DTLongo

(Reattaching pic - it didn't come through on the last one.)

Thank you, Rick. The cat's name is Snuggles, aka the Puppycat (she thinks she's a dog). Heck of a personality. She does like to keep me company on that sofa. Attached is a pic of another cat, Smokey, decorating one of the Khorns. He is a large fixed tomcat who would be happy living in a barn. The last of my three housemates of the feline persuasion is named Sugar, a cute black-and-white female, not pictured. All three were adopted around eight years ago. Tom

(conclusion - part IV) Sonic impressions In a word, very full, nice and sweet. Although purists may disagree, to my ears my Klipschorns do want some bass boost, usually about +2 or +3 on the CSW. Alternatively, depending on the program material, I can run them with Loudness compensation switched in on the CSW, with the bass backed off to -1 or -2. The loudness compensation works, as it should to compensate for Fletcher-Munson lessened bass and treble perception in our ears at lower volumes, to increase relative bass and treble as the CSWs volume is turned down and to diminish them when its turned up. The loudness capability is very handy for imparting a greater fullness through the Klipschorns on bass-shy material. Meanwhile, my Velodyne S1500R subwoofer sits in its corner for use when the mood strikes me, which no longer is very often given how fully the Klipschorns now sing with this setup. The subs high-level speaker inputs are paralleled with the Klipschorns off the Jolida. Since they are high-level inputs, the amp sees none if any lower impedance beyond the Klipschorns 8 ohms and seems to be quite comfortable. Even if the big Velo is now used rather seldom, it IS nice to have the subs added very-deep-bass capability on occasion. So, for the moment, I have something close to retro-stereo audio nirvana, at least for me. If any of you are visiting in this area, Ocean Pines, MD, five miles in from the Atlantic shore, you are welcome to give me some advance notice and come by for a listen. Next project: possible remodeling enlargement and reconfiguration of the Klipschorns present 11 ½ x 15 cathedral ceilinged room to ca. 15 x 16, to allow the Klipschorns more room to open up and their use in a home theater in the enlarged room. Decisions, decisions . Tom

(continued - part III) Lastly, thinking outside the box some, I researched and then purchased a Cambridge Sound Works CD-740 radio/CD player ($399.00). This is a compact radio designed to compete with the Bose Wave/CD for a hundred bucks less. With its two stereo speakers plus a downward firing subwoofer it sounds quite good as a standalone. But I purchased it for its tuner/preamp and remote control capabilities. Its headphone output feeds the Jolida tuner input. The CSW remote controls tuning, volume, bass and treble tone (four steps each up and down from flat), selector (radio/CD/aux), stereo mode and a few other functions including Loudness. Using the RadioShack audio selector switch I also run a separate DVD/CD player to play DVD audio through the CD-740s aux input to the Jolida to the Klipschorns, or a cassette deck to play my cassette collection. Many of those humble old cassettes sound awesome through the new rig. With the CSW remote, once everything is turned on I have very flexible sound crontol including tone from my sweet seat. The TEAC equalizer has been again retired. (continued)

(continued - part II) (FOR GARYMD: it will be most interesting to A/B the Jolida with your beloved Scott 299 if/when you visit here again. Please bring the 299 if you can, Gary.) On the tuner side, I first ran the Jolida with a little Tivoli Audio PAL portable AM/FM radio/tuner. In my rather difficult rural listening area it had trouble pulling in a number of stations with clean clarity. ANY deficiency is audible on those merciless Klipschorns. Next, I tried a Bose Wave radio Ive had for years, using its tuner output. It was significantly better, and being able to use its remote control for tuning and volume directly from my sweet seat was a real pleasure. But, I still missed having tone controls. So, I added to the mix a graphic equalizer I had on hand, a TEAC EQA-220. I fed the Bose, a DVD/CD player, and cassette deck inputs into the equalizer via an outboard RadioShack audio selector switch, thence from the EQ into the Jolidas tuner input. (The factory custom-converted the amps former aux input to a tape-out.) The equalizer worked fine, adding nil if any audible degradation of its own, and with its 30 and 60 hz sliders set to about +8 db the Klipschorns really bloomed.

Hello all. A new Jolida JD102B tube amp is now broken in and settled in with my 2003 Klipschorns. Its been an evolving experience. Here is an account and my latest impressions. The 20 wpc Jolida is plenty to drive those efficient Klipschorns to live, rock-concert-level volumes. Its four, finger-thick EL84 tubes are hard little workers. They run hot, but no problem since the handsome amplifier sits out atop an end-table cabinet in the open as a piece of audio art (see attached photo). The Jolida amp is a spare, straight-wire-with-gain design, no frills, no controls except volume and balance. No tone controls. Out of the box and after proper biasing the amp sounded rather thin in the bass. Now that it is broken in it sounds a little fuller but, to my ear, still thinnish in the bass, at least with those Klipschorns in that room. Apart from that, in the imaging, smoothness and clarity departments the Jolida sounded great from the outset and has only continued to improve. It throws out a fat and rock-solid center image heard from my sweet seat. A remarkably dramatic dynamic range, too. Those tubes seem to follow the program materials dynamic ups and downs with a greater alacrity and eagerness than my predecessor SS equipment. (continued)

Tgourlie, with all respect, put aside the new Lincoln and go with the new Khorns (about $7,000.) Your new Lincoln will depreciate that much or more as soon as you drive it off the dealer's lot. And you will have to trade it in on something else in a few years. The new Khorns will decrease in used value too. But they "never wear out." You and your heirs will have and enjoy them for decades. They are that legendary and that good. I (aged 61) have a pair of 2003's purchased last year and my two grown sons are already friendly competing over who's going to get 'em. Others please weigh in on this interseting topic.

Squirt . Maybe NEXT year your Mrs. will give you those Klipschorns you yearn for, Gary. Tom

I'm using AOL, which means Internet Explorer (I believe).

Forumers: I know how to ATTACH photos to posts here, but how do I drop photos directly into posts as I have seen some others of you do? Appreciate your advice on this. Tom

Gary, I agree with analogman. The platter is probably held in with a u-cotter pin of some sort, after removal of which you should be able to lift the platter off. Or you can turn the unit over (carefully) and let gravity help ease the platter off. Likely some crud has accumulated on and in the bearings after many years. Tom

Amen. I've been around here about 1 1/2 years and, having dickered with this hobby since the 1950's, thought I knew quite a bit. But thanks to folks like GaryMD and others, I learned more here. Ergo, I'm back with a tube amp for the first time since I built a 20-watt Heathkit back around 1958. Most folks here are civil most of the time. Klipsch also rides herd over the forum and reads the riot act when things get too redolent. Good job, Klipsch.

I understand and respect the purist view that the less tone controls or whatever in the circuit, each adding its own bit of degradation, the better the signal to the speakers. The Jolida amp is a purist design, with no tone controls. Still, in an ideal world I would like the CHOICE of having tone controls or not, i.e., a pre-out/main-in processor loop with an equalizer. For non-critical listening at low volumes some bass boost can be appropriate. Also, recording qualities vary mightily, as we all know, and an equalizer can help to compensate. Rick and GaryMD: thanks for the suggestion of running my CD player through an equalizer to the amp. I knew that but have been too lazy to try it - cable switching awkwardness of having to swap cables between a CD player and tuner. And, the equalizer I have is a cheapie, no great shakes, that would surely add some possibly audible degradation. As the Jolida breaks in more, I expect it will produce a noticeably fuller sound in its own right, akin to the less powerful but impressive little Fisher tube amp that Gary demo'd here in January. (I might get around to trying the CD player and tuner into the equalizer via a Y-connector just to see how that works.) Tom

Some ten days in with my new Jolida JD-102B tube amp and so far, so good. The amp is audibly noticeably already "loosening up" as it breaks in, much as my '03 Khorns had to do over some months after I got them last year. Michael Allen at Jolida told me the amp will require about 100 hours or so to hit its stride with fuller bass and smoother treble. I now have about 20 hours on it. It already is remarkably clear, no comparison with my pretty good SS amp it replaced. And its DYNAMIC range on CD's is awesome, like nothing I've heard before. Those tubes seem to love to follow the sonic peaks and lulls with eager alacrity. A quirk about Jolida if anyone is considering one of their amps. Joilida offers a "tape loop" option that I ordered, but I found on my amp, and Michael Allen confirmed, that it's not really a tape loop a la a tape monitor record-out/play-in circuit. Jolida reconfigures the AUX input so that it is a full-time, steady level line output for tape recording purposes. But there is no way to feed the signal simultaneously back into the amp. That obviates use of the circuit with an outboard equalizer, for example, which had been my original intent. Oh well, you can't have everything. I'm still happy with the amp.

Thank you for the compliment, Mobile. Glad you enjoyed the pics. Thank you all for confirming that the amp will sound rounder and fuller after breaking in for a few dozen hours or so. That was my own surmise too, but it was good to see you experts confirm that as fact. I am using Monster Cable-quality speaker cable installed by the dealer who sold me the Khorns, and top quality RadioShack interconnects between the tuner & CD player and the amp. The Jolida amp came with "Electro-Harmonix" tubes made in Russia. I will shortly be ordering a whole new set of backup tubes. The idea of using the newer, high quality tubes in the amp and keeping the factory ones in reserve sounds good. Does any of you have suggestions on good tube brands and good vendors? Thanks!

I have you beat in the newbie department, Gary! Glad you're around. Have your wife and daughter ever forgiven you for spending a night with some chap you met on the Internet? A fellow audiophile to boot? A likely story. And we had some sonic (only) orgazms too? Migawd, how degenerate. One can't be too careful . FYI others, Gary was bringing his son back to school only about 25 miles from where I live. So he boogied over here with his Fisher amp and laid those tubes on my Khorns, and the rest is history. Tom

Second pic of the amp in use.

Here are a couple more pics of the new amp. They show it set up and in use at its new home. The brown cube to the left is a Tivoli Audio PAL AM/FM radio being used as an (actually quite good) tuner. A DVD/CD player is below.

Jolida amp - pic 4 of 4.

Jolida amp - pic 3 of 4.

(continued) The amp has no tone controls and I miss those. I had thought I could use it with an outboard equalizer. The manufacturer modded it with the "tape loop" jacks you saw in the previous picture. They replace what otherwise would be the aux input. They can feed a steady-level line signal out to a tape recorder. But they are not the same as tape monitor loop or a pre-out, main-in combo. (Interestingly, you can also feed a signal TO the amp through those jacks, independently of the selector control on the front panel. They're hermaphrodites!) So, it appears I am outta luck tone-control or equalizer-wise. Subjectively, the Jolida seems to be a little bass-shy, at least with my Khorns. So, I will continue to use my powered sub, feeding a signal in parallel from the amp's speaker outputs to the sub's high level inputs. So far, that combo is working well and it sounds great. Enjoy the pics

My new Jolida JD 102B tube amplifier arrived and I have been learning to live with it and my Khorns over the past couple of days. Very first impressions: The 20 wpc Jolida has PLENTY of power to drive those efficient Khorns. Plenty of reserve and headroom. The amp is dead quiet. With one's ear pressed up against the Khorn tweeters one can hear a very soft hiss. But that's all. The amp is quite pretty and a delight to look at and to have on display as a piece of audio art. See photo, and three more to follow. The amp is hefty and has a real quality "feel" to it. Subjectively, the amp sounds at least as good as the little Fisher amp GaryMD demo'd for me over here in January. On rock/pop type music it presents a convincing, well centered holographic wall of sound. (continued)

Doug, can you post a few pics of your new sweeties? Would love to see 'em.

BClarke, thanks very much for the steer to www.hifilit.com. What a great site! The Karlson and Electro-Voice entries sure brought back memories of me in my teenagerhood just getting into this hobby and droooling at such unattainable holy grails. And the MAD magazine spoof on hifi is dessert. Y'all go take a look. You'll have fun. Tom

I would love to see a picture of them. If they are as advertised they will be beauties, real collector's items. I built an EV Aristocrat cabinet when I was in college in the early sixties but I don't remember what speaker(s)I had in it. But the cabinet is a timeless design, and very attractive to boot. I leave it to others to judge whether < 2 watts are sufficent to drive your new speakers. 104-db Klipschorns OK, but I don't know how loudly your less efficient speakers will be able to play. Tom