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Neo Be sure to show us what a factory wired unit looks like inside. Since you out bid me, you owe me a look. As for tubes, I've liked the Sylvania 6sn7gtb "chrome domes", sylvania 6sn7w and 5692's in the M-Dogs. Do a search and you find lots of talk on this subject. Reg

Here's a picture of the chassis of the Forplay like preamp I picked up from Mike. The care and attention to detail when assembling one of his turn tables is evident even here

Kelly The crackling noise from my Moondogs started slowly and progressed to the point that made one of them too scary to use. Now that they'er fixed, I realize the trouble started after a lot of tube rolling with some realy good NOS tubes. As Mike investigated the wiring and solder joints without finding anything, He turned his attention to the the full collection of tubes that I provided with the amps. I had given him the original Sovtek tubes ( which still played without trouble ) and the NOS tubes which intermittently caused the crackling noise especially in one of the amps. While working the problem, Mike used a micromter to compare the pin sizes of the NOS and Sovtek tubes (which Welborne supplies with the Moondog kits). The Sovetek tubes measured larger and had stretched the contacts of the input tubes sockets. Mike cleaned and tweaked the socket contacts and forbid me to use the Sovtek tubes ever again. Kelly, I can hear you now... "Oh Lordy, I told you those Sovetek's bite". Reg

Hey Neo I'm glad someone on the forum picked up this fine preamp. Let us know how it performs. When I first announced the e-bay auction of this little jewel, little interest was generated. As the days went by I planed to try it myself. You can always sell it to me should you outgrow it. It may sound crazy but I just picked up an other preamp 2 weeks ago. I was built by Mike P. who markets a great TT under his company name "Progressive Engineering". This is a name Kelly (mobile) will know very well as Kelly built Mike's excellent website www.progressiveenineering.com The preamp Mike built was based on the Bottlehead Foreplay. However the build quality and unique layout was not unlike Mike's TT work. Mike also massaged my battery biased Moondogs for me. Together with his preamp, my system has never performed so well. So I'm happy and your happy Neo. If it makes the rest of the boys happy, know that Mike does very well at the drag races too. Reg

If you've been waiting for a good preamp on e-bay this may be it. Highly acclaimed and seldom seen in the factory wired flavor. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3055184619&indexURL=2#ebayphotohosting RB

Hello All For those talking about battery bias, I have a question. My M-dogs which I picked up used about a year and a half ago has the battery bias gizmo. Recently one started giving big static like noise. I've been so disgusted with them, I not had them in the system for months. So my question is could battery replacement help? Do year and a half old batteries cause such a problem, or should I be looking for the problem elsewhere? Reg

I think this should help www.belgaudio.com/kcgeneral.htm Reg

My speakers are Cornwall I produced in 1984 crossiver B-3 tweeter K-77m mid K-57k woffer K-33e Cornwall speakers with vertical horns are called Corn II's. Yes they have early dates on them which makes it confusing. Cornwall speakers with front mounted horns are called Corn II's also. They have production dates after 84 or 85. Horizontal horns. Cornwall speakers with horns mounted from the rear of the motor board, are called Corn I. (they have removal rear panels to access the speakers) They have production dates upto and including 1984 (maybe 1985, don't remember). Horizontal horns. Maybe this makes it clear. Maybe it makes it more confusing. Ya can't argue that it sure is fun. Reg

Tex 42 You got your wish man.......... You can check out the festivites at: http://www.wardsweb.org/LSB/ Reg

Eric I did not expect such a full and complete answer to the AC line question. Erik, you always answer with a slam-dunk. Big thanks. This question always surfaces for me when I listen very late at night. The system has that little extra in the wee hours of the AM. I do n't even have a word to discribe it. It just delivers greater pleasure when listening at that early time. The item pictured (Jhon Risch power filter) is a kit from DIY Cable. I can't say it changed much but was fun to build. It entered my system a year ago in an attemp to duplicate that little extra, no word to describe it, performance that the early hours delivers. Leok, I may have credited you for the caulk rope intervention a thread ago. I try to read everything you write and like Eric, it holds great significance. It was Lynn who's humoresque writing identified the correct surface of the horn to caulk. Thanks you and Leok look like brothers. Rob does have a spl meter. Neither of us thought of including it for our audition. We'er so amateurish. Reg

Rob Well spoken as usual man. Thanks for hauling those delightful speakers to the house Sat. I realy enjoyed that day. I think we listened for 5 hours before I fatigued. You covered thing well, however I'll add a little. Diana Krall when powering up her very sexy voice to reach the back rows just gets this kinda thin delivery thats upsets my Corns. We both could hear it over and over again. We talked about a recent and frequent topic "rope caulk". I think Colin has a good article on it. Leok, ever mindful of the details, remindes us to get it on the right side of the horn. This area, although a very small area is where the Corns and Chorus showed a little difference. The more forward signature of the Corns in the frequency where Diana's voice gets a bit naughty is unique to the lovely Diana and the unroped horns of my Cornwalls. We tried the Chorus II and even the B&W speakers with some solid state power and couldn't reproduce that condition with the same degree of shrillness. I may seem that I'm being extra hard on my beloved Cornwalls but we'er speaking of tiny areas there the speakers show there slightly different character. Prerhaps I protest too much !! At first I rated the Cornwalls a bit more dynamic than the Chorus II and thought this contributed to their failure in the D. Krall middle frequency reach for the back row thing. But later I backed away from that too. The speakers are just more similar than dissimilar to my ears. Reg

Have you never seen a dedicated AC outlet ??? Reg ps An interesting topic for discussion. I've thought of installing a dedicated AC outlet from time to time. Has anyone done so and had an improved performance in quieting their AC supply?

Just an after-thought.............. When Rob began this thread, he referenced an audio group meeting several months ago. Many of the attendees of that mtg are Bottlehead fans. They get together to show-off Bottlehead kits they made as well as home-brewed amps, preamps, speakers ect, and audio kit of any kind regardless of manufacture. Here is a link to pics of that mtg. Remember to click on each to enlarge. link.... http://www.uvm.edu/~rboles/audio/ne_bot_may-17-03.html The point I trying to make is that many of these mtgs take place throughout the country. If you can find one in your area and attend, you may be very pleased at what you will see there. I'm sure Rob had not seen so much home-made audio in one place. SET amps and Klipsch speakers are made for each other. Reg

Just an after-thought.............. When Rob began this thread, he referenced an audio group meeting several months ago. Many of the attendees of that mtg are Bottlehead fans. They get together to show-off Bottlehead kits they made as well as home-brewed amps, preamps, speakers ect, and audio kit of any kind regardless of manufacture. Here is a link to pics of that mtg. Remember to click on each to enlarge. link.... http://www.uvm.edu/~rboles/audio/ne_bot_may-17-03.html The point I trying to make is that many of these mtgs take place throughout the country. If you can find one in your area and attend, you may be very pleased at what you will see there. I'm sure Rob had not seen so much home-made audio in one place. SET amps and Klipsch speakers are made for each other. Reg

Ok all you turntable fans, top this....... Reg

Hi guys I have a Decware se84cs, Bottlehead Paramours and Welborne Moondogs. Here's how I think they match up. The Decware ($700.00 factory built) has a sweet sounding midrange and is a very refined stereo amp. It's built like a tank and is extremely quiet. However I rate its bass out-put as not more than polite. Still I love it. I run it directly from my CD player (no preamp). The Paramoures with the 2a3 out-put tube has very good midrange and bass. They are the least expensive ($550.00 as a kit) and has fabulous support on the Bottlehead fourm. I've been to many audio meetings that are predominately Bottlehead fan supported. Great guys who are glad to help you get the best sound from these mono block amps. A preamp is required. Mine are a tad noisy but this is a result of less than carful assembly techniques. As such carfull resoldering the joints can correct this. The Welborne Moondogs (I bought mine used for aprox $1600.00) are to my ears the best. They retailed for aprox 1600-2400 depending on the quality of the parts supplied. These mono blocks kits also use the 2a3 out-put tube which is known for its smooth sweet sound and surprising bass performance. They are very quiet with dynamics and tonal quality that is just great. A preamp is required here too. Yes they are sadly discontinued or more corectly replaced by an other product. Welborne also made and discontinued a 300b tube amp with more power similar to the Paraglows. All are sometimes seen used on Audiogon.com . The Decware and the Moondods use "tube" rectification while the Bottleheads are "solid state" rectified. Some will argue that the tube rectification is better. Please remember these amps cost more than the Bottleheads. Decware guarantees there amp for life. Bottlehead may pack the best SET value per dollar. Welborne is the classier of the three. With the latter two the skill given to the assembly of the kits is very very important. RB

Hey Rob I loved those Khorns. Sure were fine looking. I was a littled suprised at how dam big they are. Tony may have a good point about the false conners. Your Khorns although sweet may be getting a little lost in that carpeted airplane hanger you call the great room. Just the same we had a great time playing tunes. I told some friends about the home theater demo that we finished up with. What a giggle. You were struggling to remember the female voices we used to adution. They were: Janis Ian, Patricia Baker and Holly Cole. Also in the line up were Pat Metheny, Boney james, Lary Carlton, Courtney Pine, Stanley Turrentine, Stan Getz to name a few. The Moondogs were sporting KR tubes for the audition but work pretty well with the Sovetek tubes also. Looking forward to having ya come to my place for another musical romp. Reg

Hello Dutch You may be talking about the KSF-8.5 speakers. If so here are the specifications: tweeter - k-97-kv 1" polymer dome horn - 6" square Tractrix crossover - 2200 Hz woofer - k-1054-kv 8" poly cone sensitivity - 94 dB @ 1 watt @ 1 meter produced - 1997 - 1999 retail - $650.00 I had a pair and liked them. I got them so I could try some SET tube amps. They have been replaced by a pair of 84 Cornwalls. Something to look for: One day I hooked up the 8.5's to a solid state amp just for giggles. When playing very loud, I could a " mechanical " rattle from each speaker. I reached inside the rear port (the plastic bell shape is pressured fitted in but can be removed) and gently gropped around. I found that the crossover assembly was the problem. I removed the speaker terminal plate (crossover attached to rear) and inspected. nothing visible. All fasteners seemed tight. I decided no action would be taken because the speakers were not a problem with the tube amps. Had I tried a repair I may have epoxied the crossover components to the circuit board. I remember reading a road test on these speakers and they tested at 92.5 dB sensitivity. Klipsch may have over rated a bit. Still good sensitivity for tube amps if ya get the bug. Anyway congrats on the great deal,,, ENJOY RB

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1057533895

Hey Dean I miss the Kellinator too. He helped far far more people than those few he offended. I hoping that like the Terninator, we could say, "He'll be back"

We need to know, at what temperature do ya drink your beer?

Cut-Throat I have a package to sent your way. Drop me a PM with a address to send it to. Ed, thanks for the offer to help me with pictures. I just looked again at the shot of your amp with the cool lighting and the sparkling Mullard rectifier tube. Double wow. Feel free to post it again so we all can appreciate the beauty of the Moondog amp. RB

Erik You freak me out with how helpful you are. What an outstanding citizen. Are all you Texan folk this cool? I like the complete and clear description of the problem you give, Leok too. Like Tom M, I enjoy the ride. Cut-Throat and Ed great pictures. Wish I knew how to picture my M-dogs here. Kelly (Mobile-Homeless) put mine on the forum a while back before he pulled the rip-cord. I haven't a clue how to do it. Cut-Throat, I assembly instruction and schematic for the M-Dogs if ya need them? RB

Rob You got mail

Interesting talk about the KR 2a3. Is it still offered. www.kraudio.com seems to have droped it from their listings. Jazman or Erik which rectifier tube passes more voltage the gz34 of gz37 ?