digital" on the front and Yamaha calls it digital, the MX-D1 is a pulse-width-modulated switching amp that seems to be analog from input to output. The good news is that the Yamaha MX-D1 amps have come down in price. If you do a Net search, you may be able to find a new one for under $2500US. I was able to find a used second one for even less, so now I'm ready to bi-amp. 500Wpc is a lot of power, but these run happily and cleanly at fractions of a watt as well, with huge headroom. The guy who sold me the used D1 had two of them (the first one was already sold), which he'd been using to passively bi-amp a pair of B&W 800s and it sounded really good through those. He'd had a pair of Krell 700cx amps and preferred the Yamahas. He sold the Yamahas because he was downsizing and went to a pair of bridged Harman Kardon tube amps for "mono-amping". Although he liked the tube sound, he was a little sad to see the Yamahas go. If you're ever in my neighbourhood, you're welcome to stop by for a listen. I really like them. They're on for 12 hours a day and I get no fatigue from them.

Very cool, Trey! A smooth move that really paid off. It's great to hear that it's worked out for both of you. Thanks for sharing, especially on V-Day.

I was happy with my Yamaha receiver, but since I've added a Yamaha stereo power amp for the main speakers, and started to use the receiver as a preamp/processor, I'm even happier. The degree of extra clarity is surprising. The logical next step would be a real pre/pro with tuner, but that would mean buying some more power amps for the surrounds, or going to a 5-channel power amp, and I'm not sure the improvements would match the cost of all that.

Good tips! Is that Amazing Goop stuff sort of like that rubbery glue that's used to attach credit cards to the letters they come with? I used a product called Hermefix to mount photos temporarily, since it can be removed without leaving a residue on the back of the prints. It's also good for attaching speakers to stands and to the top of a TV, without leaving a residue or damaging the surface when it's removed. Only problem is that it's no longer imported to Canada, so if Amazing Goop does the same job, it would come in handy.

All your music can sound better with the TDS Sound Enhancer! http://www.musicdirect.com/product/72948 The Sound Enhancer TDS202 from Acoustic Research (AR) is the first consumer product to feature True Dimensional Sound (TDS) technology. Originally introduced to the professional audio market in 1997, TDS unlocks hidden elements, such as background instruments and vocals, unintentionally buried in the mix. Patented circuitry provides an increase in voltage that, when coupled with the 'spectral decay' effect, enhances the signal with a wider, more detailed soundfield. When processed by the Sound Enhancer, the least audible frequencies are increased in amplitude without reshaping the loudness contour, revealing subtle elements in the original recording while managing 'dwell time'; that is, the duration for which newly perceptible frequencies can be heard. Audio is then fed from the output jacks of the Sound Enhancer to your receiver, amplifier, or preamp. Seriously, though, I got one of these for $30 at XScargo and used it for 15 minutes or so before disconnecting it, since the changes to the sound didn't seem like improvements. I'm getting some use out of the AR interconnects that came with it, so it wasn't a total loss.

Well put!

A good and healthy attitude, DD, even if it can be difficult at times. As for me, I've given up on worrying. Many years ago, I realized that worrying was unproductive and actually made me less able to deal with whatever crisis was impending. Accordingly, now I just prepare as best I can and deal with what happens. Less stressful and more effective. I contend these two responses are representative of what makes this forum so special, of course there are a few exceptions. Thanks, Arky! You're special, too! [Y]