MechEngVic

Good question... I was comparing random tracks in Qobuz in their 24/96 vs. the same tracks in their "CD quality" which they say is 16/44.1. I'm gonna say, proly upconverting by Qobuz on many of the tracks. Chromecast Audio casts in up to 24/96 lossless, which is what I was using. I was doing none of the bit rate conversions on my own. Unfortunately my 1 month Qobuz trial is over, so... I will tell you this: When I listen to authentic (recorded in hi-res) .DSF files on my laptop with the DSD Direct mode on Foobar2000, I swear they sound better than anything I hear in CD quality (completely subjective listening, no comparing). If you ask me to describe it: Less disturbances in loud, complex passages, more "empty space" in the subtle parts of quiet passages, more pronounced peaks of the sound envelope with longer decay. But according to the experts, it's most likely just in my head.

Do you have any speakers?😆

Welp, My amp started crackling again. It was a power tube. The crackling was so subtle I didn't think it could be a power tube, there was no arcing or red-plating... Until I turned off the lights. Then I could see the faintest of sparking from within the EL-34. It took a couple of days and several on and off cycles for the problem to go from occurring after several hours to occurring a few minutes into the warm-up cycle. The tube is replaced and I'll be watching the amp carefully for the next several cycles. The many ways a tube can fail surprise and confuse me!

Have you had a similar issue to mine, where you actually started getting contact failure? So far I think that's what happened, the amp has been running smooth since cleaning.

Just a little while ago, my amp (Dynaco ST-70 Series II) started crackling and popping during low volume listening, no red-plating or arcing tubes, no resistors burning, no speaker blowing boom of a capacitor failing, just crackles and pops and the high-low bias LED's flickering. (You set the bias of this amp by turning a trim pot until both LED's are of equal brightness, they also pulse in time with the music when it's loud. These LED's are sensitive to AC fluctuations and will go up and down in brightness. I say all this about these LED's so you'll understand why I mention them flickering with my issue) I instantly turned off the amp and did a quick look and sniff. No burning smell nor anything that looked wrong. I decided to pull the six tubes, I inspected the socket seats and saw what looked like a tiny bit of carbon deposit on a couple of them. I grabbed a thin wood dowel and some isopropyl alcohol and gave them all a good reaming. Then I retensioned the seats and slapped the tubes back in. I turned on the amp and it is running smooth so far, cross my fingers. This is the first time this type of crackling and popping has happened and I fixed it (hopefully) with socket cleaning and retensioning. I had a very similar type of crackling and popping happen a different time and it turned out to be a bad driver tube. Anytime I remove and install a tube I re-tension, but never did much in the way of corrosion removal. These sockets are about 1.5 years old and this amp runs several hours a day. Is what I experienced typical of what happens when tube/tube socket contact is compromised? Also, what do you use to clean tube sockets?

Having listened to both Chorus II's and RF-7 II's (not the III's, but they both have a similar bass response) in the same room with the same amplifiers (VTA ST-120, 60 WPC tube amp, Mcintosh MC-275) I can give you this simplified description of each's bass response: The Chorus II's are room shakers, and the RF-7 II's are chest pounders. Don't get me wrong, they both shake the room and pound the chest, but they stand out in the ways I mentioned. And let me say this again because I keep reading it mentioned: The Chorus II's DO NOT NEED A TON OF WATTS TO POUND. I owned Chorus II's for many years and ran them with several SS 100+ watt amps (and a 1000 watt Crown mosfet amp), and the best sound and most room-bouncing bass came from a 35 WPC Dynaco ST-70 Series II tube amplifier (which I still own). Sadly, I sold the Chorus II's. And the RF-7 II's absolutely ripped the house apart with the 60WPC of the VTA and the 75WPC of the MC-275. The 8ohm impedence of Klipsch speakers is what makes them so efficient. Don't let anyone tell you any different. If you and your dad are looking for that chest pounding bass, speakers with direct radiating woofers sitting up high like in the RF-7 series might be what you're looking for. If you want the accurate bass (especially the upper bass frequencies 150-500 Hz) then the horn loaded woofers of the Khorn/Lascala speakers are better. The heresy IV's are probably just too small for the bass impact and volume you're looking for.

Cornwall III's are 8 ohm nominal impedance

Show the rest!

When you find balance with the factory crossover, that's a win. And what you learn is it's not just about one component but all your gear working well together. Also, many of us believe that well made resistors can make sonic improvements.

Dynaco ST-70 series II

Sounds like we're not the only ones hearing stuff on Locomotive Breath. I've always heard the sound but thought it was intentional, but now that I hear it good, it does sound like something that shouldn't be there. ??? https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/question-about-jethro-tulls-locomotive-breath.31507/ https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=165492

I believe that part number is for Quartets.

My guess is that even though it would surely be louder, running just one pair probably sounds cleaner.

Are you running all four KLF-30's at once? Have you compared the sound quality (not volume) to running just one pair?

Well, If you're running a hi-res app from your laptop, out through USB to a hi-res capable DAC or hi-res capable receiver, then you might not need a chromecast audio. But if you want the ability to do the same thing with your phone or tablet, and do it wirelessly, then it's great. I use my laptop to do work, my phone for online interaction, and my tablet, through the chromecast audio, to stream my tablet's amazon music app to the hi-fi. Bluetooth is getting pretty high quality, but if you stream with a hi-res streamer over wifi, you can stream uncompressed and bit-perfect, wirelessly. There are several wi-fi streamers besides the chromecast audio, Bluesound, Sonos, Yamaha, and others. But none beat the chromecast audio's price. Note: regardless of whether you send the signal through USB or wirelessly, you need a hi-res capable DAC or hi-res capable receiver. Not every digital device can convert hi-res signals. You can have a hi-res app on your phone, but it won't be hi-res out to headphones connected directly to your phone. The chromecast audio grabs the hi-res digital signal from your device wirelessly over your home's wi-fi, the same way as a regular chromecast does tv from your device. Then it sends the signal to your hi-res capable DAC or hi-res capable receiver at up to 24bit 96KHz, if you use a toslink. I hope this helps.

Chris, This is where it's at !!! The ability to research and decipher the studio arts is the next level of audiophilia, thanks to the web! You're a pioneer! How many of us have heard others, and have said ourselves: "I want to hear what the artist intended! I want it to sound natural!"? Once the music has left the studio, there is almost no such thing. Beginning with mic placement, countless manipulations are made until the final product has little to do with reality. Much of it sounds full and detailed, much doesn't. A big drum kit can sound like it's all coming out one speaker, while a single vocal track is coming from the extreme left and right. And of course, gain and compression can make or break a track and it's engineer. What speaker makers decide what to do with all these variances is where we find ourselves. Some make speakers that try to make all songs sound decent, we've all seen the v-shaped frequency response graphs. Then there are those that make ruler flat or rolled off FR graphs, which while accurate and tame, can sound flat. Then there are makers like Klipsch and others, that found a "sound", a sound that tickles the edges of your ears, big, accurate and live, and extremely sensitive, revealing every nuance whether good or bad.

If you use a toslink to mini-toslink cable with a chromecast audio, you can stream up to 96k/24bit hi-res files. In other words, the 3.5mm out on the chromecast doubles as a fiber optic digital out. At 100% volume on the chromecast the stream is bit-perfect. Any streaming app that you can cast from will work, from your tablet, phone, or computer. The chromecast audio toslink out will connect to any receiver/DAC that has a toslink input.

I can only imagine what the Chorus III would be like.

I accept your apology.

No one is arguing that a good room won't sound great with horns. I'm saying horns can sound good up close. You're saying they can't. I'd be happy if you could acknowledge it's possible (countless recording studios have use near field horns to make music over they years), but I'm OK with a difference in opinion. But to insinuate that I must live in a sh*&$y place... I'm sorry you went there. Nothing in my comment was meant to be insulting to you.

They look like tall glass pots with the lids on! Are you going to try to improve the square wave?

Is one newer than the other? Woofers do seem to go through changes in sound as they age.

You'd be surprised. If you look at simple geometry: My speakers are 7 feet apart, angled in at 45 degrees. That puts the sweet spot at 3.5 feet back from the speakers.The further back you move, the more the room becomes part of what you're hearing. In my 3.5 foot sweet spot, there is amazing imaging (they are also 2 feet forward from the back wall), Instruments even sound like they are coming from behind the speakers, the bass slams without sounding boomy because you are missing most of the low frequency room bounce, and at 90dB's (which is the loudest I will listen at this position and only for a short time) there is NO discombobulated mess. Granted, my KLF-10's have FaitalPro tweeter driver mod and the crossovers significantly upgraded and tuned to a flatter response than stock using a measuring mic, REW, Audacity, and X-Sim. EDIT: And I have the speakers on 6 inch mounts so the tweeters are at ear height. It's like having headphones with body slamming bass!