MechEngVic

A difference between RP160m's and Heresy II's? They'll make a big difference.

How'd you do it and do you have pictures?

I compared the Forte II's and Chorus II's for about 1.5 seconds before I picked the chorus II's. I have since listened extensively to Forte II's (my friend's) and they do sound incredible. But going back to the Chorus' always reinforced my decision. When my friend listened to the Chorus' for the first time, he regretted buying the Forte's (the store where he bought the Forte's didn't have the Chorus'). I sold the Chorus' several years ago because I moved into a smaller place, and I have missed them every single day. Cabinet and crossover improvements will give the Chorus' all and more of the detail of the Forte's

I've heard some of those GZ34 horror stories. I am fascinated in this knowledge base you speak of. Are you saying that the methods which built the best old tubes was some how lost, or not passed on properly? Did the advent of SS make us lose so much interest in tubes that the know-how was deemed irrelevant and discarded? It seems like a great folly in retrospect.

I have bought bad tubes from reputable dealers, and even they will admit it's hard to source true NOS tubes. The best sellers have good tube matching AND a good exchange policy. I think for us tube users that don't have tens of years of experience in finding them and the associated knowledge to do it, it's lucky when we get good ones.

Whichever set of speakers you go with, as long a they're Klipsch, you'll be happy. If you want to stick your amp in a cabinet and forget about it, get a SS. If you want to have an interactive love affair with the most beautiful looking and sounding piece of audio equipment you will ever own, get a tube amp.

A comment in an earlier post got me thinking about this subject. I can only speak of my very limited experience with new vs nos tubes, and offer some thoughts, but I'd to hear from other tube gear owners. I think we can all agree that there is a preference for the old famous tubes of yore, but we also know that NOS it a term used loosely by some sellers and we don't always get what we paid for. And, I believe that new production tubes have suffered in their reputation for reliability by new production problems, and many say they don't match the sound quality of the old. I think that mostly covers the controversies in a broad stroke. Well at this point, having used new production tubes for a couple of years only, I can't really speak to the reliability of them, other than I have only experienced one failure in about two dozen new tubes. But NOS tubes, from several sources, even reputable ones, have had about a 1 in 5 failure rate within a short time of initial use. I've bought at least 50 NOS tubes in the last several years. Models of new and NOS tubes include: EL-34, KT-88, 6V6, 12AX7 and its derivatives, 6GH8A and its derivatives, 6C4P-EV, 5U4G, and a few others I can't remember. Except for the Blackburn-made Amperex 6GH8A's (the best sounding tube I have ever heard), the new production tubes have sounded better IMO. Now, granted, I have not spent a grand on a quad of NOS Mullard EL-34's, but I did buy a NOS set of SED Svetlana EL-34's, and the truth is, an 80.00$ quad of New production Mullard's sounded just as good at almost 1/3 the cost. Here's what I think: Reliability issues with new production tubes will soon, if not already, be a thing of the past. Tube makers are working out the kinks, and they can probably do it more efficiently than could be done in the past. And because new tubes are almost exclusively used for sound reproduction, the focus is on sound quality. That was not the case in the past. And finally, given enough demand, new tube sound quality will surpass that of any and all old production tubes. Something to think about the next time you have to buy: Buying new supports new tube development and improvement. I, for one, would love to see to what new levels of sound quality and reliability new tubes could be taken, by scrutinizing the old designs we love with modern testing methods and remaking them with improved production capabilities.

https://www.partsconnexion.com/ http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

Absolutely Gorgeous.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HiFi-EL34-Vacuum-Tube-Power-Amplifier-Stereo-Class-A-Single-ended-Audio-Amp-20W/272952243837?hash=item3f8d38b67d:g:CBEAAOSwm3ldbXDC https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nobsound-NS-02D-HiFi-EL34-Vacuum-Tube-Amplifier-Class-A-Stereo-Audio-Power-Amp/271612287363?hash=item3f3d5a9983:g:PC0AAOSwxOFdD1ny https://www.ebay.com/itm/DIY-Tube-amp-kit-6L6-6N8P-Single-Ended-Tube-Power-amplifier-kit-HL-132/131826748885?hash=item1eb17c8dd5:g:KF8AAOSwneRXRY-v Read what others in other forums have said about these amps, I think you'll be suprised.

Would love to see those monoblocks...

I wish I could buy one of each of everything he has.

Anyone who says Chorus II's sound better with solid state amps... is sadly mistaken. I bought a pair in 1994ish. I tried them with the Yamaha Natural Sound 100watt per channel amp and preamp, I tried them with a 1000.00$ Crown 1000watt per channel mosfet amp and the Yamaha pre, my Pioneer 100 watt per channel receiver, and my friend's Denon 80watt per channel receiver, all connected to an Adcom CD player and California Audio Labs DAC. They were loud, but that's all. Then I bought the Dynaco Stereo 70 Series II... I was the first time I cried from the musical beauty that washed over me. It changed my life. There was NO comparison. NONE. 35 watts per channel of tube juice made those 15' woofers pound so hard I couldn't feel the couch I was sitting in! The woofers were pounding harder than any of the other amps, AND the mids!!!!! So crunchy! So windy! The Dynaco smoothed out the harshness that every solid state amp I tried had. I have been a tube junkie ever since. I eventually used an Adcom solid state preamp with the Dynaco and it rocked my world for 14 years until I had to sell the chorus' due to moving. I miss those speakers every day. But the thing I will never part with is the Dynaco. I have since rebuilt it and it runs a pair of KLF-10's that, while not as loud, sound every bit as juicy as the Chours' did. I have a tube pre now and will never go back to solid state. Plus there's not an SS amp in existence as purdy as my glowing Dynaco. I hope every SS owner is terribly offended !

I've never heard a set of headphones that matched the sound of a good set of speakers, regardless of the room. Even the best headphones lack the physical impact.

Your question is beyond me. Hopefully Maz4bz can chime in or maybe you can message him. How would you move a cap's break point? By changing the value? And if so, how do the values correspond to octaves? And please tell me about this constant-directivity of the horn compensation. I'm afraid I'm making you give knowledge instead of receiving it, hope you don't mind. I've been wondering what specific purposes the individual components serve.

I bought my Chorus II's in about 1994. The instant I heard the sound coming from them I knew. I compared them side by side with the Forte's and, to me, the Chorus' were significantly better. I compared them to speakers costing 3 and 4 times as much and nothing was even close. I had to sell them in the early 2000's due to moving into a smaller place. Now I just don't have the room for them and have the KLF10's. I guess we were looking for smaller footprints after all... I wish Klipsch would have continued development of the Chorus instead of the Forte.

Why did Klipsch ever stop Chorus production?

Maz4bz, Just wanted to say thanks again for the time and effort you put in to improving your speakers and the benefit it will give anyone who looks over what you've done and decides to apply a similar tactic. I am still having those "I can't believe the sound I am hearing from my speakers!" moments! It's amazing what 2 10-ohm resistors did. Another thing I noticed: I use the chromecast audio streamer to stream Amazon music over wi-fi. The bass and treble controls on the chromecast operate on the digital level so I believe they can be considered DSP level controls. Well, before adding the resistors, I was less than happy with the changes made by adjusting those controls. The music always sounded worse. After adding the resistors, the changes I make to bass and treble through the chromecast audio dongle make meaningful changes to music lacking a bit of high-or-low-end fidelity. The music quality does not suffer, which is supposed to be what DSP is all about. Some talk of DSP as the cure to all woes, but now I think it can work either way; improvements in passive circuits can make all the difference, even to DSP.

If you want midrange crunch and rolled off highs, I would suggest an EL-34 powered amp. If you want flat and bright, KT-XX powered amps. Many amps will let you use either EL-34's or KT-77-88-66-120... If cost is no object you will never go wrong with the Mcintosh mc275

You did it. Your 10 ohm resistor fixes the KLF-10/KG5.5. I can't believe a pair of 3.00$ resistors made more improvement than the Crite's titanium tweeter diaphragms, the Clarity CSA and Russian PIO caps, and the silver plated pure copper 14 gauge wiring. Proof positive that the greatest improvements in sound come from a properly designed circuit, and not from fancy boutique parts or exotic materials. The resistors actually measured 12 ohms so it's not such a drastic change but boy does it make a difference! I don't hear the need to make any other changes to the crossover at this time. But I will definitely be putting in some time with the XSim. I owe you big. Next time you're in Los Angeles I'm buying you a steak dinner!

Hello Denman, Those covers will be hard to come by. A possible replacement is a set of 1" spike feet and 1" felt pads, they will do the trick. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B075WSC4HQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C2KK96B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A million thanks!! I've been needing this. I wish I would've had it before I built my custom crossovers. Since the 1.75uf cap is not commercially available I went with a 1.8uf, and now with the Xsim I realize I should have gone with a smaller not larger value. I will make the adjustment. Also, I have 10ohm resistors on the way. I think your resistor fix is just what I've been looking for. I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope you can see the pics now. In earlier comments on this thread, moray james posted an image of stands with a corner post design which I thought looked good but others commented that without solid sides around the stands, they would lose bass coupling to the floor. By "open box" style I meant the four sided base with open top and bottom like the bases on Chorus and forte speakers. I sort of combined the two.

WOW! I'm gonna have to spend some time going over your post. I do have the Crite's titanium diaphragms and custom upgraded crossovers, but using warm tubes & PIO caps in addition to height and placement adjustments really helped tame the high end. It's way more "S", "T", "P" and "H/CH" articulate. But I am certainly not opposed to revisiting my crossovers...