Mallette

I like his thinking. Won't say more as this thread must not stray into the political. Dave

With an Eagle Scout in charge, just as good. He LOVES that property. Dave

You are ALWAYS welcome, my friend! Dave

My brother is, but he lives near the MO line and will travel to Columbus, MO. Roads will be JAMMED. I'll settle for what we get this year and hope I make it to 2024 when my river camp ground will be dead in the center of totality. Son is thinking about renting out camping spaces after he heard about the Motel 6 rooms at 1500.00 for this one. Dave

Texarkana. Not total, but close enough. Be interesting to see how much I can charge folks to camp on my river property in 2024 as it will be in the prime path. I'll be in Hope, I hope. Dave

THIS^^^^so much THIS!!!! YES. Otherwise, expect a Moderator solution nobody is happy with, including the Mods. Dave

That info helps. That Pioneer is first rate. Love the look and feel of those things! Most late model PCs have DACs on board more than adequate to experiment with as I mentioned above. Start with the very best source material and if you are happy, great. If not, then experiment with DACs until you are happy. I am partial to Audioengine's DAC at the moment for build quality and cost effectiveness. Dave

Welcome to the madness, and remember this: Depending on what you have from the 80s little if any improvement in perceived sound quality may be needed unless you're just wanting to throw some money at it. As to digital, Bluetooth remains a medium requiring transcoding and is therefore potentially problematic. Best digital sources are the most pure. Really first rate recordings down direct to disk can be had and even though I am an analog lover my opinion is that they equal or exceed the very finest analog. Download them the old fashioned way and play them directly with a high quality DAC. On DACs, read the user reviews as IMHO this is another area where price and performance aren't linked. It's just a computer sub system interpreting code until it becomes an analog signal subject to the same issues all analog systems are. Therefore a reasonable cost/performance can be made to phono preamps. First rate phono preamps can be had in the 200.00 range that will satisfy the vast majority of us and as they are analog beginning to end more problematic than a DAC. So, 200.00 or less for a Klipsch worthy DAC. Suggestion: Follow the above FIRST before messing with mp3 or any compression or transcoding, then experiment for what floats your boat. Dave

Didn't go back far enough to really follow this thread, but due to the reference worth mentioning that while the date isn't set, RMHC will sponsor a Conlon Nancarrow New Music Festival either late fourth quarter or in the first half of the first quarter of next year. Building renovation should be complete by then. Dave

...coming to a city near Hope soon and open to the public. As this involves two channel and HT as well, I am placing this here so as to get maximum exposure. The Regional Music Heritage Center will announce publically the plans for the renovation of our building in downtown Texarkana within the next 30 days or less. I am awaiting only an HVAC quote to present the budget to the Board for approval. We wish to be done and open by the fourth quarter of this year or first quarter 2018. What is NOT included in the budget is equipment. That's where I need your help. The main listening system is all Klipsch Heritage 5.1, except for the ".1" not being Klipsch at the moment but a Cinema F6 horn sub. It will be used as follows: -as a 2 channel conventional stereo system. -with Dynaco Quadapter for phase decoding of stereo recordings to 4 channel. -with an HT receiver having discrete inputs for front and rear speakers that is direct, not through any decoder, for use with my 4 channel discrete recordings. -as a theater system with ATMOS for film and video usage. -as a sound system for live music events in the building (K'horns will be on false corner stands with wheels for easy movement for this use). So, I could use the wisdom of this group in planning for the equipage and engineering. I successfully set up a system when I lived in Seabrook where I could switch from the 5.1 HT mode to a Quadapter driven system, but it was something only I could safely switch over and I'd like something a bit more goof proof and user friendly. Thoughts on that welcome. As this system will be part of the RMHC's commemoration and honoring of PWK, the amps and such should reflect the quality of the Klipsch products they will drive. Certainly a nice tube amp with sufficient power to drive the 4 speakers of the Quadapter usage as well as pure two channel would be nice. Bear in mind our close relationship with the KHMA in Hope and that most of those exposed to this system are going to have their minds blown as few will have ever been exposed to a system of this quality. As part of our displays, Klipsch literature will be available and we'll direct them to KHMA for more exposure and recommendations for Klipsch products they might purchase. My VPI Scout with it's 2M Black will be the main vinyl source, but my Sony R2R has an output amp issue I cannot resolve plus can't handle half track tapes, which will be part of our archiving operation so something on the order of an Otari MX-5050 would be very useful if we can find one at the right price in good working order. For 78s, my Empire 598 Mark II with the RekOKut re-equalizer will work well, though a better 78 cartridge than the Stanton AL500 would be nice. OPPO for CD, SACD, DVD-A, and BluRay will be budgeted. I have an adequate Yamaha cassette deck. Probably missed some things you guys will catch, so feel free to comment. I've found some very highly user rated Marantz HT receivers that, if they have the necessary discrete and direct 4 channel inputs, in the <=2k range. Other thoughts welcome...while high dollar stuff is welcome if donated, I've never been a high dollar=much better sound person as that isn't my experience. As an NPO, I'll be looking for the best possible price/performance on every item or function. I am attaching a couple of images of the listening area for your reference. One is a floor plan of the entire ground floor/mezzanine. You will need the "Full Size" widget on the bottom left of the screen when you click on the plan to be able to enlarge it for closer examination. Mezzanine normally configured as a listening area, but reconfigurable as a stage for hosting up to 140 or so for performances. Rendering needs updating, as I've decide to go with a ramp on the left of the stairs up rather than a wheelchair left as it's cheaper and make movement of pianos and such easier. Probably have a few "comfy chairs" in the sweet spot when larger groups are not present as well. I've also moved the audio equipment forward and will put media storage on the rear wall. However, it's close enough to get the idea. Thanks in advance, Dave

I will likely have much more to say on this in the not too distant future, as I have some support based on my results to indicate that correctly recorded surround does what one would intuitively suspect: Get closer to accuracy more than twice as good as stereo does over mono. For the moment, I'll say this for you to think on: Most agree that the very best stereo is produced from two properly placed microphones direct to storage a la the legendary Living Presence and others and reproduced on two properly placed speakers. IF you accept that, then does it not follow that 4 microphones properly placed, recorded, and played back the same way would be even more accurate and immersive? I will offer this much. My experience is that the above is true, but the achievement of the expansion from two to four microphones is NOT as simple as adding two more in mirror image...but can be done. Dave

I should add that we true believers in PWK are NOT saying that his Heritage designs are inherently improvable, or that the 8 Cardinal Points represent the only acceptable standard. When PWK started, there was no real rubrics for speaker design, and other than sales figures, no way to judge by the market best practices. PWK created a universal baseline and stuck with it for over 20 years as he learned the market for accurate loudspeakers. As he added new designs, each violated one of the 8 Cardinal Points. The K'horn exemplified the lightest, smallest, most accurate design and exemplified the 8 Cardinal Points to the extreme he deemed possible. Granted, the range he defined was arbitrary...but SOME rubric had to applied or you were stuck with DC to light as the "ideal." He's clearly explained his logic in choosing C1 as being "quality defined as fitness for intended use" target. Since Heritage, succeeding designs have continued to reference his seminal ideals while violating one or more of the 8 Cardinal Points. Does that suggest flaws in them? I say "NO," and that PWK would approve most all of them as reflections of "market lessons learned." There are those for whom cost, weight, or appearance makes no difference. There are those who want a great experience, but at the lowest possible cost. There are those who listen to little or nothing that requires response to C1. And etcetera. Klipsch has continued to grow and expand because they study the market for what it wants, then designs as close to PWK as they can to meet the customers budget and taste. IMHO, the best possible approach. Dave

There is a good reason for that, and a reason John Eargle was able to co-create our theater sound system. For some of us, Roy's stuff doesn't sound "like" PWK's, it sounds like PWK. Dave

I've been working on that for years, Marty. But the world isn't ready. BTW, Tesla's broadcast power system was also designed to carry music flat from DC to light. He foresaw the internet, but didn't have time to invent the computer. Oddly, it appears the K'horn doesn't owe as much to Tesla as does some of PWK's lesser known inventions, but I have personally seen evidence in the secret Klipsch archives that are guarded by the most loyal Custodian of the 6, the fearsome Hunter, that PWK may have provided Armstrong with just enough Tesla for him to "invent" FM. Dave

Actually more up Thebes alley...never forget the trip he took us on into the Mississippi Delta by bus in the night. Dave