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Frozmeister

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Posts posted by Frozmeister

  1. Hi guys,

     

    I am getting ready to put up for sale a pair of Walnut RF-7 ii and the matching RC-64 ii center channel.  The Cornwall iii speakers won the "sounds best" contest! :)   I have the pallet they came on and the original boxes, so getting them ready to ship is no issue.  My question is about the actual shipping.  I have never shipped anything like this and was wondering if any of you can suggest which freight company I should use for the best value and least chance of trouble.  Any thoughts?  Thanks!

  2. Sunnysideup,

     

    Your Cornwalls look AMAZING!  The stain combined with the Lambswool type cloth is gorgeous! 

     

    Can you tell me about Elekit TU-8600R?   I almost ordered one of them from Victor Kung.  Having seen yours makes me wonder if I should go ahead and do so.  I don't really need it, but after reading the review in Stereophile, I want to build one.  Was the kit easy to assemble?  How is the overall sound?  Would you recommend it to anyone obsessed with good sound and looking for tubes in his listening room?

     

    Best,

     

    Frozmeister

  3. Windashine, Schu, Bosco-d-Gama, Kevinmi & A9050LX,

     

    Thanks for your comments.  It turns out that Cary is discounting almost everything, except the model I was looking at.  I was never good at reading the fine print...so my bad. Nevertheless, after corresponding by email and then spending about 30 minutes on the phone with their president Billy Wright, I decided to give their stuff a try.  A 30 day test drive isn't a bad deal, plus the stuff is handwired, point to point with the exception of two small boards used for rectification.  I had Billy send me a couple of pics just as proof of how it is wired.  I am a sucker for hand assembly.   I shall see how it turns out and let you know. Merry Christmas to you all!

     

    Best,

     

    Frozmeister

    • Like 1
  4. Hi folks!

     

    I am considering buying a Cary Audio SLI-80HS integrated amplifier.  Carydirect.com is selling product at 30% off for a short time to commemorate Cary Audio's 30th anniversary.  The pricing seems like a good deal, but I don't know much of anything about their products.  I would like to get your thoughts on this specific model or at least your thoughts on Cary Audio's products overall.  Any feedback is appreciated!  I do not have a dealer in my hometown and I have not heard Cary's products before.  I have read some favorable stuff in the Hi-Fi press, but I am never sure what is a "real" opinion and what is "paid for" opinion.  

     

    I would be pairing this integrated tube amp with my Cornwall iii speakers.

     

    Thanks for your time!

     

    David

     

     

  5. Guys,

     

    I really appreciate the replies.  Erik2A3, thanks for the heads up on the features of the amp.  It's really nice to have folks that can I can hit up for candid advice.  I decided to go with the Zen Torii MK4.  It's the 25 watt dual mono model.  I am upgrading the caps, adding in KT66 tubes, and looking forward to hearing it in person.  They are running about 16 weeks for delivery, so it will be summer before I can put it through it's paces.  I will let you know how it turns out. 

     

     

    • Like 1
  6. The kit comes complete with everything, but nothing is assembled.  The boards are provided naked, so you have to install the resistors, capacitors, relays, wiring, etc.  It was quite an education for me.  The company I work for has extensive PC board assembly capabilities for military and aerospace applications, but I had never once picked up a soldering iron.  I have a new found respect for the talented assemblers at my company!  As for pics, my phone died taking my pics with it, but I did find one that I had emailed to a friend during the build.  You will see that the amp is nearly complete in this picture.

     

     

    amplifier interior.jpg

    • Like 3
  7. Folks,

     

    Note:  I am a newbie so if this post doesn't exactly fit the website, please excuse my lack of experience or maybe lack of judgement. 

     

    So, I saw an article in Stereophile sometime back about a solid state amp by Akitika.com that could be built at home similar to a Dynaco or Hafler.  Stereophile gave it a really favorable review, so I decided to give it a try.  The kit cost me $340 all-in including shipping, plus about an additional $50 in soldering tools and materials.  You can buy it assembled for a little over $500, but I opted to watch a few Youtube videos on soldering and take the plunge.  It was surprisingly easy to build the kit and the assembly instructions are incredibly detailed.  I don't know how many hours I actually had in it, but I did it in my spare time and enjoyed it.  My soldering looks like crap, but it works! 

     

    It's worth pointing out that the fellow who sells this kit (Dan Joffe) backs it with awesome support and he sources as much material from USA manufacturers as possible.  In addition to his well documented assembly manual, he answered about two dozen questions I emailed him.  Plus, he walked me through fixing a couple of mistakes I had made.  I should mention I had never soldered anything aside from plumbing fixtures before this.  

     

    So you are probably asking, "How does it sound?"  The answer is surprisingly musical!  It doesn't sound quite like a tube amplifier, but it is pretty neutral and really pairs nicely with my Cornwalls.  It also sounds good on my KG 5.5s, but the Cornwalls really bloom with this amp.  I was surprised when the music came out sounding pretty close to my little First Watt J2 (Nelson Pass designed amp).  I am not saying it's the equal of the First Watt J2, BUT considering it cost me about 5x less, I find myself impressed.  It certainly sounds better than my mid 1980's Denon gear, which is still pretty nice stuff.

     

    So, if you are looking for a fun project to do by yourself or with your kid, this just might be the trick.  Plus, if building this kit with a family member hooks them on 2-channel hi-fi and gets them to pair the amp up with some of PWK's fine products, then that in my mind is a project worth doing.   Gotta get the next generation interested in real hi-fi!

     

    Here are a couple of links which will take you to the Akitika web page and the Stereophile review.

    https://www.akitika.com/index.php

    https://www.stereophile.com/content/akitika-gt-102-power-amplifier

     

    Best,

     

    Frozmeister

     

    P.S.  Here's a picture of the finished product.

     

     

     

     

    Akitika.jpg

    • Like 3
  8. Folks,

     

    I am looking at pairing a Decware amp with my Cornwalls.  The models between 6 watts and 20 are the ones I am looking at.  Any thoughts good or bad?  The owner of Decware spent almost an hour on the phone with me giving me the pros and cons of his products.  He didn't try to hard sell me and most importantly, he didn't insult my horn speakers!  He was super down to earth and very nice.  Any input is greatly appreciated.  

     

     

  9. Dtr20,

     

    I have a friend of many years who LOVES Italian motorcycles.  On average he has about 4 of them at any one time in his garage.  It's typically a mix of Ducati, Aprilla, and Guzzi.  I can tell you what he's told me several times:  He wishes he'd never bought the first Ducati.  He became bewitched by them and it spread to other Italian hardware.  His point is always the same...they are expensive, GLORIOUS, temperamental, and they all leak oil.  Every bike he has, whether new or nearly new, gets a transmission drip pan placed underneath it.  Invariably, they all spring some kind of oil leak.  This is not to say they are junk, but they are not Japanese either.  They won't give you length of service that say a BMW or a Japanese bike will.  It's important to note that he won't ride anything else, but he also spends a whole lot of money on maintenance at the dealers.

     

    By the way, the Guzzi bikes always sound different than the other bikes and when I say different, I mean awesome!  I say go for it and never look back!

    • Thanks 1
  10. Guys,

     

    Thanks for the opinions.  A Klipsch dealer had them squirreled away, very probably his warehouse guys lost them amongst all the other stuff.  $5500 for the pair.  New in the boxes.

  11. Kink56 is right on the money.  70 pairs were made in the rosewood and they are serial number sequentially matched.  The boxes' nomenclature reference each other and tell the dealer to sell them together.  The badge on the back of each speaker is pretty cool.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I have attached a pic.  The really interesting thing is the guy who tested and signed off on the speakers is named Victor.   Victor shares the same last name as the artisan who built the speakers and signed the SE badges.  Hope, AR...really small town. :)

     

     

     

    Badge.jpg

  12. Gentleman Jack,

     

    I can't speak to how the RP-8000F sounds, but you could contact Bob Crites (www.critesspeakers.com) to help refresh and improve your KG 4.5 for just a little money.   I have 22 year old KG 5.5 speakers that I worked over and am super pleased with the results.  I replaced the phenolic resin drivers in the horns with titanium units.  It's an easy swap, that takes just a screwdriver and a little finesse.  It really sharpens the highs and overall sound.  You could also have him rebuild the crossover networks in the speakers or better still do what I did and have him build you all new ones.  It doesn't take much to replace those, too.   Since your speakers are 25 years old, the capacitors in the crossovers are probably on the downslope of their lives.  It's probably time to replace them.   In any case, good luck.  Post a pic of your KG's if you get a chance.  

    • Like 1
  13. Dwilawyer,

     

    Hi.  Here you go!  It looks goofy.  I have them sitting on towels so as not to scratch my wood floors while I fool around with positioning them for best sound.  Once I get them positioned the towels go bye-bye!  By the way the silver luster grille cloth is cloth that has been woven with REAL nickel plated metal wire.  It's simply gorgeous and likely a nasty surprise for any cat who thinks he's going to run his claws through it.  HAHA!

     

    Best,

     

    David

    corner.JPG

    full view.JPG

    • Like 4
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