Soundthought

I do have a question. I just built a 20 x 28 car hole. It's got a 5/12 pitch. I hand built my trusses with 2x6s. I'm using scrap peices of 3/8"OSB for gussets. I also used 2x6s for the rafters. I'm on 2' centers. It's all stud on stud framing. I tied in the gables with 2x4s. My question is...do I need to run struts from the gusset pockets to the rafters or am I supported well enough? Thanks, John.

Hello Fini. The five colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear. The five flavors dull the taste. Racing and hunting madden the mind. Precious things lead one astray. Therefore, the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees. He lets go of that and chooses this. Lao Tsu. 6th Century, BC. Hope this helps. Regards, John.

Craig- I was thinking the same thing. I have a few of these rapairmans caddys. They are very nice for keeping your prize collection in. Sylvania and GE made quite of few of them...back in the day. There are a couple of things to consider when buying a box like that. 1. What's on the label isn't nessisarily what's in the box. Many times when a repairman was done servicing a peice, he would slip the old/weak tube into the replacement box. Some would make a mark or some notation on the box, itself, for further reference. I've found Mullards in RCA boxes before. Strange....they all tested great. Bottom line. It pays to check before buying. 2. Not too many pairs are found in thses old boxes. Many times a repairman would only stock singles of various tubes. This is probably due to the fact that most tubes don't burn out simultaneously. (sp?) Plus, they could carry a larger variety on them and be prepared for whatever. Pairs are really nice to have in our stereo world. But, singles are good to. Especially, 12ax7s. They are and will always be hot. IMO Regards, John.

Thanks, my friend. I was kinda thinking it was going to come apart like an old Waltham avaition clock. You know....badly. I'm definately going to tear them down and give them a good once over. Incidentally, i've encountered several situations involving the repair of lock cylinders and bearing housing which require a method quite similiar in aspect to the one you described. What a pain in the rear.....no? I imagine that after doing that type of procedure a few times, one could become rather skilled at it. But who wants to "practice" on this nearly irreplacable equipment. Not I. Regards, John.

Ha Ha Ha Ha.... With both hands on your shoulders, I don't think he was sniffing for trouble....if ya know what i'm saying here. That's just wrong. Ha HA Ha HA. You guys are completely nuts.... sniff... I'm proud to be part of this family. Craig, glad to hear about your positive experience. When I blew the drivers out of my RF7s a couple of years ago, they were quick to respond to my plea for help. The turn around time for that pair of drivers was something like 3 weeks. That's fairly quick, in my book. Granted, it cost me 40+ dollars to ship them to Hope, but what are you gonna do.... Regards, John.

Capt.Bob, You may be able to call Electro-voice here in Michigan. I believe they still have a tech on hand whom might be able to offer up more rebuild tips and/or kits. I have not called them, personally, in quite some time (4/5 years), but I know people who have done so, recently. Gil, Very interesting read. I'm glad you mentioned your difficulty in rebuilding one these drivers. I recently aquired a pair of these 1823M drivers mated to a pair of 6040 EV horns (Monsters). I was preparing to tear them down and clean out any of the junk that may have accumalated behind the lens. They were pretty filty when I got them, though they stll operate properly. Now, I think I may just leave well enough alone. Thanks. Regards, John.

Hello, I own several of the SX-x50 line. Classic styling and intriguing back panel array allow for a unique, vintage peice. Worth having, if one can be found in decent shape. Many i've seen have had a bad left channel or fried power switch. Though, those in particular all looked to have lived rough lives. (dirty and beaten upon) The SX-450 and 550 make excellent office or garage systems and will power many speaker types. But that's about it. The SX-650 and 750 offer up greater power and flexibility but again, because of part compliment and age, they all have become a little noisy. As is all vintage SS utilizing ceramaic caps and such. Though it's not terribly bad. Our horns just aren't forgiving when it comes to that sort of thing. The SX-850 and 950 are better in quality by means of allowing a broader tolerance from internal components. But yet, they too suffer the same fate. In comparison to the H/K....well it's like comparing apples to oranges. Different critters, inside and out. Regards, John

Jim- She's a good looking amp. I still haven't figured out what i'm gonna do with these maggies, yet. Probably keep 'em. They are big and beautiful, but where am I going to put them? Hmmmm. Don't think they would last long in the basement. The garage is definately a no-go. Maybe, I can shoe-horn them into my office. They did sound good on just 1 Adcom, but they open up more with both running. It's definately a trade off in sound quality. Regards, John.

Jim- You've got some great looking gear. I especially like the big Mac on the floor. I'm planning on getting some of those big ole blue metered babies, someday. For now, my 2100 is tiding me over. Seeing that last picture of you reminded me that it's time for me to get a haircut. Tom..Tom...Tom I have nothing but respect for you. BTW. Molly is doing just fine. The kids like her, but the dogs don't. We've been hanging out between 240Hz and 4kHz. Craig- save me from this audio graveyard. I'm freaking out over here. Remember the movie "Maximium Overdrive"? I would be in deep crap if that ever happened. Back to the maggies for some quality time. Many of my friends that keep popping over are stunned at the first site of these things. I'm hearing things like, "I thought those were room dividers" and "How do they work?". I feel like I explained basic planar propogation principles about a hundred times. That's cool, though, because It just helps me to understand it better. It's sounding good so far. I'll keep ya posted. Cheers, John

Congrats on your upcoming purchase. I think you will be just fine with running your old gear on them. If after amonth, it still doesn't satisfy, try a few cheaper options. I've discovered that many "low-fi" 70's receivers perform well when mated to my Chorus2s. They generally have a very pleasing sound. Not nessesarily accurate, but pleasing none-the-less. In a word...Non-fatiguing. A few in particular that i've found to work exceptionally well are: Pioneer SX-770 SX-990 SX-6000 SA-8100 Marantz 2235 2270 4240 Sansui QR-4500 Adcom GFA-545 Realistic STA-2000 Nivico 5003 But above many of these, I've found that the StereoTech 1200 (McIntosh sister branch) gave the most pleasing performance. It's worth searching around for one. IMHO. They are pretty nice. Since your dealing with AudioClassics, you should ask Frank Gow about their availablity. He might be able to point you in the right direction. Have fun and enjoy. Regards, John.

Thanks for all the replies and kind words. These things are neat. I'm really enjoying them. Sorry about the length of my post. I just typed my thoughts out regarding my adventure. One thing led to another, next thing I knew it was 50+ lines long. Heck, I thought I left alot out. What can I say? I get really excited about trying new audio related things. It motivates me on a grand scale. I'm glad some of you enjoyed it. This has definately been a good experience for me. Once again, my audio horizon has been broadened. I love it. Keep it coming, I say. Kelly, Mine are exactly like what you have pictured. Thanks for the links. I took your advice and tried just one 555. Works very well. Not bad at all. Definately sounds different. Haven't had enough time to pin it down, but i'm going to examine it further. I'm going to spend a couple hours tonight just rolling some amps in with them. It should be fun. If I get the "itch" I may try hooking them up to my Mc2100. The trouble is that it's embedded in my office system cabinet. Probably take me an hour to retrieve it. Could be worth it, being it's the best amp I have. (by general concensus) We'll see.... I'm not terribly concerned whether a peice is considered "Hi-Fi" or not. That term is vague at best, and is subject to change with every passing production line.. IMO. I like vintage "mid-fi" gear. Specifically, that which was produced from the mid/late sixties to the early 80's. The silver faced stuff, mostly. It's fairly plentiful and can be had on the cheap. Alot of that old gear screams quality and integrity, inside and out. The parts don't lie. There is something to be said about audio gear that can operate for 25+ years and need nothing but a few bulbs replaced. Regards, John

A story of persistence, power, and planars. It all began yesterday. I was sitting at the table drinking some coffee and reading the paper, when I noticed an interesting ad in the classifieds. It said "Magnepan MG2A, 6ft tall, in good working order, $100, call after 4:30." Needless to say, I quickly looked up at the clock. 4:15. Damn. I decided to pace around agitate the dogs for the remaining 15 mins. What a long fifteen it was! Man oh man. Seemed like forever. I love that kind of anticipation. My head was full of wonder. Could it really be a decent set of maggies for a bill? Seemed highly unlikely. Maybe it was a misprint and they left off a zero or something. 4:31. Whew. With phone already in hand, I dialed the number. ring..... ring.... oh-no. ring.. ring. ring Somebody answered! "I'm calling about the Magnepans in the paper.", I say. "Yeah, they're here.", he responded. "Are they still available?" "Yeah", "in fact you're the first caller." Oh boy. Joy! Though deep down.... I was still skeptical. You know what they say about too good of a deal. Generally doesn't happen. But, out of sheer faith in humanity, I offered up the benefit of doubt in this situation. Why not? No harm in looking, right? Ha Ha. We talked for a few more minutes and I arranged to go buy...err..I mean "see" them. With my enclosed trailer hooked to my Bronco, away I went. Keep in mind, i've never heard magnepans or any planar for that matter, so this was completely new to me. Very exciting, indeed. Granted, i've studied their particular design principles, my exposure was entirely non-existent. So here it was, 5 o'clock rush hour and a severe thunderstorm with 1/4 - 1/2 inch hail and i'm creeping through the heart of town. Oh, what a man won't do for his passion. Anyway, this young couple pull up next to me at a stoplight and start waving and yelling something. Well, of course, the passenger door in broken at the moment. Here it is raining sideways and i'm over in the passanger seat of my Bronco trying to get the inoperable window down. Better be important. The light was getting ready to change. Times a' wasting. After busting my knuckles on the window track, I succeeded in getting it down. They yell over, "Your back door is open." I wave, "Thanks!" They yell back, "some stuff fell out back there." sigh..... Great. Not exactly what I wanted to hear. Still quite madly driven by my impending purchase, I jumped out of the truck. Mind you, I was at a red light in the left turn lane at rush hour during a hail storm. Bad scene. I hustled to the back of the truck like an insane man on a mission. There I found the door wide open. No sweat. Looked like a few sleping bags and a couple of packing blankets may have bit the dust. I can deal with that. Problem was, the door had creased at the bottom from slapping the tail light assembly. It wouldn't shut enough to latch. Not good. Forget the fact that some blankets and a couple of sleeping bags were god knows where, I needed this door closed. With knuckles a' bleeding and hail a' pounding, I proceeded to take off my jacket and wrap it around my damage hands. Ouch. I snatched the bottom of the door and bent it out like I was pounding out a derby car. Success. Disregarding whatever lost contents may be strewn across the road, I took off and managed to get to my destination. Finally. After that, everything went smooth as silk. As if the powers that be were smiling upon me. Well, not THAT smooth...but pretty darn smooth like Black Velvet or something. Good with a bite. Meeting the seller was a good experience in and of itself. He knew his gear and loves his vinyl. I totally respect that. We talked for a while. He answered all my questions. Being the original owner, he was able to fill me in on the maggies history with explicit detail. But, there was a problem. He didn't have a means to hook them up. Uh-oh... I didn't bother to bring anything with me, either. The amp he had been running them with for some twenty odd years had finally gave out. He never replaced it. He said, "That was that", "They served me well for 20+ years", "I'm ready for something else." So, no more maggies for him. He had instead opted for a new A/V receiver and a full boat of B&Ws. A fair choice.....if one has to make that choice, I suppose. Without being able to test them, I was still a touch leary. As I rightly should be. But come on, were talking clean, vintage maggies for a bill. How could I lose? (the obvious aside) Ha Ha We talked for several more minutes, then closed the deal. His wife had found some large plastic bags to wrap them in, but like a sign from above, the rain just quit. I was a man in motion. We grabbed them up and shuffled them into my trailer. I thanked him, gave him my e-mail address, and was on my way. No sooner did I reach the end of his road, the rain came again. Big time. It rained so hard on the way home, I had to pull off a couple of times. Big rain. Fortunately, the maggies and I made it home in one peice. Anxious as can be, I waited another 45 minutes for the rain to subside. More dire anticipation. Belly twisting, head spinning kind. Like I said before, that's some of the best kind of anticipation. IMHO Up there with sex, first kisses, and Christmas morning. Good stuff, my friends. Time to get serious. I knew what inefficient challange lie ahead of me. These ain't no horns, after all. Gots to have some power. 1.21 gigawatts ought to do it. Quickly, I gathered up the essental test gear for this endeavor. -Jolida 202A (hey..you never know) -Pioneer SA-9500II -Sansui AU 519 -2 Adcom GFA 555s mated to a GTP 600 pre. -Technics 1200mk2/with Shure M91ED. -Denon CDR1500. Got them set up in front of my RF7s and first hooked up the Jolida. After letting her warm up for a few minutes, I put on some YES 90812. Turned her up about half way and let it rip. Well..... Huh..... My.... !!!!! The sound was incredible, to say the least. Couldn't believe it. Though, there was a few things lacking per my horn attuned ears. But, never mind that. No sir. What it DID to the sound was what got me. Talk about spacious and expansive. They have both those characteristics in spades. I was mystified. Floored isn't quite appropriate, but close. Quickly, I determined that much more power was in order. The previous owner had told me that they are most "comfortable" with 200 watts. Yikes. No problem. Got it covered. In went the Pioneer. It was better, but I still knew they wanted more juice. Huh... Cool.. Can do.. In went the Sansui. It was better yet. Still was missing something. Like it was lacking. Ask and ye shall receive. Dr. John had the cure. I bridged both the GFA555s to run monoblock and slipped then into position. 380 watts a peice, baby. That ought to cover it. At this point, I would grunt like Tim the tool man Taylor, but I don't think you can spell that. Ha Ha Ha.... So after about 10 minutes of letting the Adcoms warm up, I figured it was cool to give them a whirl. I flipped on the Clapton Unplugged CD, kicked the volume up 1/3 and hit the button. Ha Ha Ha Ha Wow. That's just what the doctor ordered. No kidding. Let's just say, they work very well together. I knew there was a reason I kept those "footstools" around. So here I am deeply immersed within inefficient audio bliss. They certainly are a very involving speaker. This particular accentuation of the mids is very pleasing to my ears. Whereas the vocals seem a bit subdued at times, they also appear bloated at others. I find that strange. They have very clean, articulate bass. Nice. They offer up a level of sound that you can physically feel on the surface of your entire body. It can be almost impacting at time. Don't think i'll ever get tired of that. Who would? I am a bit perplexed by how they attend to the inherant design related wave cancellation issue. Anyone happen to know? All in all, i'm exceptionally pleased. These things are a neat experience for which i'm glad to have. Best hundered clams i've spent in a while. Well....not counting the EV 6040s w/1823M drivers I got on Monday, and my E-bay won, EV12 drivers that came in on Tues. So the big questions. Will I ever go back to horns? -Never left 'em. There in my blood, now and forever. Will I be getting rid of the Maggies? -Not on your life. These things are lisenable to extremes. Be well. Enjoy your toys. (even the inefficient ones) Regards, John.

JMON, I'm in SW michigan just south of Grand Rapids. Deep in the valley of the Zoo.... Craig, about my little vintage collection....... I find there is alot more room since I moved all my furniture out into my freshly finished garage. Regards, Horn Loaded John.

IMO. When properly prepared, walnut can have a luster and depth of grain that's hard to beat. The three dimensional effect is uncanny in the right cut. I have several walnut peices that you could just about fall into. It's a very compelling wood....

Evening gentlemen, I can't take any pictures of these big EV horns. Wish I could....I need a "real" computer. I'm still on "WebTV" and i'm not sure I could upload pics even if I did have a digital camera. I'll describe them for you. Let's see..... They are big, white, and mine. Seriously though, their mouths are roughly 32" wide by 17" tall and their throats are about 22"-24" deep. Big honkers! Every time I walk into the dining room i'm like WOW.....these are some serious horns. I actually start cracking up just looking at them. They are that imposing. Makes me giddy as hell. It's great! I'm going to start a thread about them tommorrow. I'll try to find a picture of them we can link to. Yeah, those K-horns do look nice. He hasn't sent me anymore pictures because I withdrew my interest in them. The pictures he did post on the auction site were pretty good ones, though. Did my link to it work, earlier? Andy Kubicki's old horns? That would be funny. It's amazing how these vintage Klipsch get around. Wouldn't suprise me one bit if they were. Regards, John

Thanks for everyones' input and offers of assistance. Very much appreciated. Alas, after much discussion and contemplation, i've decided to pass on these K-horns. There will be other horns on other days. Or so i'm told.... Your kindness and support will not be forgotten. Viva la K-horn! Regards, John. BTW. The horns I went to go see ARE sitting on my kitchen table AND they are awesome.(EV HR6040's w/ EV 1823M drivers)

Gentlemen, Thanks for all the input. I've asked the seller for more pics and serial numbers. We'll see..... Craig, are you serious? Let's go dude! I'll pay all the expenses and provide all the supplies. BTW. Can we take your wifes' truck? Beats the hell out of my Bronco. Colin, Thank you for the offer. I'll find out exactly where he is and I will let you know. Folks, this ought to be interesting... K-horns for Johnny! How exciting... Though, i'm not counting my chickens, just yet. I'm on my way out, right now, to go look at a set of HR-6040 EV horns for $100. Yeah! I should know more about this Khorn situation after I get back. I'll keep you all posted. BTW. Here's the beauties in question. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dII?ViewItem&item=3047333860 Regards, Klipsch happy John.

Hello all, Interesting situation for me. I've been following an auction of some vintage K-horns on e-bay. It's a nice looking older set that has been recently resurfaced in Mahagony plywood. Not too shabby, IMO. The auction ended yesterday with only one out-of-country bidder. I tried to contact the seller prior to the auctions' end, but he didn't get my e-mail until today. No problem, though. He said that he isn't honoring the foreign bid and would be willing to work something out with me. Hmmmmm? I'm looking at roughly $1250 plus shipping from Florida to Michigan. My questions are these.... -What specific things should I be asking about concerning these? (I know plenty of other Klipsch, but nothing of K-horns) -Is shipping K-horns cross country a good idea? (Don't want to break the speakers as well as my bankbook) -Should I take the chance in buying them outside of e-bay? (tough question for me) Your insight is appreciated. Regards, John

They'll do anything to make an extra buck, these days.... I would suggest to your dealer that the Klipsch army has denounced the idea of silver-threading. It's Bull$hit! IMHO. The only thing silver cable is good for is super-tweeters and video cable. Tell your dealer that you wish to have them the way they were engineered......With Monster Cable.. Gil, Oh Man....here we go with 'ole lack of objective data, again. Ha Ha J/K Someday, my friend, i'll invent equipment and a methodology by which to measure these obscure invisible entities that mystify us all. Regards, John

Hey Diggs, was there any noticable physical difference between the K-6-K and the K-8-K? I've been wondering if the K-6-K was an "improved" version of the K-8-K. From what i've read/heard, the K-8-K line had suspension related issues that caused pre-mature voice coil failure. Don't know exactly how much truth there is to that, but it would be interesting to find out why they discontinued the K-8-K line. Regards, John

Hello all, I'm searching for replacement options concerning the K-8-K woofers in my KG4s. I know this has been discussed before, but i'm still fishing for answers. The Klipsch OEM replacement is the K-6-K, I believe... I'm under the impression that this would be a small step down. (spec wise) Anyone have experience with these drivers or know of a suitable replacement for the K-8-K? All insight is appreciated. John

I would have loved to go. Might still catch a ride with a group of friends, but riding it is not gonna happen. (i'm on rice... As far as getting a Klipsch fix... That's a great offer. Here's a cool story of a recent Klipsch fix I had.... I was at an Easy Rider Rodeo event last weekend in Fowlerville, MI. It was day 2 of a 3 day event, when I was starting to get sick of listening to our camps' 15" $50 Jensens. We call 'em our "disposables" Eh...what ya gonna do? Anyway, I was minding my own business, sitting by the roadside watching all the "interesting sites" when a sound caught my ear. It was AC/DCs "Hells Bells" rocking off in the distance. It appeared to be getting closer. Like a kid waiting for the icecream man, I got impatient. I set my beer down and stood up to see a large golf cart pulling an 8' trailer. On the trailer was a full size couch, a keg of beer, a bunch of topless ladies (w/their old men, of course). And strapped to the side of the golf cart were two pro Klipsch 18" monitors. Wow. I was floored. I Kicked over my beer. Stepped in the fire. Just 'bout pissed myself. It was wonderful. Talk about a Klipsch fix. You should have heard me hollering. "Oh Hell Yeah", "Klipsch forever". LOL It was quite a site. After about an hour and three beers later, the same guy came by, again. This time I wasn't gonna let him get away. I had to talk to him about his Klipsch. So I hopped on my bike and tracked him down. Turns out, the man not only loves his Klipsch but he's a fellow forum member. What a trip. Good to see a fellow Klipscher out in the wild..LOL.

Hey....that's pretty slick, fellas.

Ear - Yeah, that statement about $7/hour idiots was pretty harsh. I take it back. A few times I have started at the bottom of a company ladder and inched my way up. Nothing cool about getting little paychecks for alot of work. But, persistence and patience generally pays off, most of the time. On another note.... I know for a fact that Klipsch has severely downsized it regional representative staff. There is one guy for all of Michigan and he also handles northern Indiana and Illinois. That's alot of stores for one man to keep a handle on.

That's great! Keep up the good work. There should be more BB workers like yourself. Unfortunately, there's not. Even $7.50 doesn't generally spur much enthusiasm for selling Klipsch or any other product for that matter. Been there... Done that... Back in the day... All I cared about was checking out the honeys and quitting time. With increased pay and benefits comes the desire to actually KEEP ones' job. And as such, that means you have to do your job to the satisfaction of your employer. When an employer pays his help a decent wage with benefits, he in turn expects increased job performance from that emplyee. Less pay = less performance. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule, but not many. In BB's case, as a LARGE national chain, they can afford to pay their help crap. That's the strategy. They profit by maintaining several extremely large inventory purchase orders (which reduce overall unit cost) to boalster high volume sales (a direct result of their lower prices due to high volume purchasing). So we should all eat, drink, and save money by purchasing electronics from BB. I think i'm gonna put on my old "BUY UNION, BUY AMERICAN" shirt on and take the bike up to BB for a little look see. It's been 3 days since I last rewired their Klipsch display. I'll bet someone has already F**ked it all back up again.