tromprof

Assembled this in the early to mid 1980s while a student in Chapel Hiill, NC. KEF 303.3, Yamaha YP-84 turntable with Signet cart, and a Yamaha A-400 integrated amp. I still have it all, though the KEFs are the only ones seeing regular use. Chapel Hill had several good stereo stores, I think all this came from Stereo Advantage on Franklin St. (a Klipsch dealer BTW)

I hope your problem resolves itself when the sub is placed properly. Having built a tuba table and Cinema F-20 subs, I know what an air leak sounds like [:$] . It really is a hissing noise that becomes more apparent as the sub goes lower. On the tuba table I had it around the driver, the Cinema F-20 was along one of the side panels. In both cases it was a easy fix with caulk, though do a little research if you wind up using caulk near the driver. Some caulks will react with the driver material, though at this point I can't remember which is the good kind. I would love to hear your sub compared to the Cinema F-20, I seriously considered making the long tuba instead. I ended up going with the Cinema because it is easier to build, and its larger footprint didn't matter where I placed it.

Had a pair of Tannoy System 12 studio monitors (sold them to finance the k-horns). They were really fantastic sounding speakers, I wish I had had the tube amps I have now to pair with them. Based on that experience and never having heard them, the Westminster Royals have always been the "if i win the lottery" speakers for me. If the System 12 sound that good the big Westminster must be glorious!

One nice thing about having them on top is I can adjust the angle differently from the bass bins. After playing around with them I have them angled a bit wider than the bass and tweeters, it seems to be a little clearer and image better.

I just picked up a used pair of ALK Trachorns from Craig at NOS Valves, apparently he has moved on to even better things. The price was quite reasonable and included K-55 drivers. I have them sitting on top of the k-horns at the moment and am very pleased with the sound. It is a lot clearer and cleaner, and I seem to be listening at somewhat higher volume levels so I would conclude they are less fatiguing to listen to as well, though I never thought the k-horns were in any way tiring to listen to before, or for that matter muddy in any way. I just disconnected the old k-400 hooked up the trachorns, and have them sitting on top of the k-horns angled down toward my sitting position. I have a Crites A/4500 crossover and his tweeters as well. Other than aesthetics, is there any reason to go through the headache of installing them in the cabinet?

The KG 5.2 is a fine speaker. It sounds to me like your amplifier is having issues not the speakers. I would suggest first trying a different amp to see if that clears up the problem. Good luck!

I am sure it depends on your area. Supposedly Menards has decent Baltic Birch in my area, though I haven't checked it out. I guess my point was "buyer beware" when dealing with big box stores, sometimes it isn't what they claim it is and the average employee doesn't know the difference.

Not all birch plywood is equal. Beware of the kind they sell at Lowes, it is junk. The veneer will splinter when cut, lots of voids, and they all seem to come warped and twisted. I cheaped out and bought some to use with my Cinema 20 sub and was sorry. I am fortunate to have a Paxton lumber store in Cincinnati to get good stuff, about $70 a sheet in 3/4.

I raised mine 6 inches (homemade 3/4 inch birch plywood box, open on the bottom) and it really improved imaging and overall sound. I expected to loose base but didn't, probably because they are tucked so nicely into the corner. I would post a pic but the forum server keeps timing out before the pic loads!

No need to buy a CD player. There are a number of quite decent DACs in the $100-300 range. Hook it up your DVD, computer, or an CD player. My current favorite is an inexpensive model with a tube output and drop dead gorgeous sound. http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tubemagic_d2

I know Emotiva gear is highly regarded on this forum but I found that my La Scalas and K-horns could sound unbearably bright and harsh with certain SS amps. The best sounding SS gear I have is vintage late 1970s Yamaha. Sony and Adcom amps, which I have used and liked with other speakers did not work for me with these. This could be partly the issue, everyone has different ears and tastes. Tubes has been the right match for me.

This is known as the "low brass credo," attributed to Charlie Vernon of the Chicago Symphony. Insert your own profanity in the blanks. "Blow the _______ ______ out of it man and don't give a _________ inch and let'm know you're back there and that you don't give a ______ about their temper mental prima donna horse _____ attitudes because you are a LOW BRASS PLAYER and that means you got to ______________' nail it to the wall and to that you got to be a real _______________ man, with a chin (dwandle-deedle) and that means you're gonna by-God nail and plow and wahf and drag and push the "lead the whole damn section" through every part no matter what it is - Mozart or Mahler (hell they're all the same ain't they, besides a 'fortsando is a fortsando') and if they don't like it they can by-God find another player because you don't need their ______ money and those sissy-____ conductors and tin eared string players (those _____ 'think' they can hear the grass grow) and the _____ twiddly-dink woodwind players that are so sure that all low brass players want to play loud all the time CAN JUST KISS MY _____ and if they don't want to pay you double-_____ scale, they can simply get _____________ for all you care cause they couldn't replace you with a player half as good and they can just stick that bloody contract up their aristocratic __________ cause if they don't appreciate a big _________ sound with some body and breadth and projection and carrying power, you don't want any part of this orchestra (such ________ management anyway) and they can take the whole symphony society and/or art alliance and shove it cause you're fed up with this amateur bull______ and they can come across with some real bread or ________ off or they'll be hunting another player because you've got a million other offers and you've got no problem playing the horn because you can _______ read!"

Very high, even if pristine. If these are coming out of a recording studio I am sure they have been used hard, so I would recommend passing unless they come down well below $1,000.

I have a Yaqin tube amp (rebranded by Grant Fidelity) running my k-horns, and also a Yaqin tube phono preamp. I am very happy with the Yaqin amps so far and have had no issues. There is a Canadian seller on ebay that has a good reputation and offers a warrenty as well as claiming to check the amps prior to shipping. I bought my phono preamp from him. His price on a new MC-10L is $449.00 plus shipping. http://stores.ebay.com/Canadian-HiFi-Online?_trksid=p4340.l2563

I believed you the first time as to availability. I'm just not totally buying the "reasons" why they don't sell the kits anymore. I met a woman who claims to be unskilled that assembled TWO kits without any trouble. Never underestimate the complete inability of a sizable percentage of the public to follow simple instructions. I include myself in that statement, but I can usually go back and figure out where I f***ed it up. []

It is a s easy as running cable. I have my two downstairs systems hooked to my music server. At first I used a DAC that had two analog outputs so I ran RCA cables, now I have two digital outputs running to each systems DACs. I also have the computer hooked to monitors in each room (HDMI cables) using wireless keyboards to control what is being played. This was easy to do as I have a full basement below to run the cables through (HDMI, RCA, optical, and USB). Also have a network hard drive so the basement and upstairs systems have access to the music files. Bought the cables from Monoprice so the cost was not high.

Last supper

Multiple backups are a must for any digital data, otherwise one power surge and you are SOL. My music server has an external HD backup, and a NAS backup (with RAID) as well.

The good news is memory just keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. My local Microcenter is advertising a 2TB Western Digital hard drive for just over $100! That would hold a least a couple thousand CDs in FLAC.

I have two that I am fond of. The first is a Yamaha YP-B4 from the late 70s. I have my brothers that he bought new in college and moved many times around the country and even the world (career USAF). It needs a new belt from time to time but sounds great with and old Signet cart and never an issue. The second is the venerable Technics 1200 Mk.2. Built like a tank, made for over 25 years so there are lots of them, and sounds it great in my main system. One thing to consider in all this is the phono preamp. When I finally bought a good tube phono preamp it was a revelation.

HD tracks for new or used for vinal. The 24/96 Band on the Run is quite impressive.

I have raised both La Scalas and Fortes off the floor. Getting the tweeters up to ear level was a great improvement for both. As far as bass goes, for the Fortes there was a little loss in bass but I also thought it was a little cleaner, for the La Scalas I did not detect any loss in bass. I would give it a try, though 23 inches seems like quite a rise. I only brought my La Scalas up 6 inches.

Does the La Scala have weak bass, or just limited low bass. Because of the size of the cabinet the bass does not go all that low, but I find it has terrific bass up to that point, esp. if placed into a good corner. Loudness correction will do nothing for its inability to produce tones lower than around 50hz.

His stuff is pretty, I always thought it a shame to hide them away inside the speaker. On the other hand I wouldn't want to walk into the room and find the cat sitting on my crossover!

This is a 6 inch riser I made for my La Scalas. The only calculation I did was to raise the speaker enough that the tweeter was a my ear level while sitting on my couch. I really seems to help with imaging and had no negative effect on bass.