HornEd

A couple of decades ago, an elderly couple lived a mile or so from the Southwest Research Foundation in San Antonio, Texas. For many weeks, each noted that the other was getting more and more on edge... but neither would confide in the other what the problem was. One weekend, their son came to visit... and after an hour or two he asked, "What is that funny whispering that I hear?" They both blurted out, "You hear it too!" It seems that the military had given a grant to the research lab to test the potential to have battlefield commands whispered through a subwoofer sufficiently non-directional as to not give away the commander's position. For weeks the couple had lived in anguish... each thinking that they were hearing voices and fearful of admitting to the other that they were losing it! For whatever it's worth, I lived on top of a hill further North of the facility... and I called to complain... I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Ah, yes, brother Paul & Co. have a ways to go with "our" subwoofers. HornEd ------------------ "Klipsch by the Dozen" KLF 30's Front Mains KLF C-7 Front Center KSW-15 Front Pwr Sub SB-2 Front Effects KSW-12 + KLF 10 Rear L&R KSW-12 + KLF 10 Rear Ctr. Speaker Support Systems: Mitsubishi RPHD1080 65" Yamaha RX-V3000 Receiver

Greetings, TVodhanel... I agree that the HGS18 is a GREAT sub... particularly in the first octave! However, this system was built for my 93 yr. old mom and first octave stuff tends to rattle her osteoporodic bones. For real! I did a test with another 18 incher last year... it is a good thing that she has limited memory function... because she was really upset. We just finished watching "Independence Day", re-running critical parts that exercise subwoofers using different configurations. The room has a lot of heavy drapes, upholstered valences, tapestries, massive upholstered furniture and a thick carpet. They soak up a lot of sonic energy that would otherwise be more damaging to the sound stage. Additionally, the three 12" subs are carefully positioned and phase switched to minimize cancellation. Just for the fun of it, I wanted to make this installation all Klipsch. Last year when I first built it there were no Klipsch speakers... who knows, thanks to you, Velodyne may just be next. As you may recall from other posts, this experiment was to design a system that took advantage of an integrated loaded horn design to stimulate mom's neural pathways in a positive way. The three KSW-12's provide enough sonic orientation (without too much bone rattling)to heighten her awareness... without pushing her over to "Panicville." I keep the rear array on "LARGE" in order to skim of the lows for the KSW-12's. Actually, the KLF-10's do pretty well, but it takes a powered boost to make a statement when the rear channels are running discretely. The one KSW-15 in sync with the KLF-30's can rumble this room pretty well... though, obviously, not as pleasurably low as the Velodyne would go with the same material. Still, the object of this experiment is to see if I can get low range orientation effects and "in-sync" low range for discrete sounds not delivered to the primary subwoofer(s). Yes, I was running two 15" BASH subs and cut it down to balance the room with the rear array. As you can probably guess, under other conditions this rig would not be the same. In any event, thanks for reminding me of something I shall try one of these days! HornEd

Thanks for the tip, BobG. With three KSW-12's in my rear speaker array (but nary a blown fuse) it seems prudent to trot by Radio Shack and tape a spare underneath them. Any comments on a p/n for the KSW-15 that's up front? Thanks for your support, HornEd

It just sort of grew on me. It started with a 5.1 system... one KSW-12 to give some punch to DVD's on the 65" RPHD1080 Mitsubishi. But, alas, the rear effects stayed weak. So, the KSW-12 was used to feed the R & L Surrounds... giving some "bottom" to their effects... and a KSW-15 (ahh, true BASH) was put up with the mains. A definite improvement... but there was a sense of mismatched directional clues bouncing off the walls... and the rear center effect lacked oomph. So, two more KSW-12's were added. Now, bringing up the rear are left, center and right KSW-12's... each with their very own KLF 10 plugged in. With KLF 30's for mains (with their dual 12" woofers working best when two feet from the wall) and a C-7 verbally adept center, a single strategically placed KSW-15 has bass character aplenty. We all know those horns can sing the highs and mids... but wait to your hear them with a matched bass sub-set... you will feel more about synergy than any ad copy. ------------------ My "Klipsch Dozen" HT KLF 30's Front Mains KLF C-7 Front Center KSW-15 Front Pwr Sub SB-2 Front Effects KSW-12 + KLF 10 Surrounds KSW-12 + KLF 10 Rear Ctr. Speaker Support Systems: Mitsubishi RPHD1080 65" Yamaha RX-V3000 Receiver