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Do the 12AX7's ever need biasing?? --------------- Only the power tubes need biasing. Preamp tubes are just plug, play and forget about them. Well you could enjoy many pleasureable hours of listening.

Just play the old Scott for about 50 to 100 hours to break in Craig's magic and it will sound even better. Depending on whether you use the phono stage or not, you could just put some upgraded Telefunken's 12AX7's ($$$)in the line stage. If you don't need all the power, you could look at some 7591's, blackplates and triple mica that will run you between $31-50, 70% as effiecient as 12AX7's. I like the 7591's better, but my amp also puts out 30 a side, so I still have lots of headroom when dealing wtih the line stage. Then find upgrades for the phase splitters(6BL8). It will make a big difference. Ask Craig for recommendations. I found the difference to be in the mids and highs, more soundstage than with the standard tubes. They are expensive, but they do improve the quality of the sound. Both the preamp tubes and phase splitter changes are noticeable. Good luck.

I have been using triple mica GE blackplate 5751's for the last 3 months and am impressed. I use them in my Scott amp in the line section, you can't use them in the phono section since they are not as efficient, 70%. My amp puts out 30 watts a channel, so the loss is not a major problem with Cornwalls. Craig suggested it might be a greater concern with say a 299B which puts out 20 watts. At $31 they were less than Telefunken's and I thought they sounded better, although I am sure I will get arguements about that statement. A better deal and great sound, worth looking into.

Here is a list of what you can spend on some modern caps. They probably will sound better and save you a load of money. Use some of these and then upgrade your inductors and you will probably like the results better. He recommended that I beef up my inductors to 12 awg solid wire and the result was very noticeable in the bass end. Ask Al and he can give you some good advice. He knows what he is talking about and is willing to share his knowledge with many of us this forum. Old is fine, but at some point the cost is a factor if you are not getting better sound and paying more money for it. I have included high end caps and the economical Solens as well. Hovland caps, 8 uF, $36.95, and the 4 UF, $25.75 Auricap $22.95 $14.95 Solen PPE caps, $4.35 and $3.35 Dynacap (speaker) $34.95 $22.95

It certainly caught my attention when I stubbled upon it. The avitar is "I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold" 1928 by Charles Demouth of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I was searching for something to replace the curling stone now that the ice is gone and I am restricted to hitting around little white balls. I was looking at Canadian Art and happened upon a website that featured artwork from many different periods and styles. When I came upon I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, it was an easy choice for an avitar.

Send a message to Craig, NOS valves. He can give you a better idea. Also check this forum, going back several pages and read. You should find what you are looking for. You could also type in Scott 299 in the search box and then start reading. A price for a fixed up Scott 299 integrated amp would be in the $500 range, all fixed up. It will depend on whether it has a case and it's condition. You would also have shipping, once from the person you purchase it from to Craig and once from him to you. Craig does very good work and there are many satisfied customers here on the forum, including me.

A little information for those who have never heard of Charles Demuth. "Luckily or not, Charles Demuth painted one picture so famous that practically every American who looks at art knows it. The Figure 5 in Gold, 1928, is a prediction of Pop art, based on an Imagist poem, "The Great Figure," by his friend William Carlos Williams: Among the rain and lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red firetruck moving tense unheeded to gong clangs siren howls and wheels rumbling through the dark city. Charles Demuth was one of the most stylistically innovative watercolor artists of the 20th century. He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Tom: I would love a set for my Cornwalls, there is a open space above the tweeter that needs to be filled. I will send you an e-mail to your other address. Thank you for taking on this task. Don

Go to: http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=34065&sessionID={F24B59F4-CC57-48F3-8268-6543B6005D04} This was a reference to the Cary preamps and a good write up. It deals with the difference between a 6SN7 and 12 AU7 based preamps. Many here prefer the 6SN7 based preamps, if you have the budget for these beauties. http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=34065&sessionID={F24B59F4-CC57-48F3-8268-6543B6005D04} will give you a look at a new Pantheon 6SN7 amp that looks gorgeous. If you are looking for a tube amp, your Khorns will not need a lot of power, so SET could do you well for jazz and eazy listening. The only debate is if you want to rock the house, then you might need have a little more power than the 3.5W SETs. A 300B based amp or push pull monoblocks would give you ample juice to light up your house and others. You should have tubes in both the amp and preamp. There have been many wonderful things said about the tiny Wright SET amp, great value for the money. Not as full in the bottom end as the Moondogs, but also less expensive.

Go to the search option, type in Cornwall, starting on page two there are the following threads: Dampening Cornwalls Hyde banished -- transforming the Cornwall page 3 The Jekyll and Hyde Cornwall Revealed: Secret Cornwall Mods at DFW Forum Two channel forum page 3 I'm in love.....(boom)...... I'm all caulked up !! This you will give you an overview. I have put rope caulk on the woofer basket, 2-3" on the squawker, replaced the capacitors, inductors in the original B network, upgraded the wire and connectors, attached a 1x2" piece of oak to the front baffle to tighten it up, and got a tube amp. It sounds great to me. Others will tell you some of these changes shouldn't effect the sound. I can only go by my ears, and my ears like the changes. My Acurus SS amp and pre provided great detail, but an hour of listening was about all I could take at a time. Too bright and too harsh. Good luck.

You are enjoying a real difference in sound. It will give you many long hours of enjoyment. SS can be very shrill with Klipsch speakers, especially the Heritage line. Yes, Craig does great work! and doesn't mind quickly answering questions from those of us with less knowledge and experience.

Check out the two channel and updating speakers forums. If you enter Cornwall or damping you should get some information out of the search engine. Dean posted some pictures of his changes lately and there have been others in the last year and a half. Rope caulking has been tried with success and a hardwood brace across the front panel is another option. Others have replaced the capacitors and inductors in their Cornwalls. The rope caulk option is the cheapest, easiest to do and can be removed. SS equipment with Cornwalls can provide great detail, but at the cost of a bright midrange. It depends on whether your ears can tolerate this sound or not. As a result many have switched to tubes.

What is the difference in the designation between the Scott 299 amps? -------------------------- http://hhscott.com/integrated_amps_stereo.htm This will show you what tubes are required for each amp, power and unique features. It will give you a quick overview. Craig and others could easily provide you with more information. Many here seem to like the 299B best.

You can pick up a used Scott, 299B and send it to Craig to do the rebuilding. It would cost something in the neighbourhood of $5 - 600 US when you are finished. Add another $200 to replace some of the tubes with NOS versions and you have a very nice set up. Not as good as some other tube offerings, but also not at the $2000 + level. Others can offer you suggestions in this price range.

Danny: Where did you put the deflex panels on your Cornwalls? Were they restricted to the back panel, or did they also go on the front or side? They are not an expensive tweak for small speakers, but it would take some sheets to do a Cornwall. Any further information as to mounting location and there effects would be appreciated.

I think I like to listen to it loud, but having checked what most people think vs. what is reality, my listening level is never more than 1 (clock face) on my Scott. That is loud enough, I can't hear my friend come in the house. Above that it does get bright. Dean has a lot more rope caulk on his squawkers, but if you want to pump up the volume, you are going to have to caulk them. It is also, easy to remove. Each tweak you make, may change the amount of rope caulk you need to reach your tolerance, enjoyment level. I also liked the effect of putting caulking on the woofer spiders. The Hovlands cost around $20.55 US a piece. http://www.partsconneXion.com/catalog/capacitors.html Before the Holvands, I had the original oil in aluminum cans. One of them was shot and had to be replaced. ALK recommended the Hovlands (2.0uF cap) and Solens (4.0 uF cap), so that is the direction I headed.

ALK uses Solen (Chateauroux) caps for the larger values. You should be able to find them in Europe, they are made in France. SOLEN- 62357 12.0 630v 0.0003 1.42 x 1.8 (36x45) $5.95 $5.65 This price is from http://www.partsconneXion.com/catalog/capacitors.html they are located in Canada. A variance of less than 10% won't cause a major problem. Another possibility: http://www.falcon-acoustics.co.uk/Pl30composit051202.pdf, 2.95 pounds

I replaced the 2.0uF cap with a Hovland musicap. The 4.0uF cap could be a cheaper polyproplyene one, like a Solen. This is what ALK recommends and uses. I don't think the cap is going to totally solve the problem of brightness. You would be better advised to use some rope caulk on the horn of the squawker. How much is up to you. I have about 3", starting from the magnet towards the mouth of the horn. Others here have the whole thing covered. It does "tame" the squawker a bit. Cornwalls will show the weakness in your system and the recordings you play. It is very easy to recognize a superior source of music. I found the Hovland was more accurate and provided more detail. That, without taming the squawker could be a bad thing, especially with solid state equipment. Hope this helps.

The further the speaker is from the end or side wall the better the soundstage will be. The other side of this, the worse the bass will sound. This is a trade off. Start with 18" and move in two inch increments away from the wall. If it sounds better to you, keep on going. If it sounds worse, go towards the wall. Then you need to move in 1/2 inch increments, until it sounds 'just right'. This needs to be done with the distance from the back and side of the wall. It does change the sound rather dramatically. Your ears will be the best judge of what is right, too much bass, too bright, etc... Good luck.

I ordered a plain one and stained it myself. The wood is not the greatest, but stains up well. A mix of puritan pine and Early American, Minwax stain and 4 coats of water based polyurethane. I sanded between coats with 220+ grit wet/dry sandpaper. I ended up with a very smooth finish. I actually had to recut the metal to fit (too wide), The shop at school helped. The case will not accommodate the new EH 7591 tubes due to the increases height of these tubes, although, I think I cut cut the grill in three pieces to leave a gap for the extra height. Flat Tremco black paint touches up any problems with the paint job. I like the grill because it breathes. The Scott produces a lot of heat, so there is a need to not trap the heat. It looks better than no cabinet and isn't noticable when it is in a rack. It won't be mistaken for Eathan Allen furniture, but then again, you don't need to take out a second mortgage.

Electro Harmonix makes a true 7591A tube now that can be bought for about $65 a matched quad. I have a quad that I bought for backup when my westinghouse tubes fail. They are a very good tube. --------------- The EH 7591 is a larger (taller) tube than the NOS version. This will prevent you from using the original Scott case. There is a guy in Quebec who makes cases which come with a black wire grate on top. http://www.dsuper.net/~167418/vaud/Cabinets/cabinet1.htm I still have the original tubes in my Scott, but I think I could take the grate to the shop at school, cut it in two pieces to allow for the extra height of the EH tubes, but still cover the 12Ax7's, 6U8's and the 5AR4 tubes. The case works well, it can be ordered either finished or unfinished, depending on your wood refinishing skills. Minwax stain and a 4 coats of satin polyurethane, sanded with 220 grit wet-dry sandpaper between coats worked great. The case arrived two days later here in the Great White North via Canada Post; not too bad for a dogsled team, eh? LOL Some things to consider if using 7591 tubes. The NOS versions are $40 each US, or more when you can find them. The new ones are a lot more reasonable and Craig says he is very happy with them in his Scott.

Thanks for the responses. As I suspected, there is no quick easy fix. I will have to see if I can find someone around TO who has a meter I can borrow for a day.

When caps are replaced today, many people go to polyproplyene? caps. Somewhere on this forum, I read that even if you can find old oil caps, that is exactly what they are, old oil caps that won't be as good as the newer one available today. For the smaller value eg. 2.0 uF, Al uses Hovland musicaps, $22-24 each and Solen in the higher value eg. 4 uF, $5-7 range, in his ALK networks. They are fairly easy to replace if you have a soldering iron and willing to put in 15 to 30 minutes for each speaker.

Look at fullcontactaudio.com they sell the pw2200 for 670 with shipping and they are from Canada. -------------- This price is in US dollars, when cnverted at the Bank of Canada website, this comes to $983.43 Cdn. This is the same price you got from one of the places in Edmonton.

Anyone with some advice on how to measure the value of an inductor? Replacing these on a pair of Cornwalls was easy, Al K. was able to give me the values. I have a pair of older Paridigm speakers that I intend to replace the capacitors and hopefully the inductors in them. The capacitors are easy, the inductor is not marked and Paridigm is not willing to tell me what the value of the inductor is. The current inductor looks like it is made of very thin wire and could definitely be improved upon. They are part of my mini system (better sounding than the Sony speakers that came with it). Any assistance would be appreciated.