jhoak

I've got a Monoprice 75' HDMI cable running from my DirecTV receiver in the garage to the 37" LCD in my bedroom with no problems at all.

Thanks!! Yes I did. It is very sturdy by design. It's built to accomodate very heavy equipment on any shelf without sagging. You just never know what might show up at my house next. [] I looked for months for just the right one. Everything I found was either not sized right, ugly, poorly made or WAY outside of what I could afford to pay. I finally gave up the search and set about the task of making what I wanted. I'm NOT happy with the color though. I'm working on finding the right combination of stain and oil finishes to get the color I'm after. I'll get there eventually.

Every day mode... Movie mode...

I got a chuckle out of this eBay listing... http://cgi.ebay.com/DYNACO-MARK-III-MONOPHOBIC-POWER-AMPLIFIERS_W0QQitemZ150393727791QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item23042a2b2f So is "Monophobia" a well documented condition? Do they have drugs for it or is a nice "stereo" the only cure?

I built mine out of 3/4" oak veneer plywood and solid oak pieces. The corner posts are 3 1/2" X 3 1/2" solit oak posts. Of course mine was built to accomodate equipment only not speakers of any kind. Here's a picture of it...

The Marantz MM-9000 amps are very nice. I've owned a couple over the years. Check your speaker impedence though. They don't like 4 ohm speakers at all and will go into some kind of crazy oscillation at high volumes. Well at least the last one I had did. I ended up selling it and the new owner has never experienced the problem. Can I ask why Emotiva is eliminated from the options? I just got 3 pieces of Emotiva kit for my 2-channel system and I'm VERY impressed with all of it.

The first thing I would do is pull the tweeters out and check them for continuity with a meter. If the voice coils are "open" (I.E. no continuity through them) then replacing the diaphragms will fix the problem. If the voice coils are not open (I.E. read ~ 6 ohms) then you have crossover issues. Of course you have to own or have access to a working meter in order to do this. Changing the diaphragms is a VERY easy process. It take longer to remove and replace the tweeters from the cabinets then it does to change the diaphragms. The process does require some care. If you're not comfortable with tearing apart the tweeter (removing 3 nuts) then send them to Mr. Crites. You'll pay a bit more but what you get pack from him will be perfect.

Well I managed to toast my Dayton 15" IB subs. What should I replace them with? They're driven by a Behringer EP2500 amp with a Behringer DSP1124P in front of it. The manifold is in place. I'm just looking to replace the drivers. I'm a bit reluctant to buy Dayton again. To answer the inevitable question... I have no idea what happened or when it happened. My suspicion is that during one of my son's "house sitting" stints he and his buddies cranked up the rap (BLECH!!!) a bit too much. It doesn't matter now. They both still work but both voice coils are rubbing and they sound like a$$!

Look here: http://hornloudspeakermagazine.blogspot.com/2008/11/comprehensive-list-of-klipsch-plans.html

That's the plan. I am going to give it a few weeks of play time just be be sure I didn't get a dud. Once I'm convinced it a keeper warranty service wise I'll put the NAD back in [:'(] and send the Sony off. I've read great things about Mike's upgrades.

$1200 will put you in a VERY nice system if you're patient and shop around. Watch your local Craigs List very closely. There's a lot of nice stuff pop up there from time to time. Also join a lot of different forums and watch their classified sections. eBay can be a good source but it's often a gamble on things like turntables. I've been luck to put together a couple of nice systems just by shopping and pouncing when something worthwhile comes up for sale. For example... Bedroom system Onkyo TX-851 stereo receiver - $50 - AVS forum member Klipsch KG2s speakers - $200 - Klipsch forum member Dual 506 turntable - $50 - Local CL find Yamaha K-903 - $10 - garage sale find that needed a $10 belt Sony CDP-545 CD player - $15 - garage sale find that needed clean & lube Sony RM-AV300 universal remote - $25 - Remote Central forum member Grand total = $350 for a real nice sounding little bedroom system Den / Office system Marantz 2240 receiver - $275 - Audiogon Marantz WC-22 cabinet - $160 - eBay Klipsch Cornwalls - $500 - Local CL find Rega Planar 3 turntable - $275 - Klipsch forum member Panasonic RP-91 - $30 - Home Theater Lounge forum member Shure M97xe cartridge - $60 - Bought new Grand total = $1300 for a totally kick-a$$ den / office system Now the really sad part is that it looks like I'll be selling off all of it. I only listen to my main living room system so the other two never get used. I hate to see nice audio equipment go totally to waste.

If any of you are you like me and appreciate FM radio as a "background noise" music source you should check out one of these tuners. Hands down the best 80 bux you'll spend on a tuner. Very sensitive, GREAT selectivity when you have stations that blead over and surprisingly good sound quality. It absolutely smokes my old NAD tuner. Get one!

I'm amp shopping. I'm looking at SS amps to drive my VERY efficient La Scalas. Considering they'll put out painful SP levels on just a few watts I'm wondering just how much “headroom” is necessary or even desirable. Right now I've narrowed the choices down to amp-A that puts out 185 watts per channel in to 4 ohms versus amp-B that puts out 500 watts per channel in to 4 ohms. Amp-B costs ~$450 more than amp-A. It should be noted that the preamp driving either of these amps does analog bass management. I currently have it set to send everything 50 Hz and lower to the subwoofer (dual 15" IB - BFD - 2K+ watts) and 50 Hz and up going to the La Scalas. Even if the La Scalas COULD produce anything below 50 Hz they're never seeing that content. Considering that most of the time I'll be using less than 1% of the “available” power of amp-A is there any compelling reason to drop the extra coin on amp-B? I know that the Klipsch "mantra" is "bigger is ALWAYS better" but I'm not sure that's all together true in this case.

I'm trying to cobble together a pair of "poor man's" Cornscalas to give to my son for Christmas. I'm using some things I have on hand and a few items that have been bought. I have my old Cornwall / Cornscala cabinets to work with. Driver wise I'm working with: Tweeter - Eminence APT-50 mounted to a DIY horn built from a Klipsch K-76-K. 8 ohm, 105 dB/1w Squawker - Selenium D250-X mounted to PH-800 horn. 8 ohm, 107 dB/1w Woofer - Speakerlab W1508S. 8 ohm, 98.8 dB/1w For crossovers I have a pair of Klipsch Type-B that were originally in my Cornwalls. They have been modified in to Crites CS2s using the various bits and pieces secured from Mr. Crites. Current crossover values are: Woofer - 2.5 mH inductor Squawker - 6 uF capacitor, 500 uH inductor on tap 3 of the T2A autoformer Tweeter - 4 uf capacitor on tap 4 of the T2A autoformer They're all hooked up and playable. I won't say that they sound horrid but they're far from right. The mids and highs simply overwhelm the bass. I know that probably none of the crossover values are even close to right for this driver combination. I don't have a problem with pouring a bit more money in them for the right caps and inductor(s). They'll likely be Daytons or maybe Solens. If someone has the crossover modeling software and could take a minute to give me some guidance I'd sure appreciate it. THANX!

94 Acura Integra. Bought used 5 years ago. Now has 176K on the clock. Looks fair runs great. It's a LOT of fun to drive [] 94 Ford F150 standard cab long bed with a topper. Bought used March 08. Now has 128K on the clock. Great for hauling big Klipsch speakers around. Both paid for and both very reliable. Other than maintenance items I expect a few more years out of both without major repairs.

Fixed it. But yea... that too []

My USP-1 arrived Monday. The ERC-1 arrived yesterday. Both VERY nice pieces. I'm planning on listening for a couple of weeks before I put out anything resembling a "review" but based on what I've heard so far I'm very impressed.

So I've got this "cosmeticly challenged" Academy. I've updated the caps and changed to a titanium tweeter diaphragm. It sounds really nice. My plan was to re-veneer it to match the La Scalas I just finished along with a pair of HBRs. My 5.1 system plans have taken another direction and I no longer need the Academy. I really don't think I can get anywhere near what I have in it in it's current condition so I was thinking about new veneer. I have ready access to most of the "standard" veneers (oak, walnut, cherry, etc.) and can certainly get exotics but I'd like to keep the costs reasonable. The question is... Which veneer and finish would be the most "desirable" in terms of resale?

VERY nice!!! What tubes are you running in it? I've had a couple of email conversations with Bob about tube choices and I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on one.

There's nothing "wrong" with K-401s. At least you don't have to bother with rope-caulk or dynamat or any of the other methods employed to deal with the ringing of metal horns. A pair of K-401s at $65 shipped is a pretty decent deal. I sold my K-400s on ebay for just under $200 [] and the new owner is very happy. P.T.Barnum was right []

Excuse me... I happen to think my La Scalas are very "pretty".

This thread inspires a number of thoughts... 1) I SOOOO miss my Belles. I acquired a pair by way of an "interesting" trade for a substantial quantity of a still illegal intoxicant while in college. I didn't live in the dorms but shared a house with 3 other guys. Let's just say that the Belles saw their share of SERIOUS parties an never broke a sweat. I got married and the wife deemed them too big and too ugly and they had to go. I ended up giving them to a friend (sold actually but he never paid me). In retrospect I should have gotten rid of the wife (something I did some years later) rather than the Belles. 2) TUBES... TUBES... TUBES... Do it now. Don't wait. Don't hesitate. There's nothing quite like the sound produced by a pair of heritage Klipsch and even the most modest of tube amps. I'm currently running a pair of La Scalas (there's a couple of threads about them) driven by a pair of Dynaco MK IV monoblocks. Short version... I'm in audio heaven. 3) I'm not sure why I still seek a pair of Belles. I'm VERY happy with my La Scalas. They produce almost the best music I've ever heard. I guess it's the nostalgia thing having previously owned a pair. I watch for Belles constantly. Of the very few pairs that have showed up within a reasonable driving distance they were either trashed or too expensive to consider. I keep watching though. Sooner or later a pair will show up at a point where I can cough up the coin and it'll be all over. Enjoy your Belles. They're a very very special breed of speaker.

Happy to. It'll be a couple of weeks though. I'm in the process of gathering the bits, pieces and supplies to do a total restoration on them. Once I start I'll be taking a LOT of detailed close-up photos. I figure I'll need the pictures to know how to put them back together.

I paid just under $600 for the pair. He had the NOS Valves invoice and he paid almost that for the rebuild. Not a "garage sale" deal but considerably better than I've seen the occasional MK4 pair go for on audiogon. MK4s don't show up for sale very often. When they do they're either completely tricked out and BIG $$$ or totally trashed. These are a nice compromise. I'll be able to do some work on them to dress them up. I have no doubt that I'll get every penny I paid back out of them should I decide to sell them at some point. The clincher for me was that these were local to me. OK... an hour and a half away but I didn't have wonder what I would receive from the brown truck. That and the seller had them hooked up to a really sweet pair of Cornwalls (mint 76 CWOs) to audition. About 20 seconds in to the second song I was pulling out my wallet. I have a line on a pretty nice ST-70 at $450 or a pair of MK3s at $800. The ST-70 puts out 35w/ch and the MK3s are 60w. I can hook you up if you're interested.

OK... My apologies for the slaughter of a movie line [] I took a little road trip yesterday and came home with a pair of Dynaco MK IVs. Cosmetically they're kind of rough but not horrid. Functionally they're perfect. They underwent a total rebuild by NOS Valves in 2005. At the same time Triode Electronics front end boards were installed. Earlier last week I had purchased from willand a NAD preamp, tuner, and amp. The intent was to use the preamp and tuner with the MK4s and sell the amp and my Marantz 2240. It turns out that I like the 2240 at preamp duty better than the NAD. I guess all the NAD stuff will be for sale soon. Before doing any listening I checked the bias on both amps. They were both off a little (1.42V & 1.38V) so they got dialed back in to the required 1.56V. They're currentyl populated with a set of Dynaco (by Mullard) EL43 XF2 output tubes and NOS East German 12AU7’s on the front ends. The rectifier tubes appear to be original Dynaco branded 5AR4s. The amps are dead quiet with no hum whatsoever and only the faintest hiss if I put my ear right up to the tweeters. At first I was getting a funny distortion that only appeared at very high volume. It took me a while to figure out that they were picking up vibration through the stand. A quick trip to the local Home Depot of a couple of concrete blocks and door bumps (a whopping $12) and ptoblem solved All I can say is I'm lovin it. A very different character from my La Scalas. Smooth lush mids, solid bass and much crisper highs. Even FM radio sound good. Go figure. Going forward I plan the do a complete "physical" restoration repainting the transformers and probably fabricating some nice wood bases for them. I haven't decided if it worth respraying the cages or not. I kind of like them naked. At some point I'll get in to the whole "tube rolling" thing but for right now I plan to just listen and enjoy. [] Here's a picture with them in place...