MechEngVic

I was gonna say: There are 2 pursuits in speaker making, making a speaker sound good, and making a good speaker sound its best. The first is about profit, the second is a labor of love. I think part of the reason why we're all here (in this forum) is because we believe, and can hear, that for the us, it's the latter. If you have the time and inclination, I think it's worth it to find out which aspects of standing wave control are worth pursuing. With the work you've done so far and the improvements you've made, I you're definitely on to something, and I think the lot of would be very interested in what you find.

There is no way to completely avoid standing waves. They're either in your speaker cabinets or in the room. Lower frequency standing waves are the most noticeable. I think most speaker makers try to tame those and don't worry as much about high frequency standing waves. I too would like to hear more about this subject from the forum standing wave guru... I wonder who that is?

I bet using silver plated copper wire would make a bigger sonic difference than a bi-wire setup.

You already know what's gonna happen if you set her up with KIlpsch speakers, it will usher in a life-long love of horns and midrange crunch. I don't know what you're waiting for.

Try something sticky like tape. Two-sided tape on the end of a stick. Touch and yank.

Try to keep them away from other wires in the wall and don't use copper clad aluminum.

Most negative effects of worn out capacitors and lower quality inductors become noticeable at louder volumes or after longer periods of listening, once the components have heated up. The big woofers in the Chorus II's benefit from an inductor upgrade even though the existing inductor doesn't wear out. The mid-range choke is adequate IMO. They still sound great now, but they will sound better. My advice (Did this to my chorus II's): 3.5mH: Replace with ERSE Super Q 3.5mH 16 AWG 500W Inductor Crossover Coil 68uf: Replace with low cost unit (not in signal path) 6uf: Replace with ClarityCap CSA/ESA 250Vdc Series Film Capacitor (2 x 3uf in parallel), these sound good with horns and are cheap enough to not be "Boutique". OR 6uf Russian PIO cap (PIO caps warm up sound) 2uf: Same as 6uf, ({2 x 1uf} x 2) or Russian PIO 20 Ohm 12 watt: Dale or Ohmite WIRE: 14ga OFC copper or silver plated copper Solder: Cardas Audio Quad Eutectic Silver Solder The rest of the components don't need replacing. Carefully remove the parts you're keeping and make your own mounting board. Caps in parallel are just as good as singles. Stick with the correct values, kilpsch really got the Chours II crossovers right. You're looking at about 250 bucks. https://www.parts-express.com/ https://www.partsconnexion.com/ https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=russian+capacitor&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=russian+capcitor https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=14awg+silver+plated+wire&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=14ga+silver+plated+wire My KLF-10 crossover

Robinson–Dadson curves, Fletcher–Munson curves. https://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.1763601 https://ledgernote.com/columns/mixing-mastering/fletcher-munson-curve/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-EL34-Vacuum-Tube-Amplifier-HiFi-Single-ended-Class-A-Home-Stereo-Audio-Amp/261867901431?redirect=mobile#shpCntId This would be a great way to try a tube amp inexpensively. Shipping from China, it looks like they ship to India. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Spot-TOPPING-D50S-ES9038Q2M-2-32Bit-768Khz-DSD512-HIFI-Audio-Decoder-USB-DAC/254306854171?pageci=7dbf962b-fd86-4283-874a-eaaad5ac7af3&redirect=mobile#shpCntId One of the best DACs available. Multiple inputs so you can connect your laptop (USB input), a CD player with rca digital output(coaxial input), and has a fiber optic input (works great with Chromecast Audio), and it has Bluetooth so you can stream directly from your phone. It also ships from China. Read what the experts say about this DAC: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-new-topping-d50s-dac.7914/ If you decide to go solid state, many Chinese sellers on eBay have nice inexpensive SS amps based on famous circuits. Buying from China is a good way to try different types of equipment without spending too much and I'm sure you can resell to your friends with no trouble. Once you know what technologies sound best to you then you can invest more wisely.

Cables: We know length affects resistance and we know that the longer cables are, the more chance for interference from external sources because we know that current moving through wire creates a magnetic field that may be disturbed, and external fields can also affect current flow. Also, insulation has capacitive properties. And finally, we know that conductive materials have different levels of conductivity, copper being the most conductive, surpassed only by silver. I think these are the main considerations of cable design. The question is: Will improvements in these areas make an audible difference? Some say yes, some say not so much. What do we do about it? Cable manufacturers go to extraordinary lengths to make improvements in these areas and then pass the cost on to buyers. But we all know that the difference between MID-FI and HI-FI is about 1000$ (let's say), and the difference between HI-FI and SUPER-FI is 50,000$, and after that... well we have unobtanium space crystal aligned cables braided by aliens at Area 51, and organically grown cable elevators cultured in a lab with the DNA of Mt. Vesuvius. I GUARANTEE you will hear a difference between these crazy expensive cables and 16ga lamp cord. But enough to justify the cost? Absolutely not. So how do we get 95% of the way there? Keep your lengths as short as possible. Try to keep other wires and devices away from your cables. Use at least 12ga wire. Find pure copper that is well-wound. Make sure it's not copper-clad aluminum, aluminum is less conductive than copper. If you can afford it, use silver-plated pure copper wire. And if you can really splurge use pure silver wire. Unlike copper, when it corrodes, it surface tarnishes, protecting the material underneath and preserving sound quality (except for the ends, which need periodic cleaning). That's the only cost concession I'll make because numbers don't lie, on a scale of 1-100 for conductivity, copper is 100 and silver is 111. Conductivity and resistivity are real and affect the sound quality of wire more than any other single thing. I've never been able to hear a difference between terminated and non-terminated cables. I've been making my own cables since I was a teenager, I've taken my cables to my local Hi-Fi shop and compared them to the crazy expensive ones and we couldn't hear a difference.

This is for the la-224, I don't know how similar they are but there's some generic info about the company. https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/lafayette_la_224b.html

To test those 15" passive radiators, play some Post Malone, his stuff has the deepest electronic bass I have found. You will immediately know just how good of a deal you got.

Nice!

Please take a look at the offerings of Bob Latino on Tubes4hifi.com. You will have a hard time finding better sound and component quality for the price. Horns and tubes just go together IMO.

Tell me if that's not the best sounding 500 bucks you ever spent.

Yes, I remember reading about your acquisition with great interest. I rebuilt mine several months ago, replacing everything except the diodes. Then I read your mention of Dave Gillespie's writings and recommendations. I have to thank you for giving out that information. I read through everything I could find from him and realized the series II is the perfect candidate for the screen resistors, and I made the modification. Blowing cathode resistors is the bane of this amp and I believe the screen mod is the cure. No problems since. I think you gave dirtmudd an incredible deal when you sold it.

Thank you to all our vets on this forum.

I use amazon music (which, by the way, just released a whole bunch of music in 850kbs16-bit/44.1kHz and 3730kbps 24-bit/192kHz), cast from my tablet through the Chromecast Audio (which has DSP level bass and treble adjustments and bit-perfect stream at max volume level 100), through toslink to a Topping d30 DAC, then to my pre and amp. I am consistently impressed with the detail in sound I get, so much so that I have mostly stopped listening to FLAC and DSF files on my laptop played through Foobar and through the same DAC (using the best high-res drivers). The Chromecast audio and streaming service is way more convenient and I honestly think it sounds just as good or better than high-res files on my computer. Not bad for a 30$ streamer.

For sale on eBay, this amp was badly reviewed initially so few units were sold. It's RARE. Truth is though, this is an awesome sounding amp! It fixed the main problems with the original: Bigger power transformer, bigger capacitance, solid state rectification. I own one and have always been pleased with it. And it especially sings matched to Klipsch speakers. Only problem: No replacement/upgrade PC board is available like for the originals, but I rebuilt mine with little trouble. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynaco-Stereo-70-ST-70-Series-II-2-Tube-Amplifier-Tested-Working-READ-/362764796499?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

The ALPS potentiometer has a very fine touch, very low initial volume level, and I'm sure that would apply to most any preamp it's attached to. They make motorized versions since you want remote control. IMO any preamp that has this potentiometer would be a good possibility.

I won't be a bit surprised if the forte's bring you back to the sweet spot for more critical listening. I find myself doing it all the time.

You're right!! Maz4bz is my hero! His "ramblings" did more for my KLF-10's and my auditory happiness than most of my other technical modifications. Thanks again Maz!

The Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II will make those horns really blow!

Be careful, once you plug them into a good amp, you will be exposed to a quality of sound that, while not flat and neutral, is closer to "live" sound than most anything else out there. Paul W. Klipsch (designer of your speakers), realized that emphasis on the midrange introduced a "bigness" of sound that is very pleasing to the ears. Once you hear them you'll be hooked!