Islander

You mean the black badge? Also, the picture appears to be overexposed, making the cabinet and grille cloths look gray rather than black.

Lots of young people think the '80s were cheesy. They're lucky they weren't around for the '70s!

That pink Microbus is called a "Vinyl Killer", but that may be just a nickname.

Good to see you back, Peter! How's the weather in Rimouski? That was a 7.1 system in the living room, with those little Paradigms for surround and rear surround. Yesterday I disconnected them and hooked up the Heresy IIs, so now it's a 5.1 system. It's funny that it's easiest to describe some Klipsch speakers' sizes in terms of home appliances. The Scalas are the size of washing machines and the Heresies are as big and heavy as medium-sized microwave ovens. Luckily my neighbour was available to help me hoist them into position (one Heresy is on top of the bookcase). I'm just heading out to rent (again) House of Flying Daggers to check out the surround effect with the new speakers. Have you seen that movie? It involves a blind girl swordfighter, so the sound is really emphasized, including spears that whiz past your head. The Echo Game scene in the movie was written up in either Stereophile or TAS for its surround effect.

You need big speakers to get big sound. Glad to hear your Scalas are making you happy. My shoe is on the other foot. I just added a pair of Heresy IIs to my Scalas. The pair of Heresies have a much bigger sound than the two pairs of Paradigm Atoms they replaced, as well as matching up much better with the Scalas, both in sound and sensitivity.

Where is that turntable? In the late 70s, I worked at the CN Spadina roundhouse in Toronto, which had a similar turntable. It was demolished in order to build the CN Tower. The Canadian Pacific roundhouse nearby was later sold and became a brewery, Steam Whistle Beer.

Congrats and happy listening!

Good idea. I've got the original 3-sided Second Winter double LP that I got second-hand in '72 or so and it's really scratched up.

Just found this and thought I'd share it: This is one of the most famous instrumental Rock songs. It got its title because of the intense editing that went into the song; it became a monster when it was pieced together in the studio. Says Winter: "When we were editing it in the studio, back in those days when you edited something, you physically had to cut the tape and splice it back together, so it was all over the control room, draped over the backs of chairs and the couch. We were making fun of it, trying to figure out how to put it back together, saying 'Here's the main body; the leg bone's connected to the thigh bone ... ' Then Chuck Ruff, my drummer, says, 'Wow, man, it's like Frankenstein.' As soon as I heard that, I went, 'Wow, that's it!' The monster was born." (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, WA. U.S.A) This was edited down to a manageable single in a long, arduous process. Edgar had band members perform over and over in an attempt to get it right. This wasn't supposed to be the single. It was originally released as the B-side of a song called "Hangin' Around." The sides were flipped when disc jockeys realized this was the hit.

I've got all those albums and listened to Barnstorm last night. I first saw Joe Walsh with James Gang at Winter Pop at Maple Leaf Gardens in TO. It was a New Year's Eve (1970-71) concert with 5 or 6 bands (8pm-2am?), including the headliner, Johnny Winter, with Rick Derringer. Winter Pop 2, the next year, headlined Edgar Winter and featured Alice Cooper, Dr. John, Rare Earth and some other bands. Joe came back to TO with James Gang, with Barnstorm (for a week at the El Mocambo!) and then with the Eagles a couple of times, so I was able to see him live 7 times. Now I'm hoping he plays Victoria some time!

Glad to hear you're liking the sound of your Scalas. Do many people in your city have them?

Joe Vitale and Kenny Passarelli were in Joe Walsh's band Barnstorm in the 70s. I saw the band a couple of times at the El Mocambo in Toronto and they were really good. And so was Joe, of course!

It gets confusing. You can call someone from Britain a "Brit", an Australian an "Aussie", but don't call a Japanese person a "Jap". And someone from Pakistan? Don't even go there! The thing is, "Brit" and "Aussie" have never been used as insults.

That's nothing dood. Nothing. Agreed, it was pretty innocuous, but any sort of racial stuff is a particularly touchy area for many folks. That's right Pat, so everyone listen up. No more French or Irish jokes![^o)] Not even any Newfie jokes?

If you really want the Rolling Stones video experience, check out Rolling Stones at the Max if it comes to your town. It's a 1991 concert recorded in the IMAX format and it's practically better than being there, what with the super video and audio resolution and the cameras being able to fly in close enough to show what brand of cigarette Keith is smoking, then back to the back of the hall to show the whole stage. It played here at the IMAX theater in 2005 for nearly six weeks and was sold out almost every night.

That's nothing dood. Nothing. Agreed, it was pretty innocuous, but any sort of racial stuff is a particularly touchy area for many folks.

Count your blessings. In a few years, they might want to move back in...

Great save! You should be a goalie.

Your sensitivity is appreciated, but this joke has been around for a while and I was actually sent it by a Chinese friend some years ago. She seemed to find it humourous, not offensive. All the same, potentially offensive stuff doesn't belong on the forum.

If you're planning to buy a new receiver, you might as well get a 7.1 unit, even to run 5.1, since by now 5.1 and 6.1 receivers are mostly bottom of the line or not the latest technology. A 7.1 unit will be current for a longer time. In most cases, the menu will allow you to select Rear Surround x 1, Rear Surround x 2, or None. You can run a 7.1 receiver in 2-channel stereo, 3.1, 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1. With most receivers, as you select additional channels, the power per channel goes down, but the apparent volume goes up, with more speakers moving air.

Driving or riding at 100% is best reserved for the racetrack. For that matter, perhaps reserved for the last lap of the race. Besides, you never know when you'll meet a pedestrian...

I dunno about his opinions, but the bandwidth versus output tradeoff he was referring to is deeply engrained into the science of loudspeaker engineering. Newer technology may have widened bandwidths for the same SPL and similar distortion, but the tradeoff is still there: if you want it to play louder with the same distortion levels, then you need to sacrifice bandwidth. I don't often listen at high volume, but I recently bought a Yamaha 500Wpc amp, not for the power, rather because of its really low distortion and noise specs, with its lowest measured distortion in the 6-10 watt operating range. Most of the time, I'm listening at 1 watt or less and I seem to be able to hear further back into the soundstage without turning up the volume, so the extra clarity is appreciated, even if it means I can hear surface noise on LPs a little more clearly, too. Anyway, the extra power/headroom, even running at 1 watt or less, seems to add solidity to instruments. Instead of just hearing piano strings, I can sense a big wooden thing there across the room, and other instruments benefit, too. I didn't expect that, but I'm liking it more all the time. At high volume, it might be called slam, but at low volume, it's more like presence (and I don't mean a midrange "presence" boost). It may seem silly to drive La Scalas with 500Wpc, and I have to be careful when changing inputs and always make sure to turn the volume way down before powering off, but the power isn't going to waste. Maybe heavy-duty drivers that would give the Scalas a 500-watt continuous rating instead of 100 watts would have reduced bandwidth (and maybe sound quality), so perhaps the best bet is regular drivers, a big clean amp, and some common sense with the volume control.

La Scala IIs in Cherry: http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/542999091 in Walnut (non-grain matched): http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/542999726 in Black Ash: http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/542999821 The non-grain matched speakers are less expensive. See the list at the left side of the Vann's page.

S is 1978 and Y is 1983. See http://www.progressive-engineering.com/klipsch/klipsch_date_codes.htm You're lucky that you were able to try out the receivers with your speakers before buying. Most often, people buy without hearing first and then get used to whatever they wind up with.

In the letter, it appears that PWK was referring to heavy-duty drivers, not to the cabinets. That letter was dated 1973. Does anyone know if he changed his opinion later, as technology changed (and hopefully improved)?