colterphoto1

No exploding sub boxes here, but while in a High School 'Kiss' tribute band we once blew the top off of a PA cabinet with some hastily prepared pyrotechnics. set off the smoke alarms in the apartment clubhouse, the Fire Dept. came and everything. VERY COOL! What scares me is putting all the subwoofer crossover electronics and amplifiers in the same massivly vibrating box as the sub! I know they can 'shake-test' the components, but it has got to reduce the life expectancy of the electronics. Has anyone ever made a (non-commercial PA) sub bin with separate electronics or how is this issue handled? Are the electronics in a sealed box shock-mounted or what????

Congrats on your Klipsch purchase! I think the RB5's will be great as mains and you're correct with placement options. Just make sure to put them on REALLY sturdy stands if you go that route. Also experiment with placement as the bass ports are in the rear. A good sub will give you a better system than spending money to get the RF3's. Enjoy! ps what are you using for surrounds? from what I hear, most Forum members are staying away from RS series in favor of a matched RB speaker set.

Corny, Here's a link to the Klipsch Modifications Forum with discussion of the BLO type and application http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=45469&sessionID={359D804E-AFF2-46DF-A1F8-842C85A2598E}

It WILL get worse- look at IndyKlipschFan- the poor guys now has a full 6-channel ALL CORNWALL home theatre! The madness continues. How do you like your Heresies? I've owned my Corns for years and would love to get my HT back to all Heritage, since it's now mixed with Reference and that seems to be a no-no round these parts!

Welcome to the club Corny. I've had my pair for years and love em to death. I'm currently collecting many of the great Cornwall Modifications I've seen on the Forum over the past year for massive rebuilding next summer. Will share all this info soon. Grill's are held on with several Velcro tabs, just use a flat object, like plastic non-sharp object like putty knife to pry it off. Hint- after you show off the majestic Cornwall components a few dozen times, the grills will come off a lot easier.

simply place both ears on one side of your head! (it really shouldn't matter if you're any distance at all from the cabinet- say 6 feet or more) You might look into rotating the Tractix horn depending on it's shape and dispersion pattern however.

fingernail polish, but use CLEAR. People will wonder about you if they find colored polish in your tool box.

hey Z, tell me more about this NFL 'sounds' series. What is it and how to get??? Hope Amy U is checking this thread out. Wonder what SHE'S listening to right now? How 'bout it Amy, care to fess up?? This thread proves the existence of a very cerebral and diverse group on this Forum. I'm pleasantly surprised at how many of us are just listening to the sounds of LIFE as we type (cats, kids, babbling brook, etc.) It's kind of nice celebrating the sounds of silence as well as our beloved music. Very civilized bunch we have here. Proud to be part of it. BTW, right now, after photographing a wedding with the band 'Tastes like Chicken' in which our Groom sat in on his Gibson ES335 (BB King model I believe) and played startling renditions of Joe Cocker 'Unchain my Heart', some Allman Bros, and Clapton numbers. My head is buzzing, so I've got some Eno ambient CD's on right now. Cheers everyone!

Very nicely done! That is some beautiful woodwork you just saved. Let's see, paid $500, worth now at least $1000, so thats $500 profit for 10 hours work. I'd say you were worth every bit of $50/hour- but of course you'll NEVER sell these. They, like my Cornwalls will outlast us! Now I'm seriously considering NOT reveneering my Corns, except that the corners and edges are pretty seriously damaged. I'll send in a before photo for your examination. applause applause

They are BEAUTIFUL though, I've got an old pair of oiled walnut with black grilles. Thinking of doing all the mods and reveneering/regrilling- this design of oak/cane? might be the combination I'm looking for. My LR is 50's contemporary and this would be fantastic. Can anyone tell from the photo or numbers, are these grilles cane or a beige woven cloth? Thanks

I'm a professional wedding photographer and use Hasselblad and Nikon exclusively. If it's good enough for NASA, it'll work for me. OK, Canon's alright too, but I started with all my Dad's lenses when he passed away. Hard to part with that Nikkor glass! Re the educational issue, I'd go for either a manual camera like FM2 or an electronic camera with autofocus but with the ability to turn all the auto features off, like the 8008s or F100. Newer electronic cameras will have advantages like motor drive, multiple metering modes, etc. that will allow your daughter to explore these technicalities after she masters the basics. Re lenses I'm a firm believer in prime (non-zoom) lenses. By eliminating the multiple lenses needed for the zoom, the lens is faster (f1.2-f2.8) versus the slower consumer zooms at f4 or f5.6. As you surmised, the difference here is not only the ability to 'see' in the dark to focus, since your are always looking through the maximum aperature of the lens, but you also gain the ability to use the larger lens openings for artistic vision such as knocking the backgrounds out of focus. Many of the more standard prime lenses at f2.8 can be purchased for moderate sums (28mm,35mmm, 50mm). Specialized portrait lenses such as the 85 or 105 mm are slightly more but much sharper optics than any zoom. Zoom is always a compromise solution. Depending on the economics of your situation, you might consider buying used gear since it sounds like you don't particularly need the 'latest and greatest'. If I could recommend KEH camers out of Atlanta Ga. They give their gear very fair ratings and have excellent policies. I would buy gear in the Very Good to Like New categories. email if you wish more detailed purchase advise, always glad to help a new shutterbug! Michael

Good, your builder is on top of it. Many times around here we see the basement poured/laid and it's weeks/months before the framing gets completed. Plus Indiana used to be a swamp, so we've got ground water out the wazoo. No worries mate, you've got strength now! Are you going to put in internet and audio wiring while walls are open? If so, remember to not run them for any distance alongside any AC wiring. Just a hint. Have fun.

Hey gang, great detective work. I'm saving all the mod info for Cornwalls so I can do all the mechanical, electrical, and cosmetic at the same time. It'll be a hell of a down time. Question: does anyone have any info on original 'heritage' selections for the Cornwall and/or will I be damaging the speaker's value (like I'd ever sell them) if I get artsy and use a really exotic veneer/grill combo. I figure since I'm going to this much trouble, might as well go friggin nuts! Thanks, Michael

Hey Dr. M! Congrats on your Klipsch upgrade. I noticed that no one had responded to your query, so I'll give it a try. BTW, yer hardly a novice, and yes, RB25 would be a better rear speaker with your RF3II's. What is your floor covering in your room, carpet or rugs would help with sharp mid/high reflections. As you suspect, your standing waves can be tamed with room treatment or bass traps. Please consult the Architectural section of the Forum, particularly anything Artto has responded to. He seems to be the resident acoustician of the group and many of his posts give references to design ideas for bass traps. Generally it sounds like the traps need to be of a fairly thick material to absorb low frequencies, and some of the traps for bass/low mids are actually a panel of 1/4 plywood or drywall as an outer membrane with insulation stuffed inside. There must be a way to calculate the dimensions of the trap according to the frequency you are trying to tame, but I haven't discovered it yet. I'm in the same situation as you. I want to put a HT in the basement of my 50's home, but the floor is concrete, walls block and ceiling plaster. NIGHTMARE, but I understand that just about anything is possible.

Howdy Bill and welcome to Klipsch World! Congrats on your wise purchase of the Reference line. They should serve you well for years to come. I personally prefer the banana plugs because I (a) move stuff around a lot ( it gives a more secure connection that won't vibrate out © more contact surface area is always better. My only complaint is that none of my Klipsch speakers with the 5-way binding posts has the spacing to use STANDARD DUAL BANANA PLUGS. If anyone in engineering knows why they do this, please respond. All my amps and receivers use the 3/4" spacing. If space doesn't allow bananas, either crimp on AMP lugs or soldered wire is acceptable. It would take a specialty lug if you can find them, but the advantage again is that you can use larger gauge speaker wire without having to trim it down to fit in the terminal hole, and there is a larger surface area for contact. If using 'bare' wire, I ALWAYS solder the wire together first. Makes a neater installation, the wires won't fray and possibly SHORT OUT (very bad). With larger wire, you may have to trim away part of the strands, but this makes no difference in the 1/2" the signal travels. Be sure to know which end of the soldering iron to hold

You guys make me so proud to own CORNWALLS! I think they're a great simple design and sound great with Jazz, Classical and Hard Rock. I'm judging from personal experience with LaScalas, Heresys, and several of the Reference line. unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to spend any time with the mighty Khorns. Michael

Fun topic Josh- you RULE, playing Cocker on vinyl, yer my hero I've got my iMac as a jukebox in my office, hooked up to a whole house distributed system. right now it's 2:00 am and WAR PIGS by Black Sabbath just cued up! Michael

I used to have a pair of A7-8's and I think Altec called the color 'theatre grey. I checked my Porter Paint color chart from memory and it looks like color 7167-2 is close. If you have a catalog or sample paint chip, you could always take it to a paint store and they could do a computer match for exact color. In terms of paint type, unless you're going to use them for commercial purposes, a special finish wouldn't be required. I especially wouldn't use any type of 'sand' finish, as I don't think it would clean easily and don't think that is what Altec used. Porter makes a very durable, oil-based paint called Glyp-tec that is available in several different sheens. I'd use their Satin sheen, which is flatter than semi-gloss, but not flat (so you could dust them off or remove fingerprints) Since it's oil-based, Glyp-tec will appear glossier for the first few weeks until it fully cures. I have used this paint for kitchen cabinets and it's VERY durable. Hope this Helps Michael

it's an easy fix! From one soundman (yes, ex PA and lighting guy) to another- clear fingernail polish! (use clear so you don't get funny looks when someone looks in your tool box) It's what we used to use on PA woofers that didn't have industrial grilles and occasionally got a cigarette or screwdriver pushed through them (hey, it's a rough crowd, ok?) Just flatten out the torn material and apply a coat of fingernail polish. Let it dry a few hours and paint another coat on. If the tear/rip isn't on the dust cap side, you can remove the driver and seal the tear from the back side as well. This is light weight, pretty permanent, keeps the tear from spreading, is cheap and easy to do. WARNING: If you remove the driver from the cabinet, be REALLY careful with your screwdriver that it doesn't slip and cause another hole in the woofer! Hope this Helps, Michael

Welcome to the world of KLIPSCH! I did a home installation for my little brother very similar to yours. Qunitet/KSW12 hooked up to Yamaha surround receiver. His WAF (wife acceptance factor) and budget would not allow any larger speakers and he desperately wanted a surround system. Although he was pleased, I found the sound very thin, despite the KSW12 (which I have in my own system) Even though I dearly love the entire Klipsh philosophy and line, I feel that the satellite/sub combo does not work for the following reasons: Since the sonic improvements from ProLogic to 5.1 (all speakers now being full range) the rear surrounds suffer greatly due to the unusable bass from the Quintets. Even though in theory, bass sounds are 'omnidirectional', I feel that the human ear is much more sensitive that engineers give them credit for. Just go outside and try to localize thunder for instance. My opinion is that even with a sub, today's listener requires a more full-range system for the 5 balanced speakers. Especially for stereo listening, I find this type of system unusable. You're using the full range for your sub, from 20Hz to 200Hz, which is 20-40, 40-80, 80-160, at least THREE octaves out of ten. Combine that with the fact that the bass tones are a majority of the sound 'energy' and you've got a lot of sounds coming from a little box in the corner, not surrounding you as you intended. The Quintet is rated at 100 Hz-20kHz +/- 3 dB, so it's possible that it's only flat down to 200Hz. The KSW12 is rated at 28-100Hz +/- 3 dB, so it's usable flat range may only be up to 80Hz or so. (hey, it's just a guess, I dont have the response curves here and it all depends on room placement anyway. THE POINT IS that this system does not have much of an overlap in the critical crossover region. Each of the systems should be FLAT beyond the crossover point or you are going to have a 'hole' in your overall response curve. You may have a serious dip in response in the 80-200 Hz range. Let's face it a 3.5" woofer is just not going to cut it. At least get a Synergy SB1 or compatible system (forget the surround style speakers, just get 4 matching and a center) They will be a much better match to the KSW12. THERE IS NOTHING wrong with your Yamaha receiver or subwoofer! Just upgrade a bit and be happy! Hope this helps! Michael

Thanks for the BLO tips. My old Cornwalls are pretty beat up. Got them from a guy whose HOUSE BURNED DOWN around them as they were stored in a closet at the time. $300 to me and I only had to recone the woofers. But they smelled real bad for a couple of years. Question: If I plan on doing several modifications to my Cornwalls, including applying new veneer, should I just leave the walnut dry for now or can I spruce them up with BLO or one of the alternatives? I'm afraid of getting the surface too gooey with oil that the new veneer may not adhere properly. Thanks for advice.

Nice room Gib! Here's a hint on sub placement that you may want to experiment with before you decide on your final sub box installation. Think of the space around the sub as a 360 degree 'sphere'. If the box were floating in mid air in the middle of the room, the omnidirectional bass sounds would try to travel equally in all directions. By placing the sub on the floor, it is now radiating into only one-half of the sphere, against the floor and one wall, it's now basically in a rudimentary 'horn' radiating into one-quarter sphere, and the most bass is realized with the sub on the floor and in the corner between two walls or one-eighth of our sphere. This is why placement is so important. Depending on the sub and the room dimensions, different frequencies will be pronounced. You can determine this with your ears, or test tones and a db meter (see Radio Shack for a basic one) Even though you are putting your cabinet 'in' the wall, the same principles will apply, so you could use various temporary stands to experiment with prior to final placement. I agree with the installation tips given regarding isolating your sub mount from the wall. The last thing you want to create is a massive vibrating wall. Talk about coloration! (this written with apologies to Artto, our resident acoustician, I'm just a simple man, but hope I got this right) Michael

I have a KSW12 that works very well with my Cornwalls. My problem is that sometimes I listen at very LOW levels. I know this is a novel concept for many of you, but I like it LOUD sometimes as well. Problem is this, I don't want to leave the sub on all the time, but the AUTO ON feature will not switch on if my receiver volume is very low (due to the enormous efficiency of KLIPSCH speakers, no doubt) or if it does turn on and I reduce volume (say to converse or answer the phone) the AUTO feature will switch the power off. I like to use the sub for all listening since our ears are even less sensitive to very low tones at low volume levels. (Fletcher-Munson Effect, if memory serves) It doesn't make sense to have it and not use it. Is there a way to reduce the sensitivity of the AUTO ON feature? I'm thinking this may involve switching out only a couple of electronic parts and I do know which end of the soldering iron to hold!

DUDE!! Picky and Mike Hurd (as well as the consummate prof. Artto) have all the right ideas. Anything touching concrete should be pressure treated, the dimpled foam is a good idea, double stud walls are okay anywhere, but do not let fibreglass insulation sag and touch the outside walls (I wedged my stud wall between floor and ceiling joists, then ran several courses of thin wire along backside to keep insulation away from concrete), Vabor barrier should be used ON THE LIVING SIDE of any exterior wall, since it is people who make the vapor. WARNING WARNING WARNING Supposed to be putting up the outer insulation and drain pipes inside and outside on monday, then backfilling, then hopefully start seeing some wood go up! Should I be concerned with direct wall or floor contact with this set up? WARNING WARNING WARNING I WOULD NEVER backfill a foundation until AFTER at least the first floor is framed in. There is nothing supporting the top of the concrete/block walls until some framing is done on top. It would be a massive mistake to put the pressure of earth/bulldozer/water against the sides of an unsupported wall. Please check with your builder at once! Also make sure they have the appropriate drain pipe and sump system installed prior to backfilling. Lots of times builders will also apply a 1-2" layer of yellow dense fibreglass insulation to the waterproofing 'tar'. This allows thin air spaces for water to travel down to the drain system instead of putting pressure against the wall. You cannot beat water, only attempt to control it. Hope this helps, didn't mean to panic you. Michael

Hey Pete- You posted regarding your Yamaha 3300 and warranty situation on June 22, I posted this on June 26... Pete, I'm definitely interested. Just moved and have had my eyes set on Yammie 2200, yours would be an upgrade at good price. please email or PM me. Michael Then I emailed you and sent private message a few days later. You could have at least done your fellow Forum Members the favor of checking your original post even if you don't look at your PM window or email very often. I'm very disappointed because I expressed "definite interest" in the unit and you never responded to my timely reply. How was I supposed to reply to your offer to sell?? I couldn't very well come over to your place and clobber you over the head. When in this time frame was the 3300 SOLD? Just disappointed. I missed out on a good one! Michael