ThomBoh
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Posts posted by ThomBoh
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6 minutes ago, Khornukopia said:
Well, that is helpful information.
The way Steve described it to me, if he completely eliminated the hum from his amps, he'd also eliminate some of the sonic signature that makes them so good, so there's a tradeoff there, but his design target is such that a 100 dB efficient speaker will put out a negligible amount of hum at listening position.
This hum will be louder at 105 dB, sure, but mine is pretty bad. What I'm trying to determine is whether or not this is completely the inherent hum of the amp (which means that Decware amps and La Scala AL5s and Khorns are just not a good match), or if there's something else going on in my case which is making it worse than it should be
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17 minutes ago, Idontknow said:
I had this problem with my Decware Zen too. Contact Steve at Decware and ask him if he thinks you need to connect the two negative speaker terminals with a wire. He explained this in a forum and it worked but contact him first to ask. All I did was literally connect the two negative speaker terminals with a 7" single speaker wire.
Thanks for for chiming in! So I did actually try this a while ago. On the SE84UFO25, if you're using it in normal stereo (e.g. not as a monoblock), this does help. Doesn't eliminate the hum, but does help. Unfortunately, as I learned from discussing this with Steve, you can't do this when using the UFO25s as monoblocks as I do -- but you can run them in balanced differential which fixes everything.
Unfortunately, for the SEWE300B amp, connecting the two negative terminals does not do anything for the hum in any scenario. I was really hopeful it would help, as I planned to use the 300B in normal stereo operation... alas.
Really hoping that someone here has tried Decware + La Scalas or Klipschorns! The only person I currently know of out there who has used a Decware SE84UFO amp with La Scala AL5 is Andrew Robinson, and he raved about it, but he is unfortunately not reachable to discuss things like this.
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20 minutes ago, Khornukopia said:
Because all 3 amplifiers exhibit the same hum, I would still suspect something like a bad light dimmer somewhere in the building.
There are unfortunately no dimmer switches 😕 it's a small home that just has simple light switches. But yeah I would love to learn that there's an electrical gremlin lurking somewhere that can be fixed! Also, fwiw, I've never had hum problems with my non-decware amps (Primaluna and naim), but the decware amps are definitely more naturally prone to hum by design.
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Hi all, trying to troubleshoot an issue that's been driving me nuts. I'm near the end of my rope and hoping to hear from anyone here who has used a Decware tube amp with either La Scala AL5s or Klipschorns to see if the problem is with something in my system, or simply just a bad pairing of speaker and amp.
I have tried three different Decware tube amplifiers (two different SE84UFO25s, and the new SEWE300B) and have found that with all three of them, when paired with my La Scala AL5s, there is a loud 60 or 120 Hz (maybe both) hum. This hum is independent of gain/volume setting on the amplifiers, always the same volume. I measure this baseline hum at 59 dB in my listening chair using a handheld decibel meter (C weighted). To be clear, tube amps always have some small amount of hum in them, but this is very loud, and these are extremely highly regarded amps.
I know this kind of thing is often caused by a ground loop. I think I have ruled ground loops out: the hum is the same regardless of whether or not anything is connected to the inputs on the amps. Even when the only thing connected to power in the room is the amp, and the amp is connected to the La Scalas, I get the same hum as when everything is plugged in and connected together.
I have spoken to Steve Deckert about it and he very patiently listened and helped me troubleshoot. He thinks something is amiss, but I've checked all the standard causes. He suggested there's a possibility that the wiring/grounding in my home has something wrong with it. I had an electrician check it out today, and he said everything is good.
I'm really totally stumped. The problem is common across three different amplifiers, so I think it's unlikely that they're all defective in exactly the same way, somehow, and the 300B amp is literally brand new.
One suggestion Steve has offered, is that his amps always have some level of "inherent" hum to them, but he designs the amps such that for a 100 dB speaker, at listening position, the hum is inaudible or barely audible. He said there's a possibility that my La Scalas are so efficient that the hum is louder than one would want, but he did also say it shouldn't be this bad. For me, the hum is extremely audible.
So, I'd like to ask if anyone here has had experience using a decware amp (one of the SE84UFO models, or even the new SEWE300B) on their La Scalas or Klipschorns, and experienced this same kind of unshakable hum? It would be really helpful to know if this is just a bad match of equipment, rather than something I can fix!!
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12 minutes ago, the real Duke Spinner said:
It's a natural result of real wood veneer Why not buy vinyl clad speakers if this is an issue
I don't think it's unreasonable to want to be able to place a $13 000 pair of speakers in a room that has a window and not want one of them to turn yellow in the span of two months.
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I've got a pair of La Scala AL5 in American Walnut, and I noticed with a previous pair of Klipsch The Fives that if you leave them by a window in direct sunlight, they will change color.
One of my La Scala gets a few hours of direct sunlight in the morning, whereas the other does not. I would like to avoid the one by the window changing color on the surfaces that see sunlight, like the Fives did.
Is there a good product I could use that will protect the finish from this kind of discoloration?
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On 8/7/2022 at 9:00 AM, the real Duke Spinner said:
These are Lacquer finish ??
Or Oil
My understanding from previous posts in this thread is that they are a lacquer finish.
Got my La Scalas in last night, and wow! The Tibet Almond Stick took care of 90% of the scratches/blemishes, I'm very happy with the results. I don't really feel the need to put in the effort with filler etc to get that last 10%.
Also wow! The La Scala sound amazing. Sad to see my Heresy IV go, but wow what an upgrade.
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On 8/1/2022 at 4:50 PM, MMurg said:
Yes, I would use with the light wood formula with the American Walnut finish. Even that did somewhat darken the finish of my Belle. That said, I took a good look at your pictures, and I would suggest you try something else before the Trade Secret if you don't want to darken the finish at all.
Since just about all the blemishes on your La Scala are small scratches, I would try using Tibet Almond Stick first (http://tibetalmondstick.net/). It's available on Amazon. It's easy to apply only where needed and has no stain in it. If that doesn't work, then move on to the Trade Secret.
Wow, the tibet almond stick worked wonders on the small blemishes on my other wood veneer furniture. Excited to see how the La Scala clean up when they arrive on Monday!
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On 7/31/2022 at 12:19 PM, MMurg said:
All recent generations of Heritage are lacquer finish. I believe oiled finishes were only offered on these vintage models up to the "II" versions (except the La Scala) or around the same time for those that didn't have a II designation (late ‘90s) - Heresy, Cornwall, Belle Klipsch, La Scala, Klipschorn, Forte, Chorus, Quartet, kg1, kg2, kg3 and kg4. The La Scala was the exception where oiled finishes were dropped with the II version. (Someone correct me if I missed some.)
Awesome, good to know!
I see from your Belle thread that the light wood formulation of the liquid is what you used. Do you think you would you choose that again over the dark wood formulation if you were to use it on a modern Walnut La Scala? The finish on the Belles looks similar, but it's always hard to tell with photographs.
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14 hours ago, MMurg said:
I've been made a believer in Trade Secret scratch remover thanks to @OO1. Scroll down near the bottom on page 1 of this thread to see the before and after on the top panel from a 1981 Belle Klipsch.
Thanks for the suggestion! It looks to have worked really nicely in your case.
One thing I haven't been able to find much definitive information on: how are the current heritage walnut finishes done? Are they lacquer like your Belles? Are they oiled?
I've read a few places that people suggest Tung Oil. It's not clear to me if that's an appropriate suggestion for the current finishes or perhaps for older finishes that were oil based? If anyone has any definitive information on the modern finishes that would be helpful
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19 hours ago, the real Duke Spinner said:
Simply an option
Unable to view pix as Auction has expired if you do not like Black. Paint White. 😀
Whoops, sorry. Working photos here: https://imgur.com/a/OuBnlLR
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Shown here
A little more beat up than I would like, but for the price I couldn't pass them up. Hoping to be able to mitigate the cosmetic damage as best I can!
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I just bought a used set of La Scala AL5 in Walnut and there are a few minor seeming scratches and blemishes in the finish of the veneers. I'm wondering if there is a best practice for repairing these kinds of cosmetic defects? For example, is there a specific oil or other products that is the right match for the modern Heritage series walnut finish? Any tips for repairing cosmetic defects on this particular finish would be greatly appreciated!
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Hi thanks for the reply
Unfortunately, that was one of the first things i tried, clean as a whistle as far as i can tell. Strangely enough the problem came on suddenly while I was listening with them. They were fine and then suddenly in the middle of a song the sound in the right cut out.
Its looking more like this is a coincidence (though an unusual one), fingers crossed that my third pair holds up okay
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Hi there
I'm having a strange problem with S4i earphones and I was wondering if what I'm experiencing is a known or common issue:
I bought a pair of Image S4is for my iPhone (3GS) back in november, and they worked great for a while, but, after a few weeks the audio in one side lost substantial power, it was much quieter than what was coming out the other side. I had treated and stored them very well and didnt think it could be a damage problem, so I asked amazon to replace them, and they did which was great.
Had my new S4is barely a week, and wouldnt you know it, the exact same thing happened. But this time it was the other ear! Too weird. I suspected my iPhone at first, but, the iphone works fine with all other earphones, and the problem with both pairs of S4is persisted regardless of the device they were being used with. I am sure this is not an earseal issue or perception issue (the difference between before/after the malfunction is very clear).
Again, i treated and stored them very well, taking care not to strain the cord, and my ears were always clean. I have no idea what could have caused both pairs to malfunction in the same way!
Any ideas on this???
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Hi there, I've just bought a pair of image S4is but am having a fair bit of trouble getting them to fit comfortably.
The only tips i can seem to fit into my ears are the small, and small double-flanged (double flanged seem to go in easiest), but neither are by any means easy to get in. I've finally managed to get them in reliably (upside down no less!), but after only a few minutes, my ear canals are pretty sore, and are sensitive to movement. Even moving my jaw up and down causes pain in my ears! This would lead me to believe they might be in too far, but i cant pull them out any farther without breaking the seal... I'm stuck here. They sound great, but there's no way I can wear these when they hurt this much! Any suggestions??
Need Help: Decware + La Scala or KHorns
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
I'm paraphrasing here and I don't mean anything specific by "sonic signature". I hope I'm not misrepresenting what he told me, but what I understood was that to get his specific amps to sound the way he wanted it to, there had to be some small amount of residual hum that is audible from ~100 dB efficient speakers if you go up to the driver, but not from listening position. I don't know enough to debate the merits of that design choice. But if you take that statement for granted, then what I'm trying to objectively determine is if the extra 5 dB of efficiency of my La Scalas is causing that same soft hum built in to the amp to be amplified to an unpleasant level, or if something else is going on outside the amp
Unfortunately, no LEDs!