Islander

HBR = Heresy Birch Raw i.e. unfinished, so the owner could stain or paint them as desired. Could "French polished" mean lacquered?

As I said, the Khorns may be the only speakers, along with Heritage Jubilees, that are sold as matched pairs.

I don't think that having consecutive serial numbers is as important as we sometimes hear. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that only Klipschorns were sold as definite pairs, while for other models, including La Scalas, the shipper would grab two random speakers with no regard to serial numbers when they left the factory.

Renaissance played Toronto in 1977 at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto, and I was lucky enough to see them. It was the first time I'd seen a band with a lead bass player rather than a guitarist. I think it was Jon Lord, and of course Annie Haslam was the lead singer. Great show!

How's Colter doing? Haven't seen him on here for quite a while.

Outdid myself this time, as seen above: a 24-line reply to a 3-word post.

Wow, small world! I used to date a woman who lived in Toronto and Buckhorn. There were some memories! Second, those Klipschorns are magnificent speakers that deserve to be in corners of honour in your home! Surprisingly, since they are meant to fit tightly into the corners of the room, they don't take up as much floor space as you would expect. Sure, some Forum members have pretty high end systems in their shops or garages, but their home systems are better still. Wouldn't you want to be able to hear your Khorns every day, rather just when you get a chance to visit them? If you really like the Heritage sound, there are quite a few other models in the series that are smaller and less expensive, but still have that great classic Klipsch sound, and are much more flexible in terms of room location. The La Scalas are the first step, and use the same drivers as the Khorns, for the same realistic mids and highs, but need a sub or two to match the bass output of the Khorns. Next come the Cornwalls, which can be placed in a corner or along a wall, thus the name. Seriously. Paul Klipsch had a sense of humour. The Fortes (For-tays) are "typical speakers" size, about 12 x 16 x 36" tall, and have a very smooth frequency response, with strong bass, due to their passive bass driver, which assists the woofer. The smallest and least expensive option is the Heresy. It got its name because it was the first Klipsch speaker that was not all horn-loaded. All of those speakers will remind you of your Klipschorns while you're at the cottage, and since it will be much easier to position them as recommended for best sound, you'll be able to hear them at their best. All those alternate Heritage Series speakers are available new or used, in various states of excellence or neglect, so it's a big market out there. Unlike other speakers, the Klipsch Heritage speakers have woofers with doped-paper surrounds, which last indefinitely. This is in contrast to most speakers, which usually have lightweight foam surrounds, which dry up and start to fall apart after only 20 years or so. This means that used Klipsch Heritage speakers are usually a safe buy, and hold their value more than other brands. As a general rule, the newer the speakers are, the better they sound, since the Klipsch engineers are constantly working to upgrade them. For example, the Heresy came in H700 (the first models, in 1957, also the world's first centre speaker), to the Heresy, the Heresy II, the Heresy III, and now the Heresy IV, the latest model. The post-1985 Heresy IIs can be updated to the Heresy III, with the inexpensive factory kit that comes with almost everything in the speaker. Hope this gives you some food for thought.

Is it just me, or do the colours of her suit and the stitching make you think of a baseball, especially on her pants? Also, who is that young lady? I can't make out her name, with the motion blur on the label.

How about digital cameras with silent electronic shutters, like on phones, that have an optional mechanical shutter sound? BTW, in Japan that sound can't be turned off, to hopefully discourage upskirt shooters, or at least let the woman know a picture has been taken.

As Oprah Winfrey once said, "When you get checked into hospital for anything, the first thing you should do is check if there's anyone else on your floor with the same name as you." Almost forgot the rest: "...and if there is, ask to be transferred to another floor." That's probably easier to do if you're Oprah, but worth a try. Tragedies have happened because of mixups around names. I've noticed that nurses now ask your birthday as well as your name. Lesson learned, I hope.

Here in Canada, a "double-double" coffee comes with two cream and two sugars. Maybe we needed the extra energy for the cold nights, before cars and trucks had good heaters. It used to be my go-to drink when driving at night and starting to feel drowsy (maybe the sugar woke me up more than the caffeine), but I haven't ordered a double-double in decades.

Hate to spoil your next mouth-inserted inspection procedure, but Yes, they do use the same scopes for both ends of us, and No, sometimes the cleaning is not done properly... https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/621693#:~:text=Transient bacteremia during and,heart disease were recently released.

Improvements due to increasing speaker wire/cable size usually only become obvious when you go up two sizes, i.e. 18-->14, 16-->12 AWG, and that's with typical speakers with mid-90s sensitivity numbers. With the very high sensitivity that's typical of Heritage Series speakers, the improvements may be less obvious, because less current is flowing most of the time. I'm not an Electrical Engineer, but in both my systems, living room and bedroom, the minimum speaker wire size is 12 AWG.

Have you thought of setting out a dish of sugar water for the yellowjackets? One time on a midday motorbike ride with some friends, we stopped for lunch at a patio restaurant near the roadside, and a single yellowjacket came cruising around. I wet the tip of my first finger in my water glass, spilled a tiny bit of sugar onto my plate and dipped my finger in it. Then I held up my finger and she flew right to it (if they're anything like bees, all the workers are females), landed, and started drinking the resulting sugar water on my fingertip. I wasn't nervous at all. She was happy with that drinkable sugar and stayed away from our food, so it seems to me that a saucer or a jar lid with a very very thin level of water (literally knee deep or less, so they can land, walk around and drink, and then fly away when they've had enough), with some sugar added could keep the critters happy and away from your food. And they might tell their friends that the big Two-Legs are okay. I get along with a few harmless insects. At a barbecue dinner in my dad's back yard years ago, a praying mantis found its way onto the table near me. Since they're carnivorous, I tore off a tiny piece of meat and handed it to the mantis, or maybe I just set it down in front of it, I don't quite remember. I wasn't a kid, I was around 40 at the time. Anyway, it was amusing, to me at least, to see the mantis pick up the speck of meat and start eating it. I picked a piece with no sauce on it, to keep things simple. That's about my limit for cooperating with insects, but it provides some tiny entertainment, and it's cool to do a critter a favour.

What, no dancing nurses? That's why it's important to always pay for the deluxe health coverage! Hope you feel much better soon.

This year a threshold was crossed. In more than 20 years of living on Vancouver Island, wildfires have always been very small in size and quickly put out. This year was the first time I've heard the words "out of control" in regard to fires on the Island. Even so, they're not very widespread, which is something.

Municipal politics always seem to be the most corrupt, in most areas.

I think ALCO was bought by Montreal; Locomotive Works/MLW, or was it the other way around? Yes, I have heard of them, but most of those locos were assigned to Montreal, while nearly all the locos in the Toronto area were GM-EMD units. 300 of them were assigned to MacMillan Yard in Concord, just north of Toronto, where I usually worked I only ever saw one ALCO unit. It was just passing through, so we gave it a trip inspection and sent it on its way. The ALCOs were all 4-strokes, while the GMs were overhead cam 2-strokes, which I thought was pretty cool. However, according to a buddy who still works there, they didn't meet the latest Level 5 pollution regs, so most CN locos now are made by General Electric. I've never seen one of those, but he tells me they have electronic fuel injectors, which probably improves fuel economy and exhaust emissions.

Things are getting dramatic in southeastern BC as well. Kelowna, not far north of the Washington State border, faces Lake Okanagan, a long narrow lake that looks to be roughly a kilometre (1/2-3/4 mile) across. On the far side is a line of hills. Over a period of a day, the fire rose over the hills, then overnight it crossed the lake. The heat generated by the very dry trees causes such updrafts that hot embers were able to travel across the lake and start fires on the Kelowna side, which spread rapidly. Kelowna is now being evacuated. Not far away, a flame front advanced 20 kilometres/12 miles in 12 hours. Scary stuff!

All 20,000 residents of Yellowknife are being evacuated, and many are flying out, to Vancouver and other cities. WestJet and Air Canada have added flights and even lowered their fares. They promised to be operating for 24 hours a day until everyone is evacuated. There are over 400 fires in BC alone at the moment, and the coming cold wave promises high winds and dry lightning, which ignites most of the fires. It's the worst fire season ever, and it's got another month or more before the autumn rains put an end to it.

Maybe I'll start with a short story or a novella. A Boy And His Dog was just a novella, but a decent movie was made from it.

Welcome to the Forum, Tony! The issue with old threads is that some are started by a person who never posts again, but sometimes the responses keep coming for literally years after the poster has disappeared. The Forum is meant to be interactive, but that example isn't. However, if you find anything useful in the archives, be my guest. Really. Who knows what you'll find? I've been here since 2006, and I learn a lot every month, never mind every year. I thought I knew a lot at the start, but man, was I wrong. Happy listening!

Many decades ago, I noticed that the sound at a big concert was actually distorting in my ears as I sat in front of the speakers. It was too much, so I tore a dollar bill in two and stuck a half in each ear for relief. It was worth it to me. A few years later, I discovered foam earplugs, and started wearing them at most concerts and every time I rode my bike, because of the wind noise, even with the quietest helmet. As well, I worked in heavy industry, fixing locomotives and steam turbines, so the earmuffs were always on. My hearing still allows me to hear very faint noises, but it often sounds like people are mumbling and I sometimes have to ask them to repeat themselves. Supposedly, this is typical as we get older, and I am. Older. However, with the high definition of my stereo, lyrics sound more clear now than they ever did on the old systems in the car and things like that. I can't really complain. Oh yeah, the young 'uns. I was at a Buzzcocks concert 10 or 15 years ago, and met the son of a buddy of mine. I offered him a spare pair of new foam earplugs, but he refused them, telling me it was okay, his ears were used to loud sounds. I was tempted to tell him that was like having your eyes get used to bright light by staring at the sun, but I said nothing. He'll eventually learn. Or not.

Well, if they follow the typical Heritage size of being less than 24" or so in depth, in order to fit behind movie screens, nobody will have the excuse that "I'd buy one, but it wouldn't fit through the door!"

As it happens, I saw that very LP in the vinyl section at London Drugs today. That's the drugstore that sells Sony and Dual turntables and has a small demo room featuring mostly Klipsch Reference Series speakers. Hopefully, Sixto's children will see a fair share of the profits earned by his record sales. Also, I second the recommendation for Searching For Sugar Man. It's the very interesting story about how a fan wondered what had happened to Sixto Rodriguez and followed every clue he could find, in order to learn what had happened to the performer who was a superstar in South Africa, but never learned about it and seemed to have disappeared. It's a heartwarming story.