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Rxonmymind

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Posts posted by Rxonmymind

  1. https://m.trulia.com/property/3126911782-3220-Salida-Way-Cameron-Park-CA-95682

    Love the logical layout of this home! Especially the windows.  A formal dining room that would actually be put to use. The living room with it's fireplace dead center I can put a pair of Klipschorns on either side.:D Kerping my Bell's! Most homes don't provide this many corner speaker placement.

    I've always been a fan of the old 70's homes with atriums inside or the front from architects such as Frank Lloyd wright, Joseph Eichler and Cliff May to name a few. Although neither were exact copies all three used similar styles. 

    I'll admit this isn't really that close to those greats of past but it touches on it is affordable and we're looking to downsize from our Mcmansion. I see this house as space not wasted and love the layout.  If we decide to get it it'll have an absolute fabulous backyard makeover from a landscape designer with a very nice pool something along the lines of 50' length. A nice lap pool.  Something I've always wanted.

    So still looking but this one I was smitten with. In a perfect world I'd like to take these plans and build on my own property. Unfortunately, land here is expensive and before even sticking a shovel in the ground the permits run $90k. Then some I'm sure. I wish I knew the plans this home and what they called it. 

    Cheers.

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    • Like 1
  2. Absolutely. With variety you gain experience. I've heard Focals & Martin Logans and both had me scratching my head as they were to analytical when it came to speech. Words pronounced perfectly which had me asking myself "who talks like that?" Much like today's razor sharp tv. Nothing in nature looks that bladed. But some speakers have gotten to a point of such quickness it's become clinical. But who am I kidding even when I give praises of my Wharfedales Denton's upon listening to music. The artist & instruments aren't supposed to sound "rich, laid back, warm". Live music is hardly ever warm & rich or laid back. Some music, sure. But not a majority of them.

    With Klipsch, they allowed the artist to simply breath whenever they would sing. Uncolored.  Same with musical instruments. Be it in an orchestra or live venue I hear reverberation. A mixing of instruments with the surrounding elements. Good or bad this is what Klipsch gives you effortlessly.

    I'll stay with my Klipsch Belle's for the foreseeable future . I'll tweak them here & there and will have to as components wear but they will always be Klipsch in my heart.

    • Like 2
  3. On 2/12/2016 at 0:05 PM, homeskizzle said:

    I know that cops around here use it as a reason (Probable cause?) to search vehicles for "harder" drugs...ie...Officer thinks he smells weed in the car, calls in drug dog, and hopes he gets some harder substance. Ultimately, it wasn't about Marijuana, but about control. 

    Talked to an excon once....

    What did you serve time for?

    "Growing"

    Hmm, where you from?

    "Humboldt county"

    Had a big operation?

    "No, but the Sheriff's son did"...:wacko:

    I laughed. 

     

    • Like 2
  4. 16 hours ago, sixsigma said:

    Here's a better pic of the amp. I set the bias on each of the EL34s to .45 volts, as indicated in the manual. Yaqin included a handy little Torx type driver for the bias adjustments. 

     

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    Dumb question. Being as I'm a newbie what exactly is bias adjustment? I've read some are automatic? Is this something you have to do with every tube amp? Does bias come "loose" after repeated on/off? 

  5. On 4/3/2017 at 5:35 PM, Alexander said:

    Odd man out I guess as I like my old Denon DRA-825R

    Not alone. I have a Denon 3803 paired to Wharfedales Denton's that sounds pretty dang good. A tad mellow/laid back but detailed. Listened to it for a good hour and while the first half hour was a bit tight and not as holographic once up to operating temperature it displayed excellent musicality, bloom, and holographic sound. Imaging wasn't pin point accurate with just a tad bit of float. Otherwise a really good receiver. 

    I can live with it. Denon makes good products.

     

    Downstairs in the living room right now the Bob Carver Sunfire cinema grand amp & pre sounds absolutely fantastic on the Bell's. Musical as all get out and non fatiguing. Been sitting here for about an hour after a LONG hard day of yard work. Don't want to move. Lol. Jazz sounds so awesome on Klipsch.

  6. That's an insane amount of restore. The only way I'd do anything is if they were "Grandpa's" grew up listening to them and was told to come get them. Even then I'd hesitate. But being a realistic guy and not overly attached to sentimental things even then I'd probably pass. 

    Sad.

    • Like 1
  7. True Chris. But the same discipline applies I'd think. Reflections, size of room, seating area, is there a kids bedroom directly above the home theater room etc...

     

    Lucky for me I had a circuit judge dial in my system. Folks take it from two judges that reviewed my system.  It's 80% dsp and 20% speakers. The most gains you'll get from any audio is correct calibration of sound or as they say tuning. Tuning, tuning, tuning. Get it? One can make average speakers sound REALLY good and I know a few who have sneakily done this in sound competitions and won. No small feat. So don't think you need to constantly upgrade your speakers. You don't.  Try a good quality dsp and you'll think your average speakers are 5x the cost and you'll get 10x the enjoyment. For the record I have very good stock Pioneer speakers and have been willing to throw down another $3k in botique speakers. I went to the owner of one shop where I auditioned his speakers wanting to buy but he said " Let's go listen to what you have" bringing his CD. (The ONLY person who had ever done this.) After 10 minutes of listening he stated " A little low in the 6 khz but overall really good. I don't have anything to sell you that would dramatically improve your sound. Maybe 1 or 3% but you'd be throwing money for a small return" then he asked who dialed my system. I told him. He laughed and that same person taught him to be a sound competition judge. 

    Talk about integrity. Turning down a sale. 

    Get a DSP and pay a reputable company to dial it in. It'll blow your mind with what you have now. 

  8. 4 hours ago, Chris A said:

    Like many other skills, with just a little time and effort the tasks turn into automatic action--not unlike riding a bike, swimming, or playing a musical instrument.  Lots of people have learned--probably because it's advantageous in the long term to know how.  Balancing loudspeaker EQ (using measurements) and even rebalancing the music I play (demastering): I've found these to be useful skills. 

     

    With the increasing commonality of DSP crossover use, more and more "audio aficionados" are developing the ability to use the freeware tools.  All it takes is a PC/laptop, a measurement microphone (<$100) and a DSP crossover, all of which can reused again and again: they're not tied to a particular set of loudspeakers.  This is just like amplifiers, preamps, and media players: the economics of DSP crossovers are now attractive because of their reusability and their ability to significantly improve sound.

     

    Chris

    Dsp is almost "magic" in the way it works. I spent quite the $$$$ on my car audio sound system where the dsp alone was $1k. Here is the thing with dsp in my experience. 

    It was able to raise the bass..wait for it...UP TO the dash. Yes, the mid bass from the car doors and bass from the back of the SUV was "moved" forward and up through slick computer trickery. All through time delays, bass management etc.  I was blown away. The advantage of this was using LESS amplifier power as the music was dead center a bit to the right of you. Depth was unbelievable as the sound seemed all the way to the front of the hood. The dash became a concert hall which on occasion made me look, lol, as if I'd see the players on the dash.

     

    Music didn't have to be blasted. How accurate is it? On a CD with Ray Charles and Elton John I could"see" them shoulder to shoulder sharing the mic playing on the same piano in front of my dash. I could "see" a pianist playing it sideways while turning to the unseen camera to sing. (I searched for her video and blow me down that's EXACTLY how she was playing)

    Granted a sound circuit judge and one that teacher other in Northern California did the dsp work AND he happened to have the exact same vehicle as I did. Imagine his time & effort that he put in to dial in his system? Lol. Mine was plug & play.

    My point being dsp can bring HUGE audio gains like nothing else. Not correct speaker placement, exotic speakers, mega amps or silly cables. 

    In my next home theater I'll have the same company out to dial it in and save on buying exotic speaker. Dsp is where it's at.

    • Like 1
  9. Well it's earned a semi permanent spot as it did so well in the bedroom. I think it looks rather nice there in place of the Marantz 2500  

    This Sunfires combo has more "solid" masculine texture to the sound of the music while having good detail, definitely depth and speed. The music for the most part stages itself just a touch behind the speakers so in that sense one could say it's a laid-back. The only drawback to this combo is I wish it would loosen up just a tad bit but I will take a focused sound rather than one that's out of focus.

    I had it up loud for a couple hours in close proximity while I was working out and it did not fatigue my ears which I'm grateful for. 

    A good solid all-around performer with a variety of music. 

    IMG_20170717_112402.jpg

    • Like 1
  10. Decided to change it up. Put the Bob Carver Sunfire cinema grand's and it's respective pre through its paces for the first time. I think it looks rather nice. 

    Where the Marantz 2500 is clean, cool detailed and softer the Sunfire is tad warmer, "harder" meaning a tighter grip on the music in it's detail and faster. A beautiful combo. This won't be a "I'm hearing things I've never heard before" kinda speech. It certainly is different in the way the music is presented. More modern. Together it's better in it's presentation than the Denon 3803 and Yamaha rx-777 where the latter was too bright and forward and the former not as detailed. 
    Might stay this way for awhile.

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    • Like 9
  11. 2 hours ago, japosey said:

     

    I owned one of those receivers for awhile and it was a powerhouse.  I'm not sure I ever utilized it too its full potential.  I would get the dial about a third of the way up and that was all I and any speaker I owned wanted!

    Luckily the volume dial can be adjusted in very small clicks. When I have it on one or two clicks or 7 o clock  it's perfect level for late late night listening. So I guess you can say it has finesse on low volume. So at this moment its the best receiver I've ever had.  I'm itching to throw a Mac 4300 receiver fully restored up against it.

  12. Late to the party. Just went on a three week odyssey of refinishing my Pioneer hpm-100's. When I originally purchased them they had sun fade on top and part of one side of the other speaker while having an overall roughness. 

    I knew Howard's restore a finish wasn't going to do the job. 

    Basically it took four coats of Jasco paint stripper and in between the stripper I used various grit sandpaper starting from 100 grit, (paint stripper) 120,(paint stripper) 0000 Bri-wax no oil steel wool> 180 (paint stripper)0000 Bri-wax steel wool> 220 (paint stripper) 0000 Bri was steel wool > then 330 grit. 

    Followed by four coats of Old masters tung oil finish and more 0000 steel wool. 

    Now I'm waiting for it to cure so I can rub some extra fine wax and make them shine.

    Was it cost effective? Not by a long shot.  However, I learned a LOT and one can't put a price on that. It's leagues better than what I originally had and I'd do it again.

     

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    • Like 3
  13. So far Marantz 2500 with it's clean, cool and detailed sound. But that's not to say the Sony STR 7045 was bad. When it comes back restored I bet it to will be awesome in a different way. Not necessarily better. Sony's are known for their warm, full well rounded sound. Which got me to thinking maybe there are "seasonal" receivers which we like to listen to at different seasons. Lol. I'll rotate the Sony in during fall winter.^_^

  14. Have a fully restored Marantz 2500 paired to the Bell's and what an amazing pairing. I'd describe the sound as clean, cool and detailed. How they pulled that off I haven't a clue but it's so different from other receivers I've played with. 

    On a very quick comparison it's has some similarities to the Carver SGT II amp/processor.

    IMG_20170712_192831.jpg

    • Like 3
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