Cut-Throat

ssh, Crossover is tough to say, because I changed too many things at the same time. - Room Placement, Pre-Amp, DAC, Transport, New Copper Wiring in the Belles, Grill Cloth. I like what I hear, but I did not actually A/B the Type "A"s against the Type "AB"s. Randy, Sure contact me when you get into town. I'm open all next week. I'll be fishing in Montana from April 26th - Thru May 7th. Best,

Well, your lucky if you live in California. There should be plenty of opportunities out there. I was going through a similar situation last fall. I was in Chicago for the weekend and wondered if I could audition a pair of Belles or Las Scalas. The response I got was pretty funny. "Honey there is a guy coming over named Cut-Throat to audition our speakers - I've never met him" Well - I ended up just buying a pair of Belles and Built a pair of 300b Billie Monoblocks and it all turned out fine anyway.

Tubelion, I'm still looking for some oil caps. I've got some of the motor caps and may try them for an experiment. To get into the Bass Bin of the Belle, there is a panel with about 8 screws on the bottom of the Bin. The woofer cable attaches to the of the bin with a couple of screws. Randy, The cement speakers are Rauna Tyr's. I like them both, but they are different. I'll let you judge for yourself. Why don't you come over and listen to them some day. When you have some time during the day, I know that you are working now, but whenever it fits into your schedule.

Peter, All I can tell you is get a tube amp and listen. I have a Van Alstine SS in a Hafler chassis. I also have plenty of tube amps. I like the tube amps. I like the SS also. But the tube amps are like a finer wine. So I'm a tube guy.

Thanks for all the great comments. Mopar Dave, I just sanded the speakers down. I did not use any stain. Some of the stain from the previous finish probably was imbedded in the wood. I got the grill cloth from Wendell Fabrics - It is a Mellotone Acoustic Fabric.

Tubelion, I have also been running the Type 'A's with the Cheapie Solens. I am thinking of trying some oils that I have dug up. Have you ever tried the Solens? If so, What did you think?

Thanks for the nice comments guys! The new color of the cabinets and grill cloth made them much easier as far as the WAF goes. Danny - I did build the Billies. They were one of the easiest kits I have built. And the refinish job on the speakers has dampened all ethusiasm for any near term woodworking. Actually the wood finishing was not that bad, if you get a good orbital sander. I did not strip them, just sanded. Dealing with the staples in the frames for the Grill Cloth was the real $#%&^ *****! I had my friend with a table saw cut new frames for the Bass Bin. The staples were easy to pull once you managed to get something underneath them. They were really driven into the wood. HDBR must have really leaned on them.

I have completed my Belles. They are at home now in my Lower Level. They have the Type 'A' Crossovers that I also built. They are powered by the 300b Billie Monoblocks. And they sound pretty fantastic!

John, I am looking for an upgrade to my Sears Craftsman Multimeter that has served me well over the years. The main reason I want to upgrade is for additional features, not accuracy. (Most of the measurements I take are usually with the caveat of +- 5% anyway). I am looking for capacitance, inductance, frequency, temperature - I have even seen some with decibles- that would be neat for audiophiles. Do you have any models in mind? The Flukes don't seem to have all of these features.

Danny, The Cardas binding posts I had left over from an amp project that I worked on. Now that they are there, it sure is a lot more convienient. Thanks for the comments! The Crossovers sound great! - As far as comparing them to my Type AB's, I'm not sure there is a 'Huge' Difference. But I like simpler and these certainly fit that bill. The flyfisherman is a .gif file that I found on the web and modified it a bit with a programming tool. It just takes a bit of HTML progtramming knowledge.

No the crossovers are in my Belles. I look at them once in awhile, so it's not a total waste. The woodworking did not take the brunt of the time. A little samding, and just wiping with the tung oil. The wiring took the longest. So I figured, why not have it on a neat piece of wood. I could mount them on top of the Belles, but I don't want to push the WAF too far! As far as mounting the Solens on the board, I just used some closed loop terminal ends secured by some brass screws and soldered the leads of the caps to it. The Actual bodies of the Caps are so light, that additional securing was not necessary.

Moon, As far as running thicker gauge wire you can do it. I did it when I had my Belles apart. Can I hear a difference - No! I think the smaller gauge wire says more about todays standards than anything else. Ridiculous? - Yes!

I had a pair of tweeter diaphrams replaced by Simply Speakers in Florida. They did both tweeters for $80 including testing and shipping. I have built amps, speakers, pre-amps, but when I took one look at the flimsy little wires on the diaphram, I decided to let someone who has done this before do it for me. The few extra bucks was worth the chance that I'd ruin one.

Chris, Good luck on trying to find the Brass Wool. I tried and finally gave up!

Moon, I had Simply Speakers replace the diaphrams in my Belles. They did a great job and returned them within 2 weeks! I'd go for the repair. It will be just as good as new, but with the same original parts. Don't feel bad. - I bought my Belles from someone with bad tweeters. I think they were so deaf they really did not even know that they were blown. The guy turned out to be a real loser. Would not pay for the $80 in repairs.

I listen mostly to contemporary Jazz. A little Classical. Rock in the Car!

Guy, You had mentioned the 'Stock' Oils. Is there any source that you know of that I could purchase oil caps like the 'Stock Oils' Thanks,

I think you did a very nice job! - Looks very close to me. The white definitely needed to be replaced!

Guy, I thought you had made a comment that said you prefer the Oil caps over the Hovelands? - I can pick up some oil caps on e-bay for a lot less money.

Ok Randy - Do these look frightful? - Maybe so, but in a different sort of way!

I have completed 1 of my Type 'A' Crossovers. I started out with a piece of Paduk Wood from the Indian Ocean. Finished it with 5 coats of Tung Oil. I am most proud of the Cardas Binding Posts that I have mounted to it. I so far have the Cheapie Solen Caps in it, and may leave them. Unless someone can convince me that $200 for Hovelands are worth it. I have only tested the prototype as of yet. It works, but I cannot comment on the sound until they are both done and I've completed a listening session.

Randy, If you referring to the old 'Acme' electronics on Washington Ave., they have moved to Hwy 55 in Golden Valley. They have not unpacked any of their capacitors yet. They are now called 'AEI' Electronics. If you are thinking of another place, do you know their name?

I am putting together a type 'A' crossover for my Belles. I currently have a set of Solen (Cheapie) caps in the 13uf and 2uf variety. Does anyone have any strong opinions of what variety of Cap will give the best performance? I am not talking subtle here. The Solens are about 1/10 to 1/15 of the price of the Hovelands or Jensen Oils. Are there any other brands of caps that I should consider? - Thanks.

What are the voltage ratings of the Vintage Oil Capacitors found on Klipsch Crossovers? - IS there a Different rating for the 13uf and 2uf ? And does it matter? -

ALK, Can a 8 watt per channel tube amp blow a tweeter?