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angelaudio

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Posts posted by angelaudio

  1. I think some matters really need to be put into proper context which is why Mirko and I debate all the time. Our audiophile group argues endlessly with each other over things. I just feel that youtubers who review the Heresy IV's don't explain enough with regard to the context of the listening environment, music genre and volume levels.  I would assume that the port being next to the La Scalas would merely have some minor influence on the bass, but probably nothing to do with the midrange or highs as long as the bass wasn;t overwhelming which with regard to this video didn't seem to be the case. The issue I took with the Forte IV was the lack of coherency of the voices which were lacking compared to the Heresy IV IMO. This is why I prefer the Forte 1. It has deeper bass and a sweeter top end IMO than the Forte IV. I think the HIV is an overall improvement over my HII's. Smoother top end and deeper bass. My reason for preferring my II's was merely in relevance to my listening room. My room is far more dampened than Mirko's main listening room. His room sounds real fun like a live band is playing because there's more reflection in his room. I know this may seem bad but it's not to my ears. His room sounds fun to me. When has listening to a live performance ever sounded like really high fidelity with acoustics? To me, it's more about the soul and excitement that's generated and Mirko's IV definitely deliver better than my HII's at his place.

    • Like 1
  2. 10 hours ago, mjr4078 said:

    Greetings folks! Looking for some advice/suggestions. I have about 5K to put into a new pair of speakers. The RF 7 III and the Forte IV have caught my attention and was wondering if anybody has had experience listening to these speakers. Sonically, what differences can I expect? I primarily listen to classic rock, hard rock, and metal. I will be driving them with a Rotel amp. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

     

    I don't know why the Forte demolishes the RF7III but have a listen with some earbuds. It's pretty shocking how different they sound.

     

     

    • Like 3
  3. 3 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:


     

    If you think 6600.00 for quality speakers is absurd, you need to get out more…..

     

    Kevin Deal at Upscale covered price increases in  several of his videos quite well. His La Scala video also contributed to the original price hikes as well because he was speaking about how Klipsch never raised their rates which ran parallel with inflation till that video. But really, the costs are inflated. Shakey, you're taking my comments out of context. $6,600 dollars is not expensive for high end speakers in the grand scheme, so of course I agree with you. I'm referring to the "relative" cost of the Cornwall itself and what a consumer is having to pay now relative to real cost. I've worked in corporate business sales, so I have a pretty good idea how things generally work. 

     

    I have been a wood craftsman myself for over 30 years in astronomy and have my own wood shop. I designed and built all my own plinths for audio gear, built my own telescopes, observing chairs, desks, lamps, you name it. A Cornwall is a box. I built boxes out of wood for a living for many years. I can show you links of all the work in my own industry. 

     

    When you have all the machinery, marketing and sales crew, you forecast and purchase materials based on sales history. Once you have an assembly line going and skilled craftsman to do it, you can turn out these products pretty fast. I don't doubt some tool & die to manufacture the horns was expensive, but to jack up the prices as much as they are is going overboard, especially when they are using compressed particle board. That stuff is cheap and inexpensive compared to real plywood which Klipsch used in the past, yet the prices have skyrocketed. We've all heard the Covid supply issues crap long enough but even that isn't enough to justify the price hikes. It's corporate management choices because in the end, it's just a business. 

     

    Heck, I get emails all the time about Klipsch sales. Have you ever seen Klipsch ever do one single sale on the Heritage series? It's always those dime a dozen speakers out of China they do sales on, but never the Heritage series. When you buy big quantities of wood, you are making deals which cuts costs down. I know rates on materials have gone up but let's get serious here. It's not what the current pricing reflects.

     

    People can order fully restored Klipsch speakers from Klipsch Restorations with beautiful Crites crossovers for half the price of the latest models. With regard to the OP, it absolutely amazes me how opinionated people are about all the new IV products when in fact most of the opinions that are so strong are coming from individuals who haven't even listened to them side by side. I guarantee countless listers would fail blind tests miserably. You guys make the older Klipsch Heritage speakers sound as if they're crap compared to the new gear and you guys sound absurd. People exaggerate too much. 

     

    I prefer not to buy into all the marketing propaganda too many people fall into without hearing some real side by side comparisons. All the new series IV speakers are absolutely beautiful looking speakers compared to the older models, but the sound is another story. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  4. 57 minutes ago, Schu said:

    I can't for the life me understand why ANYONE would ever belittle a timeless proven design that has been modernized with better construction techniques and more advanced component treatments... EVEN IF performance is only marginally better.

     

    To me this is, ONCE AGAIN, a economics discussion... and that is tiresome and lowly subject.

     

    Do you think it's ever possible that newer things may not always be better? The OP shared their opinion. You know plywood is not as dense as compressed particle board, but it's way more expensive. Why are the cost of these speakers so absurd? I know why, but I wonder if others know why.

  5. 6 hours ago, VDS said:

    Hi, I know several m number are using Benchmark gear. I’m interested in their extremely low distortion numbers coupled with their vey “engineer centric” philosophy.

    My only concern is wether Benchmark may bring out some harshness that Klipsch can have.  Any comparisons to  Benchmark vs Class A amps and how your sound changed with Benchmark?

    thanks 

    I know Roy @Chief bonehead is always repeating “low Distortion “ and he obviously know what’s what. 

     

     

     

    Don't know about Benchmark but you seriously should take a look at the First Watt amps. Super clean sound, but they are holographic sounding exactly like tubes, except they are very dark sounding. I carefully compared them with tube amps and was amazed. Sometimes I feel they are a bit too analytical and clean sounding but I'll be doing a review of the SIT3 and have already reviewed the F3 and F6.

  6. 5 minutes ago, captainbeefheart said:

     

    For your average tube amp vs average SS amp (most common topologies from both categories), it's the extra distortion that will make simpler music like jazz more attracting to the ear. But the McIntosh tube circuit is much different, it has low enough distortion where it's inaudible and extremely good bandwidth. I would wager that in a blind test nobody could consistently pick a tube 275 vs SS MC2100. He like the McIntosh amplifier which logic tells me he will like a clean amp that has distortion below human hearing like the Yamaha he has.

     

    Interesting. I've never heard the MC2100.  Thanks for sharing. 

  7. On 4/13/2022 at 12:27 PM, pimogo said:

    Driving myself nuts trying to determine if this combo will work well.

     

    Recently i had the opportunity to listen to the Forte IVs at a Heritage dealer. I enjoyed the sound but the dealer had them running off a Mcintosh Tube amp. My situation at home is different. I have a Yamaha A-S1200 which i wish to use for 2 channel listening. For those that may have listening to this combo - will they synergize well? Or should i look elsewhere? Other speakers i've earmarked are Focal Arias, Monitor Audio Silvers, and Fynes. 

     

    I listen to everything from classical/opera , jazz and Rock to Electronica, Reggae, etc. basically i need something that can hold its own in all genres. I have a pair of Ohm Walshs that excel at choral stuff but to my ears, are not very good w/ rock music.

     

    Any advise would be super helpful!

     

    For what you are doing the S1200 should work good IMO. I've tested it many times with different speakers and it's demoed in a few of my videos. It's brighter sounding than its less expensive brother, the Yamaha S501 by comparison though. The S501 is definitely less fatiguing to listen to and warmer in sound but you have tone controls for that. The only thing you will lose out on is in the jazz department. Tubes will easily outperform the S1200 because like most solid states, you get that sort of blanketed sound. Tubes just sound more open and spacious by comparison but for the overall music you mentioned, that S1200 will be a very good match IMO and I think you made a good choice. 

  8. 42 minutes ago, ClaudeJ1 said:

    What are those and who makes them? DIY?

     

    Caintick makes the baffles or one could use butcher block countertops at 1.5" thick and cut some holes. Drivers are listed here. Regarding the OP, I think open baffle work particularly well with solid state because they are so revealing. IMO, SS is not very revealing so the two balance eachother out yet you get the driver speed and chest pounding bass with the 15" and 18". My video is here. In tandem they do draw more of the amp but still highly efficient.

    https://www.lii-audio.com/shop/

     

    Here's my video with them in tandem.

     

  9. On 10/12/2021 at 2:27 AM, ClaudeJ1 said:

    Truer words have never been spoken. I'd like to ad ALL HORN speakers, to the mix. They are the most revealing of good and bad recordings, just like Red Book CD's.

     

    Agreed, but open baffle speakers like the Lii's in particular are equally if not, even  more revealing than horns. They're also equally as efficient as my Klipsch heritage and far less costly.  

  10. On 10/9/2021 at 4:00 AM, henry4841 said:

    For purist tone controls are a no no. For one thing they throw more electronics manipulating the sound introducing their sound signature into the mix. But if one likes what they hear using such I will not throw stones. The point is if one can get everything right without having tone controls the sound is supposedly better. With the right equipment this is possible. I have not used controls in years. I consider less is best. I mainly use an input buffer linestage (some call it a preamplifier) for volume control and the amplifier. I understand the sound is manipulated before the sound inters the linestage via DAC, phono pre, etc but where the rubber meets the road is a more contributing factor. 

     

     

     

    When one listens to Albert King like I do, tell me what is pure. Do you think a live band rocking out with static sounds pure? Klipsch speakers are not meant to sound ultra refined or pure. If people want ultra hi fidelity sound then they can go buy some ultra hi fidelity recordings that sound amazing with just about anything. Drums & Bells is probably the greatest recording in history  https://elusivedisc.com/drums-bells-comparing-sticks-cd/ if you just wanna hear a world class recording but is this the kind of recording or music you actually listen to? Some of this purist stuff gets a bit absurd. You gotta work around the music you like and consider how it's recorded. If you like Journey, what's the point of purity? 

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  11. Regarding the original post, in my opinion I think it's important NOT to switch too many things at once. Just take your time with a particular component and listen or write down some notes while you are listening to determine what you hear with a particular genre of music you like. Make notes of the soundstage, balance, spatial separation, bass, treble or whatever, etc, etc. After a while, switch out the component and re-write the notes over to determine if you are able to discern any desirable or undesirable differences. If not, then great. If so, that's great too. It takes time to learn what you like or dislike through "experience" IMHO.

    • Like 1
  12. Having had the fortunate opportunity to work with lots of tube amps and solid state amps, I had a chance to spend a few days with the Alan Eaton 45 integrated tube amp at 1.5 watts per channel and ended up buying the Alan Eaton 45 monos at 3 watts per channel (video links below). May not seem like much power but I'll tried to put matters into perspective. Everyone's room is different, so what works for me may not work for you. It amazes me how long people are waiting on Decware, yet have no idea about Alan Eaton's incredible work which was also discussed on the Glow in the Dark audio site . The main reason is because of the popularity of Steve Guttenberg's Decware Zen reviews combined with increased sales from the pandemic. Regardless, these monos are the finest amps I've ever used regardless of cost and they drive the Heresy beautifully!

     

    • Like 1
  13. This first video are just some brief comments on the reasons for doing a part II of this comparison. There were some comments by several others in these forums as well as Steve Huff who are far more experienced, so I wanted to go back and do this again. My friend Mirko is also a far more experienced and better listener than I am because he understands it better than I do and my biggest problem is that I lack experience. The first comparison thread and video are linked below as well. I'd like to reiterate my reasons are for doing this. A few commented that I was only using a 2.5 watt Decware and that it wouldn't be enough to drive the bass of the I'V's and I understand the concern there. My issue was that this is one of the amps I still listen to for easy listening at night like Bill Evans and Chet Baker for example. That being the case, one may not hear much difference in the bass between the IV's and II's at those lower listening volumes right off the batt. I decided to take the Heresy II's over to my friend Mirko who owns the IV's and compare them using the Primaluna EVO400 integrated amp and McIntosh MHA100. We also compared the Klipsch KLF20's and took well over a dozen comparison videos. I realize videos will never convey the incredible sound when hearing it for real BUT they do help display the "relative" differences of the bass and even the highs and mids. I'm still going to be uploading many videos today so bear with me. 

     

    Another criticism I got was that the walls in my previous video are slanted corners and that the bass of the IV would not resonate, so I believe we got that nailed down better in the newer videos. Another matter was the the break-in period. I have no idea if the decibel levels increase with break-in but for some strange reason, the IV's unquestionably sound as efficient as the II's which was not the case in my first video several months prior. Mirko has put tons of hours on the IV's to break them in so perhaps this is a result of break-in? Not really sure. All I can say is that their volume levels sound the same now. This is why I think it's important to go back and listen to speakers again.

     

    These comments are merely what's being heard. I really believe room size and acoustics have a huge influence on the results one hears with speakers. My own room where the first comparison of the II's and IV's took place dampens extremely fast! If you clap your hands in that room, there is no audible echo at all! In Mirko's room which is bigger and more wide open, there's a bit of brief echo but I also like his room because it's as if all the speakers have more breathing space. It's probably a placebo effect on my part but I like it nonetheless. I will just say that I really love Klipsch and their story. It's not about high class fidelity like you get in these ultra expensive and ultra refined speakers sold on the market for tens of thousands of dollars. The Klipsch Heritage series just have have this crude but absolutely beautiful sound that just seems so realistic, dynamic and right at you. Sometimes it brings so much emotion to me. Realistic sound doesn't always sound refined IMO. That realism is why I love these little Herey's so much. 

     

    Others may not have this same experience, but the II's I have which are completely bone stock, definitely exhibit more treble and the voices seem to shout a little bit more than the IV's. Mirko didn't refer to it as treble but he did express a similar impression of the sound in the highs and I think this will easily be audible in the videos if one is wearing a pair of earbuds or headsets. I have to be completely honest about the bass in all three speakers. The KLF20's almost seem to have quite a bit more bass than I would actually need (at least for my tastes) while the Heresy II's sound as if they are lacking some bass, but the Heresy IV's OMG! They are just so damn perfect and I get the idea that it's just such a complete speaker. I was blown away by the IV's. The bass of the IV's is very audible in Mirko's room. It's controlled, tight and very palpable and overall, I actually liked the Heresy IV's even more so than the KLF20's because the bass rocks the room but it doesn't overwhelm the music. It's just so damn perfect! 

     

    I think the reason my Heresy II's seem to work so well in my room is basically because the dampening and deading are so well controlled that it helps dampen the highs in the Heresy II's and I imagine it deaden's the bass. I'm also using one and often two REL T5i's because they are super fast and match so well with the Heresy, it's really incredible. If you have never experienced this sub, it's one of the most amazing experiences. I invited Mirko to another room where I connected just one REL T5i to my pair of Heresy II's using a modified Dynakit Stereo 120 solid state I got from Kenny Russell and an Erhard Audio Aretha tube preamp. We played Tom Sawyer by Rush using a high fidelity Vinyl recording. At one point we were a little over 107 decibels and he said it was the best example of the song he had ever heard which was pretty awesome. Normally he plays music at 80 decibels because he says that you don't wanna play too loudly for sustained periods and hurt your ears but it was just a fun time. 

     

    In all, the Heresy IV's were king during this experience and the top end sounded a bit smoother and rolled off compared to my Heresy II's. I really love both these speakers, I really do. If you're playing stuff like Albert King, Stevie Ray and voices, all these speakers will rock. Sooooo much fun!!!!

     

     

     

     

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
  14. I'm looking for advice on anyone who's experienced with placement of klipschorn's. I've never heard them in my life. I've only seen pictures of them. I have an opportunity to get a pair of 1980's models in great condition with Crites crossovers. The issue is that my living room is about 11.5 ft x 20 ft and they would have to be placed side to side against the smaller side of the room which means the drivers would only be about 8 ft apart.  Will the bass be non existent if they are toed out?  Manuals seem to indicate that they should be at least 10 ft apart from the center of the drivers, but not sure if I'm interpreting that right or not. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The issue is I don't quite have a full corner space. I'll try to add a photo of the room.

    Thanks!

    ---daniel

  15. I spent some time listening to my friends Evo 400 again recently using all the stock tubes including EL34's. When we first tried it, it was almost unlistenable on its own with the Heresy IV and Heresy II because it was just so bright and brittle sounding at first. For that reason, he was using a separate solid state preamp to add some roll-off. I must admit I was somewhat skeptical about break-in but now I'm a believer. Since he been breaking it in for many hours over the past few months, the Evo 400 sounds amazing on its own now. It doesn't sound bright and brittle anymore. Soundstage is big, wide and beautiful. 

  16. Limberpine, sorry so late here. I came back and said omg 6 pages! What happened? Then I read along. I've been through everything you are going through and then some. You wouldn't believe the things I've tried to remove buzz. Made some interesting discoveries along the way the past couple of years. Here's the issue with the ST70 I have as well as most amps.  THEY DON'T HAVE ATTENUATORS and the ST70 is one of them. I tried Bob Latino's attenuator for the ST70 but it was horrible. It totally ruined the sound of the bass and only worked from the 3 o'clock to 4 o'clock position. I just had the whole thing removed and didn't even want it in the circuit anymore. The gain on the ST70 is insane no matter what it's coupled with!  I can't believe others don't even talk about this. You have all that gain combined with a highly efficient speakers like the heritage line and it's a bad combo. My Decware SE84UFO has a built in attenuator and it works like a charm. Even the Parasound A23 Halo has attenuators and my Aretha played nicely with both. 

     

    Then you have these guys that are OCD about noise. Not referring to you! Your situation is totally justified, but these other guys who put their ears up to the speakers and listen for anything they can find are seriously OCD. If it bothers them that much, then just add an attenuator to calm things down some. Even the McIntosh MC30 tube amps had attenuators. I realize if the buzz is excessive, there's only so much you can attenuate out of it. Here's something that recently happened for reasons my friend is investigating as of last night. Currently I'm running my Heresy II's with two preamps. One is the Funtastic Dynakit PAS-M which is insanely good and the Erhard Aretha which is also insanely good. I've compared all sorts of amps and preamps. I even spoke to Will Vincent on the phone last year. For some reason still unknown to my friends and I, when the Aretha is coupled to the new Dynakit ST120 solid state, it goes completely quiet and it sound absolutely incredible. Out comes this beautiful, open airy sound stage like all the instruments are floating in space. Even when I turn the ST120's attenuator all the way up, the Aretha is still completely quiet. I recently ordered another Dynakit ST120 solid state from Kenny at Funtastic Vintronics for my second system which with replace my ST70. My friend Luigi is reading up on the stats of the newer Dynakit ST120 solid state that Kenny makes at Funtastic to see if he can find out why the Aretha is so quiet by comparison with it and we are going to talk more tonight. 

     

     

    • Like 1
  17. Maybe it's just me, but this idea about break in seems a bit much to swallow in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I believe the bass drivers break in makes total sense. The more that flex material around the woofer moves, the more flexible or effortless it becomes over time. That seems almost common sense to me. What makes no sense to me are the tweeters and midrange. I can't fathom how a small diaphragm is going to change sound. It's such a small, low mass object. I think a lot of it is placebo. For example, complaints about the highs and mids get mentioned then someone is arguing about the bass breaking in. They're two different areas of break in. Klipsch heritage speakers are my favorite speakers. I absolutely love the way the present music. In my opinion if a listener finds the highs and mids a bit too bright, they can counter that with a solids state integrated amp. For example, the Yamaha S501 sounds more rolled off compared to any tubes I've listened to so far. It also has excellent bass, so maybe that's a better way to warm and smooth out the top end a bit. I think it's more important to match the amp to the speaker and that will have a far greater impact than break in.

  18. The one I wonder about is golden ears mainly in the sense that there are things I didn't and still don't fully understand. For example, when someone says something sounds balanced. What does that mean? What am I listening for if I'm critiquing something? I was told that when something sounds balanced, it basically means nothing stands out more over the rest. The other way I could do this is just say heck with it, I'm enjoying the music and it doesn't matter. But, if someone is evaluating something, in my opinion, I think it can sometimes be helpful if a reliable source tells you something isn't balanced and that's just one of many subjects regarding the sound of something yes? If a sound engineer understand sound, then doesn't that help them record music? 

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