Ziggurat

Guys thanks for your help on this, but this seems to have gone way off topic. Can I report back once I have heard back from the service company about the original issue?

Unit arrived at service department today. I will await their comment.

......that I owned a pair of Cornwall III's, plus a pair of K55V's, plus a pair of Altec 511b horns and relevant flange adapters, plus a heap of woodworking gear and a dash of "modification inclination".... Could I simply sit the K55's atop the Cornies, disconnect the factory squawker setup, connect the K55/Altec combo and expect Cornscala performance? Or do I need to add Crites to the mix? Or should I just STFU and try it and report back? How say you, Savages?

I am sure that my Xilica is an exception rather than the rule. I purchased it second hand on Ebay and take full responsibility for the position I am in with it. Xilica have been very good to deal with, so I want to be clear that I won't be slinging any mud in their direction. Electrical stuff goes faulty, no biggy. The frustration for me has been the isolating the issue. I usually blame myself first, and did so in this case - thinking the cables I had made up were the issue, then moving on to environmental issues, before arriving at the last thing that I wanted to accept :-). No matter, it will be sorted. Thanks for help and assistance - I will report back once I get it back from service. In the meantime, the 402's plus their Frankenstein Altec cabinets and valve powerplants sound PHENOMENAL. I came home from a session with a mate's Leben / Cornwall system last night - great hifi, no doubt, to the big horns at home... less like hifi and more like owning a bunch of musicians that do what I tell them..... I sense my endgame in sight with this system...

2013 Vintage - just out of warranty 🙂

Ahoy! You haven't lost me, I've just been adrift on the Sea of Frustration. I grew concerned that the noises coming from the Xilica were starting to get worse, with an additional constant tone at about 750hz (15th harmonic? LOL) and assorted cracks and pops, plus a cyclic/rhythmic background hum, so I fully disconnected it from my system and hooked it up in a simplified test system with some old TOA speakers I have laying about. Exactly the same problem. I have detailed all of this in emails to Xilica in Canada who seem to think the power supply has failed, or is in the process thereof. They have provided the contact details for a service rep here in New Zealand, so the next step will be to get it off there for a birthday. I hope it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg 🙂 Zig

Lots of questions to answer here: I purchased the 8080 because it was the only one that was available to me at the time. I was under the impression that there was no issue going from Euroblock to RCA, so I felt safe in doing so. Maybe I have erred here. Yes I am using 2-conductor wire with a shield - what is commonly called 'microphone cable', and yes, I have tried all manner of formats for the shield - every combination possible, as best I can tell. Still, the instant one of the 'hot' pins makes contact with the RCA input of any of my amps, I get a 1500hz whistle through the K402 horn - predominantly the right channel. Yes I have 'measured' it at 1500hz using "Spectroid" app ap on my phone. This has proven in the past to be relatively accurate for general purpose, and registers a consistent peak at 1500hz when I am experiencing the noise. I cannot think of any EMI sources nearby, or within my house, except maybe the roadside transformer. None of my other gear registers this kind of noise or interference. I will try turning everything off in the house this evening. I will report back.

Ok so this problem is not not solved as I had thought. I get a 1500hz noise on any amplifier I try (First Watt, PrimaLuna, Yamaha). Noise happens irrespective of if there is an input device going into Xilica or not. Factory reset done. Noise floor adjustment made. Either this Xilica is somehow faulty or there is a connectivity issue around outputting to RCA from Phoenix. Have tried all combinations of shield jumped, unjumped, connected, disconnected etc at both ends. Totally blowing my brains out here.

Right. Spent all day on this. Tried absolutely everything suggested here and elsewhere. Still getting the noise. The second you make electrical connection between the amp and the Xilica it begins. Constant 1500hz buzz. Made, remade and remade again my cables, tried shielded, unshielded et al. All I can conclude is that the Xilica is faulty. There is no obvious reason it should be behaving in that manner. My first bad Ebay purchase... dang.

Thanks for that, will try it. My system is all RCA to Phoenix/Euroblock. Thanks again.

I'm stumped. Tonight I plugged in the Xilica 8080 I purchased. Made up some cables with Euroblock connectors and jumped the negative across to ground. Set things up nicely, and I have sound, encouraging quality too. But... No matter what amps, sources cable switching etc, I get a constant 1500hz noise coming out of the K402 horns... I just cannot work this one out. It is definitely coming from the Xilica and is having a real impact on my sanity right now. Any help greatly appreciated... thanks.

I have a Dialogue Premium HP. I am thrilled at the sound that comes from my Altec 19's every time I turn it on. I tried a Leben CS300 on them and was not as impressed, along with a couple other amps. Apart from the sound quality which is phenomenal, the flexibility of the amp to run KT series valves, right up to KT150 mean that I doubt I will ever be changing. If I have negative comments... the remote works best pointed directly at the amp, front on, and the remote is freakin' heavy. I have two friends who I have loaned the PLDHP to, one with new Cornwalls and Fortes, plus Heresies and he reported back that it was the best amp he had heard on them, and he has several nice, expensive amps. The other friend claimed it was more accurate and than his Leben, but ultimately he preferred the milder sound on his single-driver speakers at low level. Having owned Khorns and being amazed with them on older EL34 amps, I would say the PLDHP would make you very, very happy.

My Xilica has arrived, so I will be able to cross over lower and have a play around in general on the Altec cabinets, which will serve until I build the horn bass bins. I think I've already said it, but the L-Pads are doing a remarkable job of smoothing the response. There is absolutely no harshness or radical peaks, at least to my ears. I can listen for hours to exceptionally realistic playback. If this is the worst case scenario, I cannot wait to see where this goes. The Altec 19s have he classic 40hz hump, but I'm getting reasonable response to 32hz, dropping off quickly from there. Listening to Brendan Perry's album Eye Of The Hunter last night, the system is presenting a huge, deep involving wall of sound. Just awesome.

Pretty damn good condition too. Needs a bit of a dust wipe-off. Built like nothing else I've ever seen - superb.

Yes, I was pretty gobsmacked, no two ways about it. I dare say I will never find another one to match it. Might have to do a mono project!

That would be funny, except for the bad experience I had with a sheep's bladder recently..... 😳 (And I'm not joking!) 🐑 🤣 Now what IS funny is the box that the K55v's came in, carefully labelled: It's totally given me a peach in sediment. I need therapy, pref single malt.

Ok, so I have heard from Roy. In a nutshell, I will be keeping my 1132's right where they are, and applying a fraction more PEQ than I would have to if I had K691's up top when the Xilica arrives. Much obliged, posters 🙂

I was just having a good look at these K55's. Sadly the date stamps reveal thy are not a matched pair... One was built on November 29 1977, the other on November 29 1877. Same day, 100 years apart. Amazing. Hope the technology didn't change too much over that time. 🤣

Yes... if only I there were two of the Vitavox drivers - then it truly would have been a scoop. Chances of finding a second one at sane money are slip. Current replacement cost new from Vitavox in the UK is £3095 per driver..... yikes!

Maybe... but they were all carefully wrapped up for protection so I'm guessing not. I will have a play with them.next week!

Thanks glens. With my active xos on the way, I won't be doing anything to the passive network for now, but I appreciate you sharing.

Yes.... I am feeling a bit pleased with myself. You need the occasional 'win' in life don't you? A pair of 511b horns, pair of K55's and a Vitavox 15/40 for beer money.... 🙂 Pays not to be too proud though, just in case irony kills me with an infected paper cut or something... or I get a black fly in my chardonnay.....

Thanks for all the input here. @Dave A re TADS. Yes it is a small number of people here, but elsewhere it is easy to find praise for the TAD drivers. Anyhow, I was only bringing it up to highlight that there appears to be a preference when people have had the opportunity to compare, which I have not. I am not going to beat on about swapping drivers further - at least not until I have heard from the horse's mouth which direction to take. Thanks all

Also came with these old things... presumably the previous owner never found an adapter for the 511b horn... Anyhow, nice to have a pair of '77 vintage K55's around the place.

Exactly!