Islander

Sounds interesting, but is it current? Thoughts on string theory are changing, and M-theory wasn't even thought of until 1995 or so. The latest book on physics theory I've read is The Fabric of Reality, published in 1998 by quantum physicist David Deutsch. His argument is that theory should not merely enable accurate predictions, but should explain the phenomena it describes. It makes sense to me that understanding should be as important as measuring. There may be some overlap with the book you mentioned, in that Deutsch believes that the theories of quantum physics, knowledge, computation and evolution are the main strands of explanation of the fabric of reality. If more thinkers start to look at things in this new way, can a paradigm shift be far away?

Only you can decide whether you want a coupe or a convertible.

1. Could it be that the MC240 is designed to be left on all the time? 2. Have you thought of using a good quality power bar or surge protector with an on-off switch? Better than wearing out your wall socket and maybe sending a surge through your amp every time.

The diameter of the screw holes on my CT125 tweeters matched the holes on the original K-77 tweeters just fine. I also thought the horns were usually mounted from behind with wood screws. The extra diameter of the CT125 tweeters did require me to make a 1/4" relief in the lid of the La Scalas, but with the lids being 3/4" thick, it was no big deal. The improved sound was definitely worth it.

Hmm, looks like I might have to finally get around to reading Godel, Escher, Bach...

Remarkable stuff! I don't have the math to agree or disagree with what he says, but it seems like he's taking a fresh look at many assumptions and finding them really hard to support. Is he a real-life Will Hunting or what?

I've been using a Shure M97xE for a couple of years and I'm very happy with it. The Absolute Sound reviewed it in their Ultimate Analog Issue (June/July 2007) and found it pleasant to listen to and very smooth, even with recordings that aren't really great. It also tracks very well.

Well done, picky! Progress is really encouraging, but stay the course even if the rate of progress varies up or down. Keep us up to date.

Perhaps "A Legend in Sound" referred to PWK himself and, by extension, the speakers he designed, ie. the Heritage Series. It could be that the new motto is meant to promote the non-PWK designs, which may generate more income these days than the Heritage Series. It's good to sound modern, but I agree that the new motto does sound like generic hype.

It's likely that the tags aren't blank, just that the ink faded to near-invisibility, especially if it was red ink. On the bigger Heritage speakers, the serial number is also stamped into the wood, but in the case of Heresies, I'm not sure. If they're in really good shape, the price may be good, but I'll let others comment on that.

Constructive interference is definitely a correct term. It refers to what happens when two (or more) waves that are in phase or close to it meet and combine to create a larger wave. In the case of destructive interference, two (or more) waves that are out of phase meet and partially or completely cancel each other. This can occur in a quite small area, so the reflections in a typical listening room can cause what might look like a patchwork quilt of peaks and dips (in 3-D, of course). If it sounds okay where you're sitting, good enough!

Try this site: http://www.klipsch.com/find-a-dealer/ Just punch in Synergy and your postal code to find your nearest dealer.

You'll like your La Scalas, but you might want to go all Heritage Series, rather than mixing Heritage and Reference, for timbre matching reasons.

Whenever I have to remove anything heavy from a box, I open the flaps, fold one flap down against the side of the box, then gently tip the box onto that side. Then I tip the box onto its top and lift it off the contents. Much easier and safer than trying to lift a heavy smooth-sided object out of a deep box. And no damage to the box. In the same way, when packing something heavy like a speaker, set it on the floor in the upside-down position with its packing materials in place around it and just slide the box onto it. Gently tip the box onto its side while you or your helper hold the contents so they don't slide out. Then tip it right side up, close the flaps and tape them up. Very easy and safe.

OK.... sounds great... I'm looking forward to reading a practical user usable set of procedures for not only calculating the optimal precedence levels for each speaker (in fact, I would love for someone to even find these levels referenced in the various format sites!) (after you establish the magic listening position which may not coincide with the specified Dolby/Dts/THX specified spot, which don't necessarily even use the same topologies!) and then relate the calculations to a real system who settings most likely have no bearing to any absolute calibrated level. I would reserve a few minutes more than the time that reading the manual requires! You might want to begin by reading up on Henry's research into precedence and time issues. ;-))))) mas, I'm not at all sure what you're getting at, but I don't think that an advanced level of knowledge of acoustic theory is really needed to balance the volume levels of a set of speakers. It appeared that the original poster had set every speaker at +12 dB, which seemed unlikely to provide the correct balance for surround sound.

"Too little of a signal can harm the speaker"? That's a new one on me. Perhaps you mean that using a low-powered amp and driving it too hard will send a distorted (clipped) signal to the speaker. That can definitely do some harm.

With all the speakers set at the same level, is the volume at the listening position the same from each speaker? That's the reason for the individual level controls. If they're not set to match from where you sit when you're listening, your surround sound imaging won't be right at all.

Sound Hounds here in Victoria had a large pair of open baffle speakers on display a year or two ago. I don't remember the brand, but they were the size of doors, roughly six feet tall and two-and-a-half feet wide. I couldn't judge the sound quality, since they were in the main room of the shop with the front door open to the street noise and they're on a busy street. The baffles were made of light-coloured wood and visually really dominated the room.

Pretty hard to top that for cool in this crowd!

If I said I prefer Diane to Dianetics, would that be unetical?

Have you removed the casters so the speakers can sit directly on the floor? That should make an immediate improvement in the bass response. That very thing cropped up in a posting today.

Cables are inexpensive, at least when compared to most of the rest of a system, so it doesn't cost a lot to swap them in and out to try to get the optimum combination. A new amp or pair of speakers will make a much larger difference, but they're bigger and more costly, plus some people are really detail-oriented (a politer way of saying "obsessive") and enjoy making little tweaks. Where it gets really vague is the cones, pods, cable elevators and so on. Just try to measure any of the changes those things are claimed to make... Maybe what makes the cable issue so polarized is that there really are two groups: the true believers and the non-believers. Each group thinks the other one is either deaf or gullible or sometimes both at once.

Do you want your daughter running away with any musician?

Car/hi-fi connection: one of the owners of the local hi-end audio shop, Sound Hounds, drives a Lotus (or is that Caterham now?) Super 7. He also has a Smart car. Those Smarts are very popular in this small city with no real highways around.

I'd suggest doing the changes one at a time, so you know which change makes which difference, if any. Can you tell if the braces on the horn mouths have made any difference? Doubling the thickness of the sides makes sense, but the bottom is well braced by the woofer doghouse, so that may be unnecessary. Looking forward to hearing and seeing how your project works out.