rjrbass

I once read that the viewing screen should occupy most of your field of vision. In other words, you don't want to see anything when viewing the picture, but the picture; similar to a movie theatre. I agree with the comment that after a few weeks you will say, "I could have gone bigger." I know people that regret not purchasing a larger TV, but I don't know anyone who regrets purchasing too large a TV.

Never settle for less than you want. Take a look at this: http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/ele/517547569.html Best of the holiday season to you. Richard

There is certainly a "thrill of the hunt factor". I found some albums in great condition, Jesus Christ Superstar, George Harrison - The Concert for Bangladesh, George Harrison - All Things Must Pass, all in their original boxes with the original books, all in good to great condition; price - cheap. My best find was at a local used store. I was looking for VHS movies, advertised for $1 when I found a pair of 1993 La Scalas (LS Fin. Blk.), in good condition for $700 + tax. After negotiating, I got the La Scalas for $570 + tax (cash talks). This was only my second or third time visiting this particular store. It just so happened that I was searching Kijiji and E-Bay for La Scalas at the time. I missed an opportunity for stained birch La Scalas on Kijiji due to an e-mail malfunction. I saved hundreds by having my that e-mail crash. Recently, I was looking to replace my bedroom cd player, as it skips. I found a dvd player on bulk day which works fine with cds. I did not test it with dvds. Overall, I consider myself fortunate, and my time invested is enjoyable and the payoff is great!

I agree with Gil and Coytee. You should ground your system, and your entire system go to the same ground point. When using regular RCA cables, the outer braid is the return and also the ground. I recommend using directional RCA cables, where the positive and negative are separate wire conductors, and the braid is the ground. The directionality comes from the fact that the braided ground is only connected at the "source" plug and "floating" or not connected to the plug for the receiving device; example, turntable or CD player is the source and the amplifier is the receiving device. A way to isolate the problem is to find the source of the problem. Disconnect all your inputs and outputs and find the one creating the problem by systamatically adding one at a time, or connecting each one separately. If you have a headphone jack, you could even start by using headphones. I had a similar problem when I added extension cables to my turntable, and directional cables were the answer. I only discovered this after adding chassis ground cabling from my amplifier to the turntable, then to ground. Good luck - Richard

I agree with whatever55; I also use a 220 volt fan on 110 volts. This runs very quiet and IMO provides suffieient air flow.

I need advice on building a bass trap for the corner of my room. I live in an apartment, and my neighbour complains that my music/tv.bass guitar are too loud. I recently purchased a Radio Shack sound meter and found that the sould level was 5-10 db higher in the corners (behind my speakers) than at my listening position. I have a Cornwall sitting on a La Scala in the corners of my living room. I have soundproofed the adjoining wall to my neighbour with a 1" air gap, 3.5 inches of sound insulation, 3/4" of MDF and sealed. This was a great improvement, but now I want to block out more of the corner bass with a trap. How wide do I make the corner bass trap? Do I use the same principal as my false wall, 3/4 MDF over sound insulation, and sealed with caulking, or do I use an open frame covered with cloth, over sound insulation? Will the bass trap reduce the bass that I hear at my sitting position, or just reduce the bass that my neighbour hears? I appreciate youe comments, and thank you to Michael Hurd with the advice on the false wall. - Richard

All four of my kids (aged 29, 27, 24, 22) ask me to turn it down. My oldest is a musician and had a band: he still thinks that I play music too loud. Finally, soon to arrive at The Source in Canada, a decibel meter, then I will know how loud I listen to my system.

Mike, thanks for your comments. I hooked up the Cornwalls to the STAX adaptor, and I am unable to hear any difference on my speakers, but I have not had the opportunity to critically listen. Your comment has put my mind at ease, and rather than listen critically, I am just going to enjoy my system. Thanks again - Richard

Members, I need some advice on hooking up my new headphones and my speakers. I stumbled on a pair of 1975 STAX SR-40 electret headphones with the SRD-4 adaptor, while visiting Kijiji. They sounded great, looked brand new, with no wear on the ear cushions, were 2 miles away and only $45. My neighour (in the apartment building) is a shift worker, which means that there are days that I am unable to enjoy music. The problem is that the adaptor must be connected to the speaker terminals, (not the headphone jack) and the speakers, in turn, connected to the adaptor. There is a speaker/headphone switch on the front of the adaptor. Will I incure any loss in sound quality by having my Cornwalls connected to the adaptor. I only have A and B speaker posts on my amplifier, and my LaScalas are connected to the B speakers. By the way, these are extremely comfortable, very lightweight due to the electret technology, with a rich accurate sound. Thanks, in advance for your advice, Richard

Great news! Here's to a speedy recovery. Isn't it great that God gave us spare parts?

Great news that you found them in Canada as there is no border, so no taxes The finish looks great! Remember to bring something, styrofoam or cardboard, to line your cargo area so that you don't hurt them. I used styrofoam as it prevented the speakers from sliding as they might on cardboard. They seemed to sink in the styrofoam, just a little, and stayed in one place for the road trip. I still remember driving to the USA to get my first Cornwalls. I walked in the persons house saw them and knew that I had to have them, it was love at first sight. We listened to some music from a vintage SS Marantz, loaded them into my van and returned home by about 3:30 A.M. I hated to leave them in the van overnight but need help to unload. Have a great road trip, and please report back.

Very nice!

You said that the speakers were a 5 hour drive; are they located in Canada or the USA? Klipsch Heritage speakers are scarce in Canada, hence they sell for more than in the USA, but sometimes if you wait, you can get a deal. I agree that the price is on the high side, especially for the current selling prices, as Cornwalls seem to be selling for a lower price in 2007, compared to 2006, when I purchased mine. I paid $800 US for a very pristine pair of 1978 WO Cornwalls. I was able to drive to the USA to pick them up, but had to pay GST & PST taxes (15%) when I brought them back into Canada. If you are purchasing in the USA, the exchange rate is good, but remember the additional tax. Later in 2006 I found a pair of La Scalas in Toronto for $1,500, but missed the opportunity to purchase them, then as luck would have it found 1993 FIN. BLK. La Scalas in a local second hand shop for only $570 + GST & PST; a real steal. My advie is to follow your heart, it's only money, it has no personality or feeling, but the speakers are full of personality and create a tremendous feeling!

"Pat on the Island" said that the phase that we go through, (loud music and roller coasters) could last for decades. Well mine did last for decades and now I wear two hearing aids. If young people do not think that wearing ear plugs, or protecting their hearing is cool, how cool do they think hearing aids are? It is too bad that many young people do not plan for the future. The car that they are driving will not be around when they are older, but some people take better care of their car then their health; I know that I did. I have thought of purchasing a db meter, but I am trying to wean off the toys. Now I see that a db meter is not another toy, but valuable for one's health. I will be purchasing a db meter in the near future. Thanks for helping me justify the purchase, and protect what I have left of my hearing. The bottom line is that I will retire within three years. This is when I can really focus on my interests, one of which is listening to music. I have lost enough hearing (about 60 db at 5,000 Hz) I don't want to lose any more.

I agree that the "focus area" of the speakers makes a difference to the sound. I used a penlight Maglight flashlight to focus my speakers; less chance of retina damage than a laser pen, and everyone has a flashlight. The setup barely took minutes.

At my first listening, I preferred the Cornwalls, as the seller had both for me to compare; I purchased the Cornwalls. Soon after, I had another opportunity to purchase La Scalas, at a price which I could not refuse. Rock and Roll sounds best on the Cornwalls, but voices and acoustic guitars sound better on the La Scalas. My amplifier has an A/B speaker switch which allows me to use and love each pair individually. If I could only have one pair it would be Cornwalls, however, I have not heard La Scalas with a subwoofer; that may be a marriage which would never end up in divorce.

I noticed the same symptoms with my Thorens TD160, that some of you have experienced, lack of a ground wire and a noticable hum. I tried installing a ground wire from the metal chassis to ground, but that did nothing, so it was removed. Next I purchased directional audio cables and the hum vanished. I did not use expensive cables, just $10 from a discount electronics store. Standard TT cables are a signal wire shielded with the neutral/ground. Directional cables have a signal wire and a neutral wire, shielded by a ground, and this ground is internally tied to the neutral at the source only; open ended/floating at the destination, hence they are directional. Hope that this helps you, as it allowed me to enjoy my Thorens turntable. Richard

Of course the Heresy IIIs will sound great with solid state. I am using a Marantz integrated amplifier for my Cornwalls and La Scalas, and they sound fantastic. Would they sound better with tube amplification...yes, but not everyone is ready to take the big step.

Thank you for sharing your experience; it put a smile on my face. I totally understand when things in life just work out very well, and you must express it. Enjoy that awsome sound from your cartridge, TT and La Scalas; you deserve it.

Steve, I hope that you make a speedy recovery. I have similular hearing loss, down 60 db in the 5,000 Hz range. I am using a similar hearing aid, the Aspect by Starkey. I still get to hear my Cornwall bass with this type of hearing aid, but my preference is to remove them at home, and use an equilizer to boost the 5,000 Hz frequencies on my system. I had the same experiences as you when I first heard how noisy the world is. In some restaurants I take them off, as I don't want to hear everyone's conversation, at the same time. Overall, I can finally hear converstaions without straining, asking people to repeat or cupping my ear and studying their lips. I can finally relax and hear a converstion at the same time. Please let me/us know how your new "EPOQ" units work, as I may be looking into upgrading to a more sophisticated model in the near future. Do you units have a volume control? (my units do not) How do you units work on the telephone? My units are poor on the telephone and terrible on the cell phone. This is unfortunate, as I spend > 60 hours per month on the telephone for business. I thought that by having two units I would be able to detect where sounds are originating, but it does not work well. Thanks, Richard .

I agree, in fact I notice that the sound is not as precise if I operate both pair of Klipsch simultaneously. Since each speaker has its own voice signature, I use one pair at a time, with the preferred pair for each CD.

I don't think that there is such a thing as "too many speakers in a small room". I like your idea of having the speakers on the short wall. I don't know what that will do for the Khorns, but overall I believe that it works best. My room is about 22 X 12. I stack my Cornwalls on the La Scalas in each corner of the short wall, then sit 12 feet from the face of the La Scalas. This is my sweet spot.

I also agree that moving the turntable should eliminate your problem. I had the exact same symptoms; only at higher volume or with strong bass. Moving my turntable eliminated the problem, however the move required extensions be added to the turntable cables. The extensions added hum. I replaced the extensions with good quality, directional cables and the hum was eliminated. Directional cables generally have a shield which is attached to the negative or common wire, only at the source of the transmission. This shield is not connected at the delivery end of the cable, in this case in the amplifier or preamplifier end. Great for eliminating stray emf or flux from having signal lines in close proximity to AC power lines. Don't worry about not having a ground in your home electrical system, as most older equipment does not use it. If you do need a ground, as I did when installing a computer in an older home, I just ran a heavy copper wire from the main water pipe to the electrical outlet...no problems.

If your receiver has a preamplifier outputs you could use them to feed your Carver power amplifier input section. The net effect is that you will have the maximum of the Carver amp. Like Michael said, you cannot combine the power outputs.

Interesting thought, as my 93 La Scalas are older than yours. Did you replace all of the caps, and what brand did you use? I used MusiCap and DynamiCap in my Cornwalls, but that was only a total of 4 caps, so it was within my budget - great results! There are more capacitors in the AL3 network, and I do not want to use inferior caps, but the cost for MusiCap or DynamiCap is excessive. Where can I cut corners? Richard