pcbiz
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Posts posted by pcbiz
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The craigslist ad says Forte II, but they are a Forte I pair.
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/ele/d/bethesda-klipsch-forte-ii-speakers/7525974219.html
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On 8/20/2022 at 3:25 PM, Dave MacKay said:
In early summer last year, I acquired a pair of 1986 La Scalas. They had suffered a little over the years: a dog had chewed the cabinet corners and mice had made their presence known in the doghouse. However, apart from a coat of polyurethane over the Raw Birch plywood, they were entirely original.
After having wanted La Scalas for more than 40 years, I was a bit underwhelmed by how they sounded. Fortunately, this forum provided a wealth of ideas, suggestions, and advice on how to improve my system.
Over the course of the past year, I’ve:
- Disassembled and cleaned everything
- Replaced the original AL network with a new AA network from Crites
- Replaced the squawker gaskets
- Repaired the cabinets
- Laminated 3/8” plywood to the top, bottom, and sides of the speakers
- Replaced the K-77 tweeters with DaveA’s SMAHL tweeters and lenses
I’ve matched the La Scalas with a pair of THTLP subwoofers that I’m feeding via a MiniDSP 2x4HD. I use a Yamaha R-N803 receiver and a Bluesound Node streamer.
Yesterday, I finished veneering (with ribbon Sapele) and refinishing (with Rubio Monocoat "Pure") the La Scalas. Because I wasn't confident that I had the skill to veneer the doghouses I painted them the same black that I used for the squawkers and tweeters.
I’m quite pleased with how the speakers turned out. Here is a close-up of one of the refinished speakers
and a photo of them in my living room.
The speakers --- augmented by the THTLPs --- now sound as good as I had always imagined they would. I'm delighted with them. It's been a journey getting them to this point, but the journey has been entirely enjoyable.
The help of members of this form has been indispensable to me. Rather than call out each of the more than 20 people who gave suggestions and advice, I'll just say thank-you to all.
Very nice! Very inspiring as well. My La Scala beaters are still beaters. I've done all kinds of things to the guts, and they sound golden. This motivates me to make a move on the exterior.
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11 minutes ago, ODS123 said:
I'll share a quote gleaned from another Forum. This from Alan Shaw of Harbeth. ..I'm betting PWK would say something similar
"One of the greatest mysteries and acts of insanity in the audio business was the deletion of tone controls from hifi amplifiers from about the 1980s with some utterly discreditable mumbo jumbo that 'tone controls are no part of a hifi system'. I can categorically assure you that a properly designed and executed tone control circuit does not degrade the signal quality and never has done... Tone controls were deleted from hifi amps as a marketing gimmick to attract a new 'minimalist' consumer away from amps laden with buttons and controls."
Sounds right. It's similar to the live audio world. When these digital mixers hit the market, the word from the manufacturers was that they were 'better'. They actually degraded the sound, and many drummers have thrown their sticks at the sound man that tried to prove otherwise.
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In guitar amp world, this means you have used the wrong fuse, which lets several things fry.
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9 minutes ago, Racer X said:
Hypersensitivity to sound or noise can be a bummer. While I find loud noise irritating (Doors slamming or closing loudly, and don't get me started on car exhaust system "enhancements") very glad I sleep soundly, except for the vivid dreams waking me up.
Play this at low volume while you sleep. I actually connect it to a rodin coil for vibrations only. It's more powerful than melatonin as far as sleep goes, but your dreams will amuse you.
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I've only had relatively brief encounters with loudness. I played guitar in several bands over the years. Still do. At 60, and relatively new to horn speakers and tube amps, I recently started sleeping with ear plugs. Every little sound bugs me. Apparently I'm hearing more.
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They're back at a lower price. I really wish I had space for these. They would be soooo mine.
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On 7/31/2022 at 7:38 PM, veloceleste said:
Unfortunately a scam ad, I believe.
Definitely a scam. The 'seller' has posted the ad several times.
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The seller feedback is 2. Looks scammy.
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On 7/31/2022 at 6:03 PM, Klipschguy said:
Recently, I was a bit surprised to discover the AA Network in the Klipschorn sounds perceptibly better to my ear with a steel screw (not stainless or brass) securing the .245mh inductor. It seems to give a little more energy to the lower treble that to my ear is necessary to that “magic Khorn sound”; with the brass screw it sounds a just a tad “too polite” (again, to my ear). My inductance meter shows .24mh (brass screw) versus .34mh (steel screw).
I realize this post is going against the grain, so I was a little hesitant to post. If anyone is interested, the screw is a #8 1.5” steel Phillips pan-head.
My AA experiments revealed the same. Materials do make a sonic difference. I'm relatively new to the tube amp/horn speaker scenario, so I take every tweak I can get since I have no treble, mid, bass, presence, gain... or all those nice eq tricks I had in my solid state days.
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Used prices are definitely coming down. I bought really nice Heresys in July 2021 for $450. These need a little work by most standards.
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Not mine, but maybe a good deal for one of you.
https://delaware.craigslist.org/ele/d/dover-klipsch-heresy-br/7515532022.html
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1 hour ago, geezin' said:
Yours?
No. Just one of many ads I run across.
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I haven't plugged it in yet, but I just got the Quicksilver line stage preamp:
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Very nice mods. Of course, the ultimate mod would be a new pair of Forte IVs.
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5 hours ago, Islander said:
My home is an apartment also (in a steel and concrete building), so to be a good neighbour, I keep the time in mind when setting the volume. The lowest volume I use (60-70 dB) is after 11 pm, and for music, rather than TV, I often leave the subwoofers off. For evenings, the volume goes higher (65-80 dB), and when I want to listen at fairly high volume, where the speakers really wake up and every detail in the music becomes clearly audible (70-95 dB), the best time is in the afternoons (noon-5:30 pm), when most or all of my neighbours are likely to be at work. Since I’m retired, that’s no problem.
It has worked out well so far, with no noise complaints ever. As for noise coming into my apartment, when one of my downstairs neighbours has a party, a few times a year, I can hear murmurs of crowd conversation below my living room, but not loud enough to grumble about, plus they usually shut things down before my bedtime. It’s worked out great for nearly 20 years, so I’m pretty happy. About the only limitation, a self-imposed one, is that I don’t get to play the system at “show-off volume” for visitors in the evening. I can live with that.
Nice neighbors are great. I play guitar, sometimes a little louder than I think. The only complaint was from the couple across from me. "You didn't tell us where your last gig was. That would have been our date night."
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My vintage La Scalas are in my small carpeted living room. They have a number of mods, but they sound better with 2 inch planks in the front, plus big round rubber washing machine feet under the planks. It works for very low level listening with tube amps. Not doing much loud listening in my apartment.
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KT 150 Integrated amp built by a local engineer.
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6 hours ago, GlennyC said:
Based on the feedback here I am shopping for Chorus IIs just to see what that project might cost. Maybe $1400 for original speakers plus rebuilt crossovers and drivers ($600?). Something to consider. I think Chorus IIs are about as big as the wife could handle (even though I pay all the bills I am considerate of WAF).
Chorus II is a good choice. I had a hot rodded Heresy pair and a Chorus II pair, also hot rodded. Bigger is definitely better in this instance.
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On 11/13/2020 at 11:07 AM, Brock63 said:
Been a few months and still loving these things. Took some more pics when I added the Crites risers just to catalog the inside condition as well....no real surprises for me other than how nice the baffling material seems to be still....definitely were well cared for by previous owner.
Those Crites risers are really nice. They actually tighten up the bass, which is probably why modern Klipsch speakers have the same type of risers.
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Pictures of your Tube Amplifiers
in Talkin' Tubes
Posted
QuickSilver Mid Mono blocks and Remote Control Line Preamp