paully

If it is possible to put into words. I keep coming back to something just not being right with my system. Horns (and only horns, not strings) sound distorted. Voices in certain registers sound buzzy, but not much else. Actually they sound absolutely wonderful except for the ocassonal buzziness and the buzziness is repeatable at the same point on the track. I can hear the same sort of thing on other speakers but not nearly as pronounced and I don't remember Mark's Klipschorns (or any other Klipsch) having that problem. I have used multiple amps, preamps, and sources to no avail. It could be my ears for all I know and I live in an area without other audiophiles so I can't get a second opinion. Argh!

Personally I would second the Technics (but I wouldn't trust whatever needle is on it). That is an option I am thinking about myself.

I had a Stromberg ASR 433 if memory serves. My Dynaco was better (in my very humble opinion). But I did sell it to Japan when I sold it because they want the iron. It would be fun to pull it out and upgrade some of the parts just to see what you ended up with. I would be willing to bet with spec and upgraded parts it could sound pretty decent. Replace that can cap first thing!

If it is both it presents a bit of a problem in that regard though I could get in there and see if everything is tight. Just our of curiousity, how much do replacement drivers cost and where can I get one to mess around with? I am, however, enjoying your crossovers. They are wonderful. This probelm predates installing them.

I probably wasn't that specific because I am having a hell of a time pinpointing what exactly it is that is driving me nuts. There is an indestinct buzzing that comes through on male vocals especially but also on other things. It seems to be in the lower male voice frequency. I can't tell exactly which speaker it is, I think it is both which presents its own connundrum. Part of the reason I wanted to see if there was an actual volt meter test or something I could do to start narrowing things down. What I need is someone who actually knows what the ... he is doing to sit next to me and listen and see if it is me and my ears, the speakers, or something else. It seems to me that it is both speakers and it is in the midrange.

Is there a way to test a horn and see if it is "blown". There is this persistent buzzing sound I hear (could be me...). It is in the same place on the recordings so it is quite possible that the Klipsch is reproducing bad recordings more faithfully than I would like it to. Anyway, I was curious if there is a way to physically test a horn driver to see if it is still good.

Well, I can always go back if you are right.

I have been pretty darn happy with my 300B, my curiosity is just getting the best of me and I want to hear what all the raving about 2a3 is.

I am running a pair of 300B Paramounts from Bottlehead. The changeover to 2a3 isn't exactly a cake walk but it isn't all that tough either. Move some wires around, take out a capacitor, etc... My gut instinct is that I am better off with the 300B but I just can't help myself wondering what a good 2a3 in this amp will sound like. I had a Dynaco ST-70 that was heavily, heavily modified. I sold it to pay for some other stuff. Some days I do miss it rather dearly.

Well, I picked up a pair of 2a3 anyway. It seems like the only way to find out for sure is to find out for sure.

Beautiful work.

My amplifier has the option of being converted into a 2a3 amp. Running 300B now. The 8 watts seems quite ample. I can convert it but before I do I was wondering if people thought that the Chorus II would be fine with 2a3. It is 101db 1watt/1 meter efficient so I seem good there, its impedance curve seems somewhat severe from what I have read. Was wondering if anyone had any experience here or thoughts. I can always go back but if it isn’t going to work I would rather roll some 300B’s than spend the money on new 2a3’s. Thanks!

Got mine for $550 off of ebay and they were in pretty decent condition. I would rather buy a decent pair for that and have money left over for the Crites crossover (or whatever flavor you choose) than buy a mint pair.

I was grappling with a threefold problem, which is what made it a nightmare. Old caps in the crossover, tubes that had gone noisy but I didn't realize it, and some quesitonable recordings. We changed out the crossovers - that made an impact. Everything was groovy and then some new tubes I had put in got noisy - that took a while to figure out. Put in some new tubes and audio nirvana is back. I listened to the recordings on my friend's speakers and they make the same noise but to a lesser extent. With a change in the crossovers, like I said, the problem really seems to have been alleviated to the extent that the problem is on the recordings. I don't think the Klipsch are the problem anymore though the old crossovers did seem to be contributing. The more I listen to these crossovers the more I realize they are having a massive impact. As I said, money well spent. Very well spent. Wife loves them too.

I think he had mine built and to my door within 3 days or something. It was astounding.

There isn't any more bass than before but it doesn't seem as bloated and tubby. I am not as good as I would like to be as describing sound as I would like to be and my audio memory (as well as my memory for everything else) isn't that great. But so far I am sitting and listening, that is a good sign. What I find when I make a mod that I don't like is that it takes me weeks to figure it out and I figure it out when I realize I am no longer listening to music. I have been listeing to the speakers non-stop except for going to sleep last night, so it would seem that I like them. There is no doubt, even at this early stage, that they are better than what was in there and Bob's craftmenship and build quality is unquestionable.

I am really starting to wonder if I haven't put such a good system together that some of my poorly recorded material is being shown for what it is. It is usually in male voices at a certain frequency and it always is exactly the same at the same place.

I think it was money well spent. I didn't bother to dampen the midrange horn from my earlier post, I figured the smart thing to do is one mod at a time. Plus when I got in there and saw the wings on the horn I realized dampening the horn compared to the old round horns was not going to be easy, and probably pointless. The crossover actually seemed to help alleviate the buzzing a bit that was bothering me. Parts quality in his crossover compared to the old is obvious from the picture. Plus one of the wires literally fell of the old crossover when I removed it, the person who rewired itwith new wire a while back hadn't done that great of a soldering job. Any way, thanks Bob!

My buddy is sitting here listening to the speakers with my and can't hear what is bothering me, I am not even sure it is real to be honest.

Not sure if dampening a tactrix (sp?) horn is worth even messing with though I feel like I keep hearing some odd sounds coming from the midrange horn that sound vibration based. Thoughts?

Keep the DVD player and buy and Ack! Dac and get a decent cable to hook up between the two. Search for a used 1.x as the 2.0 are still pretty expensive. I have been using mine for several years now and think it is wonderful.

No kidding, my thoughts exactly! As I reading I was thinking that a woman who will date you, see how much your are into audio, then move in and start making demands even though she saw all of it upfront to begin with is someone to be avoided. And a woman who is willing to break-up over a pair of speakers a person already has... Say no more. Sounds to me like his speakers allowed him to dodge a bullet. They sound good and help you make a better match.

When I was configuring my Paramounts I was advised to go with the 4 ohm tap to match up better with the Chorus II's lowest impedance dip. Seemed like the right thing to do. I haven't liked my S.E.X. amps with the Chorus speakers. Your post caused me to I wonder if the dislike had more to do with the fact I had them set for 8 ohm and less to do with the 2 watts (as volume was plenty loud). Huh...

You can do a bottlehead Parmour and FP III for a bit more and rest assured that you are getting some high quality amps with some upgrade possibilities for later. Have to be a kit builder though. Or, if you have one source and don't need a preamp for switching, you could try two watts with their single ended experimenters kit for well under $500. Just some thoughts. Post on their forum and see if anyone is nearby so you can try them out and see what you think first.

The more I listen the more I like my Bottlehead Paramount amps (300B). They really are just beautiful. The problems I was having with bommy bass don't seem to be the amp or the speakers as I changed rooms and the problem has gone down a great deal. It just keeps getting better. I am looking forward to putting in Bob Crites' crossover, hopefully that will make things that much better.