russ69

A MAJOR award from Italy, no doubt about it. Thanx, Russ

I have a little Jolida, better than most lower priced SS amps but not as good as my Quicksilver mini-monos. The Jolida is a good place to start but I'd try a EL-34 integrated as bliss53 recommended if the price is not too much. Thanx, Russ

Connmar, Khorns deserve a good amp, how much is your budget? Thanx, Russ

When I was a kid (some 45 years ago) our cat would walk back into the baffle of my dad's hi-fi speaker. It would curl up and have a nice nap just below the back side of the coaxial driver. If we couldn't find the cat we would turn on the music and slowly increase the volume until the cat came shooting out! Thanx, Russ

Try HSU Research, they have an excellent website and I think all the subs have speaker inputs. Don't let the low price fool you these are very good subs. Thanx, Russ

I hate to even say this but: you cannot listen to a schematic! There is only one test for HI-FI equipment, listening. Some cheap *** Chinese gear can sound excellent and some expensive gear can sound awful. I don't know how we made it through the 70's.......... some of that stuff was nasty. Let your ears be your guide. Flame away, thanx.

The amp may have better specs at higher settings but you don't have much control over that because volume levels need to be in the range you need, not what works best for the amp. Loudspeakers on the other hand need a certain amount of volume to sound right. I call this the point when they become "linear". Like Coytee said, some need a little juice. Every speaker is different but most sound best when they are set to a nice comfortable volume level. The amps don't seem to be that particular, they run from very low settings to clipping with a fairly linear sound. Thanx, Russ

I'm not sure what the ipod puts out but it may not be enough voltage (maybe someone will know), same thing for your phono cartridge. Borrow a CD player, even a portable, if that doesn't get you there........... you need a BIG FRICKEN AMP! A 110 watt Sony receiver is not all that stout. Also please protect your hearing, if you are up past 12 o'clock you are driving too hard unless you have a serious mismatch (like a low powered source and an amp that needs a lot of input voltage). Try the CD player and report back. Thanx, Russ

Something is wrong................. First, anybody that cranks the volume past 12 o'clock (in most cases), needs more amp and/or more loudspeakers. If you want real punch, you'll need separates and a couple hundred watts per side. Somebody can do the math but a CF-3 with 100 watts is like a Blose 901 with 1000 watts. I'm thinking you might need some HSU mid-bass woofers to kick it up a notch.............maybe. Thanx, Russ

"The Well" is also very good. Always in the top of my heavy rotation rack. Thanx, Russ

You are in luck, low priced modern tube units sound pretty good. Can you give us an idea of budget? Lots of guys will recommend vintage tube equipment but I'd get something newer for your first step into tubes. Speaker choices in the Klipsch family is up to your budget but they all go well with tubes. Thanx, Russ

Your TV is small ! Panasonic makes a 150 inch now. Thanx, Russ

My brother has the big JC-1 Parasound mono-blocks, very impressive. Real gut busters but they sound wonderful. I haven't heard the model you are interested in but generally Parasound stuff sounds way better than it's price suggests. My brother bought B stock items from Audio Advisor and they were without a flaw, you might try them. Thnax, Russ

An interesting bit of history: The Days of Future Past album was intended to use stereo recording and shows it's benefits. I understand that the BBC had some extra money to use for the promotion of stereo recording. They tried a lot of experimental things including using the rock band "The Moody Blues" and suggested using some classical musicians as well. Justin Hayward/John Lodge, quickly wrote and added all the extra elements. The album was a flop when released and was only played on a few underground FM stations, a few years later it got good play on mass radio stations and that's when most people became aware of the Moody Blues. Thanx, Russ

I'm sorry to say that Jolida in Maryland has poor service. Call Vacuum Tube Valley for help. I don't have any experience with them other than I purchased my Jolida from them but they might be able to help. www.vacuumtube.com Thanx, Russ

I bought my dad a pair of Moth Audio with a single driver. Very nice for most of the bandwidth but they do have some short comings. The very top end is rolled off and bass is limited. I liked them but they sound best on simple music. I don't own any heritage but a horn tweeter and squawker have a different, more forward sound. The single drivers do what they do well but it's not the full band. Thanx, Russ

Half meter will make it but with no room to spare, 1 meter is plenty long. Thanx, Russ

I have a pair of Mini-monos and RF-25's. The amps are very sweet, with great mid range sound (with EL-34 Tesla-recommended by the mfg). They are a good match for a SS pre-amp (that's what I'm running now in my second system) but are even sweeter with a tube pre. I think you have a good match with RF-7's and horn monos, I'm sure any good pre-amp will work. I've used the minis with a Cary SLP and some might say it's too much but I thought it just right for pure tube magic. It loves female vocals, rock and big bands. Thanx, Russ

It's NOT an Infinity Black Widow but it's similar. It almost looks homemade, or very low production. Thanx, Russ

I'm all tube, all the way. I have 4 complete tube based systems. I can't even imagine going back to SS but if I did it would be a tube pre with SS amps. Horns without tubes is an unholy position! Thanx, Russ

Used Quicksilver horn-monos or mini-monos would be near your price range and are very fine amps. Thanx, Russ

Fenderbender, I AM an engineer but I use my ears as the sole criteria for sound system evaluation. Measurements are fine and useful but I'm not even sure we are measuring the right parameters for the finer details in home audio. If we were, I would have tossed my tube amps out the window years ago! I had trouble with "wires" having a sonic effect also, but experience has shown otherwise. On the technical side, capacitance and amp performance are related and capacitance is frequency dependant, so it's difficult to say cables have the same capacitance, because that is only true at certain frequencies but not across the full band. I'm getting out of my area now (I'm a mechanical engineer in a Electromagnetics Lab) so I'll stop before I embarrass myself. Thanx, Russ

Jim, I agree, synergy first. Thanx, Russ P.S. Thinking further, I don't think the Cornwalls, Mac 2105 and SP3 is much of a mis-match. I can guess it might be a tad dry unless the SP3 is warmed up a little. You could do that at the source, change the pre, or try a cable. Audio Advisor will take the cable back if you don't like it, so it's something you could try and just loose 7 bucks shipping if it doesn't work. Just a thought.

Fenderbender, Cables are significant, that's why they make them. On my systems, I can go from hyper detailed and dry (using a Kimber KAG or Silver Streak), to warm and smoother (Cardis 300). The only change being one interconnect cable. Cigarbum said his system was harsh and a cable change is a cheap $150 fix for that (assuming he's using mass consumer type cabling now). I don't have any 3000 dollar cables but I keep a good selection of value priced cables on hand to help "tune-up" any system change. I don't care about the group that says cables don't make any difference, they just don't have any experience using them. You don't need golden ears, the example above is a night and day difference. Thanx, Russ

Try a Cardis 300 interconnect from your pre-amp to your amp. That will warm it up and kill the harshness. Thanx, Russ