InventiveAudio.com

ATI makes nice amps. I would buy a good tube amp instead. It'll give you the clarity and warmth you want. If you're stuck on SS then look into B&K too.

Hi, I said in the ad that I wasn't sure but it sounds like you're so I removed any reference to Alnico for the woofers. The other drivers are definetely Alnico. I've already sold the tweeters. They went in about an hour. Thanks, Traderfjp

Hi, I'm parting out several Alnico drivers. Tweeters, midranges, woofers and speaker grills for a Heresy. I needed to sell some stuff (Yes I'm married) the cabinets were in bad shape so I decided to part out these speakers. The components are all in excellent cosmetic and working condition. Here is a link to my Ebay auction. Click on see seller's other items for more stuff. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5712851608&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT Thanks

Hi, I used to own this amp and thought it was a good performing amplifier. Howver, the sound is very analytical and I didn't think it had the warmth to comliment my Klipsch speakers. I also heard a difference for HT when I switched from the Acurus to 5 monoblocks. I would look into B&K too. Their amps are much warmer IMHO. Good luck.

SACD and DVD-A are the major motivators to making this leap. I agree that movies don't need tubes but I don't want muiltiple amplifiers in my system. IE a 5 channel SS and 5 tube monoblocks is a little too much.

Hi, I'm currently thinking about using 5 monobolck SE amps for my home theater setup and replacing my SS 5 channel amplifier. I'm realling gettin getting into SACD and DVD-A and thought it would be great to have tubes for all my speakers. Each monoblock puts out about 5 watts of power and has a volume control. I currently have K-Horns for Mains, a Forte 2 for a center channel and Heresys for Rears. My preamp allows me to adjust speaker levels to tweak output and I run a large DIY sub. 1. What ere there any pros and cons in using all tubes for HT? 2. I'd love to hear from anyone who is currently using all tubes and how they like their setup... 3. Has anyone else contemplated all tubes for HT? Thanks

I don't think it's worth the trouble unless you are using tubes on top with SS on the bottom but even then there are a lot of issues to consider.

I have a pair of Cornwall I's also. Definitely take those back panels off and check the condition of the crossovers, drivers, look for loose wires, etc. But the biggest kick is how they hand tied the dampening material on the inside of the speaker with string. Unfortunately for me I had to remove all this because the speakers were kept in an outdoor shed and were odorous. They had SO=speaker odor. It was a lot of hard work but I removed everything from those speakers and cleaned them all up so they would smell and look pretty again. The Cornwall's tweeters can be a little agressive compared to my K-horns so you will definetely want to get a tube amp to run those speakers. Tubes will warm up the sound and give you silky smooth mids and high. One other upgrade I think is mandatory is to buy a good sub. But hey I don't even know you and I have you spending a ton of money!

I was thinking of a set amp based on the 6v6 or 6L6 tubes?

Hi, I wanted tight clean bass so I went with a non-vented enclosure. I played with several sub amps and they all introduced too much distortion into the signal and I had problems with hum, buzzing, etc. Sub amps are not very good unless you spend big bucks. In the end I bought a cheap AMC bridgeable amp to drive the sub. It sounds wonderful. You don't know the sub is on until you turn it off. Even my wife loves the extra bass and commented on how much better the music she listens too sounds. Someday I would like to experiment with a passive radiator design. They go much lower and have a lot more "slam." The driver is a Titanic from Parts Express. My other sub is more functional then a looker. I used a 15" hand made driver by a company that moved onto wholesale and closed its retail outlet. This sub is powered with a B&K amp. It's in a room with wood floors and is very tight and mellow. Not boomy at all. I have my set amp hooked into my Denon 2200 DVD player's L&R channels so I can get the benefit of by passing my preamp and still have the output of the sub via my preamp. I even use the tube amp for home theater too. I'll post a pic of the bigger sub. Notice the grill it is made out of authentic cane speaker cloth. I ordered 2 years of the stuff and called back a week later and was told that they were no longer selling the cloth. This really sucked because I wanted to re-do all my speakers with it. The grill is also accented in Zebra wood. When I bought my first pair of Cornwall's new one of the options for the finish was Zebra wood. It was another 400.00 dollars on a 1200.00 speaker. I ordered them in birch..Dumb! I later sold them for a vintage pair of Cornwalls that had animals living in them. Smelled nice too. I re-habbed them and since they were lacquered I decided to re-skin them with maple. They look and smell great now.

You may want to start a group and invite the BOSE advocates too (:

Steamer: How did you know you had a bad tube? Have you tried any other tubes in your amp?

What are you doing with the K-Horns and what type of finish are on them now?

B Clarke. My Price range is about 1500.00. I'd like to buy new or used. Vintage is OK too if the amp has been serviced. Erik: thanks for the kind words on the Zebra wood case. It still needs some sanding and the amp needs to be set into the recess I routed out for it. Right now it's sitting on top of the case on 4 rubber legs. Here is another pic of a sub I made to keep the wife happy. I can turn the driver against the wall and she gets her furniture and I get my sub.

Hi, Here is the amp I recently purchased off Ebay. I built a nice case out of Zebra wood. This amp is based on two 6BQ5 output tubes. The sound is warm and the mids are sweet. It does breakup a bit at higher volumes.

Well my little set amp puts out 2-4 watts and it sounds wonderful. If you like your windows to rattle and your ears to bleed then 20 watts is minimum. Tube watts are not the same as SS watts. The warm sound and 2nd order harmonics tames my K-horns and gives a wonderful sound that my ears revel in. I've only heard a Scott tube amp on my speakers so I don't have much to compare with. I conducted an A/B test of the tube little amp against my mono-block 5 channel SS amp Bryston like. I ran the amp directly off the CD player and the SS amp via the preamp. I wanted to like my SS amp better so I could take the little amp upstairs to tame my Cornwall's. Not so. The little amp sounded warmer with better mids and highs. The SS amp did have a better bass response but overall sounded harsh in comparison, especially when the volume is turned up. My SS amp has gotten rave reviews so I know that it is one of the better sounding SS amps you can buy. I didn't want to invest in vintage equipment because the cost of bringing it up to date is really expensive in many cases. I thought I would gamble with a hardcore hobbyist who has built many amps, has done extensive testing with the amp and has used all new caps, capacitors, etc. I only paid 125.00 for the amp and it came with Webcor tubes made by Mullard and a Telefunken driver tube. Not a bad find. Anyway, I was hoping to get some real answers. There are tradeoffs with each tube design. Set amps are minimalist with very few parts in the signal path. While a PP amp is quite complicated to get right. I'm no expert and am just learning but there are many Klipsch owners who have set amps and are very happy. So the 20 watt rule doesn't apply to everyone. I would still like to hear opinions from those who have compared the different tube designs side-by-side. Anyone??

Hi, I've been playing around with some home brewed tube amps I bought off Ebay with great results. I was wondering what your opinion is on the best amp design for super effecient Klipsch speakers? I don't care about watts per channel. I can easily be happy with 2-5 watts. I want a huge sound stage, sweet mids and highs and tight bass ( I run a sub so bass can be a compromise if need be. Right now I have a small Tube amp based on a 6BQ5 tube. Thanks

I read some rave reviews on teh JJ/Tesla EL34's too. My dealer swears by them and he told me that they are some of th emost reliable tubes made today. I currently have Mullard tubes and want to play without it costing me an arm and leg. I'm also interested in replacing the tubes with New Factory Fresh tubes to see what happens. I let my dealer talk me into a Jan-Phillips Military grade 12AT7. I've read mixed reviews on this tube. I think that I may have made a mistake with that one. The older Phillip tubes were excellent but these were made in the US and are not the Holland made phillips tubes. Has anyone used the Jan-Phillips 12AT7?

Great deal but the seller is in CA and I'm in NY. Not worth the hassle of shipping.

Hi, I recently purchased a DIY set amp off Ebay from a guy who builds them for sport and not financial gain. The amp puts our 2-3 watts and uses Mullard tubes and has a nice simple design. The Output tubes are 6BQ5's. The sound is warm and the bass is very good on the big K-horns. There is actually plenty of power to spare. I picked the amp up for about 120.00. What I like about this amp is that the guy gave me a 90 day warranty and the amp was recently built with mostly vintage gear that had been tested. Anyway, I bought another DIY amp from another builder but it's based on the 6AQ5. I understand this is a 7 pin tube with low gain. Here is a link of the amp. I would appreciate opinions on the amp from what you can see and how the sound/bass would fair on the big K-horns.: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5710440527&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

I have a pair of Forte II's from the 80's and they play like new. I also have pair of Klipschorns pre 60's and they also play like new. I had to replace a diagraphm a while back. Klipsch speakers last and are durable. They will definetely hold their value too. I love my Forte's they are a great speaker.

Al Thanks for taking the time to post the pic. I'm still a little confused. Are you suggesting that I use an FMOD or some active crossover between source and each amp. ie. SS amp would be only see the part of the audio signal that is 400 and below while my set amp would only see frequencies that are 400 and above. Ok. But if this is the case and I use crossover for each amp and run my SS amp directly to my Woofer why would I need to modify my crossover or wire it differently. If I'm taking out the load that can hurt my set amp then why fusss with the crossover? Originally I was thinking of seperating your crossover design so that the sub 400 Hz frequencies are seperate from the tweeter and midrange wiring. However, I'm not an electronics person so that would be a little troublesome. I do have a pair of stock Forte II's that I bought like this. I've never opened them up to see how it was done or bimaped this speaker. Then again I've only had it for a few weeks. It makes a great center channel. Replacing a Heresy speaker. John: Thanks for the first hand experience on FMODS. I have a pair sitting in my drawer but I've nver played with them because they are for a sub I was building but then decided to do things differently. Thanks All

Thanks Al. I'll look for the post you mentioned. I wish the Klipsch search engine worked like it was suppose to. There have been tons of posts on biamping and very little is being returned via the search engine. Yes the crossover was based on your design and also the horn you see in the pic is fiberglass. Thanks

Hi, Lots of food for thought. All good stuff. I guess I should have checked the crossover point on my midrange driver before posting. 100Hz is subwoofer territory. Anyway, all my research seems to disparish FMODS for high-end audio. They seem to be a quick and cheap solution for car audio. I guess they would work well for a sub too since a sub is often reproducing a lot of distortion anyway. I have to say that I was scratching my head on how an FMOD could replace my hand wound induction coil. If it's true about FMODS then my only reasonable soution would be to modify my current crossover so I could bi-amp my K-horns. In my first post I posted a pic of the crossover I had built. I would appreciate it if anyone could hold my hand and let me know how to re-wire for biamping. Thanks again. If I ever get this too work I will report back my findings. I have 80 feet of speaker wire in the wings (:

So you're saying that I would really have to push my little set amp hard to fry my voice coils. Currently there are no fuses in my crossovers. I opted not to put them in when I had them built. I like to play my music loud sometimes but not where the music distorts. I always like to stay in the sweet spot. I was wondering if you could explain how the induction coil keeps the top end from getting fried? I guess the crossover diverts frequencies to the woofer and if you removed that circuit from the crossover you would have a problem. But if these circuits were still there and I simply removed the woofer from the crossover how would this put the upper end in jeopardy. My thoughts were that the capacitors would still protect the top end but there would be a reduced load on the set amp (not having to drive the woofer) so it would have more power to run the top end with less distortion. My hope was that I could get better sonic definition overall by splitting the load and also reap the benefits of a simple set amp design. Does any of this make sense or am I having a play date with myself (:?