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DRBILL

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Everything posted by DRBILL

  1. I know it is possible. The Red receptacles in hospital operatives are isolated and completely lifted from ground potential (and are non-interruptable). Somehow, I am thinking of a very large sum of money. DRBILL
  2. I run three. One for MARK III, CD, FM; One for MARK III, TT, Rell-Reel. One for Williamson. They are plugged into a FURMAN RP-8. Be sure to get the kind that have the three prong plug for grounding. $10? Go for it. Shipping will kill you, thouigh. DRBILL
  3. George, I don't find much use in active preamplifiers anymore. After I got Bob Crites tweeters and crossovers for my K-horns, I just didn't feel the need to twiddle with treble and bass controls. I bult a device that would allow me to switch inputs and would regulate volume and balance. This went right to the Mark IIIs. Wonderful. It is like cleaning the haze off a window. I don't do much vinyl. I put a small line amplifier right under the arm. It has the advantage of no line loss or noise gathering. I bought just about every kit Joe had to offer. Nothing survived a year. They did not satisfy. "Occam's Razor" rules! DRBILL
  4. For seven years I was professor of moral theology and Christian ethics at The Anglican School of Theology at The University of Dallas. I'm reading better papers in the Klipsch Forum than I did there! Wow. DRBILL
  5. I'm going to have the last of my Curcio upgrades on e-bay in a few weeks. Didja ever stop to think that it might not be the tubes? 'Nuf sed. DRBILL
  6. "What became of the '57 Khorns?" They are in a tin barn in Haltom City, Texas. Tired of getting citations for noise, the Me Thinks band (two years in a row voted #1 hard rock band in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, by the Fort Worth Weekly) offices there and practices there. My son, Will III, is the drummer and my son-in-law Christopher Lundy, is bassist. With the old K-Horns, they can realy hear what they sound like with instant replay. So there is no excuse. Who am I to say? You can't argue with success. They start their programs by shouting "We're just like all of you, except we are getting bald and have mortgages!" Would Paul have been at peace having his gear treated thus? You bet your bippy he would! From a tin building to a tin building! DRBILL SEE: http://www.me-thinks.com/news.html
  7. Marvel, I don't want this to become a venue to beat up on Calvinists, BUT I have a joke that needs telling: Didja hear the one about the old Presbyterian gentleman that fell down a steep flight of stairs? He got up, brushed himself off and exclaimed, "I'm glad that's over with!" DRBILL
  8. DIZ ROTUS wrote: "Now, if you recall, some time ago you indicated that you would share some non-privileged information regarding your relationship with PWK. While anything you'd be willing to share would be of interest, I'm specifically interested in whether your knowledge and ownership of Klipsch speakers preceded your acquaintance with Paul W. Klipsch." Sometimes, as a clergyman -even a retired clergyman- it is difficult to know what should be revealed about a former parishioner, even deceased. What would you be willing to reveal about a dinner conversation with a trusted friend? Ethics has recently taken a back seat in modern society. We see this in our government every day. It is a sign of the decay of our civilization. DizRotus asked a simple question that I can answer without compromise. The simple answer is "no." I first knew Paul when I was a high school student. I had several jobs --a bench tech at a local Radio/TV shop, and as an apprentice pipe organ builder with a local craftsman. The latter was my introduction to Paul W. Klipsch. We had several tuning/maintenance contracts at churches in Hope. Every time we were there we made it a point to go out to the plant to see Paul. My employer, B. Lecil Gibson, was interested in becoming a Klipsch dealer. With his broad exposure to area churches, he was interested in selling sound reinforcement equipment to his clients as well as Klipsch upgrades to electronic organ speakers. I was making 75¢ per hour at the radio shop and 50¢ per hour as an organ builder apprentice. So, no, I owned no Klipsch speakers. I continued to be an organ builder throughout college and continued to see Paul on a fairly regular basis. While in seminary, I worked as a DCE in a parish in El Dorado, Arkansas. There were several "boy bands" in the parish. I would often take them to Hope to meet Paul and to try out his speakers. I remember one occasion when a bass player was invited to hook his amp up to a prototype of a La Scala. This unit had a plexiglass window to observe the excursion of the woofer. After two notes, the excursion exceeded anything thought possible. Paul cursed lustily and stormed out of the room. The interview was over and we loaded up and left. As luck would have it, after ordination, I was assigned to St. Mark's, Hope. At the same time, Paul and Belle were having strong difficulties as Presbyterians over predestination and election. Paul was of the opinion that anyone could lift themselves from the mundane muck of life and achieve wonders. He offered himself as an example. Not pridefully, because Paul was really a very humble man. So, he was quite easy pickings for the Episcopal Church. It was not his first encounter. When he and Belle were fleeing political unrest in South America, they were married by the boat's Captain using the Book of Common Prayer. (Bogart: "African Queen!")? I ran into Paul at the Diamond Cafe across from St. Mark's one morning. He remembered me. I invited him to church. He and Belle were confirmed the next time the Bishop came. Soon, he was elected to the Vestry. And my preaching had to improve instantly! Seriously! Paul listened with intensity. The BULLSHIT button was proffered regularly at the back door. When he took a LaScala home to replace the Heresy next to his TV, he sent the Heresy to me. I cobbled together a home made match made from klipsch parts gleaned by my wife through the influence of Belle. So these were the first Klipsch speakers on my lot. After the 1979 tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas, Paul called me to ask if the Klipsch speakers had survived. The answer was "No." He said, "Send them to me. I want quality controll to see them. I did. A month later a truck pulled up in front of where we were rebuilding our house and unloaded two H's. The note said "Klipsch speakers unconditionally guarranteed." (!). I still have them. Then, in the course of things, I inherited a pair of 1957 plywood K-Horns from the estate of a brother priest. They were ugly, but my how they sounded! Then I inherited a pair of Cornwalls from a parishioner. Then I bought my modern K-Horns which are in service. All other equipment was disbursed to my kids, who are more rabid about Klipsch than I could ever be. All of their stuff is Klipsch one way or another. Well, Diz, is this enough?[] DRBILL <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />
  9. This is the postmortem on the resurrection of the 1939 ZENITH #5529 that was referenced in my earlier post about measuring the value of the field-coil/choke. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> All earlier concerns were ultimately dismissed. I replaced the combination field-coil (for the speaker magnet)/choke with a 10W resistor of the same impedance with no ill effect. The choking factor was apparently minimal. As an overkill, I doubled the last stage of filtering to 16mfd 500V. There is no hum. All tubes were replaced. NOS replacements were amazingly inexpensive. Unlike audio tubes, they are not in any demand --$3-6. I replaced all paper/wax capacitors and electrolytics. The silver-mica caps were amazingly within specs. I did a careful alignment using a Heathkit IG-102 RF generator (which I bought on e-bay, re-tubed and calibrated for this project). It took three passes to satisfy me. The results were stunning. When this was manufactured, stations were few and far between. Sensitivity was paramount. Bandwidth was broad because there was little danger of adjacent station interference. The AM stations received sounded as good as FM because of the wide bandwidth. Those of you who are older will remember how we would de-tune stations slightly to the left or right of frequency to improve high frequency response. (We knew when we had gone too far when the announcer started to lisp!). This radio has a 3W output into a hefty transformer. The speaker replacement was a heavy duty item with a massive magnet. I couldn't believe how good it sounded. On short-wave, the sensitivity was stunning. I sat up fairly late to take advantage of the skip. Stations were almost on top of each other from every continent. I hate to give it up. But it is for an old buddy who is sick from a bad blood disorder and wanted to hear the old family radio again. Ill probably look for one of my own. There is nothing of this quality available today. Many thanks for all of the suggestions and other comments following the original post. If any of you undertake something similar, let me know. I have the knack of things, plus the tools. I'll be glad to loan you the RF generator and the "how-to" literature. My wife found a "golden-oldie" station with the kind of music we heard in the late '30s-early '40s. We expected to find ourselves in an episode of "Twilight Zone" at any moment! DRBILL
  10. Coytee, Thanks for putting me out of my misery. DRBILL
  11. Coytee, Look in e-bay under Isotap. They are almost always available. It is a combination isolation transformer and voltage selector. It was popular back in the days of b&w tube TVs. The issues were "blooming," sync., picture not filling screen, and power line noise. Today they go for little or nothing, but beware shipping cost! They are HEAVY for their size. The Klipschorns are so efficient that they make hum and line noise audible --stuff you would never hear in regular "hi-fi" speakers. Our friend at NOS VALVES put me onto them. I use three on my rig because the isolated output is only 275va. each. WARNING: They are not pretty! If you are married and would like to stay that way, you'll want to hide these on the floor behind your rig. DRBILL
  12. Rick, It has been my observation that the 5U4s can let things sag a little at high volume, especially pipe organ music with heavy bass. Instead, My whole system operates on three Iostaps which allows me to select a precise line voltage. An added feature is that it lifts my whole system from the power line. With complete isolation, the last measurable bit of hum and power line noise disappears. With Klipschorn efficiency, you know what that means! DRBILL
  13. Oscar, Oh, yes. Having just passed the 67th milestone I am all too aware of the bland, risk-free life. I would have wished better for you. DRBILL[]
  14. All of the manufacturer's and vendor's specifications that I have seen have said that the KT90 is a drop-in replacement for KT88 and 6550. Eight KT90s would be a fierce strain on the budget! My conservative answer would be, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I wouldn't have used them if it hadn't been for the poor behavior of KT88s and 6550s. That is, with their rosy plates (and sometimes even the grids) when operated on line voltages significantly >117 as is often the case in "modern" times. The bonus was the improved performance in the bass. However, if it was time for the 2102 to be re-tubed, if it was mine, I'd use the KT90s, if for no other reason, the headroom. At least, that would have been my wisdom yesterday. The failure I witnessed could have been an isolated fluke. Unfortunately, it is the kind of fluke that can take out transformers. So, there you have it. I have come down squarely on both sides of the fence, and it cost you nothing. In theology, we called this the via media. DRBILL
  15. I have been a great proponent of the KT90 as a replacement in amplifiers that use KT88s or 6550s. I may have been the first person to comment on these in the Forum. It has been especially helpful in overcoming the higher line voltages when using equipment engineered for 117vac. The KT90 has its own sonic signature in the lower frequencies --an expansiveness not heard in the tubes it replaces, probably because of somewhat greater output.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Having said this, I experienced a sudden and destructive failure in a KT90 last evening. It was a classic case of run-away which resulted in a broken envelope. The glass separated from the bottom of the tube as neatly as if it had been scored with a diamond. These are EH and have the so-called "coin" base and were installed in a Mark III. Oddly, the failure of one tube had little effect on the sound at moderate volume. I immediately replaced both KT90s with a fresh set of KT88s to make sure that something screwy wasnt going on with the bias. All was well. It has been my experience that the Russian power tubes have had a tendency to show rosy plates even when properly biased. I have seen this mostly in Mark IVs when the line voltage was >120 even with proper bias. These same tubes, when carried to the bench, would test well within parameters. It had been my hope that these problems would have been solved by the KT90 in the Mark IIIs. This doesnt seem to be the case. This pair has less than two years service with daily use of about two hours. I would have expected heater failure or gradual deterioration of output, but certainly not self-destruction. One such event is too many. I would appreciate hearing from others who may have had troubles with the KT90. DRBILL
  16. I'm glad that you got to the root of the problem. Inspect the woofer carefully. The missing part from the crossover may be between the cone and the frame! This is the first positive posting of a Tangent that I have seen. I have a couple in a small HT setting. I couldn't stand them until I modded them beyond recognition. Essentially, I have a H with extended bass, albeit boomy and anything but flat! DRBILL
  17. I used to have a drawer full of them, but I don't know what box nor where in storage they might be. I don't quite have the fond memories as some of you. Most of mine were handed to me from Paul's hand at church after my sermon! I was twenty-something. I like to think that I have matured a bit. Paul came down to Alexandria LA several time to fly me back to Hope for speaking engagements that he had concocted. So, who will ever know? I said a prayer and helped cut the ribbon that marked the completion of I-30. Strange things. DRBILL
  18. The project is almost finished. The 2000O 10W wirewound resistor replaced the choke/field coil perfectly with no ill effects. The big surprise was how conservative religious groups have taken over short-wave. Now I've got to see if I remember how to align an AM radio! DRBILL
  19. My Mark IIIs had a faint hum through the Khorns even with the proper grounding of all the equipment. You couldn't hear it with music, but it was there if you listened in expectation of hearing it. The first thing I did was remove the cap between the center tap of the heater supply and ground and run the center tap directly to ground. This made a significant improvement. One afternoon with too little to do, I lifted my whole system from the power line. I used two Isotaps. I was astounded with the positive difference. Through the speakers there was no hum or blow. (OK, maybe it IS funny -- try to get over it.) I could still hear something. By crawling around on my hands and knees I discovered that one of the power transformers had a whine. It was not 60 Hz, but (in musical terms) a third above 120 Hz. Again, I don't hear it unless I listen for it. This has something to do with the laws of diminishing returns. DRBILL
  20. Bob, We'd better wait to see how the Zenith turns out! Bill
  21. Dave, I don't expect there to be a line around the corner hoping to buy the Wicks. Their early offerings had a terrible flaw. When the armature that controlled the valve was released, the enertia caused the valve to bounce against the seat. You got a stutter after the release of each note. It was particularly bad on the reeds, and the trumpet was the worst offender. On the other hand, Wicks was noted for its reliability and longevity. This particular model is small enough to fit in a modest home music room. The turbine blower would have to be replaced. They sounded like a gravel crusher! My old firm, Casavant Frères, Limiteé, also contributed to the war effort. They built telephone switchboards and aircraft wings. DRBILL
  22. Some 26 years ago I served a parish that had Schulmeric chimes in the tower. This is the system that has small tuned rods that are tapped by a tiny hammer and the resultant tone greatly amplified and broadcast through horn speakers. This system also had Westminster chimes that reported each quarter, and tolled the hour. The amplifiers had a jumper that allowed the heaters on the parallel P-P 6L6s to remain on constantly or to come on five minutes before demand. According to the service records, the "always on" amplifiers had several tubes that had been on for over ten years. Keep in mind that there was no B+ present in the no-demand periods. Make of this what you will. There was no control group, etc. I'm sure that expansion and contraction in the on/off has to take a toll on tubes. Tower chimes and home audio amplifiers are apples and oranges. But there was a significant longevity in the "always on" tubes. DRBILL
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