Tony J

All done with cabinets, I wound up using Howard citrus Shield paste wax, 3 coats nice finish not too glossy.

What I did so far was lightly sand down both cabinets w ultra fine scotch pad, this removed most stains, followed by Mineral Spirits w cotton cloth. Used MS and pad to work on and remove rest of stains. After cabinets were dry I applied a light coat of Watco rejuvenation oil, let in absorb about 15min then wipe down any excess. This next picture shows cabinet top after 1 coat. I plan on applying 2 to 3 more coats w light sanding between then applying a good finish wax. Will post pictures when finished hope this will help others.

This picture was taken after a light sanding with ultra fine scotch pad. It was much worse prior about 5Xs the size in 2 spots.

Will post some pics when I can, I read some articles saying to stay away from furniture polishes, some old timer I sw recommend 50/50 mix of tung oil and mineral spirits light coat dry for 24hrs n repeat for a week. Light sanding between coats.

Hi All, I just purchased a nice pair of stock KG4s in pretty good overall condition. The cabinets have no scratches only flaw is 1 top has some black stains not too bad and the wood looks dry, I want to know the best method to first lightly sand and clean the wood ( 220 grit papper/ 0000 steel wool) using turpentine or paint thinner? Then to bring back its luster and protect it. I'm not looking for a high gloss finish but more of a semi gloss. Also the rear passive woofers dust caps are pushed in what is the safest way to try and bring them back out again? TIA Tony

Can this post be deleted by moderator if deemed a scam? And @bilybob thanks for heads up.

Hi Are these still for sale, if so any pictures and price? Thanks Tony

I recently purchased his Unlimited preamps and was able to add a volume pot of my choice. Great guy fast response via emails w all my questions etc. Very happy with my pre so far. Enjoy..

I just ordered a tube preamp from Aric~Audio, seems to be alot of great reviews and most of his stuff can be customized. I went with his Unlimited preamp with an upgraded volume pot. It will be feeding a First watt F6 clone to my Forte IIs w Crites. I'll let you know my impressions when it comes, currently using a passive Luminous Audio Axiom II.

Went with Aric~Audio unlimited preamp, read many great reviews about him and his amps/preamps, sent him some questions and responded very quickly. I'll let you know my impressions once I get it. Thanks everyone for your input. Tony

Hi All, I am looking for some advice on a tube preamp, my current system consists of BlueSound Node II going into a passive Axiom II to a First Watt F6 Clone to the Forte IIs. I would like to try out a Tube pre to switch out the Axiom. price range is around 500-800 used. I narrowed down a few in that range so far Cary SLP- 50A, AES AE3, and Aric Audio Unlimited. Any other suggestion's or thought's on the ones I posted. On the very low end price wise would a single tube Schiit Saga even be worth trying out? Thanks All Tony

Update on stands w 50lb. Sand in each. The combo of raised height and heavy stands makes a very noticeable difference for the better.

Anyone.. Thanks

I am almost done with my Forte II stands and have about .6 cubic feet of internal space for ~50 lbs of sand in each. The Top and bottom are made from 3/4 bullnose MDF. My question is should I put anything on the bottom to couple to the flooring (my flooring is wood laminate over concrete). Or will the 50lb sand absourb most of the vibrations etc. Thanks Tony

Just like wdecho said... The B1 does a Great job for what it is and is suppose to do.

I'm using the bluesound node II straight to a F6 first watt amp to my Forte IIs. I love this current setup and can use my phone or computer to control everything. Best of luck whichever way you go.

I've built the F6 clone. Very unforgiving, revealing amplifier that sounds great if the rest of your system is as good. Much as the F5. I believe you made a good chose over the old Stasis amplifier not that there's anything wrong with the Stasis. I've read that some if not a lot of the First watt amps are very revealing. My current setup is pretty minimal, I'm using a bluesound node 2 to B1 to F6 to Forte IIs. All interconnects and power cords from zu audio. Mainly streaming Tidal, spotify, and some flac from computer, this works very well and sounds great (well depending on recording oc).

The Belles unfortunately arrived damaged during shipping and had to be sent back. I purchased an F6 clone and a original B1 pre and the combo is great. I like to listen at pretty good levels sometimes and 1/4 to 1/2 way on volume controls usually works well. The music is crisp and clear. I still need to make stands for the Fortes to get the mids to ear level and possibly try some other mods when time allows but I'm happy with this current setup.

Belles came in defective I had to send it back, after hearing a friends Threshold Im now looking for a Threshold SA 3 or similar or Forte 4A. For now back to the Peachtree combo which sounds pretty good.

I don't have much experience with headphone amps but Schiit gets a lot of good reviews and a lot of options.

I am currently using a Peachtree pre and Peachtree 220 amp (borrowed from another setup) this combo works well so far. I have a Belles 150A coming soon and it will replace the Peachtree 220. I will give my impressions once it's here and set-up and I've had time to listen.

Just a quick update I purchased a Belles 150A amp to power the Forte's. I will give my impressions once it's delivered and set up. Has anyone used any of the Belles amps if so your impressions. Thanks Tony

Just to add recap was done by Jon Soderberg about 12 years ago.

Hi I am considering a Threshold Stasis 3 amp to power my Forte IIs. Does anyone have any exp. with this or similar Threshold amps. It was recapped price is around $900. Thanks Tony

I posted this same info in another thread (due to someone asking specifically about Bluesound). Just a quick update I set up the the Node 2 late last night and got a good hour or so of listening. Setting it up was very easy once connected to my network via Ethernet it auto updated to the latest version. I started with Spotify using the desktop app. no hitches, sound quality was good with Bluesound dac but honestly not that big of a difference from my peachtree's Dac (Everything in the system was the same components other than the Bluesound and a new pair of Zu Audio Wylde interconnects). Now for Tidal Masters, there was a very big difference in the music, It was more open I could hear better seperation between instruments and noticed more of the *little things* and vocals were more clear (If you closed your eyes it was almost as if you were there). Now keep in mind this is going from Spotify"s 380 kbps to Tidal's MQA. So far Im happy with the Bluesound after my limited time using it just wanted to give my initial impressions.