Islander

The sub will often not sound great from all points in the room. If it sounds good at your listening position, good enough! With my previous layout, I had a strong bass reinforcement spot about 3 feet to one side of the nearest chair, but no-one sat there, so it didn't matter. When the music was loud, it was odd to go through that little bass-heavy zone, only a couple of feet in diameter. Somewhere between the front speakers often gives the most realistic bass, with music in particular.

Hey, BC Canuk, I'm in Victoria. Where are you?

Ah, EMI. That could be, but I'm not clear on what "shield lifted from the amplifier side" means. The WireWorld interconnect is marked for direction. Perhaps if I swap ends, that will have the shield grounded to the other component. Also, a shorter interconnect should be less able to pick up EMI, shouldn't it? The noise with the 12V trigger connected is around 60-62dB right at the speaker, loud enough to be heard across a quiet room, and it comes out of the tweeters and squawkers in roughly equal amounts. The deeper pitch is harder to ignore than the faint buzzing. Degrees of annoyance... At least I can do without the trigger. The plugs on the power cords for the amp and for the receiver are both polarized. The receiver, turntable, DVD player, TV, VCR and cassette deck are plugged into an 8-outlet Tripp Lite surge bar. So far, I've plugged the amp into a 6-outlet Tripp Lite surge bar (different outlet, same circuit as the receiver) with the sub, without the sub, directly to the wall into an outlet that's on a different circuit and finally to the same surge bar as the receiver and other components. The sub remained plugged into its 6-outlet bar. I had earlier plugged the sub directly (no surge bar) to the outlet on the different circuit. The buzzing noise was the same in all cases. The turntable is grounded to the receiver. I also tried running a ground wire from the grounding knob on the receiver to one of the screws on the back of the amp, with and without the turntable grounded to the receiver, without any change. Leaky filter cap? Is that in the amp? I was a mechanic/millwright, so I have only a basic grasp of electronics. Piston clearances, bearing conditions, coupler alignments, I'm more familiar with that kind of stuff.

I agree with Gil that the digital version is likely more sturdy and possibly less likely to get knocked out of calibration. It's also easy to read and if the highest-reading square of the bar graph is flickering (on and off half the time), I take that as a half-dB reading, so you can set up your system within .5dB. They're not a commercial-grade meter anyway, so on successive test runs, I consider 1dB variations irrelevant. If the display is fluctuating too quickly (not so likely with test tones), just set the response to 'slow'.

16 Heresies? Any "extra" ones, or are you starting a colony of them?

Thanks for the tips, guys! I'm considering trying the XLR inputs, although since the receiver has no XLR sockets, that would mean using adapters, probably XLR-to-1/4-inch phone, then 1/4-inch phone-to-RCA. If I'm still using RCA-type cable, would there be a difference, or would it just be to try the other sockets in case the RCA ones have a problem? Isn't a ground loop hum around 60Hz? This is a high-pitched buzz that's more like 4 or 5kHz, since it's mostly coming out of the tweeters. Do 60Hz harmonics sometimes go that high? As for the power plugs, they're both 2-prong, although a pro sound guy suggested trying a non-polarized plug to see if flipping it over would make a difference. The first cable I used was good-quality WireWorld, then I used a no-name $20 cable, with no noticeable difference. They were both 6 meter (20 feet) long cables that I already had, so I'll buy a try a 3-meter (10 foot) cable and try that. I called tech support at Yamaha USA and Yamaha Canada, but they don't see many of these amps. The Canadian tech said they'd be happy to take a look at it, but it might be operating within spec, and shipping it from the West Coast all the way to Toronto at my risk and expense is a last resort for me. Other than the buzzing, it sounds great and has tons of power. Although I saved a lot by buying from an Internet dealer, I don't have the convenience of just taking it back to the store.

Sounds like my kind of movie.... "Follow an aimless college grad who pursues his dream girl at a wild Labor Day weekend party. He, his twin sister and their best friend struggle with their burgeoning adulthood over the course of the night." You forgot to add "Hilarity and embarrassment ensues."

I hope someone can help me solve a noise issue. I'm using a Yamaha RX-V750 7.1 receiver to power my La Scala main speakers and Paradigm surrounds and the system sounds fine. However, last month I decided to upgrade it and bought a Yamaha MX-D1 stereo power amp to power the Scalas. It took a month to arrive (I don't think Yamaha even carries the MX-D1 in Canada) and I was really excited to take it out of the box and hook it up. It's a Class D PWM type amp. The manuals for both units state that they can be used in this type of application. The sound is really good at all levels and there's an impression of being able to hear further back into the group of performers when listening to music. However, there's a high-pitched buzz that comes out of both speakers, mostly out of the tweeters. It's around 55dB, measured with the meter stuck into the tweeter, below 50dB with the meter at the mouth of the squawker horn, and is inaudible from five feet or so away, unless it's late at night and the place is really, really, quiet. Then I can faintly hear it from across the room. The receiver had no buzzing at all. The buzz doesn't get any louder when the volume is turned up, so the music usually masks it, except in the very softest sections, or between tracks, but it should not be there. There are also provisions on the amp and the receiver to use 12V trigger current to turn on the amp. When I hooked up the 12V cable the turn-on/off worked properly, but the buzzing got louder and deeper (easily audible across the room), so I disconnected it. The amp is connected to the receiver's pre out RCA sockets, but the amp has both RCA and XLR sockets. I'm using its RCA sockets. There's no buzzing when the interconnect is removed from the amp, or when I connect a portable CD player directly to the amp. When I attach an interconnect to the amp (even if it's not connected to anything at the other end) the buzzing starts. I've tried three different interconnects, tried grounding both units together, tried three different wall sockets and two circuits, the same surge bar as the receiver then a different one, then none. When I unhook one interconnect at a time from the amp, the buzzing on that channel stops. The input and speaker sockets on the amp are WBT units and look very heavy duty. The amp comes with ferrite clamp filters for the various cables and the filters are all in place. Max G has the same amp and is very pleased with it. I've had some discussions with him and he was quite helpful, but his amp has no noise issues. Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions. I can't wait to hear my new amp perform the way it's meant to!

Two shops in BC have La Scala IIs listed at $7000CAD per pair (discount price). If you're in or near Toronto, Replay Electronics in Etobicoke has a pair of 1990 La Scalas for $2500CAD plus a new pair of La Scalas (original type, new in box) for $4999CAD. Replay Electronics is at http://www.replayelectronics.com/

Loud arcing noise? You might want to disconnect those speakers before they catch fire. Seriously!

Unlike many people, I find film to be cheaper and less work than digital. All that post-production work, instead of just dropping off your film and picking up well-made prints produced on a $100,000 machine instead of my inkjet printer. The obsolescence factor with digital is terrible, too. My Pentax MZ-S may be a 2001 model, but I'm using 2007 film in it, and I can use 2007 film in my 30-year-old Pentax 6x7, but to be honest, I don't use it that much, since I can get nice 11x14s on 800 film with the 35mm. However, the 6x7 can produce a 320 Mpixel image in 48-bit colour, and 60-80 Mpixel is normal with the 35, although more than 30 Mpixels is more than the printer needs. Pros today grind their teeth over having to buy a new digital camera or cameras every couple of years and then have to give away the now-obsolete 2-year-old digital cameras. Direct comparisons of images can be misleading, though. Digital has less detail, but looks sharper, making for more flattering portraits, with less detail of skin blemishes. Film has less apparent sharpness, but more real detail, making it the medium of choice for landscapes, among other things. Different tools for different jobs. As for archival qualities, though, decades-old negs and slides are often good as new, while sometimes 3-year-old CDs won't open. Philosophically speaking, a neg or a slide is an image, while a digital file is a description of an image. CDs and digicams are handy, but vinyl and film rule!

That 100 watts x 7 = 700 watts is an advertising fiction that many manufacturers feel obligated to perpetuate. In one test that I read (in Audioenz, IIRC), the receiver being tested (rated at 100wpc x 7) put out 132 watts per channel when driving 2 channels, but only 55 watts per channel when driving 5 channels. They didn't try driving 7 channels, but I'm guessing the output would have dropped to 45wpc or so. The limiting factor may have been the power supply, since it seemed to keep adding up to less than 300 watts total, however many channels were driven. When listening to the tuner (or any source, but I usually just listen to the radio in 7 channel stereo), though, 7 channel stereo is louder than 2 channel stereo, so the extra channels aren't going to waste. The test was of the Yamaha RX-V750, and I have one that I'm pretty happy with. Some higher-end receivers actually put out their advertised power when driving all channels, but they do cost quite a bit more than the mid-range units. If you're using Klipsch speakers, you don't need a great deal of power, unless of course you have a really big room and like to listen to music at really high volume. 100wpc is certainly not too much in most cases, though. If you get a really powerful amp, that doesn't mean you have to turn it all the way up. Some high-power amps sound great at low volume and the extra power can make the music sound more life-like on musical peaks.

Lucky you! Lots of people rave about yard sales, but I'm never up that early...

I've also got CT125s, in my La Scalas, and I'm really happy with them. The output is down just a little bit compared to the K-77s, but the effect to my ears is that the bass sounds more full. As well, the 2 CT125s match each other much better than the K-77s.

What is that industrial-looking speaker on the left? It almost looks like part of the cabinet. Not a Scala, is it? What's the question, anyway?

It can be tough being an audio rationalist. There are an amazing number of remarkable concepts floating around, between makers of oddball stuff that may or may not work, people that half-understand established concepts and take off in strange directions and of course people that take the dubious concepts and run away with them. When I was involved with motorcycle racing, it didn't matter what tweak you tried, it either went fast or it didn't. If it went fast, you were right, end of story, but audio is a whole different game. Everyone is their own referee, which is the way it should be in your own living room. However, the idea that everyone who disagrees with someone's pet concept is six kinds of idiot is something I can't get used to. As for me, although my ears should be the final arbiter, my meter shows them to have more dips and peaks than my speakers, in the bass region at least. I'm not about to try to micro-EQ the system to suit my ears, so good enough is good enough, and good enough is pretty good.

A hard line is not permitted on this forum. Prepare to defend your opinion, which is likely held only by you and your fellow rationalists. En garde, mon brave!

Right, La Scala is your answer. Get 7 of them if you have room for them! If you don't, check out B-Tech Intl. The BT-77 Pro speaker brackets rotate in all directions and tilt down 0-7 degrees. They'll hold heavy speakers and are available at Future Shop in Canada, perhaps at Circuit City or Best Buy in the US. Their website's at http://www.b-tech-int.com/Con_speakermount.html

I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that Class D amps are analog, although they're described as "switching amplifiers" and at least one manufacturer prints "Digital" on the front of the housing. So which class of amps are actually digital? The ones with DACs and/or ADCs in them?

Amen, bro! I'm listening to jazz on KPLU, the Seattle/Tacoma jazz station. Actually, I listen to it all day, but I'll pop on some Teenage Head shortly, since I'll be seeing them this weekend in Victoria. Teenage Head, a great band from Hamilton! They did songs like Infected and Disgusteen, plus more popular ones like Picture My Face.

Ya, but MAS, I can't do ANYTHING to this room... nothing! If it ain't flowers, candels, fluffly stuff... then I can't touch it. Not even sure she's going to keep her word on allowing me to do "what ever I want" downstairs either (final destination of electonic toys). Now, as far as Helen Reddy's rendition of Danny Boy, I'm not there yet... I'm still stuck in the "O's" with Marie Osmond singing Paper Roses... just can't get it out of my head...[:|] I'm going to TELL you to NOT think about that song anymore (Paper Roses)...of course, in the hopes that by telling you to NOT think about it, you will ultimately be unable to STOP thinking about it! [6] Oh, and my wifes teddy's effects on the bagpipes, congas and uh...... well... never mind! [*-)] So "Paper Roses" is stuck in your head? Here's something to replace it, and it's very helpful to have it running through your mind when dealing with someone aggravating: http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/9336 "Up Butt Coconut"

You might want to think about the Yamaha RX-V series receivers. I don't know how they'd go with the RC52s, but they sound great with Heritage series speakers.

Many years ago, my dad played string bass in a band. According to him, the average listener couldn't even tell if a bass player is playing in tune or not, although he always was. "Bass is bass" to many folks' ears...

mas, you one fast typer!!!

Other than some electronic instruments, are there many typical instruments whose range spans all three drivers? In regards to time delay, does it really matter if the bassist sounds like he's standing a little further back than the guitarist or vocalist? If high notes from a guitar solo seem to jump forward in time (hmm, mini-time-travel effects) as the tweeter comes into play, it might make them really stand out, but now that I think of it, that's yet another type of distortion, albeit a possibly seductive type. When a pianist runs all the way along the keys, does time misalignment become audible as the notes move from one driver to the next?