Ski Bum

This is one of the cooler aspects of Klipsh, IMO. Their longevity has allowed them to become the Harley Davidson of speakers. Since Klipsch has been around so long, and the cottage folks catering to them have a wealth of modding experience built up over decades (hat tip to Bob Crites, DeanG, fastlane Dave, ALK, and others I'm probably forgetting to mention), from simple re-habs to full blown re-engineering in some cases, it's something special that no other brand I can think of has to offer. Why mod? To fix things as they age. To uncut the corners that the bean-counters cut for the commercial product. To push the envelope of the designs. Forte II, Crites full networks and ti tween diaphragms. Conservative, no re-engineering here, but the result is a very honest speaker.

It's the wire folks who denigrate those who don't buy into the myth, not the other way around. The wealth-jealousy argument you are making on their behalf is presumptive and denigrating, for example.

I suppose in a way you're correct. If I drive a Ferrari and a Chevy Camaro beats me in a drag race, I likely won't care because I'm driving a mutherfuckin' Ferrari. I would view a Boulder amp as a luxury item. Klipsch speakers are proof-of-concept engineering, quite rational if you ask me. I don't view MIT cables (or any magic wires) as a luxury item, and find efforts to elevate them to such status utterly ridiculous.

And note the responses to the skeptics filled with logical fallacies and just plain nonsense. It's homeopathic audio practice: good for those selling high margin gear but not really very helpful to the consumer. What does "the consumer" want? Depends on how gullible they are, and there's a sucker born every minute. The homeopathic audio consumer wants validation and will entertain the most discredited nonsense to maintain the self deception, where a more rational consumer may focus on function and value.

And note the responses to the skeptics filled with logical fallacies and just plain nonsense. It's homeopathic audio practice: good for those selling high margin gear but not really very helpful to the consumer.

It's simple: the advantage of a trust is protection and control of your wealth.

MIT cables are not simply wires (note the little box thingie which contains some resistors or whatever else inside). If using the speaker cable as some sort of fixed eq is what you're after, MIT has provided the means to do just that.

Little known loophole with Roth IRAs. The gov't hates that this exists, and will disqualify them if there is a single typo on the forms, but if you title the IRA properly it can be passed un-taxed to heirs. Check with your accountant for the specifics on this. A tax-free Roth IRA is a fantastic gift to leave for your kids. Also, thank you eth2 for mentioning trusts, another great way to avoid probate and keep more wealth in the family.

I think you already answered this a couple posts back. I expect you would decorate your home with sonic art similarly to how you decorate with visual art, or how you cook, etc, with good taste, the results indicating a respect for the music as interpreted by your own collection of goals/limitations/expectations/WAF and other factors. After all the ups and downs of being in the industry, is it not ultimately the love of the music that makes you want to explore OB speakers, or take a dive into hi rez audio? I'm not sure I would grant it artistic status, but it's fun, right? As for that hi res thing, it's all about the production quality, not the bits, IME, and I would posit it's the same with everything else in your collection of 10,000 choices, with their mysterious production or artistic intent. PWK was absolutely correct about quality source material being of utmost importance, and Dave is right to complain that there is not enough of it these days. Interesting discussion. I'm off to stuff some foam in my horns, be back later.

I'm just a curious hobbyist myself, but it's my understanding that diffraction from cabinet edges and such is somewhat sidestepped by horns due to their directivity; their controlled pattern doesn't allow as much interaction as direct radiators on a 180 deg. wave guide would, or to a much less degree. But some horn folks go the extra mile to make sure diffraction is minimized (e.g. Gedlee speakers, with the waveguides and front baffles molded to form a seamless integral piece, with beveled edges to boot). Speaking of Gedlee, isn't the open cell foam plug in the waveguide specifically to quell reflections within the horn? Has anyone tried that approach on their Klipsch? If ping pong balls are in consideration, this should be tried too.

The LXminis need a lot of breathing room per Linkwitz himself. I'm not sure how much the Yields demand. Just a guess, but compared to the more omni/OB of the LXmini, I think the asymmetric front/back pattern, particularly the frontally focused collapsing treble polars from their larger driver, would make Dave's Yield more manageable in a small room. Plus much higher sensitivity and the benefits that come with it.

Hey, we actually have that one, it's awesome. Now if only I had a dedicated room decked out with Klipsch cinema speakers I could hear it in it's full glory. Some day.

Mark, do you have adequate space for Orions (presumably what you're checking out)? They hog space due to the required distance to the back wall, which will pose a challenge in a small room. Have you had a look at Fastlane Dave's Yeild OB project? There's a thread in two channel somewhere on those.

That's no excuse not to have a comfy chair strategically located in the sweet spot. What about those times when you buy a new album/cd/download and want to really swim through the mix and familiarize yourself? Shoot, I do that with music I'm intimately familiar with and learn/hear something new quite often. We have music on pretty much all waking hours, and it's seldom the primary focus of what we're doing. But I do like to trip out hard to music, too, where it is the sole focus. I like the effect of feeling plugged directly into the mixing console on the studio recordings, and being transported to the event for live recordings. That's sweet-spot-immersion sort of stuff, not casual background enjoyment.

We don't have a dedicated room to do multichannel justice. We do have rears in our boob tube system, matrixed old school style in the form of a Hafler array (don't use an actual Hafler box, just a separate amp w/ it's own gain controls, negative speaker leads connected together and only positive leads connected to amp). Works very well, unobtrusive and natural sounding with music, and entirely sufficient for Dr. Who and basketball. The Klipsch and other rigs we use are all two channel. Speakers in the other rigs tend to be small studio monitor types paired w/ decent woofage. The goals are the same in each case: less room, more source. With the horns, a larger and more stable image can result from cross-firing. I've posted Bill's paper before, but it applies directly to this topic so HERE it is again. This works better the lower the speakers hold a pattern, and the wider their spacing is in the room.

Access to the DSP would be almost essential, at least for users who eq for their particular environments. Haven't met a room yet that didn't benefit from a bit of bass eq. Klipsch is on the right track with these. I'm the epitome of the used Heritage cheapskate, and I would give these a serious look.

I still would like to think Marla is real, and that it's some sort of ultra-bizarro love story at heart. Jack is troubled, by the vacuous ethics of consumerism, masculinity in the modern world, etc., and the movie is Jack's schizo coping/growth/realization that he loves Marla. Crazy attracts crazy, right? Too hollywood cheesy of an interpretation? I guess so, given the linked article is by Chuck Palahniuk.

One of the best movies of the 90's. Dtel, go watch it! Excellent story of a deeply disturbed psychological flip out presented in a very cleverly crafted film. And a great use of a Pixies song.

I would say that is a fluke if ever there was one. They are standard IEC connectors on them. Bruce It was a joke, not meant literally. Amp "crash" from a Dell cord, get it? In response to how hospital cords protect against viruses? Maybe a designated joke font is in order?

Such sad news. Alex, my deepest condolences for you and your family.

I didn't realize you were offended by the continuation of your thread. My apologies for hurting you. I'll start a different thread. I think he meant my BS response w/ post #2. But as the one behind the Peach, which some of the buss supporters use, what sort of power filtering/conditioning would benefit it?

He made it simple: 8 Card states the rules for speakers, Klipschorn embodies the rules, zip cord carries the signal, and then he said "What this country needs is a good 5 watt amplifier." Easy. I did what he said...and am completely happy. Dave I don't recall what specifically is on the "8 card" but I am leery of an idea like rules for speakers. I've heard so many GREAT sounding speakers that are radically different in topology, that I can't even begin to imagine how rules would cover the field. How would one unite such diverse speaker concepts as Klipschorn, Magneplanar, Tannoy concentric, B&W, and say, Lowther, under a set of rules? I am don't mean personal preferences, but physical rules. I don't see it unless preceding the rules there is a specific measurable objective stated. Then, it might be possible to state some rules. I looked around and didn't see any summary of the rules. Maybe you can post them? You're really not familiar with the various different "rules for speakers"? You're correct that specific goals must be stated, and our own situations dictate what those are. But I can think of several "sets of rules" for speakers off the top of my head, all well supported, and they all boil down to differing takes on room interaction and other specific, reductive engineering design goals. -Horn rules (PWK's 8 card is but one set of rules; on this branch of the audio tree are Geddes, Parnam, Danley, and a host of others), -the Harmon/Olive/Toole set of rules, well researched and hugely influential in the speaker market. -OB/dipoles have their rules, Linkwitz has written all about it. I don't know what to tell you about the rules for Lowthers. I've played with wide-banders, kind of like the TB W8 actually, but I like 'em with passive bsc, a practice frowned upon by certain folks. They do have some triats that other approaches also aspire to (notably Danley synergy horns with their phase coherence). So, yes, in order to state the rules, the objectives must be known, and it's case specific.

Dunno about that, he's bamboozled me into doing something I haven't done in years (watch football on tv). Update: Oh, ffs, Dallas! Come on! (Still a lot of time left...) Update: BOO YA! (sheds tear for Stuart Scott)

check your PMs.

Hey, I need one of those thingies. About 35 miles as the crow flies from my favorite station's tower, 89.3mHz, so your antenna should be just right for me (I think that boils down to ~50" if I'm doing my antenna length / freq calc correctly). Where you at?