oldmako

Great idea! Thanks Dennie.

The TT and it's cartridge are at least 20 years old, perhaps more like 25. Coupled with the fact that it wasn't exactly a high dollar unit I suspect that I am going to have to get used to a bit of noise. This I can fix however. I just figured that a big slab of neoprene would be a good start. I'll poke around for a hunk of granite. How about a racquetball sliced in half? I have tons of them.

Finally got home and ran a few tests as per some of your recommendations. The noise is evident in either mono or stereo mode. Once the noise starts, it gets louder and the VU meters on my amp head east in a hurry. It would seem as though the cartridge is picking up the noise and sending an expoentially increasing signal to the preamp. The noise is evident with the stylus in a no-sound portion of an album. There is a fairly high noise threshold when the stylus is elevated in the lifted or qued position when the volume is turned up. This noise floor is not evident when in tuner, cd or aux.

Gorgeous gear. I too am partial to the old stuff and short on dough. I took my Large Advents and set them about 4 feet apart. I then took an old folding table and placed it across them. I have a 70s vintage Pioneer Amp and I'm running my computer through it. Pandora sounds pretty good once it's been suitably massaged! I keep a sharp eye on the local CL for Marantz, Sansui and Pioneer gear. I never see tube gear here, nor much hi-end audiophile stuff. When I do, I usually can't afford it. But, I'm very happy with my gear and with Pandora. After you spend some time fine tuning the stations it can be a wonderful asset.

I'll try and answer some of your questions to aid in the discussion. a) Yes to the second room. $750/mo all utilils included unless you own a tanning bed, smelting oven, full size aircraft flight simulator, industrial tractor beam or 50 mile plus radar unit. If so, we'll have to work out something different on the electrics. The TT is an old direct drive Denon. When I return home I will be able to provide the model number and run the suggested diagnostics. c) I am using an old Phase Linear 400 amp, and a Pioneer SA9100 for my preamp. I was born a poor white child, sorry for the gear. d) The noise is a type of hum.....not the same one I had before with the Phase 4000 preamp, this one is starts low and increases on a fairly straight line. The increase is fairly quick. The noise is only apparent when I am shoving copious watts into the speakers. I'm afraid that I have no ability to measure the decibels, but suffice it to say LOUD. Just imagine that you've got on The Who....."Behind Blue Eyes", or Los Lobos..."Don't Worry Baby"...or if hottie number one was over and in drinkin 'n' dancin' kind of mood..."Brick House". It sounds like the stylus is picking up the rooms vibrations (coming up through the cabinet?) and transmitting them to the amp. I won't get back to my domo until next week at the earliest. At that time I'll try run some of the tests, and see if HN-1 is up for a few cold ones.

You guys are fabby. Many thanks for the replies and the help. First things firstest.... <<"But.... purely for research purposes you should at least find out.... ">> Found out I have (!) with one of the aforementioned hotties. A mere whisp of a lass, 5-5" or so and a just hair over 118 pounds. You'll just have to trust me when I say that each and every one of those pounds are in JUST the right spots. Some of them are very-very firm, while others impossibly soft. Dark hair and eyes...think of Gloria Trillo (Annabella Sciorra) the Mercedes Saleswoman on season 3 of the Sopranos. Neighbor hottie number one is just as fine as she was and is just as....well, do you remember the flying roast?? Number two has a live in BF who has an impressive and largely illegal collection of high powered semi and not so semi-automatic (as in fully automatic) firearms. She's tall and thin with an ever so small waist and long lovely limbs and lashes....auburn hair and auburner lips that tend to slowly part at the end of her smiles. She likes to twirl her hair as she talks and burns her Manson Lamps right through you. She's very touchy-feely ...as in the young blond pom-pom girl Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari) was while stroking Kevin Spaceys arm in American Beauty. "Gosh, have you been working out?" I stay pretty far away from her. I don't fear guns, just bullets. WRT the TT......I'll try and post some pics when I return to my domo. I am on the road for the next two weeks. I'll also double check the ground and connectors, and try to fabricate a more isolationist mount.

Gents, I have vexing issue which I am sure you will be able to help with; When I turn things UP....My TT sends a ton of noise to the amp. This obviously then gets sent to the speakers. It seems to me that it's caused by the cartridge picking up the ambient (loud) noise / vibrations created by the high volume of the music. It's starts out fairly quietly and increases in a linear fashion until I run over and turn the volume down. As soon as it's turned back up, the noise returns. It pretty much sucks. The TT sits on a 1/2" thick slab of neoprene, and is on a shelf about chest high. My amp / preamp(s) / tuner combination sits on the shelf above the TT. The TT is approx 14 feet away from the speakers, and is not inline with the speakers. The TT is nothing special, a 30 year old Denon. It was about 200 bucks back then. Not radio shack junk, but not a sweet hi-end Thorens etc either. I would have thought that the neoprene would have prevented any bad vibes from coming up through the floor and infecting the sound in such a heinous manner. The speakers (CF3s) sit on spikes on carpet, which is laid on a cement slab of a first floor, poorly constructed and hideously decorated condo. Two of my neighbors are hot, but I don't really think they have anything to do with this post. More damping under the TT? Less volume is not an option on many of my old record albums.

Go with the Hereseys, and tell me the name of the guy selling the 20's for 300 bucks.

Congrats on the purchase! I own a pair of CF3s as well and love them. I picked mine up on Craigslist locally for 240 bucks.

I saw him live about 12 years ago when the gal I was salivating all over was salivating all over the idea of salivating all over him.....kinda weird visual so don't go there, but I think you get the idea. She wanted to go and I figured......well, you know what I figured. Any rate, his guitarist is flat out phenomenal. His name is Hershel Yatovitz. In fact, the weakest musician in the group is probably Chris. But that's only because the other guys are so good. It was a terriffic show except for the breaks for him to change costumes. I generally eschew big venue live music, but this was a good show. My preference is small clubs with great local bands.

The recording industry isn't done using the courts to whack illegal file sharing either. They just won a several hundred thousand dollar judgement against a guy who had only pulled down about 30 songs. Since I started using www.Pandora.com for background music while ambling around the domo, I have switched almost exclusively to used cds from Amazon. Most that I pick are under 3 bucks and then another 3 for shipping. Sure it adds up, but I want the disc in my collection...not the mp3. As mentioned above, I cannot walk past a pawn shop or thrift store without checking out the music sections. What I find mostly is CRAP, but every now and then I come out a winner. Still waiting patiently for some Cornwalls and Mac gear.........being poor sucks, but helps to make one an optimist!

Gents, is it possible to somehow hook up one pair of speakers to two different amps? I currently use my CFs for my downstairs 2 CH set up. When I watch video, I switch to a second receiver and speaker set up. The 4CH set up is totally different. Even thought it's a 5.1, I am curently only running fronts and a center channel. I have Klipsch S5 rears, but I have not yet wired my domo to utilize them. Is there some way to use the CFs for the front channel without going through the trouble of changing the source wires away from the 2CH amp? Some type of one way diode(?) perhaps? It's my understanding that you don't want to have a speaker signal running backwards toward an amp/receiver and that it will cause funky distortion in the sound and heat to be produced in the inert unit. It would be entertaining to use the big boomers for HT, but I am not going to start changing wires each time I go back and forth. I am the forums least informed and laziest member. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I went with the KSF10.5s and the KSF-S5s. I got all four speakers for 100 bucks. I tested them A / B using my Sansui G5700 against my Fortes. I am very happy with the results! While not quite the Klipsch "sound" that I am used to, they will be fine in my daughters room. I suspect that she'll be pretty happy as well. Back to the search for some 30s and/or Cornwalls and/or Fortes and/or.......

Trying to get some street cred with my homies on the Klipsch forum.... Both of the above available. The KGs are rough and need to be refinished. Both pair are cheap and will be utilized in by love child in her bedroom. I've heard the KG4's and 5.2's. Never heard the KSFs. Advice? Scorn? Ridicule? Guffaws? Sneers? Admonitions? Recommendation? Exhortation? Loans? Thanks Gents.

Terriffic speakers, I have the exact pair in my bedroom. You'll love them. At the risk of sounding like a total knob, have you verified that all the individual speakers/drivers are working? I only axe (ax?) because when I bought mine I thought the same thing. They sounded a little bland compared to my CFs. It turned out that my tweets were squat. Put some tunes on at a fairly low level and stick an ear right up against each one. It will be obvious if one has STB. Bob Crites has some replacements that are supposedly the bomb. You can also buy the originals from Klipsch if you're into that whole stock thing. Enjoy and congrats.

NIIIIEEECE!!!! (Think Mike Tyson in Hangover)

When you search eBay and CL....use the word Marantz, Sansui, etc to sift through all the junk on the site. It will aid tremendously. WRT maintenance, almost none in my experience. Now that's not to say that a unit won't benefit from a skilled tech and some cash, but if you get a good one than you are off to the races from the get go. My flawless 45 dollar Sansui is probably 30 years old (G-5700) and does a great job of pushing my Fortes. It's got ample power and sounds sweet. You'd be hard pressed to find a rosewood cabinet for45 bucks these days. If it's a CL special, than you can audition the unit. Twist every knob, and try all the inputs. It may need nothing, or could be as simple as a cleaning and deoxit to have it perfect. When you find something that interests you, just do a quick google search for equipment reviews and you can get an idea what guys with deep pockets think of the gear. If you can spring for tubes, more power to ya. I keep trying, but nearly everything I see is too rich for my blood or requires an expensive rehab. I'll get there eventually.

More is gooder. What I mean to say is that there is a ton of excellent quality vintage 2 channel gear available for peanuts through ebay, craigslist etc. I prefer CL because I can go see the piece and then offer based on the units merits and pay no shipping. Plus, some peeps just don't know or don't care how to pack an item for shipping. Keep your eyes open and in no time you'll have a second set of KG4s (or Hereseys etc.), and an amp (or two) for under 500 bucks, easy. Then if you want to go surround, it's a possiblity. HT receivers are ubiquitous and insanely cheap until you start lookig at really hi-end stuff. And if not, you'll have nice gear in a bedroom or other location. I'm currently shopping for a set up for the guest room. After that, the pantry. My bro scored some mint 5.2s for $60, and a nice pair of Fortes for $120. I just picked up a mint Sansui receiver for $40. It's out there. Have fun.

WHAT?

One afternoon while playing around I synched a recorded CD on iTunes with the same CD in the deck.....461 Ocean Blvd in fact. I then opened the EQ on the PC in an attempt to match the PC sound from the deck while flipping the input selector on the preamp. While I was able to closely match the tone(s), the SOUND of the PC was woefully slim as compared to the disc itself. That old compression will get you every time. Now, to be fair I am running plain Jane PC audio with no upgrades of any sort. That being said, I am a huge fan of Pandora and listen to it quite a bit while just getting stuff done around the domo. But when I park my fat ownself in front of the boomers and settle in with an ample tumbler of bourbon and a half smoke (whatever I happen to pull out of the humidor) I only listen to a disc of one sort or another, either a CD or an LP. To each their own (and what not).

There is a pair avail locally for 65 bucks. Seems pretty cheap to me. I've never heard them. I'm thinking about my daughters room. Whaddayathink???

They either don't know something I do, or just the opposite I suppose. Maybe they each have a kilo of reefer in them? Just a thought. My brother and I have been fairly aggressive the last two years on CL and have stolen 2 pair of Fortes, one pair Chorus IIs, kg4s, kg 5.2s, kg2s, CF3s etc etc etc. Most of them have been in excellent condition and within an hours drive. The hardest part is coming up with suitable equipment to drive them!

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=190347456410Not sure why these commanded such a high price. $1250!

Tweeters, Compression Drivers, ToeMAYtoes, ToeMAHtoes........ Clearly you are well versed and I am completely ignernt on this stuff. When I refer to the CF 3 page on the Kilpsch site, it says... "Tweeter K-63-KN 2 inch (5.08cm) Aluminum diaphragm compression driver" I figured that my shortened nomenclature would effectively convey my meaning. He rebuilt my crossovers. My K-63-KN 2" (5.08cm) Aluminum diaphragm compression drivers were fine. The crossovers now have all new capacitors, wiring etc. I know what a soldering iron looks like, and that the end opposite the plug gets really really hot. Beyond that I don't know much and can't comment on what he did. They are far beefier now than they were when I boxed them up and sent them off. In fact, they look so nice, I almost wish they were mounted externally. I am quite certain that they sound amazing when the big knob gets rotated clockwise. Especially when there is bourbon in a glass and a Cohiba hearby.

I'd rather not say what I paid to have them done, due to the fact that I got a bit of a deal. I was originally looking for a pair of replacement tweeters and sent Bob a check. I then determined that my tweets were fine, but my X-overs bad. Bob suggested that I send him mine and he'd take a look. They needed significant work and he and his son did a fantastic job. I suspect that he ate a bit of the cost. I highly recommend the mod, and using Crites to have the work done. I will send him my Forte crossovers in the future. I am abusing them with an old Phase Linear 400 which has rougly 200 wpc. I'm a troglodite and like the old 2 channel stuff. Plus, it's all that I can afford. They sound much better than they did when I was using a Pioneer SX 9100 (80 watts I think). And much better than when I had them hooked up to a fairly pricy Sony HT receiver. I have regular old, got em from my Mom, original equipment ears. There is one on each side of my head. They have never been calibrated, tweaked, upgraded or scored for audiophile accuracy. They have listened to some fairly ordinary gear by the standards on this site, but occasionally I have heard some high end $$$$$ stuff with them. I LOVE the sound of my CF3s. IOW, my old stuff works for me. Good luck.