Islander

Jethro Tull played Victoria last summer, with very little advertising. I only learned of it the following week, reading the rave review of their sold-out show at the best local concert hall. I'd seen them in Toronto in 1978 and would have liked to catch this year's show.

Nearly all speakers can benefit from the help of a sub, IMHO. Since the sub covers a (mostly) different frequency range from the main speakers, it doesn't have to be the same brand, since timbre matching does not apply. It should be decent quality, though, and $200 may not buy you a very good quality sub, unless you're buying used.

Well, I think you've pretty well got the speaker part covered...

Thanks for posting your pix and info. I was wondering what a pair of those would look like in a house. Great! So you're planning to add a sub?

According to the Stereophile Buyers Guide I was reading today, the La Scala II has tractix mid and tweeter horns. Does anyone know if this is true? It wouldn't be the first time a mistake has crept in.

Were they bigger than you expected? In your avatar photo, the speaker looks like some kind of audio altar and there's nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't have to climb over them to get in and out of the room.

Why don't you call Klipsch customer service and ask them? You should be able to get all the information you need there.

Well, that says it in terms that anyone can understand.

What, you've never heard of Johnny Winter or Edgar Winter? They're both great and they're definitely not cult favourites, they're way too big for that.

Some pretty creepy stuff there! Wonder if those LPs sound as bad as they look?

Those orange outlets are pretty eye-catching and can look out of place in a living room. As another way to go, you could use 20-amp outlets, which come in white and look normal, except for the T-shaped slot on one side, an unobtrusive identifier. They're only a little more expensive, but make a better connection, due to stronger springs and more contact area. I was told that 20-amp sockets are required for kitchen outlets here in the latest electrical code. You could also use hospital-grade sockets, which make a good connection, but are somewhat more expensive. They have a green dot, so you can easily spot them, but they are available in white and don't look out of place.

He's got a whole collection of similar-looking headgear. Just trying to be different, I guess.

Since all Jubilee home speakers are made to order, it's just a matter of specifying the desired finish and grilles, at an extra charge of course. It's likely you could even ask for an enclosure over the 402 horns, which would make the speaker look a lot less industrial.

Some speaker companies recommend using an amp of double the rated power of the speakers, so the amp is always operating in its most linear, least distorting, power range. If you're listening at really high volume, can you tell whether the amp or the speaker is the source of the distortion? As Daddy Dee pointed out, a bad recording or bad source can also cause problems.

Might be construed as negative? There's no bright side to "nasal, honky, or hollow". Even so, it's possible those characteristics are there, just that they're below the threshold of being annoying, so I can't hear them. I'm content to listen to my Scalas until the all-tractix La Scala III comes out in 2029 or so.

One of the guitar magazines devoted practically a whole issue to Billy Gibbons a couple of months ago. He's a very interesting guy, with far broader musical influences than you would expect.

Spoiled my day when I heard that the Eagles joined Joe Walsh. Saw him seven times in Toronto, with James Gang, Barnstorm and also with the Eagles. The Eagles are a great band, but Joe's earlier bands were better, to me at least.

The speakers are powered from the receiver, so no problem there. Most subs, however, have their own amplifier, which is powered from a mains electrical outlet, so that could be an issue. With the power a sub draws, a little shaver voltage adapter (for example) wouldn't do the job. The sub connector on the receiver only supplies the signal to the sub, not the power. On the bright side, the sub brand does not have to match the speaker brand.

Just to remind you of the direction you don't want to go, here's a picture of Ron Jeremy in the gym.

Okay, they're not that ugly, but they're definitely funky and would be acceptable in fewer living rooms than Scalas or Jubilees. Does that extra width improve the bass extension or sensitivity noticeably, compared with a La Scala? I wonder how FH-1s would sound tipped on their sides? With a Scala (or Scala II) HF section on top, you'd have a taller Scala but keep its 2-foot width, not a bad compromise/improvement.

Good and simple advice!

Motorcycles usually have more difficulty with longitudinal grooves, like those rain grooves on California highways. I don't know if they're still in use, but they made real trouble for some bikes and riders and maybe even caused some tires to be redesigned. The grooves on that Korean highway are transverse and would just be felt as a bumpy surface. "Less contact patch = bad." Not so sure about that. A slick tire has the maximum contact patch the tire profile can provide, but they're not so good in the rain and snow. Those transverse grooves should improve drainage and cut down on hydroplaning for all vehicles. I'd agree that the grooves might increase tire wear, but it seemed that they were only used in certain sections, not on all of the highway. The possible reduction in crashes would likely offset any tire wear increases. Time will tell.

Well done, Glenn! Steady progress. It's encouraging when you're feeling and seeing the improvements.

A comment on Harmony Central Musician Community Forums from a former FH-1 owner: I had an old pair of FH1 back in kansas. Ended up putting a Gauss 15 in each one (these were single 15's W bins) and used them a couple times. Each time I used a Yamaha PN90 crossover (line level passive @ 90hz 12db/oct) and an RMX1450 bridged into the pair. Yes way too much power, yes it did fart when pushed to hard... With careful compression on the kick I was able to get a reasonable sound out of them. But they were a bit bulky, didn't go all that low, looked like ***, and I was moving to seattle so off they went. Plug-ugly speakers are one thing, but speakers that look like ***? Think I'll stick with my black La Scalas...

Here's an example of a horn-loaded sub that goes down to 18 Hz. It's not cheap and it tends to dominate the room a bit. http://avantgarde-usa.com/basshorns.html