Ski Bum

Chris, this phase relation between two drivers oriented vertically in a single speaker as coytee is asking about would result in different vertical lobing patterns in the speakers power response, depending on the slopes involved and physical distance between the drivers, correct?

Dunning Kruger Alert! I may not know what I'm talking about here, so fair warning. I would answer, kinda, sorta, yes. There are additional factors to consider, such as using a -6db crossover point with 12db/oct slopes, and the drivers must be wired out of phase. Compare to a -3db point for a fourth order, 24db/oct slope style crossover, where you must have the drivers wired in phase. Both methods sum flat in amplitude response. As long as you choose slopes with phase shifts with factors of 180, as occurs using the 12/12 slope crossover, then yes, switching driver polarity can ensure flat response at the crossover frequency, and phase of 0 or 360.

Is that a Decware se84 derived amp? Those tubes (sv83) and "Hazen mod" give that impression. Looks very nice, too.

If your AVR has pre-outs, you could still use a tube amp with it. While you're getting comfortable with tubes, read the amp articles in here: http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm That should give you an overview of amplification, including tubes. While that is a reputable source, you'll note the author has little good to say on single ended tubes, which is all true, I suppose, but they're still my favorite flavor of tube gear. You'll discover that you don't have to spend a fortune on tube gear, despite the high prices out in audio consumer land. I'm pretty sure that Maynard could cook up something for a few hundred that would put amps costing a few thousand to shame.

Making things legal may just be a perfectly reasonable response to the fact that prohibition is a failed and wildly expensive policy.

There seems to be a bit of reveling as the tribe dances in celebration, perhaps at vanquishing any logical thought from the forum. The tribe members need to put down the pipe and try Delusion Blocking Therapy (which is exceedingly easy to do with DACs). Otherwise the title of this thread just begs the question, and no surprise, the ensuing discussion devolves into a circle jerk of misinformation.

Who has a gif or image of PWK simultaneously face-palming and flipping his lapel? Anyone? Any photoshop meisters care to make one? This thread could sure use it.

JamesD, here is a peak spl calculator you can try to see how much power you use. It's fairly accurate compared to actual REW measurements. I agree w/ GPBusa, 85 watts should suffice for all but the most bombastic listening.

Very practical, sensible option you've chosen. Internet high-five to you! By the way, Marantz pre pros typically put out 4v (or more), even on their RCA's, so you should be good either way. But balanced is simply better. I'm not sure if you'll get any practical benefit, but with Klipsch, every bit of noise reduction counts.

What's with the desire to bi-amp everything? Unless you're talking about going fully active, which you're not doing, you should forget everything you've ever heard from a salesman or read in an audio magazine about bi-amping. It's a complete waste of time.

I've never fully understood all those different classes of amps, Dave. From my younger years I generally knew that Class A was audiophile class, B was a notch down, then there were A/B hybrids, then there are the Inuke type amps everyone uses for subs. After that I get lost. Can you give me a couple of examples of Class D amps you like? Here is a thorough explanation.

Manipulating the freq response does indeed help, but I question if it should be handled at the speaker. It seems to me that the speaker should be engineered for flat response, and the eq should be handled by the user upstream, on an as needed (to address local acoustics) or desired ("restoring the bass" via Chris' remastering methods on source material, loudness/smiley curve for low level listening, etc) basis. I could be wrong. All I know is that according to the omnimic measurements I've done on mine, fortes w/ crites networks measure exceptionally flat on axis down to where room modes come into the picture. Forte bass is inherently tight and dry, and thus kind of anemic without the benefit of close proximity to walls/corners. Proper balance of the bass to the rest most definitely helps produce a clean, relaxed presentation, where the image scales properly. I think the OP simply has a phase/wiring issue that hopefully is worked out. Properly functional forte II are dope *** speakers.

If it's Black on Both Sides you should really give it a chance.

Nobody has suggested such a thing, at least not yet. The only specific mention was for Crites networks, which are identical to stock networks but with better parts, not a deviation or re-engineering of the speaker. Keep in mind that the oem caps were cheapies when they were new, and at the ripe age of 23 years or so may not be doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. If I were you I would listen to them as is, and continue to try different placement to tune the bass. Try them deep in the corners, toed in heavily, and see if that doesn't help compensate the harsh top end you're experiencing.

You could probably get away with it as low as 9 o'clock (<1/4 above min) up to 12 o'clock (half way). It's really up to you to determine which is best, and fortunately you'll have plenty of wiggle room to work with. With the input sensitivity set too low it won't get loud enough, and, although it's unlikely, you could drive the Marantz pre-outs to clipping. You don't want that. If it's set too high you'll (possibly) hear hiss/hum when nothing is playing. You don't want that either. You just need to land somewhere between those two extremes, and voila, you're done. Then it's time to get down to the music.

That's input sensitivity for the amp (wish all amps had this feature!). The setting won't limit the amp's output, but it will change the voltage required from the pre amp to drive it to full output. It will allow you more flexibility in regards to gain staging of your rig. You'll want to set them high enough to reach your desired maximum listening levels, but no higher. Given the sensitivity of your speakers, that will probably result in a fairly low setting on the input sensitivity. This does a few things. It forces your pre amp to send a stronger signal, thus increasing s/n on what's fed to the amplifier. This helps bury any noise. It also prevents a hair trigger volume on your pre-amp, giving you much more useful range of control. The soft clipping is the switch at the lower right. I would only engage that for times when others control the volume knob, particularly if said folks have had a few adult beverages. Otherwise, I would leave it off. Short of trying to achieve club-like levels, I doubt you would clip that thing anyway.

The definition of PRAT. (Not the common definition, but it's what the term PRAT makes me think of, at least. Andre Miller with the impeccable timing, set to grooves put down by Curtis Fuller? That's just pure awesomeness.)

To play, or not to play? What is one supposed to do given the risks of "safety" result directly in eroding net worth and ultimately less spending power? Since that spending power is what will really matter to you and those who depend on you, the greater risk may come from sitting out the game. And if you have the time and can buy and hold forever, compounding is just a wonderful thing.

http://www.theonion.com/article/shoddy-chinese-made-stock-market-collapses-51163 lol!

Only those with skin in the game, so less than half in the US are affected, and this is really only of consequence to those who sold or are selling in a panic. Cheaper gas, cheaper groceries, cheaper energy, so there is a bright side that will affect everyone. The markets are not the economy.

Chris, or any of the others versed in the electrical engineering and ss class a amps. Have any of you used, tried, or have familiarity with Peter Walker's current dumping type amps? Quad 402 and some follow up models employ this approach, and I think one of Pass' old Threshold amps does as well. Supposedly class a operation (total absence of crossover distortion), but with low heat, low output impedance, big power, and low parts count. They've been around forever, and, on paper at least, seem rather ingenious.

Why bother with a second powered woofer in that case? You could apply a Linkwitz transform type eq to a stock Chorus (assuming you have a multi kilo-watt amp and the drivers can take the abuse). And keep in mind that getting such extension via a Linkwitz Transform is not without serious trade offs. For example, you would necessarily be giving up gobs of SPL producing capability of the driver because of the excursion overhead needed at the lower frequencies. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Here is a reputable link explaining some of this better than I can.

Only for servicing, never out of curiosity or "op amp rolling" or whatever.

The Chorus is a reflex enclosure, so your idea of throwing an active woofer in place of the passive is a non-starter. I suppose it could be done, but that would basically require re-engineering the whole bass alignment to suit both drivers. For example, you could separate each active woofer by creating internal sub-enclosures, a tall order with all those horns, baskets, and magnet structures getting in the way. And, assuming that can be pulled off, you would end up w/ basically some sort of franken-heresies in big cabs with built in subs that would likely fall short of the performance of actual Heresies and subs or Chorus in bone stock condition. This just sounds like the hard way to learn what should be painless lessons concerning the basics of speaker design, and a chance to ruin and already great product.

No rate hike, moar QE? I'm actually quite glad for any market correction. It is long overdue. I'll wait until the streets are flowing with blood before committing, but I've got my shopping list and the sales are about to begin!