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Panelhead

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Everything posted by Panelhead

  1. Claude has done testing and finds the Eminence Kappa 15C works well in a La Scala bass bin. Not as deep in bass, but no dip at 400 Hz. Plus better definition. Want to try this. But Roy uses the K-33 for a reason.
  2. I agree with both of you. Sonic differences between caps of similar construction is overstated in my mind. One tip for checking the “sound” of a film cap is to perform the tests stated by MicroMara. Then thump them with a finger to hear the physical sound that comes from the capacitor. Teflon and polycarbonate film caps are higher pitch. Polyethylene, kapton, and polystyrene are lower pitch. PET, and other soft plastics lower still. Electrolytic caps are considered a bad choice for signal coupling and filtering in crossovers. But have owned amplifiers that were AC coupled output with electrolytic caps. They sounded fine. OTL, single ended solid state, and single voltage rail solid state topologies are examples.
  3. No, but I do have an Orchard BOSC in the house. At mW level it is impressive.
  4. Vertical biamping. But at normal listening levels on a LS separating the bass from the mid/tweeter may be audible. The bass generates back EMF. It should be swamped by the low output impedance. But with output running a few mW it may disturb the signal. With vertical biamping the other channel that drives the mid/tweeter is not connected to the bass crossover. All I can tell is it sounds better than a single stereo amp. Not sure why.
  5. If I understand the question, yes. With a solid state amp it will let out the smoke stored in the output devices. With a transformer coupled amp, will not play very well.
  6. Rather than “bridge “ this way. Use a balanced source. Make a cable with balanced connector on one end and a RCA with the + output and ground. Connect another RCA with - and shield. So a cable with XLR or TRS on one end and two RCA connectors on the other end. I always connect + to left and - to right. Input and output. Connect the speaker cables to the red connectors. Not to the black. So + speaker to left red post and negative speaker connection to right red post. Mono amps, you now have a balanced differential amplifier. Four times the output power. A 8 ohm speaker is seen as 4 ohms. A four ohm speaker is seen by amplifier as 2 ohm. But at Klipsch power levels most amplifiers will be fine. Output impedance is doubled. Voltage swing is doubled. Rise time doubles in volts/msec. Does not always sound better. I used these to bridge a pair of Micromega MyAmps.
  7. I saw a picture of CW IV crossover. Very nice, long way from the terminal strips, autoformers, and motor run caps. Roy did a great job on those. Deang or another crossover person can build something close. Air core chokes, nice film caps, good layout to prevent the chokes from singing to each other. ALK sells these for a living. Also did not know the midrange compression driver changed. Thought is was still from Atlas. The Atlas is made in the USA and has an Alnico magnet. Hard to top that combo. But price looks to have gone up. Crites also carries has an updated version. But those factory crossovers look fine even with cheap film caps. They do not drift or dry out. Tweeter is easy update from Bob Crites or DaveA. Both have excellent drop in replacements. You may be 300.00 or so from a poor man’s AL5.
  8. Those film caps last longer than we do. Try a pair of CT-120 or SMAHL with B&C DE-120. You will be selling the K-77 tweeters. Sounds more refined, smoother, and added sparkle to highs.
  9. I am a fanboy for wood. A 4 x 8’ sheet of hardwood veneer should do one. Got real good at flush sanding edges in my horn building days. Doubt if as nice as LS II, but good enough. Used to get the veneer for around 70.00 a sheet in oak, walnut, cherry, or maple. All looked awesome with a clear finish. Might even try Howard Wax and Feed on sanded raw wood. Like the glow and grain with waxed wood.
  10. The setup is way different than mine. I think may be better. Where are the subs your room? Also is preferred listening spot on the carpet? Looks like a Klipschorns set up. Just not in corners. I have LS II toed in a lot less. But closer together. But have not tried that much toe in to see how center image holds up. And move further apart a few feet. These look like they cross in front of listening position. Mine intersect at the wall. About six feet behind preferred listening spot. My set up has the speakers 10’ apart and listening distance is about 10’ from each. Moving them apart will add a 1’ or so to listening distance. Widen sweet spot a little. Should be a good thing.
  11. Depends on what you want. Many like a “sound” that adds warmth and richer overtones. Others prefer a neutral sound, Straight Wire with Gain. There are many great performing amps out there. Look for a THD + N versus output power plot. The power range of 20 mW to 200 mW is what you are looking for. The Purifi based amps have incredible specs in this output range. So does the Orchard Audio Starkcrimson Mono amps. The Benchmark AHB2 is another. I doubt you could tell these three options apart if blind listening. Once the distortion plus noise is 0.000x% the other parts of the playback chain dominate nonlinearities.
  12. The best match integrated in my humble opinion is the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120. Not a powerhouse, but plenty for Klipsch speakers. Lot of connectivity options, subwoofer outputs, and Room Perfect DRC. The Room Perfect is the standout. List is around 2200.00 USD.
  13. Those La Scala’s sure would benefit from some support on the bottom. A sub or four would get the sound to full range. Add DaveA MAHL and DE-120 update to get the combo to the next level. Tried my LS yesterday full range for a while. Nothing sounded good. Lite weight.
  14. Most of the connectors are screw clamp. Never used a solder SpeakOn.Think they beat 5 Ways hands down. For amplifiers they sure are easier than most. And more secure than bananas.
  15. I have bi-wired, vertically biamped, and bridged my LS II. Never tried a single cable run with the jumpers. I prefer the vertically biamped. Should not make difference. But sounds better to me.
  16. The noise with RCA inputs seems to cause most of the bad press. It is a easily eliminated it you have a balanced source.
  17. With high efficiency speakers the Crown XLS amps are noisy. At least with the RCA inputs. To deal with this many turn the input attenuators to 1 - 2 o’clock. This usually fixes the problem. The other option is to use the balanced inputs. These are quiet with attenuators all the way open. The noise levels are manageable. The performance is not top notch. The value and reliability are. Several feel the are as good as the have to be. Better measurements does not mean better sound. My XLS-2000 is a brute. Do your Klipschorns need a brute?
  18. I purchased an old pair of Tannoy’s about 25 years ago. These were 70’s vintage. Almost unheard. Found them in Nashville and hauled back. I had never heard a large Tannoy, just of the legendary sound quality. The owner had them against a wall, two feet apart, and had a cheap receiver. Listened for five minutes while the guy’s wife frowned and his kids cried. Assumed they would blossom once they were played on my Exemplar Audio 1570B amps. They sounded just like they did against the wall and powered with a cheap receiver. Dynamics were weak and the highs soft. Glad I got them cheap. Sold them to someone who pulled the drivers and shipped off to Japan. I blamed Harvey Rozenburg. He felt the Churchill’s were the best speakers available then. These speakers were not Churchill’s, not Gold drivers, old discontinued, but big and heavy. They did not seem to be 90 dB efficient and were rolled off. Bass was okay, not great. Never heard another large Tannoy. Only some Tannoy monitors a friend had in his mixing room. But pics of the 6,000.00 model carried by Upscale look enticing.
  19. I wanted to build a horn loaded sub to supplement the La Scala’s. But a deal on a flat pack for tapped horn fell through. Ended just using a Blue Sky Sub12. Sealed with a single 12. Later dug it’s big brother Sub212 out of the closet. It is better. Better crunch. A good sub makes music with boosted bass sound heavy, thick, and bloated. Some tracks are bass light. Others are just right. Many are happy with the bottom end of Klipsch speakers. I would sell my Heresy III and La Scala II if used full range. In my listening area both are soft on bottom full range. I think subs sonic differences are overstated. I can turn off the mains and just hear the sub. There is not much there with a 60 Hz crossover point. Silent more than audible.
  20. Besides the the major difference in the cabinets the crossovers are completely changed. All poly caps, air core chokes. Looks much more modern. No motor run caps, autoformers, and ferrite core chokes. And real binding posts, no more screw terminals for the speaker cables.
  21. If you end up at 7000.00 you still got a great deal. Make sure the four parts get packed really well. The factory boxes are very heavy duty and I hear of them getting damaged anyway. On my delivery the freight company had the pallet at 450 pounds. Your speakers weigh 20 pounds more each. So close to 500 pounds for your jewels. How far away are they from you? If I was buying these 12K speakers, I would try to figure out how to haul myself. Those bass bins are heavy and cumbersome.
  22. I would think 6K is a great price. Great sounding, 200 pound pair of USA speakers. I still see nice original LS for 2500.00 sometimes. Rough industrials for 1,000.00 - 1,500.00. There have been a lot of updates and changes getting to the AL5 speakers. Wish people would save the shipping boxes. These speakers are only a year old. Break them down and save the packing. Even if they get ragged, still better than blankets and furniture pads. The boxes are worth 250.00 to me.
  23. Next time I get up to Paris or Hopkinsville I got to come to the showroom.
  24. I will bite. Your room is small for Klipschorns or La Scalas. I use earlier La Scala II’s with a non-stock tweeter. And a big sealed sub. The AL5 has a upgraded tweeter over the K77, which was the standard for decades. Should be a improvement. Plus heavier top hat construction, audiophile internal wiring, and crossover optimization. Made the excellent LS II better. But the low end still rolls off below 100 HZ. There is bass, and room gain should help to raise the level. Some feel there is plenty without a sub. I was using subs before getting the LS, every speaker benefits from subs. My room is much larger, no subwoofer is no bass. The AK6 is better if sub is not an option. It goes a lot deeper. But requires a corner for both speakers to deliver the bass. Do not know if your have seen the AK6 or AL5. They are huge. I had B&W 801’s and the LS II are a lot larger. 25” x 25” square and 40” tall. With toe in the fronts are 3 1/2’ off the wall. I have them placed 9” off wall on inside corner and 16” on outside corner. Really crammed against the wall and they still come into the room. Mine sound exquisite when playing classical and most jazz. Can sit mesmerized for hours. So relaxing in these difficult times. Wish I could listen more.
  25. I do something close now. Feed two channels of a stereo amplifier with one output. Passive biamping because there are too many amps sitting unused. Think it sounds better too. You might look at the listed input impedance for amp and sub. As long as both are 10K or higher the preamp should drive them fine.
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