DMH

It looks like the rust is very established. Sand blasting would be the preferred method if you really want to do a pro job, most likely you that's not what you had in mind. The inexpensive alternative is to treat it with a "rust converter" after using a heavy duty wire brush attached to an angle grinder to remove much of the flakey surface rust and old paint. There are many different brands of the stuff for sale that are all basically the same. Here's an example: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-rust-converter.html https://www.eastwood.com/4-5-in-angle-grinder.html https://www.amazon.com/Makita-Piece-Grinders-Heavy-Duty-Conditioning/dp/B01869GKBY After that a good sanding with an orbital sander like a DA (dual action) using progressively finer grits of sandpaper. Start with 60 grit and work up to 300 or so... I'd then use a brush to apply a couple of coats of enamel paint. A brush or roller is the way to go with tractors and farm implements when the surface is rough and you aren't interested in a "show car" quality paint job. Rustoleum makes a farm equipment enamel (and a primer too) that's available at most any Home Depot. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Specialty-1-qt-Farm-Equipment-John-Deere-Yellow-Gloss-Enamel-Paint-2-Pack-7443502/202552473?MERCH=REC-_-PLP_Browse-_-NA-_-202552473-_-N In the past one could purchase original decals for John Deere, Ford, International Harvester and other manufactures. A good finishing touch!

Wow! Beautiful!

Thanks! Resurrected from severe plywood delaminating water damage, misused, mistreated, abused and left for dead. They were literally trashed! The grills were made from raw materials. Paint is acrylic urethane "hot rod" flat over feather fill polyester primer.

Same here...

http://www.knukonceptz.com/home-theater/speaker-wire/ http://www.knukonceptz.com/home-theater/speaker-wire/karma-ss-speaker-kable/

The artificial intelligence monster has read these posts, traced our locations and we should expect to picked up by the "soylent green" garbage truck sometime today.

That rack is looking great! Very well done! I'm can't wait to see the completed project. I had the same thoughts about "why audio racks are so expensive" when I built my 2-channel audio shelf. There wasn't a shelf on the market that was exactly what I needed, most of them were flimsy and way too small, so I built my own. I used hard maple and stainless steel tubing for the supports (without the electrical components it weighs 165 lbs). More than enough mass and it's wide/deep enough to resist/dampen normal room vibrations.

Hey Steve! The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. My work computer was turned on but in sleep mode. I mentioned to my son that we needed eggs. When I woke the computer there were numerous adds for eggs in the right margin in the Yahoo page. After that I got a VPN (https://virtualshield.com/) and haven't been bothered with this sort of nonsense again. But, it makes me wonder what would have happened if I was joking around about something controversial, like wife beating (not that I do that), would I get a visit by the police or a swat team breaking down the door? Unfortunately, this is a sad commentary on these times because it appears that 1984 has indeed become reality.

The first gen horn material is some sort of plastic that's very porous, brittle and as already stated, very sensitive to heat. Standard epoxy glues work fine to bond cracks and does not dissolve this base material if you can manage to get it into the cracks. Thin CA or cyanoacrylate glue works wonderfully in the hairline cracks where epoxy cannot be forced in. These glues are easily available at any hobby shop or woodworking supply store. Besides the glues, standard body shop methods and materials work well to refinish the surface of these horns. An experienced body shop man would make the job look too easy. But, if you go through all the work and expense to repair the cracks and resurface the first generation horns, you still have a defective horn that's susceptible to heat warping because of the poor choice in plastic used in the original manufacturing process. Not to say repairing isn't an option. If you have the time, tools, know-how, experience, materials and willingness, then by all means go ahead and repair them. As long as you're at it, the entire outside of the horn could be covered in laminated fiberglass resin and cloth to prevent further warping. It's sorta like the DIY'er that devoted many months to restore a 1970's Chrysler. After all the work, time and expense - all he has is still is an old Chrysler that was never worthy of all the time and expense put into the restoration job. People also have different standards of aesthetics. I personally can't have a set of warped K-402's in my listening room, the rough demeanor would bother me. Heck, these horns in brand new condition generally rub the wife the wrong way just because of the outlandish proportions. Add a horn surface that's all warped out of shape and I'm pretty sure most married men don't have spouses that are that understanding. I wouldn't mind a set in the workshop, except it gets much too warm in there. Another option is to repair the cracks with epoxy and build a nice plywood cabinet with a grill and forget about it. There's a third option! Did you know that a sales rep of Klipsch Inc. will sell you a set of brand new replacement horns for a very reasonable cost if your horns are really 1st generation? The sales are Roy Delgado approved, he took full responsibility for the defective 1st generation horns that I purchased (at top dollar) from an unscrupulous long time forum member. So I would imagine that you too can purchase just the horns, no drivers or stands at a considerable discount.

Jim Gregory can you post a photo or two? And are your horns first or second generation versions? I've repaired and repainted both types with great success. There are quite a few pre-existing body shop techniques that work great to repair or refinish these 402 horns. About my 1st gens melting, maybe melting isn't the best choice of word, warping would be closer. I suppose if you set the things in the sun on a 90 degree day they'd literally melt.

Sent PM.

The right stuff: Nelson Pass' droolworthy parts stash!

In this episode - Nelson Pass talks a little about the Amp Camp DIY amplifier.

Hey glens, Thanks. I get it, serious is good. I really haven't considered the "archway" or entranceway to the room an impediment to the sound quality. 150 dB is a jet take-off at 25 meters (eardrum rupturing) , which is way out of my league, I rarely go over a comparatively sedate 85 dBA. I've only experienced the room resonating with 150 dB intensity and that was during a 6.5 quake.

Yeah, well maybe? Too much, did I over do it? It is seriously heavy duty and somewhat costly compared to the light weight cheaply made Chinese audio shelves on the market, definitely not an Ikea product! But by doing it myself the cost was much less than purchasing a new one, if you could even get a mass produced shelf of similar quality. Come to think of it I've seen expensive audio shelves for sale and most aren't as beefy. Having this design custom made would probably cost quite a few thousand dollars. My out of pocket expense was seriously minimalized because I already had the stainless tubing and a TIG welder. Then it breaks down to my labor (a big zero), some paint/primer and the wood were my only expenses. https://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/lft-Maple-Butcher-Block-Countertop-Williamsburg-Butcher-Block-Co.-MABB12/10012578

I'd like to test drive a new VPI gimble tonearm for a comparison. Perhaps the bad experiences with the unipivot are due to exterior vibrations? It's my opinion that the VPI "unipivot" tonearm is a superior design but it is prone or susceptible to exterior vibrations by design and therefore the sound quality can be significantly improved by isolation from these vibrations. It's apparent that VPI's more costly designs are heavy or solid for a reason, they didn't build thicker plinths and heavier motor housings just to charge more. Besides cost, one of the biggest differences between the Prime VPI series turntables is mass; the Prime Scout weighs in at 32 lbs, the Prime at 44lbs and the Prime Signature with 66lbs. The lighter weight Prime Scout's (compared to its big brother's) sound quality dramatically improved when I attempted to "isolate" the turntable from ambient vibrations. The first thing I did was to construct a shelf from very dense 1.5" laminated maple most commonly used with butcher blocks or cutting boards, it alone weighs in at 160 lbs and the audio equipment adds another 130 lbs or so. The Scout's plinth resides on another piece of hard maple ( call it an isolation platform) weighing in at 25 lbs and the motor on an 11 lb piece of stainless steel that is physically separate from the isolation platform. The table (shelf), isolation platform, plinth and motor base are all further removed from each other by Sorbothane® vibration isolation rubber pads (Durometer 30).

A most interesting video of Nelson Pass’s listening room. Nelson shows his room and best of all one of his personal favorite amplifiers, "The Beast with a 1000 JFETs". Each channel has approximately 1280 JFET transistors.

@glens - very well said, I couldn't agree with you more. All of the VPI tonearms have the capability to adjust VTA. The more expensive "on the fly" tonearms simply make it easier to perform the adjustment. With the non "on the fly" tonearms you are simply required to loosen two set screws, make the adjustment using a thumb-nut and then retighten the set screws. VPI suggests that the "on the fly" VTA be made per one's listening "taste" instead of adjusting the tonearm so that it is parallel to the vinyl. Either way, it's an easy adjustment and not rocket science. If the uni-pivot mechanism is too complex or has inherent design problems I've never experienced them. If you have a humble opinion or have experienced "issues" with the uni-pivot arm then you must have owned one? No?

Great question! I don't have the personal experience to answer if the "Prime Signature" is worth it. I purchased a used Prime Scout Turntable with the JMW 3D tonearm on Ebay. It sounds great! https://www.musicdirect.com/turntables/VPI-Prime-Scout-Turntable-with-JMW-3D-Tonearm-Armwand Because the Prime Scout sounded so good, I'm also curious if VPI's Prime Signature turntable (that lists for twice as much as mine) is worth it. https://www.musicdirect.com/turntables/VPI-Prime-Signature-Turntable

Nelson Pass interview #3: