Peter P.

What's "big sound"? It would help to know what kind of sound you're after and why you chose to replace the KEF's. How does the sound differ between the KEF's and the Klipsch's? What model KEF speakers did you have?

How about placing a t-shirt over the grille, then using a steam iron to iron it flat? The t-shirt protects against the direct heat of the iron, and is a trick used by many home sewing enthusiasts including myself. I'd start with the lowest steam setting on the iron and work up from there.

Most any tuner is adequate for consumer use. It's the location of the antenna which will make or break your FM enjoyment. Height is EVERYTHING. If you think you're restricted to where and how you can mount an external antenna, my next suggestion would be to stream internet FM feeds from your computer to your stereo. I don't know what's available for Windows computers, but with Apple it's Apple's Airplay. The computer streams the FM feed to the device, which is connected to your stereo- they make adapters which terminate in RCA plugs that connect to your tuner input.

Exactly. I hope I'm not saying the same thing but I suggest swapping the left and right speaker crossovers, then trying again. If the problem follows the crossover, then I'd say it's the transformer. Looking at a couple schematics, it appears there's a tapped transformer in the squawker circuit. The iron core plates in transformers sometimes separate, causing that buzz you hear.

Nobody in Florida has a pair of Klipschorns. If they did, and played them, Florida would separate from the continent and sink into the ocean.

I don't think the solution is to mount the Klipshorns from the ceiling. The solution is to build pedestals UNDER the Klipshorns that elevate the speakers to ceiling height. Secure the pedestals to the adjacent walls. I don't care HOW loud you play the Klipschorns, they won't walk off the pedestals. Probably shape the pedestals to match the shape of the Klipschorns, for aesthetic reasons. Use natural wood and the speakers will visually disappear into the room. Inverting the speakers makes sense in that it will couple the woofer to 3 surfaces; the adjacent walls AND the floors, and it will place the midrange and tweeter closer to ear height. You might lose some tactile bass since the woofers will be so far off the floor, but everything has trade-offs. A bizarre idea, but I suppose it could work.

You will not hear any difference with a different receiver driving your speakers. As long as the receiver is not being driven beyond its rating (you'll know it when you hear it), you're good. Sounds like you're not listening to rap, trance, or other high bass demand music, at live levels. You're good as is.

At that price, I don't care how ugly they look; I'd find room for them even if it meant the wife has to sleep outside!

Those just look like big headphones to me!

Don't repair the crossovers unless you determine something is wrong with them. Why waste the money? Put a voltmeter, set to resistance (ohms) across the terminals of the tweeters and the midrange drivers. Disconnect the wiring first, but pay attention to which wire goes to which terminal. Anyway, if the resistance reading isn't listed on the back of the speaker magnet, figure about 4-8 ohms. Your drivers should measure something similar. If your drivers do measure good, here's the next step. Doesn't matter whether the speaker is connected to the wiring; use clip leads and clip the wires from your volt meter onto the speaker leads going to the driver. Play interstation FM noise if you can, if not-music. Set the voltmeter to A.C. volts. As your source plays AND YOU INCREASE THE VOLUME, you should see the voltage reading rise. If you don't see anything, THEN the crossovers need work.

All this talk about crossover upgrades and bad corner placement, BAH! What I want to know is, how do they sound TO YOU?!

Well; you at least know the woofer is working. You could perform the test again, driving only one speaker at a time. That way you could compare left vs. right and if they're pretty equal in their output, you can assume they're operating correctly. Tip: You should position each speaker in the same location when performing the test. My suspicion-room acoustics. Move your system to a different room just for experimental purposes and see if you get different results.

Get the Yamaha. It has the highest power output (compare all 3 at the same resistance, 8 ohms or 4 ohms) and it has two sets of speaker outputs. The Music Hall only has one set. You can dock an iPod or i Phone to the Yamaha with an accessory

Too bad what happened, but a great story told nonetheless!

I think the bigger problem will be your son's reaction when he realizes the inheritance he lost. ;-) Step away from the ledge, Jeff, and THINK for a minute!

If you previously connected your speakers to the PRE OUT jacks in the audio section of the photo above and now you want to connect R-14's, here's what you do: You have to install "jumpers from your PRE OUT to your MAIN IN jacks in the audio section. You can use standard RCA jack cables if you don't have the original bridging jumpers. Connect The WHITE jack to the WHITE jack, and RED to RED. See PAGE 7 of THIS MANUAL, items 13 and 15.

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't planning on buying the pair I listed; I was merely thinking about the future. I'd like to replace my basement rinky-dink Bose 161's with something more...

I love my Heresy's. In searching for a second pair of speakers, I came across this eBay auction for a pair of Tangent 500's. http://www.ebay.com/itm/KLIPSCH-TANGENT-500-FLOORSTANDING-SPEAKERS-/132125494217?hash=item1ec34b0bc9:g:GWcAAOSwxEpYxYuO Considering the design, and the claim they have the same drivers and crossover as the Heresy, would they be of the same quality? I mean, the numbers in the ad claim lower frequency response than the Heresy, and the price is roughly that of a used pair of Heresy's. Am I missing something? Somebody explain to me the Tangent line-are they as well built as the Heritage line? Can you compare the Tangent line to the kg models? I've been eyeballing kg 3.2's and similar and they seem to be very popular in the used market. For what it's worth, I prefer passive radiators over ported designs.

I don't have a solution on how to REMOVE the fungus, but I'll suggest a way to possibly prevent it. Dip a synthetic paint brush in some WD-40 or Boeshield T-9 and lightly coat the areas affected by the fungus. Any coating of similar composition should keep that fungus at bay or at least give it nothing to cling to.

Use a voltmeter to compare the resistance of the tweeter in the suspect LaScala to the other one. Disconnect the wires from the speaker while doing this, and pay attention to which wire connects to which terminal. I would think the difference between the two readings should be less than 1 ohm. Leaving the wires disconnected, turn your voltmeter to A.C. volts and attach your voltmeter leads to the wires. Play some interstation FM noise if you can or the same CD cut, and note the reading on your meter. Bonus if your meter has a Max Hold or other Hold function. Perform the same test with both speakers and compare. They should be very close.

Good question. Most people don't have access to a function (tone) generator, but all I imagine you'd need is that and an A.C. voltmeter. You would generate various tones into one of your stereo's inputs such as CD or tuner, and measure the voltage at each speaker driver. You could compare left vs. right and if they're within 5%, I'd say you're okay. You could also measure the D.C. resistance of each speaker driver and again compare left to right. A serious discrepancy between the two would indicate something's wrong. Beyond that, I guess you'd have to send the speakers out for service.

That's because all true Klipsch aficionados make the pilgrimage to Hope, Arkansas, and never leave!

Exactly. If the amp failed without a load then it's obvious where the source of the problem was. I'm dying to hear what the cause is!

If you unplug them from EVERYTHING, except an outlet of course, do they hum? If the hum disappears when they are completely disconnected, I suspect a ground loop. I would try running a ground wire from one or both speakers to your source equipment. Not permanently, but as a test. Or, you could try running a ground wire from one speaker to the other, as I see there's a ground lug point on the speaker.