Poleelop

Thanks Dean....confirmation was just what I needed to hear. I'll be running a set of forte II's. I always told my wife that if a hurricane comes (I live near the Texas Coast), the only thing I care about saving is those speakers. I'll probably have to grab that amp now too. As for the nOrh, there's a decent discussion group for their products over at www.harmonicdiscord.com

I finally ordered a tube amp. I'm sure I'll like it....it's not like I have anything to compare it to--other than SS. Last night, I ordered an Antique Sound Labs AQ1003 DT and a SILVER SONIC BL-1 Series II Interconnect from www.eaudionet.com. I was so close to getting an AES SuperAmp....too bad I didn't wait for Mobile's post on that modded SuperAmp available at audiogon.....but then again, maybe not. Part of me wasn't sure about the whole "used" thing. I'm not ready for the risk yet. I also came REAL close to getting the nOrh. In the end, I just got sick of waiting. Sh!t or get off the pot, they say. I also picked up a Sony SCD-C555ES for a source. I found a few SACD's that I'll probably ****** up this weekend. Well....now I just have to wait on the boxes.

I actually enjoyed the article too. kh....the grease fire thingy made me think of something that happened to me today. My wife is out of town, so I thought I'd be BAD. Of course, I must be getting old because being bad for me means I decided to cook something I wouldn't normally cook.....fried chicken. I only make the best in the world, so why not? Anyway, you know how chicken kinda pops sometimes when you fry it...and splatters grease everywhere? Well, for the first time in my life, I got hot splattered grease in my eye. It must have bounced off my the corner of my eye because my vision was a little blurry afterwards, but my eyeball didn't hurt. The skin in the corner of the eye hurt like hell, but that will heal. The bottom line is that I won't go blind.....at least not from frying chicken. I heard some of my other habits will cause blindness, but that's another story. Anyway, it was unfortunate that the only sound in my kitchen was frying chicken. I sure would have enjoyed some music, but my forte II's are sitting alone in my office....not hooked up to anything....because I still haven't bought a DAMN TUBE AMP!!

Those speakers are relatively inexpensive. look at the almost fifty grand bad boys driving them. http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1037090146

Well...technically the weekend is over, and I still haven't whipped out the plastic. That being said, I haven't stopped looking. I've really done a lot of homework, and the one thing that has become clear....all the data seems to be in the form of opinion. I guess that's cool. It's got to be impossible to place a numercal value on how someone hears something. And I haven't really found squat in my area to go and audtion, so I'm just gonna have to pull the trigger and hope for the best. Colin....you gave me some good input, and you may have swayed me. I think I'm going to spend all of $400 on that Norh. If I don't like it, I'll just give it a glowing report on ebay and sell it.

Wow.....no responses on the amp. I guess I'm gonna have to get that sweet solid state JVC receiver I saw at Wal-mart.

....it probably only exists in my fantasies (although it might cause some people to look at this thread). This is my last thread on the subject. Before this weekend is through, I'm spending some cash. I'll try to make this fun for everyone, so.... ...purely hypothetical; you're given $1,500 to spend on either an amp and a pre-amp or an integrated amp, and you can spend it at one (or more) of three places: http://www.divertech.com/antiquesl.html http://www.jolida.com/catalogue_tube.html (yes, I know it's not really a sales site, but they have suggested MSRP, so work with me here. If you can find it (new) elsewhere and cheaper, that's all the more better) and.. http://www.audioelectronicsupply.com Here's the drill: The stuff you buy is to drive a pair of Klipsch forte II's on hardwood floors in a decent size room with tall ceilings. What would you buy with your fifteen hundred bucks and why? If you'd rather have one tube over another, let me know why. If you'd rather have a 3.5 WPC SET over a 50 WPC superlinear, tell me why. I'm curious as hell as to why there's such a huge price discrepancy over some of these things. If you think a separate pre-amp adds value, tell me why. Whomever convinces me, I'm gonna go with your suggestions. The winner gets.....ahhh.......gets to listen to me *****, whine and moan if I'm unhappy (surely.... that won't happen). If you go with the Jolida....you need to be very articulate. I'm a sucker for those models that say "Class A" even though I have no clue what that truly means. Anyway, that doesn't seem to be the case with Jolida, so they're trailing in my early opinions. Also....separate budget here, but I also need to grab another CD player to work with this setup I'm buying. What's the best bang for my buck? I'm sure no amp is going to sound good with a crappy source, but I'd really like to get by with as cheap a unit as possible (for now)....preferably without having to buy separate DAC's. Maybe I'll buy that little black box thingy from Margules or something, but I'd like to go as cheap as possible with the CD player. Anyway.....throw me a bone here. This message has been edited by Poleelop on 09-13-2002 at 08:11 PM

Ok....I can't have the beautiful Margules, but I can have the somewhat homely Jolida. I'm willing to accept that...after all, it's the sound that matters, right? Now...why do I want the Jolida over any of the Antique Sound Labs amps and Integrated amps or the Super Amp?

Have I just been dissed? I'm fine with my cheap Oster as it is, but I'm not a big foo foo drinker, so I don't blend much. My kitchenaid stand mixer on the other hand....that gets a work out.

Hmmmm.... Okay, I'll play along, but don't be offended if I don't put my money where your mouth is. Honestly, I'd like to spend no more than a grand right now, but seeing as how I've already admitted I'll spend $1,700, we'll go with that figure. My listening room....and don't give me **** about this.....is my kitchen. I've already stolen the formal living room for the "media" room. I spent "considerable money" in my wife's eyes wiring it for 7.1 surround (yes, Klipsch), so that room has to stay as it is. The only other room that might work is my office, but I actually think the kitchen might be better. For one, it has nice hard wood floors, and I used to listen to these forte II's in college on hardwood floors, and they were awesome. The room is about 14' wide, and because of windows where they'll be placed, I expect the speakers to be about 8' to 10' feet apart. Don't give me crap about that either. Nothing can be done. There is no other place for them. listening will be done while I'm cooking which will put me about 15' to 20' away, or if I want to do nothing but listen, I can pull up a kitchen chair and be anywhere between 6' to 10' in front of the speakers. Ceilings are about 14' tall in the kitchen, and one side is fairly open into the "great room." What else?

I asked a question about tube amps the other day, and I was given some great advice. I know I want to give them a try, but I'm not sure if I want to give up the "cranking" ability. I can't wait to hear Rachmaninov on my Forte II's with something better than the Kenwood Basic M2A beamoth of a SS amp (which I'm sure that according to this crowd, won't take much) that I had been using, but what am I gonna do when I want to crank up Led Zep 1 to ear bleeding levels? (assuming I don't want to go to one of the four other rooms in the house where I have systems) As I've been reading the threads here on the BBS, I noticed someone mentioned Margules, so as I've done with everything else I've heard about here on this site, I went off to the Margules website to learn more about their stuff. First thing I noticed....besides how awesome their tube amps seem to be....is that I can't afford one. At least not right now. Second thing I noticed was their Hybrid Integrated AMP, the HD-1. Decent power at 75 watts a side, pure class A, SS Amp secion, and a tube pre-amp section. Also, it's gorgeous enough to have some wife appeal, and at $1,700....although a little more than I care to spend, I can afford it. I'll just stop drinking beer until Christmas...I need to drop some weight anyway. Why do I want it? Well, from the description, I'll get great sound now, but I can upgrade later. They make it seem like I could use their SS amp section to drive subs later and use a tube amp through their pre-amp circuitry when I can afford to get a tube amp. I'm thinking, "hey...I can listen to it now, and when I can afford the nice tube amp, I'll already have the pre-amp ready....and for not too many more bones than I've seen some nice tube pre-amps running for. Here's my questions(s) to you guys. I'm thinking that later on down the line, I can use the SS amp section to drive the woofers of my forte II's and use the tube amp that I aquire later to drive the mid and high horns. Surely that's possible, but I'm new to this game. Is it possible? Is it hard? Is there a good chance that I'll screw something up? If not screw something up, is there a good chance that I'll not have the capabilities to do it in a manner where it will sound good? And most importantly, if this is all possible, is it a good idea? Thanks in advance. I'm sure some of you guys have already addressed a question along these lines, but hopefully, this line of questioning will be a little more obscure....obscure enough to facilitate a good discussion.

Oh yeah....any comments on auto-bias? It probably isn't the best way to learn for a newbie, but laziness prevails. I'm intersted in it. Also.....what is "rolling" tubes. Does that just mean changing them out with different ones to check out the differences?

Thanks so much for all the info. Right now....and with limited knowledge, I'm looking at all of the Antique Sound Labs integrated amps, the stuff from Audio Electronic Supply, and I've also been eyeing that BAT VK-60 at jeffssoundvalues. I probably can't justify spending that much though....especially for something that isn't new. At least not my first time out of the gate. I'm not opposed to getting a kit; I'm relatively handy, so I don't think it would be that imposing. Finding the time though is another thing. I'd just like to be familiar with the amp as I understand they need some babysitting. It appears that if I go with push-pull, ultralinear, I get the most watts for the buck. Do I lose much of the so-called "tube sound" if I go that route? Do I really want SET? If so, why? Anyway, your help is greatly appreciated. If you have any more advice, keep it coming, and now... ....I'm off to surf the web and check out your suggestions.

I haven't been here in a while, so forgive me if I'm asking something that's already been answered. If the answer has already been posted, I'd appreciate it if you could kindly direct me in the right direction. I have a pair of Klipsch Forte II's that I bought about a dozen or so years back. Currently, they're sitting unused, and seeing as they are my favorite of the 20 or so speakers I have in my house, I'd like to change that. I'd like to match them up with a tube amp (or two), and I'd like some basic advice. Basically, I'm completely ignorant on the subject and up until a a few days ago, all I had was this vague understanding that Klipsch + tube amp = good. I've done a little research in the past couple of days, but I don't feel much smarter. Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated. I don't feel the need to make these things "crank," but I wouldn't be opposed to it either. I know their are trade-offs within the various designs, but I'm not sure about the specifics. Thanks in advance.

Howdy. I have a pair of Forte II's that I'd like to use in my home theater setup. My wife and I are getting a new house, and she's had it with speaker wire and speakers all over the place, so I'm having to look for some in-wall/ceiling speakers. Does Klipsch make anything that is a a decent enough voice-match in their in-walls to go with my forte II's? Also, how about a center? I did a little search on this BBS, and it seems that everyone is recommending the Academy center for the forte II's, but it also seems next to impossible to locate one. Is there anything out there that would be a relatively close match that would also match well with some in-walls? Appreciate your help....