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Curmudgeon

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Everything posted by Curmudgeon

  1. Why do your speakers look like Cylons?
  2. Curmudgeon

    Jokes?

    That reminds me of one of the saddest country songs ever written: "My blow-up dolls' done gone down on me" 🙃
  3. Just a heads up: the racks went off sale but the amp stands are now on sale. Regular = $24.99, XL = $39.99, both get free shipping. https://www.monoprice.com/category/mounts-&-stands/tv-wall-mounts/tv-&-component-stands
  4. Congrats on the LP12. I own a mid-80's model spec'd with Ittok LVII arm, Klyde cartridge, Lingo PS, Cirkus chassis placed on a Torlyte platform. I also have a VPI Aries Black Knight with VPI JMW-9 arm & Grado Reference Master cartridge placed on a Ginko Cloud platform. There's lots of wives tales floating about the LP12, some accurate but most are BS. Off the top of my head here's some points to consider: The suspension is not that hard to tune & doesn't go out of tune that often. I check mine twice a year but haven't needed to actually adjust it in about 4 years. What's very important to remember is never move the turntable unless the outer platter has been removed. When I say move I mean even minor repositioning, it only takes a second to pop the outer platter off. The springs are designed to oscillate the heavy platter/sub-chassis (it's like a pendulum tuned mass damper) but they don't like being slammed around laterally. If the outer platter is removed prior to moving/transporting a LP12 the suspension rarely gets knocked out of tune. If possible plug the Lingo into a separate A/C circuit from the rest of your system, they're known for dumping hash & noise back into the power line similar to some digital gear. Linn recommends "light & rigid" platforms as the LP12 needs to dissipate energy through it's plinth. Avoid heavy mass platforms (like granite, marble, etc.) as they will suck the life out of the sound quality. I use the Torlyte platform on a Target wall-mount shelf because my house has suspended hard wood floors & heavy footfalls will cause skipping. The Cirkus bearing/chassis is more accurate on lower bass notes & tends to delineate them well. The Nirvana chassis & earlier had a mid-bass hump with a resulting "warmer" sound but didn't dig out the lower octaves. Some have described Cirkus as more CD-like but it's kind of like how some people prefer firm "solid state" bass vs. "tubey" bass. Mine originally had the Nirvana chassis & I installed the Cirkus kit. Having heard both I considered the Cirkus an improvement. Obvious cartridge matches would be one of Linn's but there's lots of choices out there & Linn cartridges aren't exactly cheap. With a Linn cartridge you won't risk an arm/cartridge mismatch but that doesn't mean a Benz, Dynavector, Shelter etc. won't sound as good if they're correctly matched. Grado cartridges can sound good on a LP12 but some higher output models have been known to hum on inner grooves (closer to the LP12's motor). If you're thinking about a Grado pick one of the lower output models. As for MM vs. MC that's sort of personal preference & either will work just fine with the appropriate phono stage on a LP12. My only advice would be to avoid cheap MC's as many can be rather strident sounding. Overall I like both the Linn & VPI turntables but I consider the LP12 a step up from the Aries Black Knight. The turntables are currently in separate systems but at times I've had them in the same system for comparisons. I've had a few different cartridges on the VPI & while it produces powerful bass the LP12 consistently delineates bass notes better. Once you get yours set up you should notice a big jump in performance over the Axis.
  5. Thanks everyone! I'm now on the hunt for a pair of either K-55's or Atlas PD-5VH's and will sell the Eminence drivers.
  6. Good idea but the Klipschorns are not easy to access & I would rather not mess with them - they're at the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" leave it alone stage. Mainly I'm asking if my suspicion is correct because if the mid drivers aren't appropriate they need to come out and something correct go in. If Eminence specs the usable low end at 1200 hz I can't fathom why they're on K-401 horns unless someone just chucked in whatever they had laying around. I don't know enough about compression drivers or what Klipsch originally used but to me it raises a big red flag.
  7. I bought a pair of La Scala splits a while back that sounded decent but kind of on the lifeless side. The crossovers were marked Type ALs and appeared to be original so I surmised that the caps were aging and decided that a set of ALKs would be a better choice than rebuilding. I picked up a pair of older style ALKs (with Hovland/Harmony/Solen caps) off the forum recently and installed them. While inside I noted that the tweeters were K77 square magnet types and the fiberglass mid horns had massive Eminence drivers. I had read that Eminence made some OEM mid drivers for Klipsch so I didn't give them much thought at the time. Per the ALK instruction sheet I started out at Al's "normal" attenuation but after a few weeks of listening to movies and music the mids seemed a bit hot so I decided to change settings. I had noted the Eminence mid drivers before but forgot to write down the model number. While I changed the ALK tap settings today I copied the model number off the paper tags and out of curiosity looked up the specs (and of course opened a can of worms). Eminence PSD2002S-16 (Link: http://www.eminence.com/pdf/PSD2002S16.pdf ) Throat Size: 1”, 25.4mm Nominal Impedance*: 16 ohms Power Rating: 80W (EIA426B Secification, 1.6kHz @ 18dB) Resonance: 550 hz Usable Frequency Range: 1.2kHz - 20kHz Recommended Crossover: 1.2kHz/18dB or 1.8kHz/12dB Sensitivity (1W @ 1m on axis horn): 105dB Magnet Weight: 34 oz Voice Coil Diameter: 2" Re: 6.1 Le: 1.6 mH The first thing that jumped out at me is the usable frequency range: a PSD2002S-16 isn't rated down to 400 hz so unless I'm missing something this doesn't appear to be a proper mid driver for La Scala's. Since these are older pro speakers with unknown history my guess is someone installed the PSD2002S-16's without giving much thought about the crossover point. I can't seem to find out the exact mid driver Klipsch specified for the pro series back then and on paper the Eminence driver just don't look right. The La Scala HF cabinet #'s are 8764119 & 8764121, the LF cabinet #'s are 8764123 & 8764131 so they should be late 1980's models. My questions are: 1) Am I right about the Eminence PSD2002S-16 driver in that it's pretty much leaving a big fat hole from 400 to 800 hz and doesn't belong in a La Scala? 2) If needed should they get replaced with K-55's or is there something more appropriate for La Scala splits? Any help y'all could offer would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to spend money unnecessarily but if I need different mid drivers I'll suck it up. ** As a side note also I have a pair of `79 Klipschorns with ALK Universals and Crites tweeters that I'm very happy with the sound of. The La Scala splits didn't seem to improve as much with the ALKs so I'm figuring the (what appears to be) mismatched mid drivers are why they still sound a bit wonky to me. Of course different room, electronics, cables, etc. makes you doubt what you're actually hearing sometimes.
  8. My transaction with canyonman was exemplary: excellent packing and shipped out very fast. Thanks!
  9. You're going to like them. I would have tried to talk my brother into getting them but he's stuck trying to get out of Mexico after the hurricane hit Cabo San Lucas where he was staying. Timing is everything. ALK's made a big improvement in my `79 Klipschorns so I figure they'll spruce up the La Scala splits. They're currently a bit "dull" sounding so either the capacitors have aged out or I just don't like the intrinsic sound of a Klipsch ALs network. My guess is that since splits were designed for Pro/PA usage the networks are more about protection from kilowatt amps (& deaf sound board techs) than refinement. I hope your brother gets out of Mexico OK, they have a big mess down there.
  10. I'll take these! PM sent. My La Scala splits need an upgrade as they still have the original ALs crossovers.
  11. Paul W. Klipsch was walking down the street one day and saw Dr. Amar Bose on the other side of the street. Paul stops, faces Amar, cups his hands around his mouth, and clearly yells, "Hello Amar!" Amar hears Paul's loud voice and stops. He immediately turns 180-degrees from Paul, puts his hands over his mouth, and mutters, "Hello Paul." Paul shrugs his shoulders and walks away.
  12. http://app.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-klipsch-klipschorn-kc-br-red-walnut-pair-corner-horns-2014-08-02-speakers-91016-monrovia-ca Heads up to any left-coasters or those within driving distance looking for Klipschorns - it appears there's a good deal to be had. The listing shows a label indicating KC-BR but this pair has Type B collars. Also, the label is stamped in red with what looks like "Salesman's Accommodation" so perhaps the collars were thrown into the original order or added later. I'm not associated with this sale, just happened to see it this morning on AG. Oops - forgot the price: $1700 "Buy It Now" or Make Offer
  13. That's not damage - that's an upgrade! After the flood water receded it left silt behind in the cabinet. Everyone knows that Louisiana silt is the best at taming unwanted resonances, much better than beach sand or shot. Bump the price to $300 and celebrate with some mudbugs!
  14. Reading this thread I discovered an interesting coincidence: N W Bradford was the tester on both my Klipschorns and Cornwalls. The KC-BR Klipschorns were inspected by David Johnson and tested by N W Bradford. The CD-BR Cornwalls were inspected by Lester Boyd and tested by N W Bradford. I bought the Klipschorns locally but obtained the Cornwalls from the original owner in the Raleigh area of NC. That Bradford guy got around!
  15. Curmudgeon

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  16. These are the Cadillac of CD covers: http://www.mofi.com/product_p/amfllc.htm The older style CD cases with the gray inserts usually don't break the tines as the gray inserts are made of a less brittle plastic. The newer CD cases with clear inserts are so brittle the tines break with a few uses or from being shipped. At least they're "real" CD cases and not the tree-hugger cardboard sleeves that scratch the disc every time it's accessed.
  17. I use Synkron to keep my music (and other) files synced between external drives and computers. I'm paranoid about having multiple music file/library backups due to the amount of time I've spent ripping, fixing tags. embedding artwork, etc. You can choose as few or as many folders as you want so it will only sync what you set up. It's a free program and there are versions for both Windows and Mac OSX. I've been using it for about 3 years with no issues. http://synkron.sourceforge.net/
  18. That rug really tied the room together. GLWS
  19. Is that like reading or observing an ongoing discussion without participating in it?
  20. Update: still looking for a RB-5 grille. FedEx settled with the seller and he has reimbursed me for the broken grilles. If someone trips over one (or 2) let me know. I found some black 6-32 machine screws with small round heads, tapped the post holes, installed the screws and this appears to be a good permanent repair for one grille. I did Super Glue the frame on the other grille together (about 15 broken pieces!) and repaired it so the grille looks OK from the outside. It has just enough strength to stay on the speaker and not come apart but the first time someone bumps it I expect that one or more of the numerous glue joints will fail. It's at best a temporary repair (AKA time bomb). I called Klipsch again and found out that they do still have some SB-3 grilles available. This is a viable option as cheric verified that they fit RB-5's but the logos and appearance are different so it requires buying a pair. I'll keep the want ad up for a while as I prefer to obtain a correct RB-5 grille (if possible) but may have to punt to SB-3 grilles if nothing comes up. Repair Hint: to protect the grille fabric from glue I used Reynolds Non-Stick foil. It's easy to cut into shape, thin enough to shove between the fabric and frame but glue doesn't stick to it. I didn't want to open the can of worms in re-doing the grille fabric so I gave this stuff a try and it works. The wife keeps it around as it's good for making nachos so melted cheese doesn't weld itself to the pan.
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