geoffcb

Yes, that's exactly what I did with my Belles. Al's work was meticulous, and much better than I could have done, even though I have a technical background. Well worth the money! Geoff

Ha ha, I have grown up in Queensland, Australia, but I had a go anyway! Apparently the pattern of my dialect is closest to New York, Jersey City and Jonkers! Geoff

I've come in a bit late, I teach Maths and Science in high school, part time now. We have the same issues in Australia, but even though the horse has bolted, we try to teach numeracy in all our subjects, so students don't see this confined to Mathematics only. Once a week we work on a program called Maths Mate, where a series of problems on a sheet are given, increasing in complexity. Students must do these without a calculator! They are actually getting better, and they track their progress through the Semester. Being "old school" try to do as much working on the board without a calculator, so I try to role model how to problem solve. But most are addicted to mobile phone technology, and all lessons I have to remind students to put them away (although they are great for photos in science). Once they are 14, a lot of students get part-time jobs. For those not going on to tertiary education, I'd like to see that work experience count in their results, like a "competency achieved", to be signed off by their employer. Plenty can calculate when they need to, or are interested. School contexts don't suit some. Geoff

I have to agree! This has been one great show, I like its quirkiness.

Congratulations on a great buy, you won't regret it! Hmmm, I haven't used my Belles in a while due to other commitments, I must set them up again. I miss that great sound stage. And thanks, Tasdom, for that information about the spade/banana plug adapters. I'm thinking about running a classic (vinyl) album afternoon in the future, using my Belles and a nice sub, powered by tubes. Those adapters will come in handy for setting up. Geoff

I believe that thinking humans don't have an impact is more dangerous than thinking there is no climate change. Myself (and most of the Forum?) are not climate scientists, so we can offer an opinion. But that's all it is, an opinion. I've studied Physics and worked for a weather service in the past, but that still does not qualify me. We trust science and engineering in our audio pursuits, so why not at least examine the evidence critically? Of course there are natural long-term variations in climate, but behind all the white noise of variation, there is a measurable upward trend in temperature. It doesn't affect the globe equally, and some areas have even become cooler. But there is more than general consensus that global warming and the associated climate change is real. Australia is particularly hard hit, as many of our settlements and agriculture exist in marginal land, and they are now being affected severely. We have had consistently warmer years this century, and heat and drought records are being broken more and more. Places in outback Queensland have had months of 40C plus temperatures (104F) - yes, it gets hot there, but this is just crazy! One might argue this is weather, rather than climate, and yes, that's correct. But scientists don't make this up. They report data, and analyse it to the best of their ability. It is politicians and those with vested interests who embellish the story to suit their agenda! And unfortunately it is widely believed that this is just nature; it'll be ok in the long run; it'll go away. I only wish we were wrong, and that climate change would just go away, but can we take the chance? What if there was a tipping point of no return? Anyhow, back to the speakers! Geoff

Ha, ha, no they are going inside. They are in an enclosed patio, to be clear! We do have high humidity in summer, so of course they won't be out. As for the amp, I have a tube amp driving them. Geoff

I've set them up for now in the back covered patio (where I rebuilt them), and I must say, these mods are fantastic. No low bass of course, but with a sub, these sound better than the B&Ws I use inside. These were supposed to be "hobby" speakers, but the sound just blows me away. I do like the DE10 with Eliptrac horn, and the Fastrac with the K55 combo sounds so clean, and imaging is excellent. Geoff

Maybe it's his circuit breaker - has he checked this? Why does he want it so loud - or is this a silly question? Geoff

Playing a record wears the vinyl causing, high frequency losses. A used record doesn't contain nearly the quality of sound that it had when new. Years ago Audio magazine ran tests that indicated playing a record a couple dozen times knocked the high freqs down to 12 kHz max. I confirmed for myself that a new record sounded much better than one that was several years old. When the highs are gone there is nothing that will bring them back. You may be able to wet play the record and extend its life, but that's very messy. There are really too many variables to make this statement valid. It may be true in some cases, but it would take a scientific peer-reviewed investigation! Maybe with one of those Crosley devices, but surely not with a Shibata stylus! Geoff

Thanks for the info. I considered fixing the K77, but on Bob's site he said he was having problems with replacement diaphragms. I'll keep the old speakers anyhow, in case the situation improves. Geoff

I got some '74 vintage Belles recently, and was a little underwhelmed at first. But the crossovers were shot, so I replaced them with ALK Universals. They sounded much better, even the bass had better definition. But a tweeter went open circuit, so, inspired by the improvement, I have ordered a Fastrac Belle midrange horn, and will use DE10 tweeters on a Contrac T horn. A 50W/ch tube amp will run them, with a 300W sub. Watch this space...

They were used in a theatre up to about 20 years ago. They look worse in the photos. Anyhow, they've been replaced by ALK Universals.

Gasp! This is why the crossover is being replaced!

Clearly, you do... I couldn't disagree more--if we are talking about the vinyl representing what the mastering engineer put out as a "go-to-press" master. But if you like the sound of what you hear on vinyl (derived today entirely from 24/96 masters in almost all mastering houses), then that clearly is your prerogative. I'd like to hear what the mastering engineer finished with, and that is very, very close to what's on the CD, assuming no further dynamic range compression takes place on the CD master tracks. This isn't always true. What DOES take place is that the stereo tracks are partially merged for almost all vinyl tracks in order to balance the A+B and A-B sides of the vinyl groove so that the record can be produced by the vinyl pressers without tripping their in-house equipment pressing protective safeguards, and that it plays without jumping out of the groove or suffers from distortion due to print-though. This merging of stereo tracks and particularly the bass to centered position by the mastering houses actually increases the DR ratings of the vinyl tracks over the CD tracks. YMMV. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/is-the-dr-database-really-accurate-for-vinyl.330706/ http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/is-the-dr-database-really-accurate-for-vinyl.330706/page-11#post-9481216 Chris Some good points. Maybe my vinyl playback equipment is better than my CD equipment?