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Max2

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Everything posted by Max2

  1. The cabinet condition would be the biggest concern on my part. Next make sure all the drivers works like everyone here has mentioned. You are obviously into good sound since you are considering a LaScala purchase. In this case, just go ahead and figure on replacing or rebuilding the X-overs.
  2. Geez. These things would bring well over 3K if they weren't dang near in Newfoundland
  3. great idea, however for now, i'm just trying to see the easiest/cheapest way to adjust the mids. i think if this idea works it will cure 90% of what i dont like about the k-horns. the ak-4's are probably pretty expensive. my audio budget is pretty tight after buying the k-horns & with my other hobbies that will pick back up with the nicer weather. i usually go into audio mode during the winter. i'm in central iowa, dont think there are too many members here in that area, or at least not with k-horns. I have a set of '89 AK-2's I just removed from my horns in-case you don't want to spend money on the 3's you have. Dean can confirm, but I believe the only difference is the mids are 2-3db lower with the AK-2's than the AK-3's. Of course I will send the bass caps needed with them as well. I will swap you straight across, the 2's for the 3's. Can post pics if needed. If you're not interested, Im going to list them in the Garage section. I failed to mention that I really don't need the AK-3's, but my AK-2's are just sitting in boxes now thanks to Dean. Before you actually spend money on the 3's, PM Dean. Full adjustability of the mid is very nice in tailor fitting your sound. This design is more on clarity than any of the AK series and you can certainly hear the difference. Oh, and they look as good as they sound even though I didn't go with ubermoney components.
  4. I see all of this to be a very, very narrow market. Ask yourself how many people that you know are as passionate about Audio as you are. Then take away the people and friends you have met here or some sort of other audio gathering. I have three friends that I have known since High School (over 2.5 decades ago) that have decent Klipsch speakers and modest Electronics like myself. And yes, their ownership was influenced by my old setups growing up, so this even negates the probability of them looking for better audio having not being influenced by me. Would they consider to swap out a X-over and try a new one on their own...no. Would they consider taking time to update or re-wiring and old speaker searching for that last little bit thats probably not there....no. Do they ever complain about the quality of a 256K download..no. I guess Im the only freak in our small circle. Going further than that, a big portion of the people here balk at a $30 DVDA, Bluray audio or a $20 SACD. Now, everyone knows we can't afford to always buy lossless and the offering is not that great anyway. In time, I hope a lossless download is the norm, and I sure hope it gets here sooner than later. I applaud this push by Young as it will takes steps like this to get us there.
  5. Max2

    One More Day

    I bet they don't show it live. A bunch of constructed cinematics.
  6. My '89 pair have both plywood and MDF inside the doghouse
  7. About time we saw a Harley in the mix. Very nice Rick!
  8. Yes he did. My ex. wife and I were there as PWK's and Valerie's guest. Everything he wrote about in his papers and Dope From Hope he actually did, including swithching from Tubes to SS amps (heard those too). This is why a LaScala with a Tuba Horn sub is the ideal choice. Better bass, and the ability to put the speakers where you need them, although the Khorn takes up less floor space. The Cornwall's "big bass" is a peak in the 80-90 Hz. range. The superiority of horn bass has nothing to do with number crunching. When set up right, it makes all direct radiator bass, including Cornwalls, sound mushy instead of tight, even though you can use the same woofer, your ears will tell you as soon as you put a Cornwall next to a Khorn, or better yet, a Jubilee bass bin (twin motors, more cone area/less cone motion. IOW, more powerful). When you consider that "normal" cone motion is reduced to about 1 mm (39/1,000th of an inch), with the same drive voltage, guess which one responds FASTER for the shorter distance on the same frequency? It's pretty intuitive and the main reason why bass horns have superior TRANSIENT response and lower distortion because of the lower power/cone motion required to achieve it. That's very cool Claude. It must have been something to share quality time with PWK and his family. My "number cruncher" comment was more less tongue in cheek and I figured a quick "Horn loaded" lesson was coming from someone I'm a big fan of the Cornwalls, but my old Belles lured me over to the big horns which I quickly found out I couldn't do without. I tried to replace them with KLF-30's to step up the bass from the Belles about 15 years ago or so and realized they didn't bring what was important to my ears, which is that big, clean, mid horn sound. I would love to have a Horn loaded sub, but its not in my financial lineup at the time. Speaking of Horn loaded subs, do you know the retail price for Klipschs massive new Horn loaded sub with the drone? One more thing figuratively speaking. Lets say in a totally optimized listening room you have one pair of normal Klipschorns and another pair of K's with either false walls or their backs enclosed. Do you think you could get better imaging and soundstage with a slightly less angle on the enclosed or false wall versions as opposed to the normal pair that had to be at 45 degrees tucked in the corners?
  9. I can see why you would pull them out of the corners. Nice furnishings by the way. What follows is a bit heretical: I'd recommend building false corners for just the bass bin height of the Khorns, or perhaps enclosing the bass bins like the 60th anniversary edition's bass bin. Then you can pull the Khorns out of the corners even more to get away from the sloping ceiling and aim the speakers at your listening position without the accompanying dramatic drop off of LF response below ~70 Hz and uneven bass bin mouths that raise Cain with midbass frequencies around 200-300 Hz. The reason why I'd recommend this is that the Khorn--and all the Heritage-line loudspeakers--use midrange horns (K400, K401, etc.) of the collapsing polar design that spills a lot of energy below 2 KHz down to their crossover frequency with their bass bins, putting this energy on the floor and ceiling, which unbalances the timbre and imaging of the speaker array if this energy is not absorbed, diffused, or delayed more than 25-40 ms from the direct sound at your listening position. If you have a non-flat ceiling over the Khorn, this will direct this spilled energy more toward the listener as early reflected energy, thus spoiling your imaging performance and altering the timbre of the speakers. If you can move the speakers toward each other a foot or two on each side, this will reduce the amount of early reflected energy coming to your couch or chair listening spot. I'd also highly recommend placing some acoustic pads on the sloped ceiling right above the Khorns - at least as much as the size of the top hat looking down on it, or a greater area more if your WAF will permit it. You're trying to absorb frequencies from ~450 Hz up to ~6 KHz, and most acoustic fuzz pads will absorb this band very well. This is more about the tension between visual aesthetics and loudspeaker-room acoustic performance. You can try different configurations using things like comforters and blankets pinned to the ceiling temporarily to get an idea of how much might be needed and whether it suits your ears. The room will sound slightly smaller, but the imaging and timbre should improve more dramatically than the loss in ambient surround effects. Your floor is good - covered with carpet which damps the extra collapsing-polar energy from the midrange directed at the floor. YMMV. Chris Thanks for the kind words and the great info. I know I need false corners badly and hang some panels as well. I have also contemplated enclosing the speaks, but to do it right requires a little more hacking than I would want to do and adds way more weight to them from the big slabs of MDF. I am planning a house move in the next year or two, so I'm going to hold off for now for an updated listening room that has decent corners. Having said that, I'm still wondering If I will like the sound with the horns pointed at an honest 45 degrees. I have had the K's at a 45 degree angle in the corners which allow a firm seal on the front wall but about 8 to 10 inches of room for the sides. I really didn't like how the vocals sounded at all. It seemed it put the sweet spot way too close even for my 13 foott listening area. My observation, which is probably fundamentally flawed, but the K's just sound better to me with them pointed more at my listening area.
  10. Toe them out and move your listening spot back to a 12 foot or further position, but you have to point them accurately towards that listening position at what ever distance you choose. (Break out the tape measure) This isn't a fix for a perfect setup by far, but the imaging would be much more important to me than to worry about the bass to drop some. Just to demonstrate once again how different people's priorities can be, imaging would be much less important to me than bass response! To solve the problem of weak bass, I would 1) fit the K-horns tightly into either artificial corners that are slightly out from the wall, or the room corners if they can be made to fit. If artificial corners are used, I'd build them out of studs that are less than 16" O.C., with 3/4 plywood screwed and glued to each side, with the side that shows with a hardwood veneer and stained. 2) Feel free to turn up a bass control, if there is one. 3) Use Audyssey, and possibly Audyssey's Dynamic EQ, unless the music is played so loudly that the DEQ would be flat. Warning: In 1980, my wife and I set about the making of artificial corners, and we thought, "maybe we should make them a little bigger ... " They morphed into an entire room floating within a room. When we moved into our new house in 2004, we skipped the artificial corner step, and went right to building the room, with especially rigid and square corners. The bass was great in both rooms. I think if your K's were at a 45 degree angle in corners in a room that was a mere 13' foot wide, you might think different . False corners would be the best out and I believe PWK actually used some in one of his homes that lacked usable corners . But like you said, different ears and different priorities. The obvious problem is the K's don't have adjustability with placement like a LaScala, Belle or Cornwall and once again, there is give and take with everything out there. It seems there is a stigma that follows each models of the Heritage line. The La Scala needs a sub to be totally complete. The K's need perfect corners and need a 20 foot width wall. The Cornwall's have the big Bass, but lack the big mid that many people miss after getting a taste of the K55 driver and the big 400 or 401 mid..... and on top of that the Cornwalls are beat up from the number crunchers for not having a low distortion horn loaded bass enclosure. Boy, we all have a big burden to carry
  11. I have owned one of these for about 3 years or so now, I also use a gorilla backpack. The Crumpler is my favorite by far, unless I have to take more than three lenses and a flash. You can pack a ton of stuff in these, the material is tough as nails and its sheds water well. The interior is plush enough for a baby to sleep in. http://www.crumpler.com/us/camera-bags-straps/7-million-dollar-home However, they are much cheaper on E-bay and you can still get some of the old school colors from older stock. Note: the old school bags come with a single buckle instead of a two buckle setup for the flap. The old style single buckle is less hassle and the velcro is so strong on the flap you don't have to buckle every time from fear of spilling goods. Here is the one I use. About 14 inches wide, so its not too big or fatiguing on a long day. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Crumpler-Camera-Bag-The-Seven-Million-Dollar-Home-7-Mint-Condition-/360851384169?pt=US_Camera_Cases_Bags&hash=item54046b2769
  12. It sounds like you need a sub unless you go a Cornscala route or a modded Cornwall with a big mid. Your room is narrow enough that the K's are almost pointing at each other. You're going to have to toe them out to get a decent image. The sound is intersecting at a very close distance to your front wall...probably around 6-7 feet due to their closeness, which is twice as close as any should be listened at IMO. Toe them out and move your listening spot back to a 12 foot or further position, but you have to point them accurately towards that listening position at what ever distance you choose. (Break out the tape measure) This isn't a fix for a perfect setup by far, but the imaging would be much more important to me than to worry about the bass to drop some.
  13. Geez, those are still great colors and contrast in the pics! Not an iPhone I bet?
  14. Could you post a picture of your setup, Max2? Sure thing. You just want speaker placement? Left and right walls and as much of the room as you can - including ceiling. I got a few pics in and my camera battery died. I did manage to get one of how far mine are out of the corners. The dove tail ceiling is just a little too low to pull off a corner placement. The room is far from ideal from all the furniture and clutter alone.
  15. You guys may have seen this, but it seems this guy can hear a difference in every cap he tests. http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html
  16. Could you post a picture of your setup, Max2? Sure thing. You just want speaker placement?
  17. no i havent tried pulling them out, everyone insisted they had to be as tight in the corners as possible & sealed with pipe foam. which i did & it did improve the bass, which i like as much basss as possible. so pulling them out may not be thebest idea for my small room. as you said, too close may exagerate the unpleasantness i get at high volumes. dont get me wrong at low to nid volumes the k-horns are very nice, no problems, but i like it LOUD. so with the small room i think i will look into some sound absorbtion panels like was recently suggested. the x-overs are stock ak-3's, mid horn is the 401. the speakers are just approaching 20 years old so i dont think there is anything wrong with them. my fortes are 1989 or 90 series & sound excellent, so im not fullly convinced on the whole 20 years & caps need replaced thing. i just keep the volume levels in check for the small room & will wait for a bigger room with vaulted ceilings etc. Pull them out of the corners and open them up more. Point them directly to the distance of your exact center seating position. Don't worry about the bass. I have mine 10 inches from my back wall and they are toed out quite a bit to suit my 12 foot listening distance. Its going to make a huge difference for you. Heck, I don't even run my sub with music and rarely did when my La Scalas were my front mains. The rolloff at 80hz or lower whether running LS's or K's is way, way over cried about IMO.
  18. I think the Veneer is matched on the fronts for the B's and K's before it is glued. They even did that with the old EV tweeters I was told. They had no way of getting the output consistent when manufacturing, so they were tested and matched at the Klipsch factory.
  19. I don't think there is a clear winner as far as the SS amps go. If there was a reasonably priced amp that stood out among the majority the masses would only choose it. All the names are good you mentioned. For the money you are spending, how about looking at a used 2 channel McIntosh amp? At least you can get your money back on it. The same goes for Tube amps. Have you checked on buying something from the US and having it shipped or did someone already mention that?
  20. How high is your ceiling, if I might ask? Do you have the Khorns along the short wall or the long wall? Anything on the floor or ceiling? How about on top of the Khorns? Sometimes a picture is worth thousands of words. If you haven't seen this before, perhaps some of this might be of some use to you in your audio journeys: Corner Horn Imaging FAQ Chris ceiling is on the low side, just under 8ft because of the acoustic panel drop style it is. well aware this is far from "ideal". mine are on the short wall for now & will stay there due to the layout of the room & the fact that i have a 2nd home theater system down there too. floor is fully carpeted with area rugs on top of that, fully furnished with couch & chairs. nothing on the top of the k-horns. the k-horns were a spur of the moment decision on a local deal i couldnt pass up. they will follow me to my next house & hopefully be in a better room. just to clarify again, my comments arent really about "my" speakers, im refering to what many other people say about theirs, plenty of people feel the mids & highs can have "issues" this wasnt sour grapes or anything along those lines for my personal speakers. harshness aside, i love my k-horns & would be happy to let anyone hear them that likes the same music i listen to, mainly rock & roll, i promise they will leave feeling as if they just saw the band at full live volumes. its all good as far as im concerned. but i wouldnt compare my k-horns to a bookshelf speaker of any price. just not a valid comparison. thanks for the link you provided, very much appreciated & good info there. my audiojjourney is & probably will always be a work in progress. thats part of the fun! Have you tried pulling them out of the corners enough to straighten them up a little? Of course the bass will fall off some, but the imaging should improve a lot. With the drivers roughly 10.5' apart tucked in the corners, your seating would have to be very close and I would guess very beamy and maybe even unpleasant. What X-overs are you running?
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