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Tom: I was very tempted to order the 4648 when you recommended them back in December, but wasn't able to for several reasons. Now that the 4648's are gone, and only the 4638's are left (assuming they haven't sold out yet), I'm still thinking about these. Aside from being 4 ohm, do you know if the 4638's are comparable to the 4648's?

It sounds like the humming problem people are having is from a ground loop. This is not a problem with the speaker. Speakers don't hum.

Thanks MacKlipsch!! Nice work. I actually did use my Belle temporarily as a TV stand during the Superbowl. My friend's 31" TV was placed on top, and it held it no problem. It's a fairly heavy TV. I even got on top of the Belle and it seems to be able to hld the weight with no problem. These things are built pretty strong as you know. Still, if I do end up sitting a TV on there long term, the Belle might not need it, but I would probably still brace it as you did for my own peace of mind. Thanks again for the photo!! By the way, nice artwork on the mid driver...

You can also try: www.audioshopper.com

If you want my opinion, I say Klipsch hands down. However, you may not agree with my opinion. Go out and listen to each of them and let your ears decide. Don't let the salesman steer you in any direction.

HornEd: Just a suggestion -- since you are having the room built, you might want to make sure that the other two room corners are K-horn compatible. I know you only have two K-horns now, but you never know when that great opportunity may come along to add onother pair, and if it does, you'll be glad you were prepared. By the way, my '87 Khorns are also wired with Monster Cable. I think the Khorns have been that way for a while, Klipsch just didn't start advertising it (and offering it in their lower models) until recently.

Since you are looking to CLEAN your speakers first, you might want to try Murphy's Oil Soap. It is specifically for cleaning wood. I have used it and it seemed to work fine (although my stuff wasn't really dirty). I don't know anything about the Watco stuff (i.e. if it cleans or is just a wood oil), but you can also use that stuff or the Formby's Lemon Oil (which I also use) after you clean it first.

Seems like an excellent job of putting a system together. But what matters most is what YOU think of it. You think it's perfect, so it is.

Since the Cornwalls are no longer made, the grills are not available, but the grill cloth should be. If you are looking to make a permanent change, you can go that route by changing the grill cloth.

Funny, why does that website have a big photo of a Klipschorn on the front page?? ...oh, so that's a Carlron, eh? Very innovating...

Hello Lara, Are you sure they are Maple? If you're not sure, you can check by reading the serial number label in the back. There should be a section that describes the type. It should say something like: "KB-XX", where the XX is the code for the finish. For example, "WO" means walnut oiled. I don't mean to bust your bubble, but you might have some difficulty getting your asking price. Used audio equipment typically sells for a fraction of it's new price (that's the reason people buy used). Of course that can increase based on condition, rarity, finish, special edition, signed by PWK, etc. But then again you might run into that one person who has been looking for exactly what you have to sell and is willing to pay your price. Just wanted to give you a little bit of info on typical used prices -- I'm not trying to buy these from you, I have more speakers than I have room for. You might want to check E-bay, Audiogon, newspaper, etc, to get an idea of what the going rates are for used Klipschorns.

Wow!! Congrats HornEd!! You're going to have an incredible system. A word of advice, it would be wise to select your amplification carefully. You can get something truly special if you mate those horns to the right amplification.

Although the high-tech industry is not "dead", it has definitely not been well. I have seen the other side of things that aren't so well -- through friends, associates, acquaintances, and first-hand experience. It honestly seems that half of the people I know locally that are in the technical field are out of work. The other half are employed, but are constantly looking over their shoulder. The Dallas area is big on telecom, and the telecom industry has been hit very, very hard. Nortel has their U.S. headquarters in Dallas, and they have laid off 50,000 people worldwide in the last year (half the company). It appears that things will not get better for them anytime soon. Alcatel, Cisco, Ericcson, Samsung, Fujistsu, Motorola, and the like are in similar situations (although maybe not as bad). All of these have a big presence in North Texas. Most small high-tech startup companies have failed in the last year. I used to belong to one of them. I actually know someone that lost three jobs within 12 months. The semiconductor industry isn't in as bad of shape, but things aren't rosie there either. TI does have some positions available, but they also just laid off some people in January (some folks that I know). It's funny how TI will be laying off people and hiring at the same time. I guess they have always been that way. I attended a technical career fair last week. There were only four companies there, only two were local. I have been to the very same ones in the past where there would be 80-100 companies participating. At this one, they didn't have the 2000 job seekers attending as they did at one a few months ago, but the lines were long nonetheless. Personally, I probably know or have met close to 30 people that are unemployed here in Dallas (probably more than that if I really thought about it). Some of the people I know have since found jobs, but unfortunately, even recently, I am hearing about more people losing their jobs than people finding jobs. There are quite a few highly talented people here that can't find a job. Yes, I think the worst is over, and things are going to get better, but we are still a ways from getting back to normal. Sorry if this post sounds depressing or gloomy, but I just thought I'd show how things can be different depending on your perspective. Believe it or not, I'm actually an optimist!

Eq: Pretty impressive setup. Horn Ed: Unfortunately, high-tech is close to dead over here as it probably is in most places. Hopefully things will turn around soon.

From the photo, it appears to me that the grills have been attached with screws. If this is the case, this can significantly degrade their value.

The biggest flaw I heard with my Cornwalls was the cabinet resonances. They were really only noticable to me at higher volumes. I hear the same thing with my La Scalas.

I believe there are a couple of reasons (this mirrors some previous comments): 1. If Klipsch speakers are not mated with quality components (not necessarily expensive), they won't sound their best and can sound marginal (or even bad). Put good equipment upstream, listen to a quality recording, and the sound can be amazing -- just like live music. I have never felt my speakers to sound "Bright", "harsh", or "ear-bleeding". Several years ago I considered selling my Cornwalls to "upgrade" to better speakers. Fortunately, I ended up upgrading my electronics first and my Cornwalls came alive. The deficiencies I heard were not the Cornwalls, they were the electronics. Those deficiencies went away when I introduced better electronics. I have since done a limited amount of experimenting, and have found that to my ears, tubes sound best overall on my Heritage speakers. I am now convinced that you don't have to spend outrageous amounts of money to get great sound. You just have to select wisely (and take everything you hear from audio store salesmen with a grain of salt). 2. Some people don't like live music (live doesn't necessarily mean loud. Even if the Klipsches are mated with good upsstream components, and a quality recording is being played, some people may still not find that sound to their tastes. Some people just don't like live music and prefer a more mellow sound. Live music is not mellow. It is in your face. I have heard the topic of Pardigm speakers on this board lately, and to me (at least the Paradigm's I heard), they just don't sound very good. They seem to be the opposite of the Klipsch sound. In comparison to the Klipsch and B&W speakers, the Paradigms were easily the least of them. They were very subdued in comparison. But some people do like these speakers. I even know some people that don't like live music. That's why there are so many different products out there -- because people have different tastes. I LOVE live music! That's why I love Klipsch.

So, did anyone take minutes??

Welcome back HornEd! Was beginning to think that you had lost a jousting match or something. Glad to know that wasn't the case.

Doc, note I diet on cod.

My La Scalas look exactly like yours (although mine do have the serioal numbers). Ironically, I bought mine in Austin.

Those look nice, but there seems to be a vertical strip of wood in the center of the bass horn opening. This may affect the sound as it is essentially changing the opening of the bass horn mouth. Of course it's a small change to the size of the opening, but a change nonetheless. La Scalas can be ordered with grills over the mid and high horns. That's how mine are. I think it makes the La Scala look very cool. Some people don't like the way La Scalas look, but I really like the way mine look.

Sounds interesting. Unfortunately I think I'll have to pass this time. I will likely be watching the NFL playoffs at that time (even though they won't be all that interesting this year). I'd be interested if this type of event is ever held again in the DFW area. There seems to be quite a few people on this BB from DFW. I see notices for those Chicago, Ohio, Southern Cal horn meetings and it would be neat if something similar happened in DFW.

www.audioshopper.com www.audioreview.com

It still looks very nice MacKlipsch. Do you have any pics of how you braced the Belle? I am interested as I may eventually need to do the same thing. Sounds like you have the drivers with Alnico magnets, which are already shielded. When I put a paper clip next to my Alnico magnet drivers, the paper clip just falls off -- it doesn't stick to the driver.