kevinmi

New Rack

I've been doing a little remodeling in the basement mancave. I put up a new wall, added some paneling, and put up some acoustic foam squares on the ceiling to help with sound being bounced around this small room with big speakers. I recycled some old LP's during the makeover also. I've only got half of the room done, but it's clearly an improvement! This all started when I bought a new turntable. I then decided I needed a new equipment rack. Then I decided I better do something with the wall before installing the rack. Snowball effect for sure.

Triangle Wood Holder Thingee

I've noticed that there seems to be a lot more attacking/criticizim going on on this forum. It's never a god thing to try to ruin someone else's thread by badmouthing people just because you don't agree with their views. Can't we all just get along?

donation sent. Hopefully all the good hearts of the Klipsch Community will climb aboard this very good cause!

I may be stupid here, but what I don't understand is why are autoformers used in crossover networks instead of transformers if transformers are better? Is it a cost thing or something else I don't understand?

I once ran my RF-5's with a McIntosh 2125 amp @125 watts/channel and it really woke up the speakers. The RF series speakers seem to like more power that the Heritage type speakers. But having said that, I think that the RF series of speakers is better for home theater use and vintage electronics sound better with vintage Heritage speakers. Just my opinion.

Beautiful speakers! Who would've thought someone could take an industrial PA looking speaker design and turn it into a work of art? I bet they sound as good as they look!

An auto parts store that sell automotive paint supplies should carry disposable water filter/ traps for around $6-$8. They are plastic and screw in to the air inlet of the paint gun. when you are done spraying, simply remove and throw away.

I've used DeVilbiss and Binks guns for automotive paint, along with some cheap touch up guns. While the cheap guns can spray paint OK sometimes, they can be a real pain also, not having the adjustability of a quality gun, etc. Interchangeable tips are a must for spraying different finishes. Stay away from the "one size fits all" tips. HVLP spraying is a lot different to the old style spray guns. Make sure to practice on some scrap wood or cardboard until you get the feel for it. The first time I used a HVLP gun, I ran the paint big time. They put out a lot of material in a hurry!

Sorry to hear about the bad transaction. I'm suprised that you didn't build your own instead of buying one, given the talent you have with such things.

I bought and built the ST-120 kit from Bob a couple of years ago, and it was my first build project. The instructions were very easy to follow, and the support that Bob gives is second to none! Not to mention the amp sounds fantastic! I have tried to justify buying the new monoblock amps from Bob, but I don't even use all the power the ST-120 puts out. Let us know how it sounds when you complete it and take plenty of pics of the build! -Kevin

I've not heard Greg's horns personally, but I did build my own wooden tratrix horn a couple of years ago and used stock K55 drivers and stock aa crossovers on my Khorns. The wood horns have a much better sound than the stock,(more open, not as honky), but you really need an upgraded crossover system that allows for attenuating the K55 for the best results. I've since upgraded to bigger horns with 2 inch drivers, which give even better sound. You should contact Greg directly since he has heard more horn/driver combinations than anyone I know of.

BRENT JESSEE RECORDING HOMEPAGE

Just to chime in on the Weber copper cap rectifiers. I use one in my Latino ST120, and it is quieter than the tube rectifiers I have used, and the bias doesn't have to be adjusted nearly as much on the power tubes. Of course if you have an amp with auto bias, that won't matter to you. The overall sound is virtually the same to my 55 year old ears, minus the added tube noise of the tube rectifiers. Let me point out that I have only used Chinese and Russian tubes, never any vintage tubes, so results may vary with pricier Vintage tubes.

That is one big amp! It kinda reminds me of the McIntosh 2125 I used to have. Don't drop it on your toe!

Actually, I tried to work with the bank, but they weren't interested. It was better for them to foreclose on me and get their guaranteed FHA money than to try to work out a payment plan. you may call me Mr. no integrity all day long if it makes you more secure in your decision to keep paying for an overinflated mortgage.

There seems to be a misconception of "octane" in describing gas. Octane is not a measure of gas quality. It is a measure of combustibility. The higher the octane rating, the harder it is to "ignite". This helps prevent detonation in higher compression engines. The additives it takes to make the gas less volatile is what makes the gas more expensive, although some gas companies also add detergents or cleaners to their high octane gas so they can advertise their "premium" gas as superior to their "regular" gas. Using a higher octane gas than what your engine requires only depletes the money in your wallet, which in turn makes you lighter, thus saving gas by not having to lug around the extra weight of all that money.

I'm watching carefully. I have been a UAW member for 16 years now, and make a decent wage. I'm not going to get into any debate about union vs nonunion. I just want to say that I, too, have had enough of the whole consumerism lifestyle and have started my own scale back. I let my overpriced house go back to the bank and bought a much nicer bank owned home for one third the price. I have cut up all my credit cards. I am working on paying off all debts so I can be free and clear of any financial obligations to anyone else. I fear the day when the last stronghold the working class has (unions) collapses and we become a nation ruled by Corporate Greed, where laborors are considered nothing but an inconvenient necessity, a "lower class" of citizenry. That's my rant and I'm sticking with it!

I sold a 77 Corvette that I had for about 15 year back in '03. I completely restored/modified that car while I owned it, and won several trophies at the local car shows. The car is up for sale on Craigslist and I have already talked to the owner a couple of times about buying it back. I can't decide if it's just nostalgia making me want it back or if I really want it. After all, I did sell it once. Then there's that saying "if you love something, let it go..."

I have a Latino ST120 that I built a little over a year ago. I blew up my first tube rectifier within a week of startup. I followed Bob's recommendation and bought the Weber Copper cap solid state rectifier. It worked better than the tube rectifier as far as ease of biasing the tubes, and is a lot quieter than those cheap rectifier tubes. The Weber that Bob recommends for the ST-120 is much stouter than a single rectifier tube. Weber calls it a 2X (double) rectifier. Also, the Weber has a slowed start-up, so you needn't worry about blowing up your tubes. I recently took out the Weber and replaced it with a new JJ tube rectifier to see if I was missing some "tube magic", and all I got was more noise and a fear I was going to blow up a tube every time I turned on the amp. The Weber rules in this particular amp, IMHO.

I also upgraded the tubes with NOS 1944 vintage Ken-Rad 12SN7's, Amperex 12ax7's and Sylvania 12AU7's in the phono section. This is the best preamp I've ever heard to date! Of course now it makes me want to upgrade everything else. The cost of the silver faceplate and knobs was around $350.00, but it was worth it to me. I have a new stereo rack in the works that will make the whole system look better. Stay tuned for more pics!

System with silver Cary

Silver faceplate installed w/silver knobs

Black faceplate removed and new silver faceplate