Audible Nectar

Award shows are pretty much a waste of time. Grammys, Oscars, People's Choice, MTV Music Awards - I ignore them all. Quick read in the next day's paper will tell you all you need to know (and even that's not really important). I can think of only one time in the last 20 years that I ever regretted not tuning in to one of these.....and I could watch the tape of that instance after the fact.

Lesson to be learned from this game: Turnovers KILL. Three Steeler turnovers became 21 Packer points - and there's your ball game. Good game, though - was happy to see things in doubt that late in the game..... Twas a good time on the Cowboys Stadium plaza......

Apparently the "Never Miss A Super Bowl Club" has lost a member: Bob Cook from Wisconsin didn't make it due to illness - he was stuck in the hospital. He is a Packer fan too. His daughters attended the game in his place. And then there were three....

If Craig ever built a preamp I would line up for one. Now I LOVE my JM (and someday will find me another one), but I would LOVE to see Craig do this someday.......especially if it were tube rectified around the 5AR4[8-|].....and knowing Craig's taste I wouldn't be too surprised if he chose 12AX7 for da line[H]

Our airport took 17 inches overnight, Merkin. I've actually done quite well with the first tank of gas in the John Deere - 2 hours and I have the back deck and half the driveway cleaned off....one massive 4 foot drift down, one massive 4 foot drift to go (plus front sidewalks....). This storm reminds me of Samuel L Jackson's wallet in Pulp Fiction.

The Bears don't have them either. I seem to recall the McCaskeys saying that they weren't conducive to a "family atmosphere". I think the last year the Bears had cheerleaders was the 1985 season (the last time the Bears won the Super Bowl) - the "Honey Bears"[H] This badazz storm is wreaking havoc with our attendance plans. My tickets are assumed stuck on an airplane immobile, waiting for the storm to pass. I hope to find open roads to Fort Worth once those ducats arrive (assuming they arrive on time). Needless to say, I'm a bit frayed[8o|]

As an owner of an MX110 (much like the C11 sonically) and a JM Peach I can tell you there is really good stuff in both. I chose to use these preamps as control centers for two systems, as these two preamps are quite different - and give me two distinct sonic "angles" that I really love. I have also noted that it's not just the preamp that matters - it's the synergy between the preamp AND amp that brings the real magic. My MX110 loves the vintage Mac amps (and are the midrange KINGS with a tonality I love) - and the JM/VRD combo is a display in clarity, accuracy, and liquidity that is too good for the money invested. From what I know now of the 6H30 it's primarily a difference in "finish" vs. the 6DJ8 family of tubes in the JM....it won't change the basic sound of the BBX, more like a "tube roll" difference.

And in other news, the sun came up today......

The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders will be making a pregame appearance at the Stadium plaza.....[H]

I saw a "bit" on one of the networks.....might have been ESPN, where it showed that the top 15 or some similar number shows of the entire Neilsen rated fall season were NFL telecasts. NFL just rules the tube anymore, having made Super Sunday a defacto national holiday. And I think all but the final MASH episode are Super Bowls on the top 10 to 15 all time list as well.

Since my team is not participating (Bears), I will root for the same thing I root for every time I attend a Super Bowl: OVERTIME. My wife will be rooting for the Packers (it's in her family). This should be a classic. Two of the most storied teams with the two best traveling fanbases in football will make for a great weekend in "The Big D".

YAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOO[] We're going to Dallas! Got passes for the party deck - and who knows what will happen once we get there. But we will be two out of the expected 105,000 at Cowboys Stadium on gameday. Destination XLV

Best bang for the buck watch? My cellular telephone. My wife hinted at buying me a watch - or at least was trying to inquire if it was something I was interested in. I said "Nahhhh - it will just end up sitting in a drawer while it ages". I have a bit of a weird resistance to body jewelry. It just seems foreign - as if something is on my body that doesn't belong. When I was young (maybe 14), I was given a watch as a gift and could never get used to wearing it. I can't wear sunglasses either - the simple light weight on my nose and around the eyes gives me a headache. My wedding ring is the one item of jewelry I do wear, but only on occasion as it gets in the way of my work and is just too nice to trash it on the job. I have better uses for audio gears and Super Bowl tickets if you want to talk about expensive items I dream about.....

Here's a pictorial I shared with the forum from Super Bowl XL: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/70131.aspx?PageIndex=1

I would buy that. There is a series of commercials currently running (Visa) which profiles the "Never Miss A Super Bowl Club": Four men who have seen EVERY Super Bowl. If I could be reincarnated I would in part want to be one of those guys. I haven't seen every Super Bowl, but I've seen three (and spent a fourth in host city - Jax for XXXIX). And the one thing I share in common with the "Never Miss A Super Bowl Club" is that I want to attend EVERY Super Bowl, regardless of who is playing. Every year (and especially in years that the Super Bowl city can be driven to by me in one day's time) I watch the "secondary market" (AKA scalpers) for price trends on Super Bowl tickets. In a typical year, the "line" is about $2000 in December, during the last four weeks or so of the season. That price "moves" depending on who plays in the game. Teams like Indy, New Orleans, Atlanta and Seattle are "lower demand" fanbases, meaning that the prices will likely fall, as there aren't as many fans of these teams who would pay those prices. Example was last year's game, where $900 would have gotten you into the game on Friday afternoon's pricing - close to face value. If it's teams like New York (either one), Dallas, Pittsburgh, Philly - prices will be high, because these teams have large, national fanbases who will bid those prices up. Super Bowl XXXVI was played in the aftermath of 9/11. The game was rescheduled one week later than originally planned, as a week of the NFL regular season schedule was postponed due to 9/11....those games were played in an added week to the schedule. So the Super Bowl was played the Sunday before Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, which meant that many fans who wanted to attend could not get rooms, and many did not want to attend Super Bowl because of the post 9/11 malaise and fears of Super Bowl being a target. Which meant that things were ripe for me to go to the Super Bowl again[] Come game week, tix were $1500 on Monday, $1300 on Wednesday, and $700 on Friday. So I booked a room on Baton Rouge for $70 and drove all day Saturday to the bayou, arriving on Bourbon Street at noon on Sunday - to witness a sea of tickets being offered on a "name your price" basis. I ended up sitting on the goal line of the upper level, two rows above the media section where the newspaper media watched the action (so it was a good view) - for $350. Could have got in for $100, but I liked the seat at $50 below face value so I bought it, and had the satisfaction all day of knowing I was going to see the game while enjoying Bourbon Street brews.... Also attended XXV (Bills V Giants) and XL (Seahawks V Steelers), and went to Jax for XXXIX because my sister lives in Jax and I could not turn down free lodgings in the host city for gameweek. Didn't see the game though, as the lowest priced ticket I saw was $2650, and on gameday was $4000+. But I tried - I stood in the proverbial shadows of Alltel Stadium, working the crowd in hopes of getting lucky. It was the only time I have ever attended an event without tix and failed to get one. So if I had a chance to buy one of Jerry's $200 party deck tickets I would be all over that like flies on cowdung. I would rather have a seat inside, but I would take what I could get. So if any of you are Cowboys season ticketholders - or otherwise have access to Super Bowl tix, you know who to email/private message.....even on the Friday before the game. I can get to Dallas in 15 hours, so I can even do it on a last moment's notice[] No matter who plays! There is NOTHING like attending the Super Bowl.

What venue is this - State Theatre?

I like the way you think[]

Sorry, but gotta disagree with you here. Yes, it is true that a tube amplifier will clip softer than a SS amp, but I NEVER run ANY of my tube gears into clipping. EVER. So the beneficial warmth and clarity of a quality tube rig has NOTHING to do with clipping. Good tube gear sounds warmer because tubes deemphasize odd order harmonic distortion, leaving the "even order" which the human ear percieves as more pleasing. Odd order "grates the ears". Any quality tube rig will present full frequency response - as good as solid state. Tubes are not frequency response limiting - at least 20-20KHZ in good gears. A key to good bass response in tube gear is a large power supply. Now I will agree to a point that SS has advantages in bass response in many situations - but if you have ever heard a GOOD tube rig (like VRD amps) on Heritage you would be floored by the quality of the bass. Also, matching up the right speaker and amp is a help. And yes, biamping is an option if the OP wants to take it that far. When I came to this forum I posted that "tube gear isn't meant for rock - that's for the jazz and other types" to which I got schooled. I ate my crow, and have a number of tube gears acquired since. So I ultimately stand my my original recommendation to the original poster, which is to accept the offer to demo those gears and tell us what he thinks.

You might do well to go find another Nak like the one you had. If you liked it that much (and having listened to a lot of Klipsch/Nak Stasis amp combos back in the day), I can tell you that if you like that combo, you'll have a hard time beating it for the cost. In fact, if you're looking for an upgrade, the PA5 or PA7 are really nice solid state amps for Heritage if you can find a good example - the Nelson Pass-borrowed Stasis layouts are amongst my best recommendations for solid state on Klipsch. Of course if you did the PA-5 or 7 you would want to find the corresponding preamp, too. I have a great deal of experience with vintage Mac solid state amps, as well as tube. The MC250 and MC2100 are very good places to be as well, and mate well with Heritage. The full and warm sound is very easy to get used to....but it's a bit more "chocolatey" in the mids and highs than the Nak's gonna be - some would say a bit "tubey", but authoritative and firm. It's just a different presentation from what you are used to, yet a very viable alternative. If you do this, of course, you'll need a preamp (MX110 is a great choice here). The Fisher tube unit is another very good choice (see also Scott 299). I HIGHLY recommend you taking advantage of that opportunity to demo the Fisher and Mac amps. Hearing them will tell you a LOT. Then get back to us and tell us what you like and don't like and we can give more pinpoint advice.

We normally hammer out these issues in 2 channel, but I'll give it a whirl here.... I agree with the complaints re: digital audio. There's a whole lotta garbage out there (search for my Metallica "Death Magnetic" rant if you need to), and a few that are worthwhile - or at least "workable" in the CD format. For example, I really like the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab releases....nice and analog sounding. This shows that there is nothing wrong with the CD format inherently.....it's that the powers that be in the industry just don't give a shi.... But the fact is that digital IS here to stay in some form, and is so saturated into the market that I have done as many system workarounds as is reasonable to make the best of the digital stuff I have. Things I have done to address this include: - Use of vacuum tube gears throughout to make digital as good as possible. This includes a tube buffered CD player (tube buffered DAC is another approach that works well as is any high quality DAC in general). Tubes allow me to "roll out" some of the less desireable aspects of digital while seeking to retain maximum clarity without "rolling off" the highs, yet while getting a smoother presentation overall. - Also, I selected specifically Heritage speakers with the older AlNiCo drivers - the K77V and K55V, which do have a different character than the more modern drivers do. The K77V only reaches to about 17K or so, but it has a smooth sound that "vinylizes" things to a degree. And these drivers are wonderful with the vinyl rig, the vintage Klipsch AlNiCo being my choice in the "value range"......it takes the really GOOD drivers, like vintage JBL and TAD to get me to migrate away from the K55V and K77V. - "clean out" vintage gears thoroughly by selecting high grade parts in the signal path (spent $600 on couplers alone for one set of McIntosh MC30). Also selected similar grade parts for new builds (VRD KT88 based monoblocks, as well as for crossovers in my Heritage speakers). The digital "hash" gets exaggerated when pumped through average grade parts - and then into the super revealing Klipsch. So the "name of the game" is to remove any and all parts in the signal path that add any microdistortions, and to use gears that present an easy, warm and clear signal to the speaker. If one cannot go through all that "analness", time, and cost, there's always the option of a nice, well rebuilt tube integrated (like a Scott 299, for example), or an early McIntosh solid state setup (MC250 with a modest cost vintage Mac pre), hooked up to a Klipsch Heritage pair of your choice that would do a lot to make the digititis more tolerable. These approaches make my systems sound more "analog" with digital. I do also have a vinyl rig (Thorens TD124), but I was late getting back into the vinyl game, and the saturated nature of CD is hard to avoid. So I try to do the best I can with both, as much as I do agree with the complaints. And the things I have done to address the digital issues has done WONDERS with the vinyl sound, too. But as I listen to the MFSL CD release of Supertramp's "Crime Of The Century", I must admit it sounds excellent.

These are awesome, Jordan. WAF approved......they look droolicious[8-|] I could justify those.....that's one of a couple of "mods" or clone work examples that looks truly attractive to me as a "possible". If a speaker upgrade is gonna be that big, it's gotta look sexxeh, and this fits the bill. Love the 3 way idea, too[]

I cannot imagine ever stepping out of horn/compression driver based setups, and wouldn't even think about anything other than that without "ultrarich" income/wealth. I have rarely seen anything appealing in the highest end speaker markets that "grabbed me" like the best of Altec/Klipsch/JBL/TAD drivers etc. do. Any additional funds that could theoretically be spent on five and six figure cost setups would be spent on the rooms instead, to make the best of the aforementioned compression driver/horn setups. Maybe play with some field coil too.....

Yeah, I'm perfectly normal. Have six identically drivered Cornwalls (1968-1976) and two twin woofered JBL pro bass cabs in a 15 x 24 room, and a pair of Belles in a 12 x 15 room. Yeah, it's a bit much, but it's awesome, and yeah, a good amount of tube gear to drive them. My minimum standard for true Heritage happiness are Cornwalls.....and more midrange goodness from the Belles justify them in and of itself. I would have KHorns if I had the corners. I have a particular MC30 fetish, too, and that probably makes me more "notable" here than my speaker arrangements, which are pretty standard level for the Heritage crowd......and the biggest and best I can live with.

Bose 901s are very popular amongst the male don't ask, don't tell sector. I have to work arround alot of them and they like "the looks" of the 901s. Roger The 901s carry the Bose nomenclature, which automatically will get a certain "segment" of the market to pay attention. But I would also add that 901s CAN sound quite good in the proper room and with proper (read: LOTS and clean) power. The two best arrangements I have heard 901s was when the speakers were suspended from the ceiling in the corners. Still wouldn't buy a pair....I pined for Heritage in the early 901 days. While I can't vouch for the source of the reviews, it doesn't surprise me that the new RF7 would get such notice. I am quite impressed with the original RF7, (only wishing they got better cabinets) but that's a minor point when compared to the performance.

I can believe this. There is something about the highest quality AlNiCo compression drivers that are "a cut above". It's that "microenergy" - the ability to convey that "life", even with the most complex and quiet passages - and that distinct separation of instruments - that delicate "real" that they display is droolworthy. And although I have not heard them, I'll bet the Palladiums do that "delicate" thing really well, too.