Q-Man

Girlfriend, giving up my sweet spot, staying to 2:00 A.M.. Now I'll have to feed you, next you will be asking to stay overnight. See why I don't want any so called friends. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Girlfriend!, only if you bring one for me. Make her a min. of 5'10" with long legs. I take it you want the best seats in the house too. My wife really thinks that I went off the deep end. See, I'm a loaner and have nothing to do with anyone. I do by best to avoid people. When I told her that I asked you over, see could't beleave it. Hey, don't let this scare you away now. I'll email you with an address and phone number. I may meet you somewhere on the main road when you come. There are too many turns to get back to me. Horn Ed & boomer, Didn't I tell you that Bob G is going to pay me a commision if Mike ends up ordering a pair? Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Mike, I do want to say one more thing right now. I don't know if I'll be doing an AB comparison between the Imperials, Universitys, LaScalas, and Klipschorns this visit. It's not easy for me to get to the hook-ups anymore, the way I have things set up now. But, I do want you to hear the difference in the bottom end of these bass horns without the mid.'s and tweeters hooked up. It might have to be another visit for us to do this. I did start to set up another pair of klipschorns in another room. I have to dig out an old Phase Linear pre-amp and power amp that I used to use. I want to make this all accessible for ABing speakers and such. Well, later Q. ------------------ Q-Man This message has been edited by Q-Man on 02-14-2002 at 12:40 AM

Mike, I'm finally ready to give you that Klipschorn demo. The false corners are set up and the McIntoch amp and Outlaw ICBM are hooked up. I didn't realize that I wasn't enjoying listening to music as much as I used to , before getting into Home Theater. This McIntosh reminds me of my old separate componet days. The last few nights I've been playing a variety of CD's that I bought to replace LP's that I used to injoy. With the Yamaha RX-V2092 and 3000 home theater set I wasn't enjoying the the sound of some of these CD's anymore. I just thought that I didn't like them anymore.The McIntosh brings it all back to me. I'm hearing the music as I remember it. I've been listening for 3 nights now, with no listening fatigue. Bring some of your favorite CD's and also DVD's if you like. Something that your used to listening to. I have movies and CD's,but you may not be familiar with , or like them. I'm mainly into Blues. Also Rock from the late 60's and early 70's. I may be able to do this Sat. night , 2/23/02. I'll add a little more to this later, I'm beat tonight. Feel free to email me. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Boa12, That's also the case with me. It's heard when standing right in front of the K-Horn. The ear up againts the tweeter deal. I'm just used to dead silence. A 2 prong cheater plug quiets it done some. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Oh! You know what? When I tried the amp directly into the wall vs. the surge, I didn't play any sourse material. I was just listening for the hiss and buzz. I guess I should try it again. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

I just did the test with my McIntosh MC206 6 channel amp and my Rat shack Surge protector. 2600 joules of protection. I'm jumping in here because, I'm thinking of getting the Panamax 5500. I can't say that I heard any difference at all from a wall dedicated 30 amp circuit comparied to using the surge plugged into that circuit. I was thinking of gettig one because, this new amp is producing a hiss and a slight buzzing sound from the tweeters. Thinking of seeing if I can clean up some of this AC noise, if that's what it is. It's a big WOW! for me going to this amp for power instead of using the Yamaha RX-V3000 to power everything. Now the Yamaha is only powering the front effect speakers and an extra pair of rears. Anyway, back to the noise. The McIntosh dealer talked me into tryng a WireWorld Aurora 3+ Power Cord for $200.00. Tonight I did some comparing with it and the stock cord.What a pain in the butt. Memorizing a CD. shutting everything down and changing power cords. I did this at least a dozen times each with 3 different songs. The WireWorld did nothing for the hiss and buzz. But, thank God it did something for $200.00. It did produce slightly better bass , mids and cleaner highs. I think I have to start disconectind one piece of equipment at a time, maybe I can find out if anything is causing this noise. Q. ------------------ Q-Man This message has been edited by Q-Man on 02-13-2002 at 07:35 PM

Horn ED, If you don't end up finding one let me know. I have one that I'm not using, but I was going to hang on to it. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Both pairs of my Klipschorns are fused, and I never blew one of them yet. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

I confess. I keep telling myself that I have to stop, but I can't. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Analog. Buy one now, I heard that they were going to stop making it. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Al, I've been meaning to ask you about the fuses. I finally got around to trying your networks. I put one in a LaScala to do a listening test and the fuse blew. I took one out of the other network and put it in the network I was using and that blew no sooner then when I began to turn up the volume. I reconected the Klipsch network and the speaker is fine. Your networks are back in the closet. I'll have to go buy more fuses one of this days and see whats going on. Maybe I should just bypass the fuse. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Mike, This is my understanding of the recombine switch. As you know the ICBM has five crossover settings for each speaker. They are 40,60,80,100,&120Hz, plus a bypass setting. Bypass means just that, the crossover is bypassed and the chosen speaker receives full range signals. Also nothing from that speaker (channel) is sent to the sub woofer. Any point chosen for a particular speaker means that any frequency below that point will be sent to the sub woofer. If you want the low frequency signals from the channels where you selected a crossover point to the sub woofer to also be sent to the main speakers, then you turn on the recombine switch. Now, the mains and sub will both receive these frequencies from the other channels that arn't set to bypass. This is the tricky part. If you select bypass for the main speakers then the low frequencies from the other chosen channels will only be sent to the sub woofer. Setting the mains to bypass kind of turns off the recomebine switch, even though it's still in the on position. I don't like this. I bought the ICBM so I can send full range to the rear Imperials and use a 60Hz cut off to the rear LaScalas. Trying to get the best of both worlds. Now any low frequencies signals that the Imperials miss will be sent to the sub by the LaScala rears. I plan on setting the LaScala front center to 80HZ. The Rear center to 40Hz. Because of the way the recombine switch works ,I'm forced to set the main channel Klipschorns to 40Hz instead of bypass. This may not be a bad thing. I will have to wait and see. I don't want to set the sub above 45Hz. I would rather have the Klipschorns handle that.If I select bypass for the Klipschorns then I would have to set the sub for 80Hz to handle what is coming from the front center LaScala. I don't want that. The RX-V3000 has low frequency test tones down to 35 Hz. These are to aid in setting up your subwoofer to match the rest of your speakers. Before sending the McIntosh amp back, I used these tones along with a sound level meter on all my speakers to get an idea of where to set the ICBM crossover points. I was surprised , the Klipschorns don't drop any at 35Hz with the new falce corners. The front center LaScala drops fast under 80Hz. I think this is do to it's high position, upside down and 18" from the ceiling. The rear LaScalas drop fast below 60Hz. They too are upside down , but the bottom is almost touching the ceiling. The ceiling acting like a floor for bass reinforcement. The rear Imperials start dropping off at 40 Hz .They should be in a corner like the Klipschorn, but they are along the side walls. In corners they sound stronger the the Klipschorns. I guess I have more work to do here. Right now I'm trying the University out for the rear center. It was falling off at 40 to 45Hz. I'll let you know if I can head over your way, before I finish setting everything up. DVD audio and SVS , you know I have to check that out. Later, Q. ------------------ Q-Man This message has been edited by Q-Man on 02-01-2002 at 10:21 PM

Mike, My ICBM is hooked up to the RX-V3000 and the cables to the power amp hanging loose , waiting for the new amp. I just let the amp sit in the box for a while, while I finished the wall unit. I wish I would have taken it out sooner. I would be that much closer to getting the replacement. How do you like the ICBM? I havn't been able to try mine yet. Are you using the recombine setting? DVD audio will be my next step. I was waiting for more disc to hit the market, know after buying the McIntosh and the other related stuff, I will be waiting for more cash. No more steak, it's bread and water for me. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

I was in a hurry to hook up the McIntosh MC206 amp., so I just ran out & picked up seven pairs of Monster cables 400 MK2 audio cables. Turns out the amp. was damaged durning shipping from the factory to the dealer. When I unpacked it, I could see that it took a rather hard hit. It comes screwed down to a 3/8" board to hold it in from the sides of the box. The board was dented and the screws were bent. Only one of the 3 meters was working. The amp is now in transit back to the dealer and he is ordering me another one from the factory.Can't win sometimes. I think that I may try some of the Tributaries one of these days. I did order the Tributaries Ground Guard for the incoming TV cable line and a special power cord made by Wire World. This power cord is to replace the McIntosh cord and is said to eliminate the AC hum related noice that I'm picking up. The cord cost $200.00, I must have "Sucker" written on my forehead, but the Mc. dealer recommended the cord. I'll let you know if it works if anyone is interested. Mike L. If your reading this, your visit is postponed again. I should de getting the new amp. in about two weeks. The new falce corners are a big improvement. They eliminated a lot and maybe all of the nasty vibrations that were coming from the wall unit and side walls. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

hifi, That isn't the classic. It's similar, and looks easier to build and does use the same drivers. I've never seen that version before. I'll have to try to post some pictures later on. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

John, As you know , that is the cabinet that I built and the same drivers were used. But, I mounted the mid. horn , tweeter and network on top of the cabinet. I didn't want them to interfere with the bass horn mouth opening. You can build a top end like the Klipschorn uses to hold those parts. I also tried loading the cabinet with LaScala drivers and horns. One thing for sure, this cabinet sounds way better then the the LaScala. For those of you capable of building this cabinet, do it. Then, just load it with your LaScala parts. The K33E and put the mid. and tweeter on top. This cabinet really sounds sweet when combined with my Altec 288-16K driver and 805B horn for the top end. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

I brought a McIntosh MC126 back to the dealer and traded up to the MC206. I'm almost finished rebuilding my wall unit and new falce corners. The falce corners weigh much more then the Klipschorns. I shouldn't break loose any more drywall. Anyway, now that I'm about to put everything back together, I'm thinking about cables. I read a face off artical in the Nov.1998 issue of Home Theater,where they did a blind listening test between eight brands. They used a switching box where they could instantly switch back and forth between the different cables. The Tributaries came out on top with a much cheaper XLO brand coming a close second. Q. ------------------ Q-Man This message has been edited by Q-Man on 01-26-2002 at 10:37 AM

$6999.00 ------------------ Q-Man

Thanks to John, I picked up some of these C15W's on ebay to use in the University bass-horn cabinet that I built. John kept telling me that he believes it to be one of the best sounding bass-horns that he has heard. I just had to try it, and I think that he may be right. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Who want's to start up a new speaker company? I'll build the cabinets. Others on this board can handle the networks and drivers. We could also add the old Imperials and University bass horns to our line. Q. ------------------ Q-Man This message has been edited by Q-Man on 01-23-2002 at 04:25 PM

Colin, Disagree with me, Huh? You better watch what you say, I'll be driving by West Palm Beach this Thur., on my way to Davie. You don't want to force me to look you up, do you? Seriously, I have to try to find a store in Davie, Fl somewhere near Cooper City just south of Lauderdale. I'm returning a Mcintosh MC126 amp and picking up the MC206. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

I agree with Dave. Speakers first! Invest 2/3's of your money there. No componet in the system will make as big a difference in the sound that you are looking for. You don't know what kind of amp you need untill you pick out the speakers. Go for the Klipschorn if you heve room corners for them. Go and listen to them again. Feel free to pay up to $3000.00 for a used pair, They are a bargain at that price. For that matter they are a bargain at the retail price for a new pair. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

I bought a roll of dynamat one or two years ago when this topic was hot & heavy. It's still sitting in the closet. I really havn't felt the need to try it out. I've been building various bass horn cabinets, trying some Altec & University drivers & horns to see what they sound like. Replaced Klipsch crossovers and Klipsch drivers with more Klipsch crossovers & drivers so that all my speakers match, but still no dynamat. I don't really object to the way they sound. But to be fair , I should put it on one of my spare K-400 horns one of these days and pop it in and see what it sounds like. Q. ------------------ Q-Man

Don't mean to bore you, but I thought that I would tell you what I think of this amp. I'm comparing it to my Yamaha RX-V3000 & an old Phase Linear power amp that's been driving my extra pair of rear speakers. The Mac. is rated at 120 watts at 4 Ohms, 80 watts at 8 Ohms. I set it up in mono, the Mac was driving one K-Horn & the Yamaha the other one. First impression, the Mac side wasn't loud enought, I had to use the balance control to even them out.Before trying to concentrate on the sound quality I had to try some max. volume levels, since this was the first different thing that I noticed. I kept going back and forth with the balance control as I increased the volume. When I was reaching the levels where my kids ran out of the room the Mac's Power Guard circut kicked in and warned me that the amp was going into clipping.Nice touch, but the Yamaha seemed to keep going. I know, don't ask, I should have pulled out my sound level meter. I just said to myself, "this amp. won't do". I turned it down to more reasonable levels and began to really listen to what this amp sounds like, because even while searching for it's clipping point I couldn't help to notice it's cleaner sound. It gets a big WOW!, for the quality of it's sound. It made a much bigger differance then all the speaker tweaking I've done. I won't try to go into detail, you heard it all before. It's like the old vail has been lifted again. Much cleaner and more detail from top to bottom.The insturments and voices all seem to stand out on their own. Not blended together as with the Yamaha & Phase Linear. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it, because of it's slight lacking of enought power for me. I may have to go with the more powerfull MAC206-6, 200 watts at 4 Ohms & 120 watts at 8 Ohms. I did try the bridged setting and that may be a little too much power. I had to turn down the gain controls, because I was getting what I think was some AC line noise thru the tweeter. It was like an amplifer buzzing sound. I do really like this improved sound. I have to wait for an answer from the guy that I bought it from. He is at the CES show and said that he will see about swapping it out for the MC206 when he gets back next week. If I do change, anyone here can have it for what I payed for it, $2200.00 to include shipping. Before I send it back to him. Then if I can't work out a deal with him I may put it on ebay. Sorry, but I don't understand how some of you can use those low powered tube amps. The new falce corners are almost finished. Mike L., no thank's you. You keep saying that you want to come over and listen, but I havn't heard you offer to come over and help yet :-) . Q. ------------------ Q-Man This message has been edited by Q-Man on 01-12-2002 at 04:49 PM